25 May 2026 St Mary Magdalene Church in Eardisley and Stokesay Castle

 Moving day today. Checked out of one hotel, saw a couple of sights in between, then checked in to a Holiday Inn Express, and I don't feel any smarter.

Today I decided to not drive to small one lane roads where my GPS wants to take me. The hedges are so high on the sides, that when you meet another car head on, there's barely enough room left over to get by. So, I directed my GPS to take the wider roads, and the fates were still aligned against me. 

I knew it was going to take longer to get to my destination, but I was okay with that. When the cars in front of me were all at a standstill, and the GPS said it was only an extra 20 minute wait, I said fine. 30 Minutes later I got to the front, and the cars that I kept seeing going the other direction, were the cars that had been in front of me. A Lorry was broken down in the road, so it was tough to get around it. Then, there was a one lane bridge under construction, so that slowed us all up, but no biggie, my blood pressure wasn't increasing, and I was good, I had all day. Then, after running the temporary red light that would never turn green, I got across the bridge, and there were some railroad tracks. The crossing rails/arms were down. I guy walked back to me and said '" You might as well turn around, Mate, the train tracks are broke and nobody can get through."

I finally got to where I wanted to go an hour and forty five minutes late. Doesn't matter what I try to do, somethings working against me. Oh well, and my golf buddy Danny McLendon says, it beats sitting on the couch watching TV. At least I had gorgeous views of the countryside, and it was a hot sunny day. No rain! This is from the top of the South tower at Stokesay castle.


My first stop was St Mary Magdalene Church in Eardisley, Herefordshire. There used to be a Castle Eardisley, but it has long since been destroyed, torn down, and lost to humanity. It was originally under possession of Robert de Cliffford in the late 1200's, but passed on to the Baskerville family (the same name that Arthur Conan Doyle used when he wrote the book The Hound of the Baskervilles. This castle =, from what I have read, was never stone, just a wooden motte and bailey castle with a gatehouse. By the time Owain Glyndwr started his 15 year revolt, the castle was dilapidated. It was then burnt completely to the ground during the English Civil War.





The first thing I noticed was that the belfry was a square tower, similar to the one in Bronllys yesterday. The good thing about the church I went to, is that it was stone, and just about as old as the castle. I am sure that the Baskervilles attended services there, but could not find any proof of such. Still, the town of Eardisley has the following ancestors associated with it:

Robert de Clifford 1274-1314

John Baskerville 1471-1556

Walter de Baskerville 1280-1319

Richard de Baskerville 1235-1297

Sir John Baskerville 1387-1455

Sir James Baskerville 1436-1499

Sybil Baskerville 1442-?

Jane Murfine 1502-1565

Alice Goddard 1468-?

Ralph Baskerville 1128-1191


After my traffic woes, I arrived at Stokesay Castle. The builder (of the stone castle) according to the English Heritage guidebook was Lawrence of Ludlow, a wealthy wool merchant who had ties to Edward Longshanks when he was just a Prince. My genealogy software actually has the castle being there during his father Matthews (1180-1250's) lifetime. Either way, the castle was passed along to different families, and finally ending up in the hands of William Craven, and soldier from the nearby town of the same name. He was in charge of the castle when the English Civil War occurred, 


The gatehouse was built in typical Tudor style, and fortunately, when the English Parliamentarian Troops under Cornwell showed up to "Slight the Castle" Craven surrendered right away, and the castle was spared, although the curtain wall surrounding the moat was torn down, a small price to pay.


The castle eventually fell into disuse, and was in pretty sad shape until around 1850, when the local Lord, still a Craven, started fixing it up, and its being fixed up today. There were a lot of swallows flying in and out of the great hall when I was there, and some even made their nest on the beams holding up the roof and ceilings. Just look for the bird poop on the floor, look up, and there's the culprit.

 

Ancestors associated with Stokesay castle are those listed above, along with a Sir Robert de Vernon, who was born there in 1500.


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