Abel Monument About 2 Yards West of the South Porch of the Church of St Mary is a Grade II listed building in the Herefordshire, County of local planning authority area, England. First listed on 16 July 1987. Monument.
Abel Monument About 2 Yards West of the South Porch of the Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- lesser-finial-vermeil
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Herefordshire, County of
- Constituency
- North Herefordshire MP: Dr Ellie Chowns (Green)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 16 July 1987
- Type
- Monument
- OS grid reference
- SO 374 509
- Coordinates
- 52.15297, -2.91548
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Abel Monument is a chest tomb located about 2 yards west of the south porch of the Church of St Mary. It dates from around 1694 and was restored in 1858 and again in 1886. The tomb features squared sandstone rubble sides topped with a flat moulded chamfered capping. The re-cut inscription reads:
This craggy stone a covering (is for an Architect's bed) That lofty buildings rais'd high (yet now lays low his head) His line and rules so death con (cludes are locked up in stone) Build they who list or they who (wist for he can build no more) His house of clay could hold no longer May Heaven's joy build him astronger
This memorial is in memory of John Abel, an architect who died in 1694 at the age of 97. The inscription includes the phrase "Vivent vivas in vitam aternam" and notes that it was restored by subscription in 1858. On the south side, there is a plaque that states it was restored in 1886 by The National Society for Preserving the Memorials of the Dead.
Local climate
Abel Monument About 2 Yards West of the South Porch of the Church of St Mary receives an average of 830 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 53% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 61% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 44 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 86% of listed buildings. Of these, 23 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
- 1 Abel Monument in the Churchyard Approximately 1 Metre West of North Aisle to Church of St Leonard
- 2 Monument to George Abell South of West End of St Leonards Church
- 3 Tomb of Frances and John Abel, Earlham Cemetery
- 4 Abraham Monument in Churchyard, About 4 Metres East of Chancel, Church of St Stephen
- 5 Isaac Monument About 4 Metres South of North Boundary Wall, in North East Angle of Churchyard of Church of St Bartholomew
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