Knill is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England.

History

Recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenille (from the Old English meaning 'Place by the hillock'), the small village of Knill is just inside the Herefordshire border with Wales, 4.5 km south west of Presteigne and set within "The Marches" as these borderlands are known. The ancient boundary between Mercia and the Welsh, Offa's Dyke, runs along the ridge above the village with the modern border running along the 'Hidden Valley' floor. The population of the village in the 1861 census was 84 but has declined to figures in the 20s. The parish church of St Michael dates from the 12th century and is a Grade II* listed building. Inside are the funerary hatchments of the Walsham family, who formerly lived at Knill Court, a large country house that was destroyed by a fire in 1943. Knill is one of two Thankful Villages in Herefordshire – those rare places that suffered no fatalities during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. There is thus no war memorial in the village but in the parish church there is a carved stone plaque on the wall, with the inscription: TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN THANKSGIVING TO HIM FOR THE VICTORY GRANTED TO US IN THE GREAT WAR OF 1914–1918 AND FOR HIS MERCIES IN BRINGING SAFELY HOME THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY OVERSEAS