BISHOP'S FROOME is a village and extensive and fertile parish consisting of the townships above named, distant 4¾ miles S. of Bromyard, 8 N.N.W. of Ledbury, 9 N.W. of Malvern, and about 12½ N.E. of Hereford; is in Radlow hundred, Bromyard union, petty sessional division, and county court district, and is a polling place for county elections. The population in 1861 (exclusive of Eggleton***, a detached township in Ledbury union) was 850; in 1871, 814; inhabited houses, 194; families or separate occupiers, 208. Eggleton contained in 1871 a population of 135, with 29 inhabited houses and 30 families or separate occupiers. The area of the parish is 3,950a. 3r. 29p., and the rateable value, £7,041 2s. 6d. Eggleton contains about 630 acres, the rateable value being £905. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor, and the principal landowners are Rev. William Parsons Hopton, Major Browne, James Moilliet, Esq., James Thomas Mutlow, Esq., Elisha Caddick, Esq., James Gardener, Esq., John Imms, Esq., and John Allcott, Esq. The soil is loamy clay; subsoil, pure clay; chief crops, hops, apples, wheat, beans, peas, and pasture.

Bishop's Froome is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of South Froome; living, a vicarage; value, £496 tithe rentcharge, with residence and 126 acres of glebe; patron, John Hopton, Esq.; vicar, Rev. William Parsons Hopton, M.A., of Trinity College, Oxford, who was instituted in 1826, and is also prebendary of Hereford and rural dean. The parish register begins with the year 1564. The church (St. Mary's) was thoroughly restored, and a new aisle added in 1861, at a cost of £2,020, defrayed by rate and subscription. The nave is divided from the chancel by handsome Norman arches; the chancel was rebuilt in 1835 at a cost of £600. The eastern windows contain handsomely stained glass, giving nine pictorial illustrations of the birth and death of our Saviour; the crucifixion being in the centre. There are some noticeable monumental remains here. The tower, which is square and embattled, contains a clock and a peal of six bells. A new porch was erected in 1872 at a cost of £100.

A church, dedicated to St. Matthew, was erected in 1864-65 at Froome's Hill, as a chapel of ease to the parish church. It was built from the designs of F. R. Kempson, Esq., of Hereford, and is an excellent specimen of the Early English style; cost £1,100, towards which the Church Building Society contributed £110, the remainder being made up by subscription. The building accommodates about 100 persons, and consists of nave with south porch, a double bell-cot on west gable, chancel with circular apse, and vestry on north side of chancel. There is a national school for boys and girls, with a certificated master, under Government inspection; average attendance, 78. Many bequests have been left to the poor of this parish. There is a Congregational chapel at Froome's Hill. Cheyney Court, the seat of James Moilliet, Esq., J.P. for Worcestershire, is a fine modern mansion. Hall Court is the residence of Major John Michael Browne, J.P., D.L. Halmond's Froome is a township S.E. of the village; Leadon, Stanford Regis, and Walton are also townships.

***The township of Eggleton will be found under a separate heading.