MICHAELCHURCH is a parish and village situated on Eskley brook, and distant about 15 miles W.S.W. of Hereford, and 7 N.W. of Pontrilas station on the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford railway; is in Ewyas Lacy hundred, Dore union and petty sessional division, Hereford county court district, and is a polling place for county elections. The population in 1861 was 448; in 1871, 457; inhabited houses, 85; families or separate occupiers, 88; area of parish, 4,567 acres; annual rateable value, £2,894. The Marquess of Abergavenny is lord of the manor of Ewyas Lacy, which includes Michaelchurch. The principal landowners are the Marquess of Abergavenny, Miss Rawson, and Charles Guy Trafford, Esq. The soil is a sandy loam on the old red sandstone formation; chief produce, wheat, barley, beans, roots, &c. The proposed Golden Valley railway will (when made) be a great boon to this district; the nearest station will be at Vowchurch. Michaelchurch Eskley is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Weobley; living, a vicarage annexed to that of St. Margaret's; joint value, £230, partly derived from glebe; patroness, Miss Rawson; the charge is at present vacant.

The church, dedicated to St. Michael, was restored in 1872-73 at a cost of about £600. The work has been carried out with special attention to the style in which the church is built (Early English), the architect being G.F. Bodley, Esq., of London. The fabric consists of nave, chancel, porch, font, and tower containing five bells. The earliest register is dated 1700. This parish is included in the Longtown district school board. The present average attendance of boys and girls is about 50. New schools, with accommodation for 120 children, are about to be erected from the designs of Messrs. Haddon Brothers, architects, of Hereford and Malvern. Michaelchurch Court, the seat of Charles Guy Trafford, Esq., J.P., D.L., is beautifully situated on a gentle eminence, and, like Urishay castle in the adjoining parish (Peterchurch), commands extensive views of the surrounding country. The mansion was considerably enlarged about ten years ago. The interior is fitted up with great taste and elegance; in various parts of the house are some fine specimens of old English oak wainscoting.