Urishay Castle

Urishay Castle stands in a quiet Herefordshire valley about two and a half kilometres west of Peterchurch. The site includes the ruins of a 16th-century chapel and the remains of a 17th-century house built on an earlier motte. The name recalls Ulric or Urri, a twelfth-century tenant, and the old word for a woodland enclosure where wild game was trapped. Once a full castle, it was turned into a large house before being dismantled in 1921. The chapel ruins are now looked after by the Friends of Friendless Churches. The chapel’s chancel still holds a stone altar marked with five crosses. The whole site is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a grade II* Listed Building. A 15th-century room from the castle was taken to Baker University in Kansas and rebuilt there as the Urishay Room around 1908. Historic Herefordshire’s castle survey includes an illustration of the remains and a detailed description. Visitors find grassy mounds where the motte once rose and the low walls of the ruined house. The chapel’s chancel arch frames a view of the surrounding fields. The altar inside the chapel shows the simple crosses carved centuries ago. The Friends of Friendless Churches keep the chapel clear of undergrowth. Beyond the ruins, the Herefordshire countryside stretches out in gentle folds.