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A
GUIDE TO LEDBURY.
Ledon, which her way doth through the desert make
Tho, neare to Deane ally'd, determined to forsake. |
| Drayton's Polyolbion. |
DR. HUGHSON, in his "Etymological Prospectus of Herefordshire,
tells us that the name of Ledbury is derived
from the Welsh Led, a vale side, and Berg or Bury
an habitation; but it is more probable that it owes its name
to the River Ledden, which is about one mile west of the
town.
Ledbury is delightfully situated on the main road leading
from Hereford to Tewkesbury, Great Malvern and Worcester,
in the eastern angle of the County of Hereford, on the western
flank, and near the southern extremity of the Malvern Hills,
and on a declivity within a small valley formed by the Dog
Hill and other eminences. It is distant 14½ miles E. of
Hereford, 16 S.W. of Worcester, 16 N.N.W. of Gloucester,
13 N.E. of Ross, 8 S.W. of Malvern, and 120 N.W. by W. of
London.
The Town or Borough of Ledbury lies in Lat. 53°5' North,
longitude 2°20' West, so that the clock at Ledbury ought to be
9'20' slower than London.
The town consists of three lines of streets, crossing each other
at right angles forming as it were a double cross; the principal
street running North and South is called the High Street, in
which stands the Market House. Near this there was formerly
a middle row of houses, called the "Butcher Row" which was
removed some time before the year 1840, the funds being raised
by means of subscriptions, donations, and rates, the latter being
made compulsory by an Act of Parliament.[1]
On the south-west of High Street is New Street, opposite to
which is the Horse Lane, and to the south of these is the
Southend; the Homend extends from the north of the Market
House; on the East of the same building is the Back Lane,
formerly called the Hall-end, and on the west Bye Street;
Church Street is a narrow avenue, parallel with the Back Lane.
Throughout the town are points of interest to the artist and
antiquarian. Many of the houses are of the Tudor period with
projecting stories, and there are some even more ancient.
Ledbury House, or Ledbury Park, at the Upper Cross (the
residence of Mr. Michael Biddulph, M.P.) was built in 1595.
At the time of the Battle of Ledbury, A.D. 1645, it was the
headquarters of Prince Rupert, and then belonged to a family
named Skynner. Opposite is a curious old house projecting
over the pavement on wooden pillars, and in the New Street
is the old Talbot Inn which has a large oak panelled room
with date 1596 A.N. The Feathers Hotel is another good
specimen of old gabled house. The Reading Room and other
houses in the Church Lane are interesting and picturesque.
Near the corner of Bye Street, over the door of the hairdresser's
shop, is the date "1695, W.H.M."
In Domesday, this town was called Liedeberge, and the Bishops
of Hereford had a Palace and Vineyard here and a Park at
Dingwood. A fragment of the old Palace, some carved timber
work, may yet be seen in the wall of a cottage in Bye Street,
formerly Bishop's Street. Here Robert de Bethune died in
1148. King John was frequently at Ledbury, and in 1211, on
the 16th and 17th of March, he stayed at Ledbury, probably
being the guest of the Bishop. Edward II., on his death march
to Berkley Castle, was lodged herein; the Bishop was the
personal enemy of the King. In Edward the First's time the
Vineyard is said to have yielded annually seven pipes of white
wine and nearly one of verjuice.
In this Palace Bishop Swinfield, in 1287, signed a deed which
runs: "Coram nobis Richardo, Dei Gratia Herefordensi
Episcopo in aula nostra de Lodebury". It must have been
tedious travelling in those days, for in 1290 it took Bishop
Swinfield a whole day to get to Much Marcle, a distance of six
miles, where there was no Rector and no hospitality.
Edward IV. marched through Ledbury on his road to
Malvern and Worcester, with his victorious troops, after
the Battle of Mortimer's Cross, which led to the crown of
England.
Her Majesty Queen Victoria also visited Ledbury, when a
girl, staying at Mr. Biddulph's house; in the Park is an elm
tree, which the Queen admired for its size and beauty, which
has ever since been been called the Victoria Elm.
The Manor of Ledbury belonged to the See of Hereford
before the Norman Conquest. The generally received statement,
that Ledbury in Herefordshire was given to the Church
by Edwin the Saxon, is erroneous. The gift he made was
Lidbury, or Ledbury North, in Shropshire - Ledbury borealis -
and it was not given until after the compilation of Domesday,
whereas at that time Ledbury in Herefordshire already belonged
to the Bishops of Hereford; the best proof whereof is, that it is
clearly stated in Domesday, Harold, Earl of Herefordshire, in
the time of Edward the Confessor, had taken away part of the
manor from the Church, and Godric held it under Harold.
