•  Holme Lacy, Herefordshire

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Holme Lacy like this:

HOLM, or Holm-Lacey, a village and a parish in the district and county of Hereford. The village stands out the river Wye, adjacent to the Monmouth and Hereford railway, 4¾ miles SE of Hereford; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Hereford. The parish comprises 3, 192 acres. ...

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Real property, £4, 522. Pop., 307. Houses, 67. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged to the Laceys, passed to the Scudamore's, and belongs now to Sir E. F. Scudamore Stanhope, Bart. Holm-Lacey House was re-built by the second Viscount Scudamore, the friend of the poet Pope; is now, for the most part, comparatively modern; has three fronts, with projecting wings; measures 150 feet along the S front, and 200 feet in total length; includes a saloon with beautiful wood-carvings by Grinling Gibbons; has some other splendid apartments; and contains some family portraits and fine paintings. Pope frequently resided in it, and wrote here his "Man of Ross." The gardens connected with it are extensive, and on a plan similar to those of Hampton Court. Sir James Scudamore was the legendary "Sir Scudamore" of Spenser's "Faerie Queene; and the first Viscount Scudamore is celebrated as the introducer, to Herefordshire, of the long famous redstreak apple. Philips, in his poem on Cider, says:- "But how with equal numbers shall we match The Musk's surpassing worth? Yet let her to the Red-streak yield, that once Was of the sylvan Kind, unciviliz'd, Of no regard, till Scudamore's skilful hand Improved her, and by courtly discipline Taught her the savage nature to forget: Hence styled the Scudamorean plant." A Premonstratensian abbey was founded at Holm, by William Fitzwarine, in the time of Henry III.; and was given, at the dissolution, to the Laceys. A bridge was recently erected here over the Wye. The living is a vicarage, united with the p. curacy of Bolstone, in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £543.* Patron, Sir E. F. S. Stanhope, Bart. The church is Norman, in tolerable condition; and contains a monument of the Duchess of Norfolk, who died in 1820, and some other family monuments. Charities, £133, and a bull worth £20 for the poor.

Holme Lacy through time

Holme Lacy is now part of Herefordshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how Herefordshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Holme Lacy itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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