A lovely church whose foundations date from the 9th Century,and the oldest bit of the present building is dated 13th century. Most important name....Gwillim, The Gwillim Monument and The plaque on the wall is shown beneath

The Gwillim family lived at Old Court, Whitchurch until around 1868. In 1744 Thomas Gwillim built this grave enclosure for the family; but from 6 children he only ended up with one grandchild - this was Elizabeth Posthuma born 1762 (her mother died after giving birth). Elizabeth was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Gwillim, who fought at Quebec and aged 19 she married John G. Simcoe, the founder of Toronto

Whitchurch is situated on the bank above the River Wye between Ross on Wye and Hereford. The name Whitchurch possibly dates from Saxon times when buildings were generally made with wood, and a stone church would in contrast seem white….therefore, White Church. This eventually became Whitchurch, and is a fairly common name in the British Isles. Whitchurch church has elements which date from the 13th century, although the original foundations date back to the 9th century. There is a tulip tree outside the church, which is thought to be over 300 years old but which still sturdily comes into flower every summer.

Ironstone used to be worked in Whitchurch, and there are Limestone quarries still in current use. There is evidence that the area was settled more than 15000 years ago, in prehistoric times, and excavations have unearthed artifacts from the Ice Age, New Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron age. Also of interest is King Arthur’s cave, on Great Doward hill, which was explored in 1870 and it proved to have been the lair of hyenas, with many teeth and bones being uncovered, including those of mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, lions etc. Legend has it that this cave was once used as a hiding place by King Arthur, hence it’s name.
St. Dubricius lived in Herefordshire during the 6th century, and there is a legend associated with his birth. It seems that the king of Erging (an area near Ross) discovered that his unmarried daughter was pregnant, and he was not best pleased! He arranged for her to be drowned in the Wye, but she managed to stay alive and was eventually found on a sandbank, whereupon her father demanded that she be burnt. Unfortunately for his temper, she came out of the fire unscathed (probably because she was soaked through!), and that night gave birth to her baby boy…….Dyfrig, later to be better known as Dubricius.