HOW CAPLE is a small parish beautifully situated upon an eminence overlooking the river Wye, and near the road leading from Ross to Hereford, via Fownhope. It is distant 5 miles N. of Ross, 10½ S.E. of Hereford, and about 2 E. of Fawley station on the Hereford, Ross, and Gloucester branch of the Great Western railway; is in Greytree hundred, Ross union, petty sessional division, and county court district, and Fownhope polling district. The population in 1861 was 161; in 1871, 153; inhabited houses, 24; families or separate occupiers, 34; area of parish, 1,020 acres; annual rateable value, £1,661. Mrs. Wood and her sisters are the principal landowners. The soil is a rich loam on a red sandstone formation; chief produce, wheat, barley, roots, &c. The scenery in this locality is very beautiful; a delightful view is obtained from the eminence on which the church stands, looking S.W. How Caple is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Ross, living, a rectory, consolidated with that of Sollershope; joint value, £334, with residence and 111 acres of glebe; patrons, Mrs. Wood and her sisters; rector, Rev. John Norgrave Baker, B.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge, who was instituted in 1851.

The church of St. Mary is a handsome stone building, probably erected in the latter part of the 14th or commencement of the 15th century. It has a massive tower (containing two bells), built by Sir William Gregory (who was formerly owner of the How Caple estate) about the year 1693, and its west face bears his shield of arms. The interior consists of nave, chancel, south transept, and on the north side an ancient porch. The nave and south transept were built by Sir W. Gregory; the latter is where many of the family are buried. In the chancel may be seen a projecting piscina, having a drain which appears to have communicated horizontally with the churchyard. Over the chancel screen is a fine specimen of wood carving - the Royal Arms of England - said to be of foreign workmanship, and carved from one block. In the churchyard the pedestal and part of the shaft are all that remain of the old stone cross. The earliest register is dated 1667. Here is a joint school for the children of this parish and Sollershope; it is chiefly supported by the rector, by whom it was built.