Bromyard is a town in the parish of Bromyard and Winslow, in
Herefordshire
Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
, England, in the valley of the
River Frome. It is near the county border with
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
on the
A44 between
Leominster
Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...
and
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
. Bromyard has a number of traditional
half-timbered
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
buildings, including some of the pubs; the parish church is
Norman. For centuries, there was a livestock market in the town.
History

Bromyard is mentioned in
Bishop Cuthwulf's charter of c. 840. Cudwulf established a ''monasterium'' at ''Bromgeard'' behind a 'thorny enclosure' with the permission of
King Behrtwulf, King of the Mercians. Ealdorman Aelfstan, the local magnate, was granted between 500 and 600 acres of land for a ''villa'' beside the River Frome. The settlement in the Plegelgate Hundred was allocated 30 hides for 'the gap
n the forestwhere the deer play.' The county court assembly was on Flaggoner's Green, now a hill in the modern borough and where the cricket club is situated. 42 villani (
villeins
A villein is a class of serf tied to the land under the feudal system. As part of the contract with the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields in return for land. Villeins existed under a ...
, villagers), 9
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. It developed dur ...
(smallholders), and 8 slaves were recorded 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
entry in 1086, one of the largest communities in Herefordshire.
The first mention of the spelling "Bromyard" was in
Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
's ''Taxatio Ecclesiasticus'' on the occasion of a perambulation of the forest boundaries to set up a model for Parlements in 1291. It began to appear regularly in the church and court records of the 14th century.
Like
Leominster
Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...
,
Ledbury
Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills.
It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...
, and
Ross-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...
, the town and fair at the manor of Bromyard was probably founded in ''c''1125 during the episcopate of
Richard de Capella
Richard de Capella or Richard of the ChapelChrimes ''Introduction'' p. 25 (died 1127) was a medieval Bishop of Hereford.
Life
Capella was a member of the chancery in charge of the king's seal during the reign of King Henry I of England before be ...
(1121–1127). As with those other three towns, the bishops of
Hereford
Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...
had had a
manor and
minster there since
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
times. As at Ledbury the church was collegiate, with an establishment of clergy known as "portioners", but without a master and common seal. Surveys for the bishop made c. 1285 and 1575-80 give valuable information about the town's first few centuries. Bromyard contained 255 burgage and landowner tenancies in the 1280s which paid a total rent of £23 10s 7 1/2d to the bishop. A Toll Shop at Schallenge House ("Pie Powder" from ''pieds a poudre'') was where market tolls were paid and summary jurisdiction dealt out.
After the Reformation (1545) there were 800 communicants making Bromyard then "a markett toune...greately Replenyshed with People", the third town in the county with a population of about 1200 souls. By 1664 Bromyard had fallen behind Leominster, Ledbury and Ross in population. Besides the central town area, the large parish used to consist of the three
townships
A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
of Winslow, Linton, and Norton; these areas were civil parishes in the 20th century.
During the
Civil Wars
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.James Fearon"Iraq' ...
,
Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...
's troops in March 1645 "brought all their
ower
Ower is a hamlet in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest towns are Totton – approximately to the southeast, and Romsey – around to the north-east.
Ower lies on the A36 road northwest of Totton. It lies most ...
on Bromyard and Ledbury side, fell on, plundered every parish and house, poor as well as others, leaving neither clothes nor provision, killed all the young lambs in the country, though not above a week old.
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
stayed the night in Bromyard at Mrs Baynham's house (now Tower House) on 3 September 1645 on his way to Hereford In 1648, Parliament ordered the sale of the cathedral's property in Bromyard Forrens (i.e. outside the borough) for £594 9s 2d.
Bromyard Grammar School was re-founded in 1566 after the original chantry endowments had been nationalised. In 1656, the City of London Alderman John Perrin, from Bromyard, left the school £20 per annum, to be paid through the Goldsmiths Company. The company improved the school buildings in 1835. The building still stands in Church Street, but the school became part of the first
comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
in Herefordshire in 1969, now known as
Queen Elizabeth High School. A Congregational Chapel was built in 1701.
