How Caple
village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, UK
How Caple is a village and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 118.
To the east of the village, on the main B4224 road, is the hamlet of Crossway. How Caple is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.
How Caple Church
How Caple church is more than 800 years old. The earliest parts of the church date to around 1210 but Roman artefacts suggest the existence of an even earlier temple. Rebuilding of the nave, chancel, and tower happened in 1693
The church’s features include an alleged plague stone outside, chancel corbels dating to the 1200s, a 14th century lavacrum, a reredos from 1918 depicting the last supper, and a diptych, possibly made in Germany, depicting eight religious scenes and acquired for How Caple church in 1870 from the Netherlands.
Between the chancel and the body of the church is a rood screen attributed to Grinling Gibbons.
The art historian Nikolaus Pevsner includes How Caple church in his “ The Buildings of England” Series, noting the acanthus decoration of the font that is now in the entrance, and confirming the main font as “Late Norman with haphazard vegetable and geometrical motifs”
The church has become popular for weddings.
The Gregory Chapel
The southern transept was built in 1693 by Sir William Gregory the lord of How Caple manor.
The public source identifies “How Caple” as village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, UK. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Caple, village and civil.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “How Caple”, the useful work is to connect “village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, UK” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 8, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q13728586. Authority coordinates are 51.971, -2.576. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 1086, 1210 and 1693.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “How Caple”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow How Caple primary sources, How Caple archive and Caple research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “How Caple”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “How Caple” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.