William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck is in Kilpeck, Herefordshire, Churches in Herefordshire.
Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map]. Chancel.
Kilpeck Castle adjcent to the Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map].
Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map]. Internal arch.
Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map]. Corbelling.
Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map]. Detail of the carvings on the columns of the north door.
Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map]. South door with tympanum. Fine example of the Herefordshire School of Carving.
The Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map] was built around 1140, and almost certainly before 1143 when it was given to the Abbey of Gloucester. It may have replaced an earlier Saxon church at the same site, and the oval raised form of the churchyard is typical of even older Celtic foundations.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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Archaeologia Volume 30 Section 5. 14th April 1842. A Letter from Joun Gage Rokewode, Esq. F.R.S., Director, to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.RS., Secretary, on the sculptured Figures of Welsh Knights at Kilpeck Church in Herefordshire [Map].
Read 14th April, 1842.
1904. John Benjamin Stone (age 65). Photograph of the Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck [Map].