Walford, Letton, and Newton

73 WALFORD, LETTON, AND NEWTON (C.a.)

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)II, S.W., ^(b)II, S.E., ^(c)VI, N.W.)

Walford, Letton, and Newton is a parish 11 m. N.W. of Leominster.

Secular

^b(1). House, two tenements on the E. side of a byroad, 340 yards S.S.W. of the cross-roads at Walford, is of two storeys, the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century on an L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the W. and S. Inside the building is some exposed framing and ceiling-beams. On the N. wall of the kitchen is a large plaster panel (Plate 72) sub-divided by moulded ribs with circles at the intersections; in the minor panels are various modelled designs, including the Prince of Wales' feathers, a fish with two birds, a mermaid with a cock and a falcon, a vase of flowers, a lion, falcon and vine stems; the round bosses have rosettes. Above the fireplace in the same room is some plaster-work in square panels with foliage-designs; there is also some 17th-century panelling. Re-set in the chimney-stack is a 12th-century capital, and loose in the garden is a 13th-century foliage capital, both probably from Wigmore Abbey.

Condition—Fairly good.

^b(2). Cottage, 60 yards S. of (1), is of two storeys, timber-framed and roofed with corrugated-iron. It was built in the 17th-century and has some exposed framing and ceiling-beams.

Condition—Poor.

^c(3). Gatepiers, at Lower Letton, over 1¼ m. S.S.W. of (1), are built of worked and carved stones (Plate 17) from Wigmore Abbey; they include voussoirs with beak-heads, an enriched roll-moulding, fragment with interlacing cheveron-ornament and carved and scalloped capitals, all of late 12th-century date, also 13th-century mouldings and a good capital carved with stiff-leaf foliage.

^c(4). The Moor, house, at the S.E. corner of the parish, is of two storeys with attics, timber-framed and weather-boarded and with tiled roofs. The western part was built c. 1600, and the E. part added shortly after. Inside the building are exposed ceiling-beams, and the roof is of queen-post type.

Condition—Fairly good.

Unclassified

^b(5). Mound, 270 yards S. of the cross-roads at Walford, is about 94 ft. in diameter at the base and rises about 9 or 10 ft. above the surrounding ground. The ditch round the mound is interrupted on the S.W. side by remains of a causeway.

Condition—Fairly good.

^a(6). Mound, about 700 yards S.W. of the crossroads, at Walford, is about 56 ft. in diameter at the base and about 3 ft. high. In Arch. Camb., 1874, p. 163, it is stated that in 1736, in a tumulus at Walford, was found "a vase-like vessel of Roman form, with a beaded moulding around the swelling portion and around its base but otherwise plain and without ornament. Its dimensions are: height, 18 in.; diameter at the mouth 6 in., at the widest part 14 in., and at the base 12 in." It seems probable that this mound is the tumulus referred to.

Condition—Fairly good.