It's a beautiful morning so we're on our way to Moccas, outside Hereford, for a spot of church-drawling again. En route our eye is caught by the beautiful sight of St Lawrence's Preston-on-Wye across what might once have been a fish-pond. Gorgeous!

The church had a drastic Victorian makeover c.1883, and the very pretty pooch dates from then, but inside you can see the remains of its Norman foundation in the deeply embrasured window and blocked north doorway. Few churches stand still, and you can also see the remains of the fourteenth century generously-sized Huntley Chapel, and also the inserted stairway up to the rood loft from the fifteenth century (few lofts date to earlier than that: they were introduced only just before the Reformation made them an anachronism).

The churchyard is suspiciously raised and rounded and I'd have said "Amglo-Saxon" if this hand't been such disputed territory at the time. That learned source Wikipedia tells that

According to the Book of Llandaff a local warrior prince, Gwrfoddw, who was king of Ergyng, after a victory in battle over the Saxons granted land at Bolgros to Bishop Ufelfyw - Bolgros was said to be "on the banks of the Wye, at some distance from Mochros (now Moccas)" - in thanksgiving for the victory. Bolgros is believed to have been Preston-on-Wye, and a church was built on the site of the present church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, St Peter, St Dubricius and St Peter.

I haven't time to dig into the archaeological record at the moment, but there sounds to be an interesting story and puzzle here.