YARKHILL is a parish and village situated on the river Froome, being distant 7½ miles N.E. of Hereford, 8 N.W. of Ledbury, and about 1 mile N. of Stoke Edith railway station. The Worcester and Hereford branch of the Great Western railway passes on the S.E. and S.W. sides of the parish, and the Hereford and Gloucester canal on the N.E. side. It is in Radlow hundred, Ledbury union, petty sessional division, and county court district, and Tarrington polling district. The population in 1861 was 568; in 1871, 472; inhabited houses, 100; families or separate occupiers, 119; area of parish, 1,620a. 2r. 33p.; annual rateable value, £3,086. The Right Hon. Lady Emily Foley, of Stoke Edith park, is lady of the manor. The principal landowners are the Lady Emily Foley, the Rev. William Poole, of Hentland, near Ross, the Governors of St. Catherine's Hospital, Ledbury, John Brace Vevers, Esq., of Hampton park, Hereford, John Cleife, Esq., Mr. John Hollings, and the representatives of the late Admiral George Ferguson. The soil is a stiff clay and is very fertile; chief crops, wheat, beans, hops, fruit, &c. Yarkhill is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of South Froome; living, a vicarage; value, £220, with residence and 10 acres of glebe; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Hereford; vicar, Rev. John Woollam, M.A., of St. John's College, Oxford; who was instituted in 1868.

The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was partly rebuilt and completely restored in 1863 at a cost of £1,180, under the superintendence of T. Blashill, Esq., of 10 Old Jewry chambers, London. It is a neat stone edifice, with Bath stone dressings, having a square castellated tower, nave, chancel, vestry, &c. An organ was added in 1868, at a cost of £100. The earliest register is dated 1559. The charities belonging to the parish amount to about £7 yearly. The national school was erected in 1866 at the sole expense of the late vicar (Rev. Thomas Hugh Bird), on a convenient site presented by the Lady Emily Foley. It was originally built for 68 children, but was enlarged in 1874 by the Lady Emily Foley, so as to accommodate the children from Weston Beggard parish. There is room now for 140 children. The building is of red brick with Bath stone dressings, and there is a residence for the master and mistress attached. The Vicarage House is beautifully situated, commanding a pleasant view of Stoke Edith park in the foreground, and of the Hatteral and Malvern hills on the right and left in the distance. At Newtown is a chapel used for Sunday school and services in connection with the Established church.