Eastnor

"EASTNOR, a parish in the hundred of RADLOW, county of HEREFORD, 2 miles (S.E. by E.) from Ledbury, containing 475 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £7. 19. 5., and in the patronage of Earl Somers. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, contains several handsome monuments of marble. The substratum of this parish is a grey limestone, in which shells are found thickly imbedded; it exists in large masses, and being susceptible of a high polish, is much used for chimney-pieces. There are some ancient intrenchments in the parish. Eastnor Castle, the splendid residence of Earl Somers, has been recently rebuilt, at an immense expense, on the plan of the ancient baronial castles. On an eminence in the park is an obelisk, on which are recorded the public acts of Lord Chancellor Somers, as well as a tributary inscription to the memory of the present earl's eldest son, who was slain in the peninsular war." [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England  (1831) ©Mel Lockie]