Commercial centre

For centuries, market day was always held on a Monday at Bromyard. The market town was a centre for agriculture with a fair for selling produce grown locally; as well as beef, there were
hops
Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...
, apples and pears, and
soft fruit
''Soft Fruit'' is a 1999 comedy drama film about a dying mother and her children who come together to fulfill her last wishes. It is an Australian American co-production produced by New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion and directed by Christina A ...
remained vital late into the post-war era. Some farms remained in the church's hands until the late 20th century. The carrier system also operated in Bromyard, within a given radius of the Teme to the north, Frome Hill to the east, and Lugg to the south. The dealers brought supplies to the many outlets, pubs, inns, traders and by the 19th century the shops.
In 1751, Bromyard obtained a Turnpike Trust that established a toll road as far as
Canon Frome, with some minor roads turnpiked to prevent tax evasion. By 1830 town's fortunes had flagged down to only fifth in the county from second 300 years before; its stage wagons visited only 15 times per week. This reflected its place in the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
which came very late to Bromyard, partly because it took so long to connect the town to the railway system. A sandstone quarry was opened at Linton, just east of the town, in the 1870s, but the hopes for extensive sales of good quality building stone were disappointed and by 1879 it was producing bricks and tiles from the
Old Red Sandstone
Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...
marls. This business continued until the 1970s.
The town's water supply and sanitation was very poor until late in the 19th century;
Benjamin Herschel Babbage
Benjamin Herschel Babbage (6 August 1815 – 22 October 1878) was an English engineer, scientist, explorer and politician, best known for his work in the colony of South Australia. He invariably signed his name "B. Herschel Babbage" and was freq ...
conducted an inspection in 1850 (as he had the same year for the West Yorkshire town of
Haworth
Haworth ( , , ) is a village in West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines south-west of Keighley, 8 miles (13 km) north of Halifax, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhop ...
). Babbage was horrified by the unsanitary conditions in the town, and reported to the General Board of Health into the town's water supply and lack of a sewerage system. He said that he had "met with considerable opposition to the application of the Public Health Act to this town, from a large number of the inhabitants, upon the ground of the supposed expense of carrying out the sanitary reforms which I found to be so much needed." No action was taken by the town vestry for over twenty years. The town belatedly acquired a piped water supply in 1900.
During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Bromyard was the site of an
internment camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
, where the Irish nationalist
Terence MacSwiney (future
Lord Mayor of Cork
The Lord Mayor of Cork () is the honorific title of the Chairperson () of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork in Ireland. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the Council. The incumbent ...
who would die on
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
), was both interned and married.
In
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, between autumn 1940 and 1945,
Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
was temporarily relocated to a variety of buildings on the outskirts of the town, principally Buckenhill, and including, for various purposes,
BrockhamptonClater Park Whitbourne Rectory an
Saltmarshe Castle
From the 1950-60s, the town underwent substantial housing development, including both private and council housing, and shops along the high street flourished serving both Bromyard and surrounding rural communities. A bypass was built and completed in the 1970s to stop traffic along the A44 between Worcester and Leominster having to pass through the town. A community centre, including a public library and leisure centre was opened in the 1990s.
Governance
There are two electoral wards, Bromyard West and Bromyard Bringsty. The latter includes several villages to the north east.
Bromyard borough has a town council.
Herefordshire Council
Herefordshire Council is the local authority for the county of Herefordshire in England. It is a unitary authority, combining the powers of a district and county council.
History
Herefordshire was one of the historic counties of England. Elec ...
is a unitary authority.
Bromyard is one of three market towns (Leominster, Bromyard and Ledbury) in the parliamentary constituency of
North Herefordshire.
Bromyard is served by the Bromyard and Winslow Town Council which has three clerks and a Mayor. It has 18 councillors who are predominately independent
Bromyard and Winslow is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in
Herefordshire
Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
.
According to the 2001 census it had a population of 4,144, increasing to 4,236 at the 2011 census. The parish contains the town of Bromyard, and Winslow which is a sparsely populated rural area to the west. In 2014 the population was estimated to have risen to 4,600, and increase of about 200 or 4.5%, and 2% higher than the county's average. In 2015 a national influenza and pneumonia epidemic meant that the birth and death rate almost reached parity causing a slow down in the town's population growth. The town centre is considered among the 25% most deprived in the country for older people, irrespective of its relatively low population density.
