LOWER SAPEY

Descriptive Notes:
Also known as Sapey Pritchard, sometimes spelt Sapey Pitchard [15] [25] [11]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Originally a chapel in Clifton-upon-Teme Ancient Parish, Lower Sapey, or Sapey Prichard, was perhaps a separate parish as early as 1291 and had a separate civil identity early. It had all ecclesiastical rights except burial until completely independent in 18th century. [25] It was created a civil parish in 1895. [11]

Location:
13 miles N.W. of Worcester off the B4204

Parish Church:
St. Bartholomew
O.S. Ref:
SO699602 - Old St.Bartholomew Church in Clifton-upon-Teme, sign posted from Hope Lane.
The church was declared redundant on 20 July 1993 and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[80]
SO687612 - a new church was built in 1876 at nearby Harpley.

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry of Salop, Diocese of Hereford until 1919, when transferred to the Diocese of Worcester. [1][5]

Hundred:
Upper Doddingtree [11] [25] [28]

Poor Law Union:
Bromyard (1836 - circa 1894), Martley (circa 1894 - 1930) [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Upper Sapey (Herefordshire); Clifton on Teme; Tedstone De La Mere (Herefordshire); Tedstone Wafer (Herefordshire); Wolferlow (Herefordshire) [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1674-1969	[5]
	Marriages	1674-1969	[5]
	Burials	1878-1970	[5]
	Banns	1754-1811, 1824-[1969]	[5]
Originals at WRO	Christenings	1674-1993	[12]
	Marriages	1674-1993	[12]
	Burials	1878-1993	[12]

Pre 1878 parishioners of Lower Sapey had the right to be buried at Clifton upon Teme as there was no burial ground at Lower Sapey.[5]

Bishops' Transcripts: Herefordshire Record Office

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1661-1849
	Marriages	1661-1845

Register Copies:
At Society of Genealogists [68] :-
Christenings 1636-38, 1661-1849, Marriages 1663-67, 1673-1838, 1845 (BTs) [Microfilm.] - Published Salt Lake City, UT (USA) : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1981
Hereford Diocese marriage licence registers 1663-96, 1709-1843 [with contemporary indexes] [Microfilm.] - Published Salt Lake City Genealogical Society of Utah

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
Names of persons buried in churchyard ([early 20th century], microfilm) Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]

Census Records:
Access to all the censuses between 1841 and 1901 is now widely available on the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk at most record offices. You are strongly advised to book time on their computers before making a visit.
The findmypast.co.uk website offers access to the 1911 census. This is a Subscription or PayAsYouGo site. 
Many commercial organisations have issued CDs and DVDs covering all the censuses from 1841 to 1901.

Some repositories offer census details on microfiche as listed below:
1841 51 1901 at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [14]
Herefordshire 1851 census returns : Bromyard registration district HO 107/1980 [Microfilm.] - Published London Public Record Office 2003
Herefordshire 1891 census returns: Bromyard registration district RG 12/2069-2071 [Microfilm.] - Published London Public Record Office 2003

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1878-1900 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Extent [c.1550]

Directories:
SAPEY-PRITCHARD, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of DODDINGTREE, county of WORCESTER, 5¾ miles (N.E. by N.) from Bromyard, containing 200 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £4. 4. 2., and in the patronage of P. Rufford, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Bartholomew. A court leet is annually held here. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

St Bartholomew Old Church is set in beautiful and remote countryside. This humble but delightful church is perched on a steep bank above a stream and reached by a long winding lane. A 17th century timber-framed farmhouse is its only neighbour.

The charm and interest of St Bartholomew’s lie in the fact that little has changed since it was built in Norman times. It is very simple in form. The oak porch, weathered to a beautiful silvery-grey, leads to a splendid door set within a fine Norman doorway. Inside the church is simplicity itself – plain plastered walls and ceilings, a floor made of clay and gravel, and a little west gallery. Wall paintings are faintly visible on the north wall of the church. You can just make out part of a lion, from a 17th century royal coat of arms. Other fragments date from the Middle Ages.

Most of the fittings were transferred when a new and more convenient parish church was built in Victorian times. St Bartholomew’s was neglected for more than a century after this, and was even used as a farm building. Only in the last 20 years, thanks to efforts of local people, has it been rescued from oblivion. If you visit in the summer, when the countryside is at its most lush and a mass of honeysuckle hangs over the porch, it is a truly unforgettable experience.[40]

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 8th February 2010

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