Walford St Michael & All Angels, Herefordshire.

Several Burgums of the "GG" family tree, lived at Walford and Bishopswood, in the south of Herefordshire, and sometime at Ruardean.

WALFORD ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS, originally began life as St Leonards, a wattle and daub building named after a Saxon saint. The oldest part of the existing building is the centre part of the nave constructed in about 1100, with a south door entrance. This makes it one of the earliest churches in the county of Herefordshire. The north porch was added circa 1240, together with the arcades of four pillars and aches.

The tower, a stand alone feature, was at first topped by a spire. which was toppled during a storm of 1813, when the spire was struck by lightening. The bells were also destroyed during the storm. By 1430 the church was said to be in a dilapidated condition and general repairs were undertaken and the east wall of the chancel was completely rebuilt. Also, a passage was added connecting the tower to the main building through the north chapel. A gallery was added to the west end of the nave in 1754. The most extensive restorations took place in 1887. Mary Beatrice Philips provide a generous donation for the restoration; she died in 1898. The gallery was removed and the remains of coloured plaster was stripped from the walls. In 1954 the church was completely re-roofed.

The living in 1877 was a vicarage with a gross value of £242, with residence and a grant of £41 and 17 acres of glebe land. The Churchwardens at that time were Nathaniel James Hardwick and John Webster while Henry Webb served as Parish Clerk.

BISHOPWOOD ALL SAINTS is also within the parish but was a separate ecclesiastical district formed in 1845. It was built in 1841 and consecrated in 1845. It is a stone building with a slate roof, a porch, nave, a small belfrey and a single bell. The living was a vicarage with a value of £80, residence and 7 acres of glebe land. It was built by John Partridge, son of William Partridge, a local iron-master, who once owned the Bishopwood estate. Both William and John are buried in the churchyard. The first vicar there was Rev. Robert Collins who began 17th September 1845. In 1880 the west end gallery was removed at a cost of £200. At the same time the pulpit was replaced and moved to the north side of the church. The benifice was joined with Walford in 1948.

St John's Chapel, Howle Hill was built with the aid of funds provided by Mary Beatrice Philips. At the same time a nearbyby school was built nearby. The land and a stained glass window was provided by Samuel Buttermere who lived at The Paddocks, Deep Dean. As a Chaepel of Ease, although dedicated to the Apostle St John the Evangelist, it was not consecrated and so was only licensed to hold services. The stone was quarried from Howle Hill. It was constructed in an Early English style for £1,300. The schoolroom only functioned as such until the late 1880's when Walford School was opened. The chapel opened in 1875 and had a nave, a chancel a sacristy and a south-facing porch. The chapel and schoolroom were both closed in 2001 after being declared unsafe.

The list below shows the baptisms, marriages and burials that took place at Walford, Herefordshire.

Name	Date	Location	BMD	Minister	Notes	FT
Samuel Bergum	26 Dec 1682	Walford	Baptism		P=Edmundi + Elizabethae
Ruth Bergum	31 Jul 1686	Walford	Marriage		m=William Mason	FF?
Thomas Bergum	09 Aug 1691	Walford	Baptism		P=Edmund + Elizabeth
Sarah Bergum	27 Feb 1718	Walford	Baptism		P=Thomas + Ann
Ann Bergum	03 Jul 1720	Walford	Baptism		P=Thomas + Ann
Betty Bergum	01 Nov 1722	Walford	Baptism		P=Thomas + Ann
Thomas Bergum	11 Jan 1738	Walford	Baptism		P=Henry + Elizabeth
Thomas Bergum	11 Jan 1738	Walford	Burial		f=Henry Bergum
Whitney	26 Dec 1743	Walford	Baptism		base son of Mary
Edmund Burgum	25 Oct 1747	Walford	Marriage		m=Mary Ellis
Anne Burgum	03 Sep 1750	Walford	Marriage	Walwyn Morgan (1)	m=John Wolley
Rachel Bergum	24 Nov 1769	Walford	Burial		Reg=Virgo; BT=Bergum
Henry Burgum	24 Oct 1796	Walford	Marriage	J.H. Beeston (2)	m=Sarah Jenkins	GG
Hester Burgam	11 Jan 1807	Walford	Baptism	J.H. Beeston (2)	P=Henry + Sarah
Mary Burgam	08 Jul 1805	Walford	Marriage	J.H. Beeston (2)	m=Thomas Powell	GG?
Sarah Burgum	21 May 1809	Walford	Baptism		P=Henry + Sarah
William Burgum	04 Jul 1809	Walford	Marriage	J.H. Beeston (2)	m=Elizabeth Yem	GG?
Eliza Burgham	12 Jan 1812	Walford	Baptism		P=Henry + Sarah
Mary Bergham	07 Apr 1822	Walford	Marriage	T.D. Fosbroke (3)	m=John Jones
Ann Burgham	14 May 1825	Walford	Marriage	T.D. Fosbroke (3)	m=Esaias Pewtner
Sarah Burgam	02 Oct 1827	Walford	Marriage	T.D. Fosbroke (3)	m=Benjamin Williams	GG?

(1) Walwyn Morgan was vicar of Walford from 1745 until 1754.

(2) Rev. John Howton Beeston married Alicia Collins, whose father was John Stratford Collins, High Sheriff of the county of Herefordshire, who lived at Wythall, Walford. He was also rector of Hope Mansell and vicar of Ruardean. He died at the age of 55. The Monthly Magazine, May 1st 1811 stated "This truely pious man had, only an hour before, performed his sacred duties at the parish church of Walford, and was preparing to enter the church at Ruardean, when he was instantaneously seized, and expire in the arms, and amidst the tears, of his flock. His death will long be regretted by all who knew his unassuming merits, both as a scholarand private character, and deeply lamented by a disconsolate widow and numerous family". Alicia lived until 1849, dying in her 87th year.

(3) Rev. Thomas Dudley Fosbroke was an antiquarian and curate before serving as vicar of Walford and Ruardean from 1810 until his death in 1842, aged 72 years. A tablet in the church says - for 32 years he faithfully discharged the duties of those parishes... in the literary world he had attained a high degree of eminence as a scholar, an antiquarian and local historian.

(4) Rev. Arthur Stonhouse attended Wadham College, Oxford and was instituted at Walford St Leonards in 1842. He was married to Sophia Shephard of Clifton, Bristol. She died in 1868. Rev. Stonhouse conveyed land in 1872 for Walford School to be built on what was formerly one acre of glebe land. The purpose was to provide a school for poor children of the Parish. He died 17 October 1883.

(5) Rev. Octavius James Ellis attended Trinity College, Dublin, and was instituted at Bishopswood in 1872. He was formerly a Master at Cheltenham college.

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Click here for more about Walford and some of the Burgums and Burghams who lived there.