St Mary the Virgin's Church, Yazor

St Mary the Virgin’s Church stands in the quiet village of Yazor, Herefordshire, on the edge of farmland. Built between 1843 and 1855, it replaced an older church a field away whose churchyard holds a Second World War soldier’s war grave. The building is made of local sandstone with Welsh slate roofs and follows a cruciform plan. A tall tower at the east end serves as porch and belfry, while an apsidal chancel faces west. The spire rises above two tiers of lucarnes and ends in a wrought-iron cross. The church is notable for its patrons and designers. Sir Uvedale Price and his son Sir Robert paid for its construction, costing £3,883. George Moore acted as main architect, and the rector Rev R. L. Freer designed the spire and interior fittings. Inside, the ceiling shows carved wooden angels and a painted plaster dado with eight rows of rampant lions. William Warrington’s stained glass from about 1845 fills the apse with scenes of the Ascension, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. Visitors enter through four steps on the tower’s east side and find stone benches along the porch walls. The nave’s plastered walls remain uncoloured, while the chancel is richly painted. A 15th-century octagonal font stands near the carved oak screens dividing nave and transepts. The two-manual organ by Gray and Davison, though unplayable, still occupies its original position. Metal plaques beneath the apse windows carry the Magnificat, Creed, Ten Commandments, Lord’s Prayer, and Nunc Dimittis.