Garway Church

SO 45477 22458

ILLUSTRATIONS

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1. Garway Church

1a. Garway Church

2. Templar Remains

3. 13th C. Features

3a Life Head

3b Death Head

4. Agnus Dei

5. Benchmark

6. Compass

7. Gryphon

8. Dextra Dei

9. Jerusalem Cross (1)

10. Cross of Lorraine

11. Cross Potent

12. Maltese Cross

13. Mason's Mark (1)

14. Mason's Mark (2)

15. Patriarchal Cross

16. Swastika

17. Dot Matrix

18. Church Interior

19. Stoup

20. Font

21. Font

22. Altar

23. Cross Head

24. Green Man

25. Stoup

26. Priscina

26b. Stained Glass

27. Aumbrey

28.. Chest

29. Symbols

30. Coffin Lid (1)

31. Coffin Lid (2)

32. Coffin Lid (3)

33. Coffin Lid (4)

34. Coffin Lid (5)

35. Grave Template

36. Chest

37. Coffin Bier

38. Dovecote

39. Inscription

40. Nesting Spaces

41. Bathing Bath

42. Dovecote

43. Bee Boles

44. Cross Shaft

45. Cross Base

46. Well

47. Mystery

If ever you are near Monmouth put aside an hour to visit the small church at Garway, you will not be disappointed. This is another place I often visit when passing if time allows although from what I can now gather it has many more visitors than it used to. This is another church that has been built on the site of a Knight's Templar preceptory and there is plenty of evidence to substantiate this. The reason the tiny church of St. Michael's gets more visitors is due to the popularity of the Da Vinci Code book and film. On my latest visit I was talking to a very nice lady who has the fortune/misfortune to live in what was the old 12th century commandery. Amongst many fascinating things, she related how since the publication of the book the true history of the church has been embellished beyond recognition, mostly in favour of the Templar connection. However Garway church still is a rural and peaceful retreat, buzzards skirl and screel in the valley below and the churchyard teems with bird life.

As can be seen from the above 1888 OS extraction the church is located to the south of the settlement and judging by the size of the nearby orchards it was a cider producing area. Evidence suggests that human occupation of the area began in the Neolithic period and ran continuously through Roman, Medieval, and post Medieval periods. The actual place-name of Garway derives from the Welsh, gwrwe, meaning a marsh or gwre a camp and wy meaning water. This then gives 'camp by the water' or 'marsh by the water'. However in his book, 'The Saints of Cornwall', Orme, 2000, p.28 suggests that Garway took its name from an early incumbent of the church, namely - Gnoraoe, his name appears in an early charter relating to the church? As there is evidence of an old hillfort nearby the 'camp by the water' seems to be the best bet. The Herefordshire Sites and Monuments Record (No 6253) notes that an early medieval/dark age clas (the administrative centre of a monastic unit of settlement) existed here whose foundation date is unknown but was thought to have been dissolved sometime in the 11th century. In Aston's, 2000, p.38, opinion the clas was founded in AD610 by king Gwyrfoddw, this date has been taken from the early Llandaff charters.

It was on the 16th of July 1199 that the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon or the Knights Templar received confirmation from King John that the gift of 2,000 acres of land at Garway officially belonged to their order. The actual order was founded around 1118 and disbanded by Pope Clement V in 1312 so Garway would have been a well established preceptory. The main aim of the Templar estate was to raise funds for their order in the Holy Land. In 1294 the Templars at Garway received a distinguished visitor in the form of the Grand Master of their order - Jacques de Molay, who 20 years later on the demise of the order was burnt at the stake on the 18th of March.

