Ashperton is a small village, parish and former manor about twelve miles east of the City of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England. The village is on the

A417 road The A417 is a main road in England running from Streatley, Berkshire to Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire. It is best known for its section between Cirencester and Gloucester where it has primary status and forms part of the link between the ma ...

, the route of a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

from the City of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, in rolling countryside. Villages nearby include Monkhide, Tarrington and

Canon Frome Canon Frome is a hamlet and small rural parish on the River Frome, Herefordshire, River Frome, 5 miles northwest of Ledbury, Herefordshire, England with a population of 139. Its most notable feature is Canon Frome Court which is a Grade II li ...

History

The manor of Ashperton is listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, following the order of Radlow hundred in Herefordshire. The

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

was

William fitzBaderon William fitzBaderon (c. 1060/65? – before 1138) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman of Breton descent, who was lord of Monmouth between about 1082 and 1125. He was mentioned in the Domesday Book as being responsible for Monmouth Castle and ten ...

, who held several other manors in Herefordshire including

Ruardean Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the North West of Cinderford. It is situated on a hillside with views west towards the mountains of South Wales. Little now remains of the village's industrial history, but ...

Whitwick Whitwick is a large village in Leicestershire, England, close to the town of Coalville in the northwest of the county. It lies in an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an ...

, Munsley and Walsopthorne. The text is translated as follows:
:''The same

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

holds Ashperton; Wulfwig held it of Earl Harold and could go where he would. There are five and a half hides paying geld. In

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

are four ploughs and six villans and two

bordars Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

with three ploughs and thirteen slaves and twenty acres of meadow. There is woodland one league square. It was and is worth 110 shillings.'' On 3 May 1292 William de Grandisson (d.1335) received a

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within the ...

his

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

at Ashperton. It was the birthplace of his younger son and eventual heir

John de Grandisson The '' John Grandisson Triptych'', displaying on two small escutcheons the arms of Bishop Grandisson. British Museum John de Grandisson (1292 – 16 July 1369), also spelt Grandison, was Bishop of Exeter, in Devon, England, from 1327 to his dea ...

(died 1369),

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

in Devon, who was heir to his elder brother Piers de Grandisson (d.1358). The parish church was originally a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

"Chapelry"
/ref> to the parish of

Stretton Grandison Stretton Grandison is a hamlet (place), hamlet and small civil parish in Herefordshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 175. It is on the A417 road (a Roman Road, hence the settlem ...

situated 3 miles to the north-west, also held by that family.

Notable features

The village contains the site of a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

and the Church of

St Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

, the parish church. The disused

Hereford and Gloucester Canal The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal (sometimes known as the Hereford and Gloucester Canal) is a canal in the west of England, which ran from Hereford to Gloucester, where it linked to the River Severn. It was opened in two phases in 179 ...

runs nearby. The village has a mix of black and white cottages and 1970s housing. The village is home to a large poultry farm (owned by Cranberry Foods) which is used as a "brood and move" site for turkeys and occasionally for rearing intensive broiler (meat) chickens. The local cricket club is Canon Frome Cricket Club.

References

External links

photos of Ashperton and surrounding area on GeographAshperton in the Vision of BritainAshperton Primary School, Ledbury, Herefordshire
* Villages in Herefordshire {{Herefordshire-geo-stub