|
LEDBURY IN THE CIVIL WAR, &c., &c.
"On Friday last Sir R. Hopton who had promised the Earl
of Stamford that he had 1,000 Dragoniers at four days' warning
to be ready for his service, came into Ledbury and brought with
him his colours and his drum, and there in a commanding
manner, called all the countrymen in order to bring in all their
dragonness.
The first man answered him, "that he had received His
Majestie's book to the contrary, and that he durst not lest he
should be held a traitor". The others did answer alike, so he
went out of Ledbury, and his colours and his drum were taken
from him. It is said that Hopton has since come to Worcester
and turned to the King's part."[1]
In 1644, Castleditch was taken by a small body of Roundheads
under a younger son of Sir Richard Hopton, after some firing
and a brief show of resistance by Mr. Thomas Cocks. Many
leaden bullets were found imbedded in the old oak doors of the
ancient mansion, which was taken down when Eastnor Castle
was built. Hopton's triumph over his neighbour was of very
short duration, but after a few days' possession, a party from
Hereford invested the house, to whom in less than four and
twenty hours, he was obliged to surrender, and with 40 foot and
20 horse was carried prisoner to that City, before Massey could
send aid from Gloucester.
Prior to the reign of Her present Majesty, might be seen in
some of the cottages, in the neighbourhood of Eastnor small
cannon balls which had been picked up by the country people,
and which they called "Oliver's Pills", probably fired from field
pieces used at this siege or that of Bronsil Castle. Richard
Reed, with Robert Higgins of Eastnor, and Ambrose Elton of
the Hazel, Francis Hall of Ledbury, and Sir Richard Hopton of
Canon Frome, associated with the Rebels, and were named
amongst the Commissioners appointed for levying monthly
exactions in the county, for sequestrating the estates of the
Royalists and other parliamentary affairs.
On the 30th of July, 1645, the Earl of Leven took by storm
a small garrison from the King at Canon Frome; the old
moated house, the seat of the Hoptons, was taken and re-taken
during the war.
In a MS. account of the proceedings of Colonel Birch in
Herefordshire by his secretary Rowe, there is a detail of his
marches and counter-marches at Ledbury. At the same period
occurred the Clubmen's Insurrection, dispersed near Ledbury
by Prince Rupert on his march to Hereford.
THE BATTLE OF LEDBURY.
Prince Rupert, on his way from Hereford to Shrewsbury,
had reached Leominster with his army, when he heard that
Colonel Massey, the Governor of Gloucester, had advanced to
Ledbury with a considerable body of horse and foot. The
Prince determined to surprise him there, and, having marched
all night, reached Ledbury on the morning of Wednesday,
22nd April, 1645. Massey had barely time to raise a barricade
of carts, &c., in Homend Street to check the advance of his
impetuous adversary. (Massey, in his account, wrote that eight
of his scouts were intercepted by the Royalists). Here the
attack was made by Lord Astely's and Colonel Washington's
foot, and after desperate fighting the barricade was opened, and
Lord Loughborough, at the head of the cavaliers, charged down
the street and encountered the roundhead cavalry, led by
Massey in person. Meanwhile another body of cavaliers passed
along the back Homend, and after an encounter in the church-yard
- attested by bullet marks still visible on the church walls
and the presence of slugs and bullets lately extracted from the
north door of that edifice - pushed forward across the grounds
now forming Mr. Biddulph's park, to cut off the enemy's
retreat towards Gloucester. In the streets the combat raged
fiercely; Prince Rupert and Colonel Massey, both of them
conspicuous for unflinching courage, took part in the fray as
though they were as irresponsible as their troopers, and each
had his horse killed under him. But Massey knew his men
were beaten, and in his account of the battle, he says, "We
made it good against them (the enemy) so long till my foot
might retreat a secure way to Gloucester." Massey was driven
out of the town and his army broken up; some retreated
through Dymock, others by Redmarley, and Massey himself
with eighty horse got away to Tewkesbury. The pursuit was
entrusted to Colonel Thomas Sandys. In Prince Rupert's
account of the battle, he says, "Massey was soundly beaten
yesterday, his foot quite lost, and his horse beaten and pursued
within. six miles of Gloucester", and generously adds that he
himself and some of his officers made a handsome retreat. Of
the rebels, 120 were killed, amongst them Major Backhouse and
Captain Kyrle, of Much Marcle. Very many were wounded,
and near 400 taken prisoners, including 27 roundhead officers.
Massey alleged Prince Rupert's army to be 6,000 or 7,000 horse
and foot, and that his own force was about 5,000 foot and 350
horse; but it is believed these numbers are over-stated. Prince
Rupert allowed his weary soldiers to rest at Ledbury on the
night following the battle, and then resumed his march to
Ludlow.[2] On November 12th, 1645, about 60 of Scudamore's
Horse (from Hereford) pushed out to Ledbury to prepare for a
larger force, and were charged through the streets in gallant
style by a quarter of their number under Major Hopton, who
was returning from Leominster, and who subsequently dispersed
a party of 30 Royalists in charge of about 100 head of
cattle, of which the drovers had been plundered.
