The term black and white village refers to several old

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

villages, typically in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The term "black and white" derives from presence of many timbered and

half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

houses in the area, some dating from

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

times. The buildings' black

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

beams are exposed on the outside, with white painted walls between. The numbers of houses surviving in this style in the villages creates a very distinctive impression and differs from building styles outside this area. It was probably{{Citation needed, date=December 2008 only during the late Victorian age that it became fashionable to finish the buildings in a black and white veneer. In earlier times, the oak would not have been stained, but retained its natural colour and the walls would have reflected the colour of the local clay, generally a pink colour, rather than a white whitewash lime. A 40-mile (64 km) circular tourist trail known as the "Black and White Village Trail" was developed in 1987 as a means of encouraging

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

to take a closer look at the Herefordshire villages, heritage and countryside. The trail was developed mainly for travel by

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

, but it is also possible to make the journey by

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

. Many coach tours now take in the trail also.

Locations on the trail

Dilwyn Dilwyn is a village in Herefordshire, England located about from the city of Hereford and from its nearest town, Leominster. It is situated on the northern edge of a broad valley that stretches from the River Wye through to Leominster. Runnin ...

Eardisley Eardisley () is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire about south of the centre of Kington. Eardisley is in the Wye valley in the northwest of the county, close to the border with Wales. The village is part of the "Black and white villa ...

* Kingsland *

Weobley Weobley ( ) is an ancient settlement and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, the market is long defunct and the settlement is today promoted as one of the county's black and white villages owing to its abundance of ...

* Wigmore * Yarpole *

Lyonshall Lyonshall is a historic village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Penrhos, Herefordshire, Penrhos. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census, the civil parish had a population of ...

Pembridge Pembridge is a village and civil parish in Arrow valley in Herefordshire, England. The village is on the A44 road about east of Kington and west of Leominster. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bearwood, Lower Bearwood, Lower Broxwo ...

Eardisland Eardisland ( ) is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Arrow, Wales, River Arrow, about west of the market town of Leominster, Herefordshire. The civil parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlets of Upper Hardwick, ...

External links

The Black & White Village Trail
''Leominster Country''. Leominster Town Council.
- a celebration of black and white timber-frame buildings in England, including the Black and White Trail and slideshows of Herefordshire villages and others with black and white buildings
Villages in Herefordshire