Bromyard is a former civil parish. In 1961 the parish of Bromyard had a population of 1680. On 1 April 1986 the parish was abolished and merged with
Winslow to form "Bromyard & Winslow".
Culture

The Bromyard & District Local History Society was founded in 1966, with a centre open three days a week which contains an archive, library and an exhibition room.
The Conquest Theatre (run by volunteers) provides a programme of plays, films, variety, musicals, operettas, ballet, pantomime and concerts in a purpose-built centre constructed in 1991.
The Time Museum of Science Fiction is in the centre of Bromyard, housing exhibits from TV programmes including ''Dr Who'', ''Red Dwarf'' and ''Thunderbirds'', as well as props from the ''Star Wars'' films.
Bromyard Arts is a not-for-profit enterprise with facilities for artists, craft makers, writers, musicians and performers.
At Christmas time, volunteers known as the Bromyard Light Brigade organise a display of Christmas lights which are put up in October and switched on the last Saturday of November, running for the five weeks up to Christmas until after the New Year. The group established links with
Blackpool Illuminations
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Illuminations (festival), lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the The Fylde, Fylde Coast in Lancashire ...
in 2010, and Blackpool's director Richard Ryan performed the switching-on ceremony in the same year; the volunteers were awarded
The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service that same year.
Bromyard is the home of "Nozstock: The Hidden Valley Festival", which attracts around 5,000 visitors at the end of July every year. This three-day event showcases bands from around the country across nine stages, alongside dance arenas, a cinema, a theatre and comedy stage, circus, and a vintage tractor arena.
The Bromyard Gala, an annual weekend festival of country sports, vintage vehicles and displays of various kinds, is held in July.
Bromyard holds a three-day
folk festival
A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music. This list includes folk festivals worldwide, except those with only a partial focus on folk music or arts. Folk festivals may also feature folk dance or ethnic foods.
Handicra ...
each year in September, which particularly concentrates on English traditional music.
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by
BBC West Midlands
BBC Midlands is the BBC English Regions, BBC English Region producing local radio and World Wide Web, web content for the City of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcest ...
and
ITV Central
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...
. Television signals are received from the
Ridge Hill TV transmitter.
Local radio station are
BBC Hereford and Worcester,
Sunshine Radio,
Greatest Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire,
Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire
Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire, formerly Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire, is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Herefordshire and Worcestershi ...
and Bromyard FM, a community based station.
The town is served by the local newspapers, ''Ledbury Reporter'' and ''
Hereford Times''.
Sports
Sports clubs in Bromyard include
Bromyard Town F.C. who are currently members of the and play at Delahay Meadow; Bromyard Cricket Club who play at Flaggoners Green, whose three senior sides play in the
Worcestershire County Cricket League (WCL). Their 1sts are in the Worcestershire League Division 1, two divisions below the
Birmingham League; and Bromyard Rugby Club based at the Clive Richards Sports Ground, with BRFC 1st XV playing in
RFU Counties 2 Midlands West (West).
Transport
The
Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway, now dismantled, was first proposed in 1845, and an Act of Parliament to build it obtained in 1861. Estimated to cost £20,000, that number of £10 shares were issued. When sold to the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
in 1887, the shares were only worth ten shillings. The line had only arrived from
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
in 1877, but it was already 3.5 miles to the east at
Yearsett. It was not until 1897 that an onward connection was made to
Leominster
Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...
. It was a common destination for 'hop-pickers' specials' from the
Black Country
The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...
. There were five trains a day in each direction. The line to Leominster was closed in 1952, the last train ran in 1958, and the line, closed due to financial instability, became a victim of the Beeching cuts in 1963–4. For a short time the section between Bromyard and Linton was run as a private light railway – the
Bromyard and Linton Light Railway – which still exists, albeit now disused.
