Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Madley

Madley is the start of a one-day pilgrimage to Hereford Cathedral, an eight-mile walk across countryside, and is also visited by the Golden Valley Pilgrim Way

Highlights

• Former shrine of the Blessed Virgin
• Home town of St Dyfrig

I broke through cobwebs to enter Madley’s holy crypt, finding its hidden door behind an ancient box pew. At the bottom of a narrow flight of steps is a vaulted chamber where a famous miracle-working statue of the Virgin Mary once stood.

Though empty and peaceful now, it once received so many pilgrims that a second staircase had to be installed. There is an altar here and a colourful modern wall painting behind it, but when I visited nothing that remembered the Blessed Virgin herself. It was first restored in 2007, and would make a wonderfully evocative Lady Chapel.

A record in Hereford Cathedral, dated 1318,refers to Madley’s shrine and its popularity with pilgrims. The church is dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an unusual dedication. The building’s size alone indicates how extensively the statue was venerated.

The stairs to the crypt are at the front of the nave on the left, at the base of the chancel arch. Walk along a very narrow corridor beside the large private box pew and go through the small door at the back. The way is now illuminated by a light, installed after my visit.

Another saint is linked to Madley. St Dyfrig was born here in around 550 and perhaps founded the first church before heading to Wales (he has another local church at Hentland. Nothing of such early date survives in this mainly 13th-century building, but it does have medieval wall paintings on the chancelarch and some stained-glass scenes. The huge Norman font is one of the largest in any English church, a rounded stone tub.

Directions

Madley Parish Church, Madley HR2 9DP

www.wyedoreparishes.org.uk

W3W: sides.scowls.ignore

GPS: 52.0440N 2.8472W

The church guide is available online (see website details above). The church is unlocked in the day, easy to find in the middle of Madley village, just south of the B4352 main road.