MOCCAS is a parish and small village situated on the south bank of the river Wye, and on the main road between Hereford and Hay. It is distant 12 miles W.N.W. of Hereford, 9 E. of Hay, and 7 S.W. of Weobley; is in Webtree hundred, Weobley union, Bredwardine petty sessional division, Madley polling district; and Hereford county court district. The population in 1861 was 196; in 1871, 216; inhabited houses, 42; families or separate occupiers, 47; area of parish, 1,163 acres; annual rateable value, £1,459. The Rev. Sir George Henry Cornewall, Bart., is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The soil is sandy and loamy; subsoil, clay and sandstone; chief produce, wheat, beans, barley, roots, &c. This parish is surrounded by a lovely combination of woodland, water, and rich pastoral and mountain scenery. There is a private bridge over the Wye, erected by the late Sir Velters Cornewall, Bart., and completed by the present baronet. Foot passengers are permitted to pass over free, and vehicles on payment of toll.

Moccas is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Weobley; living, a rectory; value, £209, with 90 acres of glebe; patron and rector, Rev. Sir George Henry Cornewall, Bart., M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, who was instituted in 1858. The Rev. Rhys Bishop, M.A., of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, is the curate. The church (St. Michael and all Angels) is one of the oldest in the county; the main portions appear to belong to the 11th century. It has been restored at a cost of about £2,000, and consists of nave, chancel, circular apse, porch, small bell-tower (containing two bells), font, and several monuments and tablets. The earliest register is dated 1220. A new school, to accommodate about 50 children, was erected in 1872. It is supported by the Rev. Sir G.H. Cornewall, and is under government inspection; average attendance, about 30.

Moccas Court, the delightful seat of the Rev. Sir George Henry Cornewall, Bart., M.A., J.P., D.L., and Lady Cornewall, is a handsome modern mansion, beautifully situated in a verdant and luxuriant vale, and on an easy ascent near the banks of the Wye. Its terraced walks and esplanades, intersected by greensward and richly blooming parterres, run down to the river brink, where the stream flows deep and majestically in splendid reaches both to and from the mansion, the view on the left terminating at the wood-crowned height of "The Scar", and on the right at Monnington rocks, between which and the building lies as sweet a snatch of pastoral scenery (slightly but agreeably relieved by the elegant private iron bridge that crosses the river in the middle distance) as any in the county. The park, which ranges to the south-west, is finely wooded, and well stocked with deer; it includes a large portion of the neighbouring eminence, the summit of which is remarkable for the variety and extent of its prospects. The ancient mansion was at a small distance below the site of the present, and part of the materials used in building it was brought from the ruins of Bredwardine castle. It was a place of note at a very early period, being the palace of the kings of the district in the 5th century. The family of Cornewall trace their descent to Richard, second son of King John, Earl of Poictiers and Cornwall, and King of the Romans.