TEDSTONE WAFER is a very small parish situated on the borders of Worcestershire, about 4 miles N.N.E. of Bromyard, 9 S.E. of Tenbury, 14 N.W. of Worcester, and 17 N.E. of Hereford; is in Broxash hundred, Bromyard union, petty sessional division, and county court district, and is the head of a polling district (High Lane in this parish being the polling place) for county elections. The population in 1861 was 74; in 1871, 64; inhabited houses, 16; families or separate occupiers, 21; area of parish, 675a. 1r. 21p.; annual rateable value, £757. The Right Hon. Earl Somers, of Eastnor castle, Ledbury, is lord of the manor. William Barneby, Esq., of Saltmarshe castle, Bromyard, is owner of the parish. The soil is a light clay, producing wheat, beans, hops, fruit, barley, &c. Tedstone Wafer is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of North Froome; living, a rectory, with that of Edvin Loach (Worcestershire) annexed; joint value, £152, with 35 acres of glebe; patron, William Barneby, Esq.; rector, Rev. David Nicholl, B.A., of Jesus College, Oxford, who was instituted in 1873, and resides at Edvin Loach rectory.

New churches have been recently erected at Tedstone Wafer and Edvin Loach, and the consecration took place on October 28th, 1873. The unusual circumstance of two churches in consolidated parishes being consecrated in one day was sufficiently remarkable to render the event more than ordinarily noteworthy. Both the churches are designed to supersede older structures, which have fallen into decay. Their erection is due to the generosity of the late Edmund Higginson, Esq., of Saltmarshe castle, and on his death William Barneby, Esq., his successor in the property, carried out the intentions of the founder, by furnishing both the churches with their several fittings, also with communion plate, altar cloths, &c. The churches are calculated to contain about 60 sittings each, and are erected at some distance from each other, both being placed in commanding situations; the elegant spire of Edvin Loach serving especially as a landmark throughout a wide tract of thickly-wooded country, beautifully diversified with hill and dale.

The church of Tedstone Wafer was designed by Mr. Haycock, of Shrewsbury, and is dedicated to St. James. The chancel is raised by five steps from the nave, which is separated from it by a low screen of Bath stone, having insertions of variegated marble at intervals. The east window has shafts of black marble, and the chancel has a beautifully sculptured stone screen in the south transept. The High Lane elementary district schools were founded by the late Edmund Higginson, Esq., for the parishes of Tedstone Wafer and Edvin Loach, and portions of the parishes of Upper Sapey, Tedstone Delamere, Lower Sapey, Wolferlow, and Norton. They are chiefly supported by William Barneby, Esq., and are under government inspection. The total average attendance of boys, girls, and infants is about 80.