Bromyard is the starting place of the
A465 road
The A465 is a Trunk roads in Wales, trunk road that runs from Bromyard in Herefordshire, England to Llandarcy near Swansea in south Wales. The western half in Wales is known officially as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road, but the section fro ...
which terminates at junction 43 of the
M4 motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...
at
Llandarcy in
South Wales
South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
. The town centre is bypassed by the
A44 road
The A44 is a major road in the United Kingdom that runs from Oxford in southern England to Aberystwyth in west Wales.
History
The original (1923) route of the A44 was Chipping Norton to Aberystwyth. No changes were made to the route of the ...
that connects
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...
to
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. Bromyard is notable for its many old and historically interesting buildings that are designated
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
buildings, especially in High Street, Broad Street, Market Square, Sherford Street and Rowberry Street, including a number of
half-timbered
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
public-houses and dwelling houses.
Architecture
St Peter's, Bromyard

St Peter's Church is a large
cruciform
A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...
building described in 1574 "with many cathedral churches no fairer" with parts dating back to Norman times, including an effigy of
St. Peter, with two keys, over the main (reset) Norman south doorway. Most of the exterior is early 14th century. An Anglo-Saxon minster church existed before the present St Peter's Church. No physical remains survive, but the minster and manor are mentioned in a document of 840 AD. Inside the largely 14th century church lies a Norman font. The common element to the design was Y-shaped tracery throughout, chamfered roof beams of timber. The Norman nave was marked by capitals in the
Decorated Style
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...
with lozenges, rosette and chevron. There was a genuine Tympanum in the north transept. The chancel was restored in the 14th century with ubiquitous window tracery. The oldest part of the church, the south arcade may have been built in the reign of Richard the Lion Heart, when Norman knights began to build churches in the county. The columnaded north arcade was built under King John characterised by leaf crockets,
quatrefoils, and double-chamfered beams.
Bromyard church was early favoured by generous benefactors, as the Hereford ''
Red Book of the Exchequer'' testified in 1277. The Lancastrian knights
Sir John Baskerville and Sir Hugh Watcham donated two chantry chapels; with an unusual ''
lavacrum'' in the south transept. At about the same time a Ricardian founded a chantry school for the parish, which was saved at the reformation on appeal in 1547 after 150 years of existence. Of the 17 grammar schools in the county only four survived the suppression of the monasteries, reflecting directly future development of the towns. Bromyard borough was the second town in Herefordshire owing to the woollen trade, but was taxed and chantries confiscated by the Crown under Queen Elizabeth I.
After the English Civil Wars the church fell into near fatal dilapidation for about a century. Much of the church was substantially restored by the Victorian architect Nicholson and Sons to the transepts in 1887, and the stalls beneath the tower, revealing the roof clerestory. A war memorial was added in 1919. Thus was followed by extensive repairs to the stained glass in the 1930s by A J Davies and later by A K Nicholson. Inside the church monumental slabs litter the chancel walls with worthies of Bromyard:
John Baynham (1636), Thomas Fox (1728), Laetitia Pauncefoot (1753), Roger Sale (1766), Joseph Sterling (1781),
Bartholomew Barneby (1783), James Dansie (1784),
Roger Sale (1786), Abigail Barneby (1805), Edward Moxam (1805). At the Millennium the churchyard was cleared of monumental inscriptions.
Winslow
The Green Estate
The civil parish of Winslow was a total in the original township devolved from the Saxon ''parochia''. To the west stands two outstanding Georgian properties. ''The Green Estate'' is a large farm on which a big house was built in 1770 for Thomas Colley who, by 1771, had taken ownership of the new three-storey house with its brick facade which was two miles west of Winslow Township. The
Georgian mansion was built on land - - of which nearly half was meadow. It consisted of 5 bays with a pedimnented centre and doorways of tripartite Doric columns. Typical of the
Decorated Style
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...
, the blank sections on the wall offset the elaborations. Colley also installed Venetian windows and a baluster staircase. Fronted ornate pedimented doric columns are at the building's entrance and Venetian windows hint at the Georgian
Grand Tour and the ornate style architecture typical of the county. It also contains a remarkable baluster staircase. According to
Nicholas Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (19 ...
, in horse country it was usual to have outbuildings and stables made of stone.
