Bromyard Downs is an area of registered

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

, and a scattered settlement, just outside the town of

Bromyard Bromyard is a town in the parish of Bromyard and Winslow, in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome, Herefordshire, River Frome. It is near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 road, A44 between Leominster and Worc ...

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. The 114 hectares of downs rise to over 700 ft where a plateau dominates the escarpment overlooking the town. The downs are a combination of gorse and grassland, wood and coppice. there were 93 registered commoners, some of whom with livestock grazing rights under the Commons Act 2006. Rights under the act include pasturage,

estovers In English law, an estover is an allowance made to a person out of an estate, or other thing, for his or her support. The word estover can also mean specifically an allowance of wood that a tenant is allowed to take from the commons, for life or ...

and

turbary Turbary is the ancient right to cut turf, or peat, for fuel on a particular area of bog. The word may also be used to describe the associated piece of bog or peatland and, by extension, the material extracted from the turbary. Turbary rights, whi ...

History

It originated in the ancient past from a parcel of manorial waste ground that belonged to the feudal manor of Bromyard. The common has changed hands many times. The medieval period was one of prosperity for the tanners and clothiers of Bromyard, in a part of England where there were more sheep than people. Livestock used to graze on the downs, where people with common rights could share the grass. During the agricultural revolution its ownership was shared by various aristocratic owners, including from nearby Buckenhill Manor, and Brockhampton Court. A feature on the common is the outline of an old disused horse racecourse that was created by soldiers and tenant farmers returning from the Napoleonic Wars. During World War One Bromyard had an internment camp, and many housed there were Sinn Fein-IRA. The Second World War brought preparative measures for any possible German invasion, allowing the Mercian Marquis to construct underground bunkers in the dense forest.

Amenities

Based on Bromyard Downs are voluntary and community groups, a caravan club, and The Royal Oak

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, a black and white half-timbered house dating back at least 300 years.

References

External links

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"Bromyard Downs 2018 Summer Newsletter"
Bromyard Downs Common Association Parks and open spaces in Herefordshire Hamlets in Herefordshire Bromyard and Winslow {{Herefordshire-geo-stub