The Burning of Jacques de Molay

Chroniques de France ou de St. Denis - British Library

Following the disbanding of the Templar order all of their lands were confiscated and many then passed over to The Knights Hospitaller and Garway was no exception. It is thought that the order took possession of Garway around about 1326 and was attached to their preceptory at Dinmore. The Knights of St. John held Garway until the dissolution of the monasteries sometime between 1538 and 1541. One of the privileges the Templar's held was the right of sanctuary which meant if anybody claimed such a right they had the choice of standing trial or leaving the country. If they opted for the second option as most sanctuary seekers did, they were given safe passage to the nearest port with heavy penalties going to anybody who tried to interfere with their departure. Bond, 2001, p.82, notes how  poachers from the Forest of Dean often received shelter from the Templar's at Garway as well as the monks of Tintern and the canons of Llanthony. During the 200 odd years they held Garway the Hospitallers made many repairs and alterations to the church. Subsidence had severely damaged the round nave and so they constructed the present-day nave, it is also thought that the knights repaired the nearby columbarium or dovecote in 1326. Both the Templar and Hospitaller orders were unique in-so-much as neither paid any land taxes to the king or ecclesiastical dues to the church, in effect the Pope was the only person who held any jurisdiction over the orders. This caused many arguments between the church and the knights over the years as various Hereford bishops considered that they should pay their ecclesiastical taxes. Usually token payments were made in order to keep the peace but in 1523 all that changed. The prior of Garway refuse point blank to pay his dues and so the Bishop of Hereford presented himself at Garway only to find all the doors firmly bolted. As punishment the parish of Garway was placed under an interdict which effectively meant the sacraments and burial rights were withdrawn. In addition all that had prevented his visitation, namely the Hospitallers were excommunicated. Following the dissolution many of Garway's parishioners remained Roman Catholics which in itself caused problems with the Bishops fining them and confiscating their property. At one point a group of armed men were sent to Garway to deal with the, "nest of Papists". The Herefordshire SMR notes how during the early 17th century the church underwent, "extensive refurbishment" as it did in some time around 1841 and 1869. There are three lead coffins still in the crypt, one of which conatins the remains of Anne Westwood whose family carried out the renovations of about 1841.

There is so much to discover at Garway the best thing to do on arrival is to enter the church and buy one of the guides. On my first visit I was totally unprepared and quickly walked around, then on doing some post-visit research I discovered that I had totally missed numerous features. I would say it has taken four visits to see and find everything and since starting this page I now need another visit. So, what we see today is the church of St. Michael sitting quietly in the Monnow Valley - see ill. 1/1a.

There are several important features to be found outside the church and starting at the main door the first obvious structure working in an easterly direction is the tower. This stands at around 70 foot high and was built in the 12th/13th centuries when it would have provided a safe place to retreat to in times of trouble. This period of time saw the struggles of the Norman Marcher Lords as they attempted to dominate the Welsh borderlands. It is thought that originally the tower was a separate entity with the connecting passageway being constructed in the 17th century. Sometime during the 1500's the tower was heightened by about 8 feet for some unknown purpose.

The north wall of the church is probably the star feature for below it can be seen the excavated walls of the original Templar building - see ill. 2. There seems to be some debate as to whether all Templar churches took on a round or oval shape, theory has it that the design reflected the architecture of The Holy Temple in Jerusalem where the order established its first headquarters. However, according to Tull, 2000, p.135,

"... we find that Templar church building passed through two distinct phases; (1) the round or oval church, as at Bristol, Temple Bruer and Garway, and (2) the rectangular or square shape, to be seen at Rothley Temple, and Temple Balsall. This explodes the oft-repeated theory that the Templars always built round churches (because of their origin in Jerusalem). They sometimes did so but it was not an inflexible rule. Rather it can be said that they began building circular churches, but as Gothic influences from northern France grew stronger, they adopted the rectangular plan".

Either way the distinct curving walls of the original round knave can be seen, these were revealed in an excavation of 1927 which was undertook by Mr G. H. Jack. During the excavation fragments of worked stone were found along with several pieces of medieval pottery and the top of an two-branched iron candlestick, Tapper, 2005, p.62. In the north wall are also the visible remains of the 13th century door and window - see ill. 3. Above the blocked doorway sits one of the many carvings and inscriptions that can be found at Garway, in this case it is the Dextra Dei or Right Hand of God that's emerging from some clouds - see ill. 8. Over the chapel window is a decorated arch with corbels fashioned into two heads, one each side. These are said to represent 'life' and 'death' and depict the Grand Master of the Templars. On the far end of the north wall is a surveyors bench mark - see ill. 5, which goes to show that as far as surveyors go, nothing is sacred, if it doesn't move bench mark it.

Moving around to the south wall, again there are some more incised stones, there is a Cross of Lorraine - see ill. 10, a Swastika - see ill 16, and what is thought to be a masons mark - see ill 15. Slightly higher up the west wall of the chapel is a carving of the 'Lamb of God' or Agnus Dei - see ill. 4. Beside the doorway there is a Cross Potent - see ill. 11  and although very feint what appears to be a mason's compass - see ill. 6. Another strange symbol appears on the side of the western buttress and that is a matrix of nine dots - see ill 17, the problem with looking for mysterious 'hidden' symbols is that eventually every crack or mark can be taken to be something special. Never mind, following on around to the west wall where the main door is located there is a carving of a Gryphon - see ill. 7 and another incised Patriarchal Cross - see ill. 15. There is also another incised carving which has been taken to be another mason's mark - see ill. 13.

