FOWNHOPE is an extensive village and parish, pleasantly situated on the eastern bank of the river Wye, about 6½ miles S.E. of Hereford, 8½ N. of Ross, 13 W.S.W. of Ledbury, and 2¾ S.E. of Holme Lacy station on the Hereford, Ross, and Gloucester railway. The parish has access to this station by a neat iron bridge over the river Wye, built by Messrs. Watson & Co., of London. It is in Greytree hundred (upper division), Hereford union, county court district, and petty sessional division, and is a polling place for county elections. The population in 1861 was 1,112 (including Fawley, a chapelry in this parish 4 miles distant); in 1871, 1,113; inhabited houses, 240; families or separate occupiers, 267; area of parish, 4,554a. 1r. 13p.; annual rateable value, £8,030. James Wood, Esq., who is lord of the manor, Thomas Lechmere, Esq., Lord Ashburton, Rev. Joseph Amphlett, R. Wyndham Smith, Esq., George Newdigate, gate, Esq., Thomas Newman, Esq., Richard Hereford, Esq., Captain Richard James Hereford, Sir Herbert George Denman Croft, Bart., Lieut.- Colonel John Ernle Money-Kyrle, Mrs. Sarah Jane Jones, Mrs. Connop, Samuel Farmer, Esq., and Robert Kidley, Esq., are the principal landowners. The soil is clay and gravel; subsoil, limestone rock; chief produce, wheat, barley, beans, fruit, and a few hops. The parish is well wooded. There are the remains of two ancient camps, one on Capler hill, the summit of which commands some most beautiful and extensive prospects; the contiguous channel of the Wye forming a striking feature. Fownhope is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Ross; living, a vicarage with the chapelry of Fawley annexed; value, £347, with residence and 14 acres of glebe; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Hereford; vicar, Rev. Thomas West, M.A., of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, who was instituted in 1865, and is also vicar of Brockhampton and a surrogate for the diocese of Hereford. The Rev. Thomas Viall Cornell, of University College, Durham, is the curate; The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a very ancient and curious edifice, partly in the Norman, but chiefly in the Early English styles of architecture. It underwent repair in 1853. The interior is plain and lofty, and contains nave and south aisle, transept, gallery, organ, and a carved sandstone font, which about 1853 was dug out of some neighbouring ruins. Near the communion table is a piscina, in a most perfect state; over the altar is a piece of needlework in a frame, representing "The Last Supper", after the original painting by Leonardo da Vinci; this, together with the entire altar covering, was wrought by the late Mrs. Munsey. The chantry was erected by the Chandos family, and in the interior of this there is also a piscina, very perfect. The tower, which is in the centre of the church, and about 50 feet in height, is entirely Norman; at some unknown period the present spire was erected upon it, composed entirely of oak shingle, and an object of much curiosity. The upper portion was restored in 1869, and about 10 feet of the old shingle replaced by new, at a cost of about £65. The old and dilapidated porch was replaced in 1873 by a handsome one of massive oak, on a base of Forest stone, erected by Mr. William Ford, after designs furnished by Thomas Nicholson, Esq., of Hereford; the cost, £130, being defrayed by the late Henry Evans, Esq., of Taynton, near Gloucester. In the tower are six bells, and an ancient chest or coffer which has been carved out of a solid oak tree; it is 8 feet in length by 2 feet wide, and 8 inches in thickness, and has a ponderous lid on hinges. The history of this relic is unknown. In the churchyard are the remains of a stone coffin; the upper portion, or lid, has been long since destroyed. On the western exterior of the church is a design, carved in stone, representing the "Virgin and Child"; on the right hand is a dove, on the left a dragon, and the Virgin holds an apple in her right hand. The parish register dates from the year 1560. The charities are of £15 yearly value. A new national school, with accommodation for about 150 children, has been erected, and is under a certificated master. There are places of worship for the Baptists and the Plymouth Brethren. There is an endowed school for boys and girls, in connection with the Baptist chapel, known as "Goff's Free School". Fownhope Court is the property and residence of Thomas Lechmere, Esq., J.P. There are several villa residences in this picturesque village. Fawley, a chapelry in this parish, having a railway station and an interesting Elizabethan farmhouse, formerly the residence of Sir John Kyrle, will be found fully described on page 184.