The Green Estate was owned in 1911 by
William George Lupton who reportedly "took a keen interest in local politics" as did his first cousin, Mr. J.E. Schunck (1869-1940), the 1910 and 1912
Liberal candidate for
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
and son of
Kate Lupton, Baroness von Schunck (1833-1913). There was a blacksmith's smithy nearby to the estate on of woodland.
[Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886]
/ref>
A farm of 110 acres existed at Hardwick Manor. This was named for Anthony Hardwick in 1575 when he purchased the freehold. His descendant, John, fell into debt and in 1755 was forced to sell Hardwick Hall, which was demolished, and the rest of the estate was sold to Thomas Griffiths of Stoke Lacy. The manor house was rebuilt on the site.
Medieval Munderfield was settled by a lesser Norman gentry family named D'Abitot. Mundersfield Harold is an even earlier Augustan era mansion made of brick on an H-Plan with typical bays and hipped roofs. There is a Venetian staircase, plaster mouldings, and a glazed porch. In the Victorian period a south wing with a terracotta balustrade was added. The estate had extensive farm buildings to the north-west, these were laid out, which was then followed by a large landscaped park. The house acquired a lodge in the 1880s facing a main road. There were three well-appointed farmhouses in the Norton area by 2000. The Lower Norton property of Hill Farm was built in the late 18th century with a barn of timber-framing alongside.
In the 21st century Winslow parish was once again merged into Bromyard Town borough due to urban developments.
Bredenbury
Although Wacton Court no longer exists, Wacton Farm was part of the same estate. It was purchased by Richard Hardwick in 1720, and two houses in Bromyard, which were let. A hall was founded at Lower Hardwick in the Tudor period with bays, studding, and diagonal cross-bracing. A new wing was added on the north-western side in the Jacobean era. Gabled windows are distinguished by the lozenges with elaborate carved mouldings on diagonal wooden dragon-beams in the roof with supporting columns. There was a hop farm at Wicton with three large square kilns.
The main building was a stone house, Bredenbury Court built for William West in 1809 and then remodelled for the Barnebys by A.T.Wyatt in 1873–4. The red-rock faced Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
Neo-Elizabethan mansion had a number of bays before additions in 1898 by a new owner Francis Greswolde-Williams. The architect Guy Dawber was instrumental in much of the current improvements: a west end extension, rusticated corner pilasters, and open pediments. The east wing dated after the 18th century architect James Gibbs
James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Ba ...
with fine plaster work and a Wyatt staircase with twisted balusters. St Richards Prep School added a north-west brick classroom in 1924. The lodges belonged to Wyatt in picturesque gabled Gothic; but the stables were Dawber's work in 1902. William Harington Barneby laid out the grounds with formal gardens and shrubberies to a design by Edward Milner of Sydenham, Kent.
The medieval parish church was rebuilt by the High Victorian W.H. Knight in 1861–2, only to be demolished a decade later. A new church on a new site was built to T H Wyatt's design in 1876–7 to replace Wacton Church and Old Bredenbury. The font was imported from Wacton, as was some of the stained glass windows. Ashlar
Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones.
Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
dressings and fish-scale tiles were decorated in the 14th century new-medieval style. The beautiful interior was sumptuously appointed with marble alabaster tombs, fittings and reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
. A chancel was added in 1880 and a pulpit two years later. Ornate carving from R.L. Boulton was matched by Lavers stained glass which took ten years (1877–87) to complete.
Rowden
The 465 acres of land area in Rowden (meaning a rough hill) was occupied by Sir John la Moigne in 1300 when he built the first chapel there. The house was named after the ancient Rowdon family of Burley Gate, who occupied it during the English Civil Wars. Edward Rowden built a new house in 1651 on the ruins of the medieval buildings; its dovecote was a local landmark of "circular stone". It was unoccupied by 1721.
Rowden House was formerly known as Rowden Barn in the 1830s. It was a large stone building erected by judicious marriage into the family of Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...