William the Conqueror restored to the Church the stolen
portion, then called the "Hasles", and known to this day as
the Hazel Farm.
The Borough is a manor of itself, called Ledbury Denizen,
and extends much beyond the limits of the town; the remainder
of the manor is co-extensive with the parish under the
denomination of the "Manor of Ledbury Foreign", and a few years ago
"Courts Leet" were held annually, at which a mayor and
other officers were appointed.
The holders of demesne lands owed service to the Courts of
Hereford and Ledbury; some of the free tenants paid certain
rent on St. Andrew's Tide, pro done et melle, and the
Annunciation pro presis; some of the customary tenants paid
rent, others paid by working two days in every week from
Michaelmas to the Gule of August; but Aluardus de la Frith,
for the twelve acres which he held, was, besides doing such
work, bound to look after the lord's corn in the autumn - et
custodire latrones infra curiam de Ledbury et si evaserit debit
inde responde, et debet defere literas domini episcopi infra
episcopatum et mandatum domini episcopi vel ejus ballivi.
There is a large wood north of the town called the Frith
wood.
Queen Elizabeth exchanged this manor with the Bishop of
Hereford, and King James the First gave it to his son Charles,
together with East Greenwich in the county of Kent; King
Charles the First mortgaged it to the citizens of London, and
afterwards sold it to them, and they re-sold it in shares to the
predecessors of the present proprietors. It was conveyed on the
28th June, 1630, to Ambrose Elton, Thomas Skynner, Thomas
Hooper, and Stephen Skynner.
The area of Ledbury parish is 7,706 acres, and the rateable
value £24,100. The population of the town is about 3,000.
Property in this borough is subject to the custom of "Borough
English", i.e., in cases of intestacy the freehold property
descends to the youngest son, to the exclusion of the elder and
other sons.
Ledbury is an ancient borough, and returned two members
to the parliament summoned in 1265. The members for
Ledbury in 1295 were Rogerus Caperun and Johannes Basevylle.
The next and last members of Parliament (who met at Westminster,
February 16th, 1305) were Willielmus Esegare and
Rogerus Fotherick. The privilege of sending members to
Parliament was surrendered on the plea of inability to support
them, their wages being two shillings a day while on duty in
Parliament.
About the year 1135 Robert de Bethune, Bishop of Hereford
procured for this manor the Charter of a Market from King
Stephen to be holden on Saturdays, but falling into disuse,
Queen Elizabeth in the year 1584, granted a new Charter for a
Market on Tuesdays, and two annual Fairs; the tolls to be
given to the poor of Ledbury for ever, as appears by the
following entry made in the parish register in the year 1585:-
"About Easter, 1582, the Market in Ledbury (which for long
time had not been kepte) was again begun to be kepte anew on
the Munday, without any warrant at all; and the said year at
the cost and charge of the Town and parish, sute was made to
the Queen's Majestie, who granted Her two letters patent
bearing date. She granted a weekly Market to be kepte upon
the Tuesday, and two Fairs for ever; and gave all the profits
for the Poor of Ledbury for ever."
Queen Elizabeth's Charter is in the custody of the Dean and
Chapter of Hereford, as Patrons of the Hospital; the Master
being trustee with the Rector for the Tolls.
About the year 1401 Bishop Treffnant founded here in the
parish Church, a College[2] for nine Chaplains, one of which to
be Master or Custos, and liberally endowed the same. Henry the
IV. incorporated them, and they were dissolved and the lands
given to the Crown in the first year of the reign of Edward VI.,
and the fact of the existence of this College formed an important
feature in a legal dispute (about thirty-six years ago) between
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the then Vicar, as to the
title to the Nether Hall estate; but the dispute was settled by
the annexation of a considerable portion of the property to
the living, and the conversion of the living from a vicarage to
a rectory.
In this parish is a place called Chapel Park ........ where
was formerly a Chapel dedicated to Saint James the Apostle,
which was endowed with certain tithes great and small, and was
granted by King Edward VI. to Thomas Rose and others.
Notes:
| [1] |
The Cathol was a narrow thoroughfare between the Hospital
and the back of the Butcher Row. |
| [2] |
NOTE.-The existence of this College has been the subject of
legal investigation a[t] various periods within the last 400 years. |
Next Chapter: Ledbury in the Civil
War, &c., &c.
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[Created 8 Oct 2003. Last updated 16 May 2009 - 12:37 by Rosemary Lockie]