Herefordshire Histories Festival 9th. May to 25th, May 2026

Herefordshire Histories Group is a volunteer-run Community Interest Company set up to champion our history in Herefordshire and provide a community benefit. Supported by local historians, Herefordshire Council, Herefordshire Lore/In Our Age and Herefordshire

Family History Society among others, organisations were approached to enquire whether they would participate with walks, talks, visits, dramas, anything which would celebrate our history. Herefordshire Historic Churches’ Trust responded to the call and a  number of illustrated talks have been planned as our own contribution to the celebrations. Tea and wine or both will be provided on the day.

Horse Drawn Tramways

 Mon 11 May 2026 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Weston under Penyard Church, HR9 7QA

A presentation by Heather Hurley based on the research for her book. The early tramways of the Wye Valley were a short-lived transport system of horse-drawn waggons on rails operating from the late eighteenth century to the introduction of steam locomotives, primarily used for transporting goods such as coal, lime and minerals.

Heather Hurley has written many books about local topics.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/herefordshirehistoricchurchestrust/2048642

We will Remember Them

 Thu 14 May 2026 7:00 PM – 8:45 PM Putley Church, HR8 2QP

‘Nicholas de Hereford, Rebel Cleric, Papal Prisoner and Bible Translator’

 Fri 15 May 2026 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM St. Mary’s Church, Fownhope, HR1 4PL

Dr Chris Moore will talk about the life of ‘Nicholas de Hereford, Rebel Cleric, Papal Prisoner and Bible Translator’ 

Nicholas studied at the University of Oxford, and was ordained a priest in 1370 and earned in 1382 the degree of Doctor of Theology. Nicholas criticized the luxury of the Church and reaffirmed the right of every Christian to attain his own faith by reading the Bible.

Nicholas collaborated in producing the English-language version of the bible known as Wycliffe’s Bible. He is believed to have been entrusted with the translation of the Old Testament, the major part of which was completed by 1382. He was condemned with Wycliffe and other Lollards for their views and had to appear in 1382 at the court of the Archbishop of Canterbury to revoke. When they refused to revoke their views, they were excommunicated. He immediately travelled to Rome to appeal his excommunication before Pope Urban VI, but was imprisoned. During a popular uprising against the Pope in June 1385, he escaped and travelled back to England. Upon his return, however, he was re-imprisoned by William Courtenay, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and his writings were confiscated and destroyed by order of King Richard II of England.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/herefordshirehistoricchurchestrust/2057804

Tales from the River Wye

 Mon 18 May 2026 7:00 PM – 8:45 PM St. Bartholomew’s Church, Much Marcle, HR8 2LY

Voices from the River Wye is filled with stories of the Wye told through the words and photographs of those who have known the river all their lives – ferrymen and ferrywomen, boatbuilders and bridge builders, rowers and swimmers, anglers and poachers, ghillies and river bailiffs, otter hunters and more.

In the summer of 2017, Marsha O’Mahony travelled up and down the Wye in Herefordshire recording the experiences of the people who have lived and worked on the river, or simply been drawn to its waters in search of recreation or a jam jar of minnows. Thanks to then a wealth of memories surfaced, of a much-loved river teeming with often startling tales, and peopled by a rich assortment of characters, many long-gone. Stories, photographs and artefacts have been gathered and preserved, and the voices of the ‘ordinary’ men and women of the Wye now have their place in the history of the river.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/herefordshirehistoricchurchestrust/2044718

Landscape, Architecture and Memory – The Drawings of Elizabeth Lewis

 Fri 22 May 2026 2:00 PM – 3:45 PM Aymestrey Parish Church, HR6 9SU

A Talk by Nicola Kearton

Elizabeth Jane Woodhouse Lewis (1813–1874) was born in Ludlow and spent much of her life at Yatton Court, Aymestrey. She seems to have been a remarkably independent spirit, who defied her father by marrying geologist and antiquarian, Revd Thomas Taylor Lewis. She was fascinated by history and architecture throughout her life and an avid ‘church crawler’ from her early 20s. Exquisitely rendered images of Romanesque sculpture, ancient churches, ruined castles, country houses and vernacular buildings nestling amongst wooded slopes leap from the pages of her albums. Many of these works now serve as invaluable records of structures that have since been altered or lost. Her work reflects the intellectual curiosity of the Victorian period, the often-overlooked contribution of women and a strong concern for conservation — interests that later influenced the restoration of Aymestrey Church.

Although free we will be having a retiring collection to be shared between the church and HHCT

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/herefordshirehistoricchurchestrust/2047165