Bishop's Frome · Herefordshire · est. by the parish, long before any of us
We are the trustees of a handful of old endowments — fuel for cold houses, a hand into apprenticeship, a contribution to the church fabric — left to the village of Bishop's Frome by neighbours we never met, and still doing quiet good in the Frome Valley.
What we hold, where it lands, how we work
There is nothing here that has not been done a thousand times before by other parishes. We try to do it slowly, accurately, and in a way the village can read for itself.
01 · The bequests
Three constituent endowments, consolidated for ease of administration: a small parcel of meadow whose rent funds winter fuel, a tiny educational bequest that helps a parish young person into a trade, and a contribution towards the fabric of St Mary's church. None of them are large. All of them have lasted.
02 · Where the help lands
Our area of benefit is the ecclesiastical parish of Bishop's Frome — the village itself, Halmond's Frome up the lane, and Fromes Hill on the ridge above the cider orchards. About 806 souls at the last census. We do not work beyond the parish boundary.
03 · How we work
Two trustees, four meetings a year, one annual return to the Charity Commission. Grants are read and signed by hand. Records are kept in a brown box file in Bishop's Frome. Anyone in the parish can ask to see them on a fortnight's notice.
In quiet numbers
For full year-by-year figures (income £44, expenditure £0 for the year ending 31 December 2024), please see our annual reports.
The three bequests
01 · Fuel
A two-acre meadow on the north side of the village, let to a neighbouring farmer. The rent is distributed each November as small fuel vouchers to parish households over 70 living on their own.
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02 · A start in trade
A small one-off grant to a parish resident under 25 entering an apprenticeship — a contribution towards tools, a first set of work clothes, or the cost of a college day-release. One award most years; occasionally two.
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03 · Stone, timber, slate
An annual contribution towards the upkeep of St Mary's — the parish church, with its medieval font and oak-roofed nave. Used only for fabric (roof, walls, glass, lych gate), never for general parish costs.
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A small appeal · 2026
The oak uprights of the lych gate at St Mary's have lasted since the late nineteenth century, but the south post has begun to rot at its base. With the parochial church council, we are raising a modest sum to replace the post in seasoned English oak, rebed the threshold stone, and put another century into the gate.
Three small stories
Elsie, 84 · Bishop's Frome
Elsie has lived in the same stone cottage on the lane behind the church for fifty-one years. Last November the trustees' fuel voucher arrived on a Thursday morning, with the wind already turning. She tells us the cottage is small enough that the first night with the range lit is the only proper notice winter ever gives.
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Thomas, 19 · Halmond's Frome
Tom started his apprenticeship at a small cidery up the lane in March. The Apprentice Bequest paid for his work boots, two pairs of waterproof trousers, and the half-day his college charges for a folder of paperwork. He is the eighth Tom in the parish records since 1900; the bequest has helped four of them.
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Margaret, 72 · Fromes Hill
The medieval font at St Mary's is older than the parish charities by more than five hundred years. Margaret has been a volunteer cleaner there since her children were small. Last spring the Church Fabric Fund paid for a new oak font cover, made by a joiner in Bromyard from a single piece of windblown timber.
Read the full storyA handful of dates in the parish year
A long-running parish fixture — tea, bara brith, the trustees on hand to answer any questions about the bequests. No tickets, no charge, an honesty jar by the kettle.
A short, slow walk along the river towpath in hop-picking season, led by a parish trustee. Two miles, mostly flat, one stile. Boots advised.
The annual carol service. Mince pies in the church porch afterwards, paid for from the Church Fabric Fund's small refreshments budget. Everyone welcome.
Three short letters from the parish
The public footpath across the meadow has been remarked and a new kissing-gate fitted. The Poor's Land has been the same shape on the tithe map for the better part of two hundred years.
Read on
St Mary's font is over seven hundred years old. The new oak cover, paid for from the Church Fabric Fund, was made by a joiner from Bromyard whose grandfather restored the pulpit in 1948.
Read on
How the Apprentice Bequest works in 2026, what we can pay for, what we cannot, and why we still take applications in writing on a single side of paper.
Read onWhat people in the parish have said about the work
'The voucher came on a Thursday morning, with the wind already turning. I have been here fifty-one years, and the trustees know my range as well as I do.'
Elsie · 84 · Bishop's Frome
