MUCH MARCLE is an extensive parish and village pleasantly situated on the main road between Ledbury and Ross, and extending to Gloucestershire; is distant 5 miles S.W. of Ledbury, 7½ N.E. of Ross, 8 N.W. of Newent, and 13 S.E. of Hereford; is in Greytree hundred, Ledbury union, petty sessional division, and county court district, and is a polling place for county elections. Much Marcle and Yatton constitute the parish of Much Marcle, but the township of Yatton maintains its own poor, pays its own rates, and appoints its own officers. The population in 1861 was 1,209; in 1871, 1,080, viz., Much Marcle, 867, and Yatton; 213, The number of inhabited houses was 238, viz., Much Marcle, 191, and Yatton, 47. The number of families or separate occupiers was 282, viz., Much Marcle, 232, and Yatton, 50. The area of the parish is 6,349 acres, viz., Much Marcle, 4,940, and Yatton, 1,409. The rateable value is £10,129, viz., Much Marcle, £8,103, and Yatton, £2,026. Lieut.- Col. John Ernle Money-Kyrle, of Homme house, is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are Lieut.- Col. John Ernle Money-Kyrle, Robert Duffield Cooke, Esq., Henry Chillingworth, Esq., Lord Ashburton, and Mr. Thomas Powell. The soil is clayey, producing wheat, beans; peas, roots, fruit, and hops. Much timber is grown here.

This parish was part of the barony of the Lacies at the time of the Domesday Survey, and its ancient name was "Merchelay"; but afterwards coming to the Crown, was granted till Edward I. to Edmund Mortimer, whose descendants, inherited it till the time of the last Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, who demised it to the Wallwyns; but it has since passed through various families. The daughter of Roger and Philippe Mortimer married Lord Audley, and Marcle was her dower, and the second name of the parish was Marcle-Audley. Near the church stood Mortimer's castle, the mound within a few yards of the churchyard is still called the keep of Mortimer castle. According to Blount, there was another castle, perhaps more ancient, called "Ellingham castle", the site of which is now overgrown with wood, called the Quarry wood, at a little distance from the village.

In the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth (1571) occurred a most remarkable landslip. It is reported that on the 17th of February, at six o'clock in . the evening, Marcle hill commenced moving, and in its progress overthrew the chapel of Kynaston, together with hedges and trees, and also destroyed many cattle, and finally rested at its present position on the 19th. Camden gives the following account of the phenomenon: "The hill which they call 'Marcley hill' did, in the year 1571, rouse itself as it were out of sleep, and for three days together moved on its vast body with an horrible roaring noise; and overturning everything in its way, raised itself, to the great astonishment of the beholders, to a higher place." Fuller asserts that the whole field that moved was 20 acres, and that it travelled 14 hours, and ascended 11 fathoms up hill, leaving a chasm 400 feet wide and 520 long. The chapel bell was dug up some years since. Philips, in his "Cider" poem, refers to the movement of Marcle hill; also Butler in his "Hudibras".

Much Marcle is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Ross; living, a vicarage annexed to Yatton chapelry; joint value, £719, with residence and 26 acres of glebe; patron, Lieut.-Col. John Ernle Money-Kyrle; vicar, Rev. Allen William Chatfield, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, who was instituted in 1848, and is also rural dean of Ross. The parish church is one of the finest in the county. It stands on a hill a short distance from the main road, and has a square castellated tower (containing six bells), nave, chancel, and aisles. Active steps are being taken to restore this noble and interesting structure, and it is expected the work will be completed during the present year (1876). The cost of restoration is estimated at, more than £2,000. In a small chapel adjoining the church, built by Sir John Kyrle, Bart., in 1628, is the tomb of himself and his lady Sybill (daughter and heiress of Philip Scudamore, Esq.) It is in excellent preservation.

In the churchyard are the remains of a cross; also a yew tree, with seats inside to accommodate ten or twelve persons. The charities belonging to the parish amount to about £25 per annum. There is a national school for boys and girls, with a certificated master and mistress, and under government inspection. The average attendance is about 80. The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1863. The Primitive Methodists have also a chapel at Marcle hill. Homme House, the seat of Lieut.- Col. John Ernle Money-Kyrle, J.P., D.L., is a spacious red-brick mansion, surrounded by a thickly-wooded park, with fish-ponds, &c: Thomas Kyrle, Esq., fourth son of Robert Kyrle, Esq., of Walford court, who married Frances, daughter and heiress of John Knotford, Esq., of Malvern, was the ancestor of the Kyrles, of Much Marcle, and lord of the manor, temp. Elizabeth. His son was created a baronet in 1627. The scenery of this district is romantic and pleasing, embracing the Malvern heights, the Cotswold range, Welsh mountains, &c. Rushall and Kynaston are hamlets of Much Marcle.