Benbow Pond at Hill Farm near Castle Fromme

President Rasmussen at the close of our meeting at Benbow Pond.

The farmhouse where John Benbow lived.  It appears that many of the outbuildings would have been standing in 1840.

My favorite missionary again!

It has been a dry year, so the water level is low in Benbow pond. 

This is the text of the marker placed in front of the pond:

 Wilford Woodruff at Hill Farm

On 4 March 1840, Elder Wilford Woodruff, and Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and William Benbow, a recent convert, visited John and Jane Benbow here at Hill Farm.  Sent from America to preach by Church president Joseph Smith, Elder Woodruff had been teaching and baptising in the Staffordshire area when he was prompted by the Lord to journey southward.  William brought him here to his brother's home.  John Benbow, a yeoman farmer and freeholder of this property, and his wife were affiliated with the United Brethren, a group of dissenters from the Primitive Methodist Church who held meetings here.  Elder Woodruff's journal records:  'I told Mr. Benbow I would like to commence my Master's business by preaching the gospel to the people....  I also preached at the same place on the following evening, and baptised six persons, including Mr. John Benbow, his wife, and four preachers of the United Brethren.  I spent most of the following day in clearing out a pool of water and preparing it for baptising, as I saw that many would receive that ordinance.  "I continued to preach and baptise daily.  The first thirty days after my arrival in Herefordshire, I had baptised forty-five preachers and one hundred and sixty members of the United Brethren.'  By December 1840, Elder Woodruff had baptised more than 300 persons and, together with other missionaries, converted 1200 others in the Malvern area.  The Benbows later assisted in financing the first British publication of the Book of Mormon.  Elder Woodruff's great missionary success helped create a strong foundation for the Church in Great Britain.  'The people were praying for light and truth,' he wrote, 'and the Lord sent me to them.'  This marker placed in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Great Britain, 1897.  This marker was dedicated by Jeffrey R. Holland in 1987.