Nothing of much interest has since occurred at Ledbury, if
we except the very serious riots which took place in the year
1735, when 200 persons and upwards assembled and destroyed
several turnpike gates, and threatened to set fire to the Upper
Hall, then the residence of Mr. Justice Skip, who had committed
two of the rioters on the previous day. Guns loaded
with ball were fired at the windows, which was returned from
the house; three men were killed and several wounded. Two
of the rioters were afterwards executed at Worcester, and one
in London, who revived after the attempted execution, but
died shortly afterwards.
The clothing trade, which in the time of James I. and Queen
Elizabeth was very flourishing, has long been discontinued, and
at present there is no manufactory carried on here. The
grandfather of Phillips, the poet, was an eminent clothier at
Ledbury. The inmates of the parish workhouse were
employed at pin making at the commencement of this century.
Until a few years ago the principal industry was the tanning of
leather. There was also a vinegar brewery in Bye Street,
which has been transferred to Colwall. The principal trade of
the town depends upon the surrounding hopyards and orchards,
the hops from the adjacent district being of excellent quality.
The celebrated Barland, Oldfield, and Huffcap perry, made in
Ledbury and the surrounding parishes, is highly esteemed.
Brewing and malting are carried on, and steam saw mills have
recently been erected, at which a large quantity of packing
cases are made for the tin-plate trade. Ledbury is also a
glove-making district. There are extensive limestone quarries near
the town.
Ledbury is the centre of an important hunting district.
There is a pack of fox-hounds, with kennels near the railway
station; also Mr. Bell's Harriers at Bronsil.
During the last few years many improvements have taken
place in Ledbury. The Rural Sanitary Authority have supplied
many of the houses with a service of water of the highest
degree of purity from a spring in the Conygree Wood;[3] they
have also laid down an effective system of drainage, and about
seven years ago, having obtained urban powers from the Local
Government Board, they caused nearly the whole of the town
to be paved in a very efficient manner, and also put into force
bye-laws, dealing with the removal of nuisances, the cleansing
and obstruction of footways, the firing of chimneys, &c. Until
recently the cattle and sheep markets were held in. the streets,
but by the energy of the townspeople a Market Company was
formed, who purchased a convenient site between Bye Street
and New Street, and the change has been a very successful one
in every respect. The Ledbury Building Society purchased a
few years ago the Newbury Park estate, on which several
desirable residences have been erected, and last year the same
society obtained the Belle Orchard estate, which has been laid
out in building sites, and two or three houses are in course of
erection.
The town of Ledbury is very healthy, and is remarkably free
from epidemics. It is one of the most salubrious districts in
Herefordshire, the death-rate of which is exceedingly low, being,
according to the Registrar-General's Report, only 18.4 per 1,000
from the years 1871 to 1880, while the mortality from all
causes in the whole of England was 21.3 during the same
period. It is worthy of note that there is no record of any
single case of Asiatic cholera ever having occurred in the
county.
There are two excellent hotels and posting-houses - the
Feathers in High Street (proprietor, Mr. Hodgkyns), and the
Royal Oak in Southend Street (proprietor, Mr. E. Hopkins).
There is also a coffee-house in Homend Street, and several
boarding-houses - Rose Mount, near the railway station, and
Beulah Villas, top of Newbury Park, can be recommended.
The neighbourhood of Ledbury abounds in a variety of
delightful walks and drives. The visitor would be amply repaid
by a week's stay or even longer, spent in visiting the
many places of interest, within easy distance of the town,
among which may be mentioned Eastnor Castle (the residence
of Lady Henry Somerset), the three ancient Camps, one at
Wall Hills, the two others at the Hollybush and the Hereford-
shire Beacon; the Churches of Bosbury, Kempley, Much
Marcle, Dymock, and Bromesberrow, and the old moated
manor house at Birtsmorton. Dog Hill, about eight minutes
walk from the Market House, may be approached from
the Back Lane; from the summit of this hill may be seen the
town. In a southernly direction - May Hill, Dean Forest; on
the west, the Marcle Hills, and to the north-west, Wall Hills.
Just beyond the top of Dog Hill is a lane leading to Broadlow
or Gallow Hill, from which a very extensive view may be
obtained, including the Sugar Loaf Mountain, the Black
Mountains in Monmouthshire, the whole of the Malvern range,
Tewkesbury Abbey, &c.
The geology of the district is most interesting; near the
railway station are the celebrated Passage beds, which have
been most carefully examined, measured and mapped out by
G. H. Piper, Esq., of the Court House.
Notes:
| [1] |
From Manuscript in possession of the Duke of Sutherland. |
| [2] |
Jakeman and Carver's "Directory of Herefordshire". |
| [3] |
This spring appears to have supplied part of the town with water for
several centuries, for an entry in the parish records states that - "1595.
- This year in September and October, by an order therefore taken (by Sir
Roger Manwood Knt., Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and others) the
whole water was conveyed in new leade from the Coninger unto the High
Cross, and thense to the Hospital Gate or Conduit there, at the cost and
charge of the inhabitants both of the town and parish of Ledbury. Thomas
Hall the plomer had for the leade and workmanship £40 0s. 0d. paid him by
William Davis, Clark, and Edward Skynner, clothier; being collectors and
overseers of the work." |
Next Chapter: Public Buildings
|
[Created 8 Oct 2003. Last updated 16 May 2009 - 12:37 by Rosemary Lockie]