With regards to these symbols and carvings, there is a lot of speculation as to their age and purpose. Tapper, p.68, considers that in Medieval times most of the congregation would have been illiterate so paintings and symbols would have been used which could easily be associated with varying aspects of Christianity. There are possibly direct links with the Templars with the Compass, the Jerusalem Crosses and depending on ones interpretation, the Cross of Lorraine. The Agnus Dei was used by both the Templars and the Hospitallers and the Maltese Cross is still a well known symbol associated with the Hospitallers. If the nine dot matrix is an original feature then this could be taken to be a Triple Triad which, according to Cooper, 2001, p.118, in Christian terms represents either the triple triads of angel choirs or the nine rings and spheres around hell. In the Christian belief the swastika represents Christ as being the cornerstone or the four evangelists with Christ as the central point, Cooper, p.166. The Gryphon in early Christian beliefs represented evil in the form of the winged Devil flying away with souls or those who persecuted Christians. Apparently there is a Templar manuscript in the Public Records Office in London that depicts Gryphons on it leather bound cover, so maybe this too was a Templar symbol?

Moving inside the church, once again there are symbols and inscriptions abounding. The first thing of note is a small stoup - see ill. 19, which is just inside the door, this is a relic of the Roman Catholic associations at Garway and was used to hold holy water. Almost hidden behind the leaflet tables is the font - see ill. 20. This dates back to the Hospitallers time of the 14th century and on one side depicts a snake entwined around the cross - see ill. 21, and could well signify the association between the Hospitallers and their caring for the sick, the snake in eastern regions was always regarded as having healing powers. High on the wall is an embedded cross head - see ill. 23. The centre of the cross contains the carving of another Dextra Dei although this one seems to be held up as if giving a blessing. The whole of the church interior is dominated by the large Norman arch which is thought to have been the original one constructed by the Templars. Again, the present-day fascination with mystic symbols manifests itself in the carving of the Green Man which sits on the left-hand pillar - see ill. 24. Personally speaking, I have seen quite a few foliate heads or Green Men and to me this particular example is very tenuous. I know that to be classed as a Green Man you don't have to have copious amounts of foliage spewing out of your mouth but there is not a single, obvious leaf to be seen anywhere on this carving. I would argue that it depicts a bearded, horned devil with arms poised as if was about to leap down? There is then the debate as to whether or not the Green Man is another Templar symbol, the Rosslyn Chapel contains over 100 such images. Therefore as the arch dates to around the Templar period of occupation, maybe there is a link?

Moving swiftly on, after passing under the arch, the rood loft stairs on the left have a re-cycled, ancient coffin lid for the top step - see ill.33, this is one of 6 other examples inside the church which all are thought to have come from the Templar period. Just past the rood steps is another  stoup set into the wall - see ill. 25. The altar steps have utilised three more grave lids and clearly show their original designs - see ills. 31 & 32. The altar stone itself is the original one - see ill. 22, it was thought to have been lost or destroyed in the reformation but was re-discovered in 1872 by a visiting clergyman who spotted it in the chancel pavement. In 1901 the stone was set in an oak frame and restored to its original purpose. In 1967 the stone was then set upon the bath stone supports that are there today, the 5 incised crosses represent the 5 wounds of Christ.

To the right of the altar is the southern chapel and this was the original Templar chapel where they held their services and rites, it was rebuilt sometime during the 16th century. In the far wall is a piscina - see ill. 26, this would have been used to wash the sacred chalice and paten after mass. Here we have further examples of carvings as above the piscina are images of a consecrated wafer, a winged chalice, a fish and what is thought to be an eel or lamprey. This actual piscina seems to have inspired a couple of authors as it appears in both Dan Brown's novel, 'The Da Vinci Code' and Baigents book, 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'. The chapel also contains the only stained glass window in the whole church and is set in the east wall - see ill.26b. Under the window is a nice example of an aumbrey - see ill. 27, behind which the communion dishes were kept - see ill. 28. Above the west door of the chapel are some more symbols, on my latest visit somebody had highlighted them with what appears to be ink which I am sure will do a lot of good?  Depicted are symbols of Christ's passion and include (from left to right) a spear, ladder, 3 nails, a Tau cross topped with a crown, a sponge on a reed and a covered cup - see ill. 29. There is also another coffin lid serving as a lintel in the west window - see ill. 34. The chapel also contains a spendid ancient wooden chest - see ill. 28, this one dates back to the 16th/17th century and shows evidence of several locks. This was probably a result of Thomas Cromwell's directive of 1538 where he ordered that all churches should have a, "secure coffer", in which to safely keep the parish registers and other documents, Friar, 1996, p.100.

