Whitchurch, Herefordshire

Whitchurch is a village in Herefordshire named after the church of Saint Dubricius which was originally white in colour.

Whitchurch
St Dubricius Church, Whitchurch
Whitchurch Location within Herefordshire
Population	970 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SO550174
Unitary authority	Herefordshire
Ceremonial county	Herefordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ROSS-ON-WYE
Postcode district	HR9
Dialling code	01600
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Hereford and South Herefordshire

West front of St Dubricius' parish church

Whitchurch is situated on the A40, connecting nearby Ross-on-Wye to Welsh town Monmouth. It is located near Symonds Yat and the Doward hills, so the village is used to tourists.

Until the 9th century, when it was taken over by Mercia, this area was within the Welsh kingdom of Ergyng. After the Norman conquest, the area became known as Archenfield and was governed as part of the Welsh Marches. It became part of Herefordshire, and England, in the 16th century, although the use of Welsh in the area remained strong until the 19th century.[2] The Welsh name for the village, Llandywynnog, means "church of Tywynnog", derived from a personal name Gwynnog.[3]

Within the parish in Symonds Yat (West) is the Old Court (now the Old Court Hotel) which was the ancestral home of the Gwillim family including Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim. Thomas Gwillim built the Gwillim family burial enclosure at the church in 1744. John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (1791–1796) and founder of Toronto, named Whitchurch Township in Ontario after the birthplace of his wife, Elizabeth Gwillim.

The primary school is Whitchurch Church of England Primary School, which holds awards for Investors in People and Eco Schools.