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The
first
element of the name Rowlstone
appears to be an Old Norse personal one with
the whole name meaning Rolf’s
or Hroaldr’s tun
or estate. Earlier forms include Rolueston,
Rouleston and Rolleston. At
the time of the Domesday survey the parish lay
in the hundred of Cutestorn.
To
the east of Rowlstone is the village of Ewyas
Harold where Osbern Pentecost built one of the
two earliest castles in Britain. Osbern
was a follower of Edward the Confessor’s
nephew Ralph, who was brought to England from
Normandy as Earl of Hereford. The parish
of Rowlstone, at that time, lay immediately on
the border between England and Wales. The
survival of Welsh place-names in the area is strong;
over one third of the field names recorded in
the Rowlstone tithe apportionment are Welsh.
The
British church may have been active in this area
of what is now Herefordshire from the late 6th
century, from which time a church at Clodock may
date. The former Welsh parishes were transferred
from the diocese of St David’s to that of
Hereford in 1852.
After
the Norman Conquest, the Welsh territory to the
east of the Black Mountains was occupied by Walter
de Lacy who had been authorised to take and hold
what he could. This area, which includes
the parish of Rowlstone, later became known as
Ewyas Lacy.
Although Rowlstone does not appear in Domesday,
Henry de Ferieres, one of the smaller Herefordshire
tenants-in-chief, held three churches in Cutestorn
Hundred within the jurisdiction of Ewyas Harold
castle. Roger (probably Roger de Lacy, son
of Walter) held these under him. One of
these is very likely to be Rowlstone, as this
church, together with Llancillo
and neighbouring Walterstone was later given to
Llanthony
Abbey by the de Lacys.
Roger
de Lacy himself held the territory which comprised
the parishes of Rowlstone and Llancillo.
This was held under him by two Normans named William
and Osbern, one of whom, or their successors,
would have been responsible for the construction
of the castle at Rowlstone.
In
the 13th century John de Turberville
held Rowlstone, obtaining a charter of free warren
in 1266. Land in Rowlstone was held, in
the 14th century by the Dinmore preceptory
of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, which had
a bailiff for their possessions in the parish.
The
manor of Rowlstone passed into the hands of the
Scudamore family at the beginning of the 14th
century when John, son of Vincent Skydemor
of Berguenny (Abergavenny) became lord
having paid £100 to Robert de Oka.
Kentchurch Court later became the main Scudamore
seat in the area and in 1470 Roger Bodenham had
Rowlstone “to hold of the chief lord
[Scudamore] in fee by usual service”.
Roger was the son-in-law of the previous tenant,
Thomas Bromwyche, whose daughter, Joan, he had
married.
Rowlstone
church, St Peter’s, has a Norman nave with
some of the best examples of the work of the Herefordshire
School of masons.
There
is no recent history of Rowlstone but
Historic Herefordshire On Line has records
of archaeological sites in Rowlstone.
For
historical material on Rowlstone as part of Ewyas
Lacy visit the website Longtown
Historical Society Archive
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