If you are really lucky and be able to gain entry to the normally locked tower there are some interesting articles inside. On the wall hangs a grave 'template' whose purpose was to assist the Sextant in digging graves as he merely had to cut around its shape - see ill. 35. There are also two stretcher-like biers - see ill. 37 which would be used to carry the coffins up the rough road to the church. Apparently the original rough track made any other form of conveyance impossible and even today it still can be a struggle getting some of the large hearses near the church. The star of the show as far as the contents of the tower go must be the large 'dugout' wooden chest which is thought to date back to the 12th century and the Templars - see ill. 36. Tapper, p.64 states how in 1199 the Pope ordered that such a chest be placed in every church in order that people should give alms for the remission of their sins, the money then went towards funding the fourth crusade, This particular chest measures 8 feet 4 inches and 1 foot nine inches wide, it was hewn out of a single oak bole and has a lock made from a horseshoe. On the sill of the north-western window is a stone carved decoration and a circular stone with a hole in the middle, whose purpose is unknown. I am no expert but it looks very much like the top of a staddle stone which was a mushroom shaped support for corn ricks. The idea being that once the corn was stacked on a series of such stones, their shape meant that mice and other vermin found it difficult to get into the stacked corn. The north-eastern window has another ornate coffin lid in-situ and serving as the lintel - see ill. 30.

Returning to the outside of the church, there are the dried up remnants of a well located at the eastern edge of the churchyard - see ill. 46. As with any monastic settlements one of the three main requisites for building a monastery was a water supply, Aston, p.24 notes that:

"By the eleventh century, if not before, it is clear that a good water supply was regarded as an essential basic requirement of most new monastic foundations. Two supplies were needed; one for drinking water, preferably from a spring; and one for cleansing and drainage, which would come from a river or stream".

So it can be considered that the spring was one of the main reasons the Templars decided to settle the site. Previous to the use of fonts a spring would have been used as the place for any baptisms as the water was deemed 'pure' because it issued straight from the ground. This well was also the main source of water for the village of Garway and I am informed that there is still one villager who can remember having to draw his water from it, this practice continued right up until the 1950's. It is thought that sometime during the 1970's some ground work was undertaken in the area which somehow diverted the flow of water and left the spring dry. Clearly the well is now pretty well overgrown but in the undergrowth there is a small niche on the left-hand side which probably housed a light or icon. There seems to be no mention of the waters having had any special healing properties and in a sense therefore cannot be regarded as a 'Holy Well', although it does lie on consecrated ground.

Just over the wall from the wall can be seen the columbarium or dovecote - see ill. 38, which was built in the time of the Templars but had fallen into disrepair by the time the Hospitallers took over, this is confirmed in an account of the property written by John-de-la-Haye in 1313. Although very feint now, there is a Latin inscription over the door which in The Gentleman's Magazine of 1907, p.635, the Reverend John Webb stated read in abbreviated form:

 The full version is, " Anno Domini millesimo trecentesimo vicesimo sexto factum fuit istud columbare fratrem Ricardum", which in translation reads,  "In the year of our Lord 1326 this dovecote was built by Richard", - see ill. 39, this is thought to be somewhat of an exaggeration and probably means that he repaired the dovecote in 1326. John Webb also remarks that on his visit he also noticed another inscription in the interior of the dovecote which read, "GILBE RTVS", whoever Gilbertus was remains a mystery, perhaps he helped Brother Richard in the restoration of the building? Webb describes other stones carved with, "the double cross of the Templars, accompanied in one instance with the letter R, of the scriptorial form". The upper part of the roof is 'dished' which allowed rainwater to feed through an opening into a round cistern on the floor, this then supplied the pigeons with drinking and washing water, Bond, 2004, p.151. Inside there are 20 tiers each consisting of 33 nesting holes which gives a total of 666 holes - see ill. 40, could this number have any mystical significance? Each alternate tier has been provided with an alighting ledge. In the centre of the floor sits a large stone basin which was used as a bathing bath for the birds - see ill. 41, which as far as dovecotes go is a very rare feature. Rats were always a problem as they would be attracted by the grain fed to the birds and then either eat it or the pigeons eggs. To prevent this the Garway dovecote has a row of bricks that project out from the wall which prevented the rats from climbing up the walls, this is known as a string course. There has been some excellent restoration work done on the dovecote as an early engraving of the building shows it with two trees growing out of the walls - see ill. 42. In fact, in his book, Cooke, mentions how just before the Reverend Webb's visit in 1844 a seedling oak and an ash tree had rooted on the top of the dovecote walls and were luckily removed before too much damage was done.