, the Governor-General of India. Rowden House was rebuilt in 1883, for a son of Lord St John cut out of stone after the Queen Anne-style, with a hipped roof and noteworthy pedimented dormer window. The brick chimneys, medallion cornices, and keystoned arches are from an earlier era. Like other Grade 1 listed buildings in the district it is busied by ornate carving, lozenges, and carved roof-beams. The estate was owned by the industrialist John Arkwright who was responsible for the addition of unusually decorated farm cottages built in 1867. Rev W N Berkeley the local rector resided there in 1891, but it was sold to Rear-Admiral J Alleyne Baker in 1909. The owners sported a fine ballroom popular with local people.
The original medieval moated abbey beside the River Frome was demolished in about 1790. The present Rowden Abbey was rebuilt in 1881 as a half-timbered mansion for landowner Henry J Bailey. Similar to the above houses in style and decoration, it also exhibited fine gabled porch entrances. The interior had panelling and ribbed ceilings, with delightful bay windows in the reception rooms.
Rowden Mill was a late Elizabethan/early Jacobean converted stone and timber house along the banks of the River Frome. The mill was a three-storey working building with a timber-framed dwelling house attached. On one side of it stood the mill and on the other a bakery and house, which continued as a Master Bakery until 1945. It was for centuries a working corn mill grinding the grain on the Rowden estates. However, by the 20th century it faced economic decline; yet E Powell Tuck still made it a commercial operation during World War Two.
The Tack was probably a successful medieval sheep farm since the name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ''tacca''. A farmhouse stood on the Tenbury Road; built of stone in 1838 it contained a large hop kiln and granary in a complex of buildings, now part of the dwelling. Among its quirky features included two bays in a stable block once used as servants quarters that were built circa 1800.
Norton
The medieval manor of Norton in the Broxash Hundred, today in the adjacent parish of Norton at the north-east, was constrained by extensive parkland and hunting-grounds amounting a total of 3,183 acres.
Peter de Newebond took occupation of Newbarns in about 1285 on half virgate of land at the same time that the Welsh Wars began. By the 16th century a fish pool had been established to provide food. During 1720s William Tarbox sold the properties to Packington Tomkins, who let it to tenant farmers. By 1850 it was a large three-storey house, a two bay wing, contained a household of 20 family and servants. The house had been brick rebuilt in 1800 incorporating some timber-framing. Both Tomkins and Higginson extended the house in the Victorian era before it changed hands again to a farmer in 1922.
The apple tree enclosure was the cultivated nature of ''Mapleton Barn'' when first settled in the late 13th century. A yeoman farmer took on the orchards, livestock in Jacobean period, but was merged by tenant farmer John Smith with Newbarns in 1777.
Three large blocks comprised ''The Rhea'' in 1838, the forerunner of a much larger complex in the late 20th century. In 1851 Thomas Gardiner farmed the land of 220 acres with 7 labourers. A brick house was built in 1900, with several 19th century workers stone cottages. A timber-framed stone barn was erected in the 18th century for a cow byre and stone stables.
On 'beech hill' in Elizabethan times Buckenhill Manor was recorded as two virgates. But during the early modern period a succession of different owners added farms and acreage to the estate. A Jacobean farmhouse was remodelled: the fine Georgian mansion at Buckenhill was inherited by Mrs Elizabeth Barneby, which unusually she passed to her daughter, Mrs Phillips. The house itself possessed 15 fireplaces, for the duration that royalist Barnebys owned it, but was later altered by an influential Bromyard propertied man Packington Tomkins. Made of mellow brick and constructed in 1730, a 9 bay wing was added to face south; a string course on the first floor. The matching brick style encasing the older house of plasterwork and panelling meant the new and principal wing of the house would have pedimented gables, attics and cellars. The Victorian clock tower to the rear was erected in 1840 by Edmund Higginson. The landscape park was dug with a lake in place, damming the River Frome to create a garden oasis. Towards the Tenbury Road three attractive lodges were built in the late 19th century.
Corinthian capitals atop decorated columns were in the same school as Inkberrow and Bromsberrow Place in the neighbouring county. The older east and front wings were made of stone; bent or chamfered roof beams vacated space in loft for living. Amongst the extensive stabling and outbuildings were hop kilns, a brewhouse, bakehouse and cider house, and octagonal dove cote. But the house was dilapidated by 1939 when occupied by the evacuated Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
.
