The July EMAS Field Trip is to Kilpeck Church, Dore Abbey and Hereford Cathedral.

The name "Kilpeck" comes from the Welsh, "Kil", a monastic cell or hermitage, and the name "Pedic", or "Pedoric." In AD 650 Kilpeck was given to the Diocese of Llandaff. After the Norman Conquest, the manor of Kilpeck was given to William fitz Norman, who built the Kilpeck Castle, but it was William’s son Hugh de Kilpeck who built the church.

Kilpeck church is an attractive three-celled Norman structure with an extremely interesting corbel table and a finely sculpted south door. The interior of the church, with its two Norman arches is delightful.

Immediately west of the church is Kilpeck Castle, a motte & bailey with fragmentary remains of a polygonal shell keep.

Dore Abbey was founded as a Cistercian Abbey by Lord Robert D'Ewyas in 1147. After the Dissolution, the abbey was granted to the Scudamores who used it as a stone quarry for a hundred years. During this time the monastic buildings and the upper parts of the abbey church were demolished. In 1632, however, the 1st Viscount Scudamore was persuaded by his friend, Archbishop Laud to restore what remained of the chancel and transepts. He also added a small tower.

The See of Hereford has been described as "one of the few bishoprics which have come down almost without interruption from the first establishment of Christianity in our land until the present day." It is certainly considered the most ancient in England.

In AD 672, the Synod of Hertford, held by Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury, decided that the Mercian region should be divided up into several new dioceses. The old Celtic See of Caerfawydd was confirmed amongst these with the appointment of Bishop Putta, who was brought from Rochester. The eastern portion of the old diocese was given to the new Bishop of Worcester but, in recommence, King Merewalh of Magonset erected a grand new cathedral in Hereford. The Anglo-Saxon cathedral was burnt down during a Welsh raid in 1055 and a new cathedral was not started until 1079.

The Norman building is still evident in the chancel, transepts and nave arcades, but the cathedral also contains worthwhile examples of all the other periods of medieval architecture.