The original birds that were normally kept in a dovecote were the blue rock pigeons and their uses were numerous. Apart from their meat and eggs which were a valuable source of food in the winter months, the feathers were used for stuffing mattresses and pillows and the dung as a good fertilizer. Medicinally the pigeons were also useful, in early times, Pliny suggested that pigeon blood was an excellent cure for bloodshot eyes. A later cure for, "melancholy and sadness", was to apply a live pigeon that had been cut in half to the head or soles of the feet. Dysenteries were also cured by taking a potion made from the dry, powdered, lining of a pigeon's stomach. Baldness and gout were cured by rubbing in an ointment made from watercress and pigeon dung, Hansells', 2001, p.7. In Norman and Medieval times it was considered a feudal right to build a dovecote and was only afforded to barons, abbots and lords of the manor, this was later extended to include parish priests. This building right was vigorously enforced as was the killing or stealing of the pigeons all of which attracted severe punishment.

You can gradually build up a picture of what it would have been like to live at Garway during its early days, certainly as far as food goes. As mentioned above, pigeon would have been on the menu along with fish. It is known that the waters that issued from the spring fed down into two fishponds, SMR record number 12087 lists two medieval fishponds, these were a couple of fields below the church. In the dividing wall of what would have been between the commandery and the preceptory are four bee boles - see ill. 43. which are recesses built into the wall that would have contained straw skeps of bees. Therefore it could be suggested that honey also featured on the early menu's. The main by-product from the bees would have been the wax which would have been put to such uses as a polish and candle making.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DOVECOTE AND BEE BOLES ARE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY AND ACCESS PERMISSION MUST BE GRANTED BY THE OWNERS.

As you enter the churchyard there is a rather forlorn looking cross shaft lying by the path - see ill. 44. It is thought that this might have originally stood at Garway Cross,  SMR record number 7365 lists a medieval cross with an octagonal shaft that had a modern sundial mounted upon it. Today the sundial has gone walkabouts leaving just the base and shaft. But I have a personal theory regarding this octagonal shaft and it just might be the case that the cross head that is set into the inside north wall of the church - ill. 23, once stood on top of the redundant shaft? I have not been able to compare the measurement but I am sure that somebody with a ladder might find them compatible. South of the chapel stands a grave memorial of Elizabeth Minors which consists of a modern head and shaft which stands on the base of a medieval cross, this is also listed on the SMR (record number 7365) - see ill. 45.

There are two other mysteries with Garway church, firstly in her book, Audrey Tapper, p.69. states that, "on the buttress of the south chapel is a sun dial which has been reused in some phase of rebuilding". Well, on several recent visits I have looked and looked for this and simply can't find it - probably a case of there's none so blind as can't see? However, what I did notice was a strange stone built into the bottom course of the wall to the left of the main door. There is no other similar stone in the wall and in my humble opinion it does look very much like the head of a cross - see ill. 47. What other stone would have taken this shape? It certainly does not look natural but without taking out the small stones to the left there is no way of telling.

I must admit the whole parish of Garway is a fascinating place with its peaceful narrow lanes and historic landscape. It certainly has solved a dilemma for me, because I have dissertation looming for my MA course and one look at the SMR shows that there is plenty of scope for such a task. I just hope that the place doesn't get too hooked up with the media hype coming from the Da Vinci Code novel and warrants interest from the many unique facets and merits in their own right.

For anybody wishing to visit Garway I have designed a check list for all of the symbols and inscriptions to be found on the external walls. I haven't said where they are as part of the fun is finding them? - click here for check list.

Bibliography.

Aston, M. 2000 Monasteries in the Landscape, Tempus Publishing, Stroud.

Bond, J. 2004 Monastic Landscapes, Tempus Publishing, Stroud.

Bond, J. 2000 Monastic Archaeology, Oxbow Books, Oxford.

Cooper, J. C. 2001 Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, Thames & Hudson, London.

Friar, S. 1996 A companion to the Parish Church, Sutton Pub. Stroud.

Hansell, P & Hansell, J. 2001 Dovecotes, Shire Publications, Princes Risborough.

Orme, N. 2000 The Saints of Cornwall, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Tapper, A. 2005 Knights Templar & Hospitaller in Herefordshire, Logaston Press, Herefordshire.

Tull, G. F. 2000 Traces of the Templars, The King's England Press, Rotherham.

Webb, J. 1907 Antiquarian Researches, The Gentleman's Magazine, F. Jefferies, London