Kempley

Kempley is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire. It lies northwest of Gloucester and of Hereford. The nearest market towns of Newent and Ledbury are and away respectively. The village maintains the Kempley Tardis (a redundant telephone box) - a National Lottery funded project supported by English Heritage. The project, which is run by the Friends of Kempley Churches, aims to archive and document the entire social, economic and cultural history of the village. In March 1994 fields near the village were found to contain the remains of two of the victims of serial killer Fred West. The small parish (280 residents) has two notable churches, one dedicated to St Mary and another to St Edward the Confessor. St Mary's Church St Mary's Church, Kempley has in its chancel "the most complete set of Romanesque frescos in northern Europe", including the Christ in Majesty painting created in about 1120. On the walls of the nave are further images, including a wheel of life, showing the life cycle of man. These are worked in tempera painted on dry lime mortar, unlike those in the chancel which are true frescoes. St Mary's Church is owned by English Heritage and maintained by The Friends of Kempley Churches.(Location: )