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 purposes Chambers 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 Monmouthsh ...

, West Midlands of

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 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

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, but it is also possible to make the journey by bicycle. Many coach tours now take in the trail also.

Locations on the trail

* Dilwyn * Eardisley * 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 *

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

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