Ashperton is a small village, parish and former
manor about twelve miles east of the City of
Hereford, 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 Monmouthsh ...
, England. The village is on the
A417 road, the route of a
Roman road 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.
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 manus ...
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 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 th ...
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 in Devon, who was heir to his elder brother Piers de Grandisson (d.1358).
The parish church was originally a
chapel of ease"Chapelry"
/ref> to the parish of Stretton Grandison 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 and moat 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