''Buckenhill Grange'' was a L-shaped 1750 farmhouse built in the Dutch style with gables out of coarse-hewn stone. On the west gable of this home farm was added a modelled barn with strong diagonal bracings. It had a granary below which was a cobble-stone farm yard for free-range hens. The Buckenhill Mill was acquired by purchase by Thomas Tomkins, son of Packington in 1728.
Brockhampton-by-Bromyard
Richard, son of Robert de Brockhampton was the first holder of the advowson of the chapelry in 1283. The main effect of the Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
and end of serfdom
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. It developed du ...
was for the church to abandon the bishop's palace in the town, reaffirming the independency of the town's trading burgesses. At the height of the town's influence, Dr Richard Pede DCL was a portionist at Bromyard. Becoming embroiled in national politics he joined the Yorkist rising at Hereford, being later appointed Vicar-general to the royal council at Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the Ludlow, town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy (died 1085), Wal ...
.
Ownership passed thence to Thomas Solers, to Sir Thomas le Moigne, to the Rowdons of Burley Gate, the Habingtons, and by the Mid-Tudor era the Barnebys of Acton, County Wigorn (now modern Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
). The Barnebys remained one of the most influential families for the next 400 years in the district's development as a wool market, and significant centre of the wool trade for the Midlands. Richard Habington had acquired the lease of the manor of Bromyard in 1444. Thomas Barneby was slain at Towton in 1461, and the family, firm Royalists were compounded by parliament after the Civil wars. One of the Barnebys, Edmund changed his name to Higginson to acquire Saltmarshe Castle, long associated with the Coningsbys of Hampton Court. The two families were closely inter-related by marriage. In 1872 the castle came down to Barneby-Lutley, another branch of the same medieval family.
Lower Brockhampton, a moated farmhouse on an extensive National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
property, lies a short distance to the east, beyond Bromyard Downs. This is an area of common land lying to the northeast which offers many walks, with extensive views over the town, the Malvern Hills
The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit af ...
, the Clee Hills
The Clee Hills are a range of hills in Shropshire, England near Ludlow, consisting of Brown Clee Hill , the highest peak in Shropshire, and Titterstone Clee Hill . They are both in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Geogra ...
, and the Welsh borders, with the Black Mountains and other hills beyond. An attempt by local landowners in 1866 to enclose the Downs was strongly opposed by townsfolk and failed, not least because it was an area of recreation including rifle butts and an annual race meeting.
Twin towns
Bromyard is twinned with Athis-Val de Rouvre, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Notable people
* John of Bromyard, Dominican friar
* Michael Cronin, cricketer
* Zahid Saeed, cricketer
* Garry Roberts, pop singer
* Thomas Winwood, cricketer
* Tommy Green, footballer
* Richard Pearsall, a churchman
*Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during th ...
, royal favourite
* George Henry Evans, a radical
* Ronald Adam, actor
*Roger Lewis Roger Lewis may refer to:
* Roger Lewis (biographer) (born 1960), Welsh academic, biographer and journalist
* Roger Lewis (American football) (born 1993), American football player
* Roger Lewis (businessman) (1912–1987), American business exec ...
, writer, journalist and biographer, author of ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' is a 2004 biographical film about the life of English comedian Peter Sellers, based on Roger Lewis's book of the same name. 1108 pagesPublished in the U.S. via Applause BooksA very comprehensive biography ...
'' and ''Erotic Vagrancy''
*Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress. In her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony A ...
- actress (child refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
)
See also
* Bromyard and Linton Light Railway
* Bromyard Downs
* Bromyard Town F.C.
* Queen Elizabeth High School, Bromyard
* Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway
Notes
References
;Primary Sources
*HD and CM Hereford Dean and Chapter Muniments 4067
*BL Harleian MSS
*''Collectanea Curiosa''
*''Certain Observations''
;Secondary Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
– local history society
– town ancestors
Lower Brockhampton
Bromyard Workhouse
tourism – Bromyard
Explore – Bromyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bromyard
Towns in Herefordshire
Market towns in Herefordshire
Former civil parishes in Herefordshire
Bromyard and Winslow