St. Michael’s Church, GarwayA tiny village near the beautiful Wye valley, Garway is one of those places which lie far off the beaten track - you have to really want to get there. And why would you? Well, because Garway is home to one of the most unusual churches in the British Isles. It was the headquarters of the Knights Templar in England. The land at Garway, some 2,000 acres, was given to the Order by King Henry II in 1180. The much-maligned last Grandmaster of the Templars, Jacques de Molay, visited here in 1294. It is believed that a church stood on the site from about the 7th century. The Templars built their own church on the site, which included an unusual circular nave, now changed to a more conventional square shape. There are remains of Templar gravestones and other architectural oddities in the church, including a carved head, often referred to as a “Green Man”.
The piscinaThe piscina is also noteworthy for the unusual carvings around it. There is a winged host with a fish on one side and a snake on the other. On the outside wall of the church there are also several primitive-looking crosses and other symbols carved into the stone.
Nearby is huge medieval dovecote or columbarium dating from about 1326 - reputed to contain 666 perches for the birds - I will take their word for it as it would have been very difficult to count them. There is a hollow in the floor of the dovecote which is now covered by a large worked stone, identified by some as a sundial, and by a local authority as the base stone of a cider press. Others think there may be buried Templar treasure there……
The Columbarium
Another unusual feature in one of the the boundary walls are ‘bee boles’ - recesses in the walls which served as shelter for the old straw skeps that were the original bee hives. Boles sheltered the skeps from wind and rain and kept them off the ground. On the exterior walls of the church are some interesting masons’ marks.
If you do visit Garway please bear in mind that the church (which is open every day) is a Christian place of worship, and the bee boles and the dovecote are on private property.
There is an excellent website about historic Garway.
Templar gravestone used as a window lintel stone.
Templar gravestone under the altar rail
The mysterious head at the entrance to the chancel 
Inside the dovecote
Beeboles in the wall
Masons’ mark
Swastika on exterior wall of the church
Carving above the dovecote entrance
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 1:34PM 
