Bromyard

Bromyardis a town in the parish of Bromyard and Winslow, inHerefordshire,England, in the valley of theRiver Frome.It is near the county border withWorcestershireon theA44betweenLeominsterandWorcester.Bromyard has a number of traditionalhalf-timberedbuildings, including some of the pubs; the parish church isNorman.For centuries, there was a livestock market in the town.

Bromyard
View of Bromyard fromBromyard Downs
Bromyard Location withinHerefordshire
Population	4,500
OS grid reference	SO654548
Civil parish	Bromyard and Winslow
Unitary authority	Herefordshire
Ceremonial county	Herefordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BROMYARD
Postcode district	HR7
Dialling code	01885
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	North Herefordshire

History

Bromyard almshouses in the oldest part of the town

Early Mediaeval coin

Tower House, Bromyard

Bromyard is mentioned inBishop Cuthwulf's charter of c. 840.Cudwulf established amonasteriumatBromgeardbehind a 'thorny enclosure' with the permission ofKing Behrtwulf,King of the Mercians. Ealdorman Aelfstan, the local magnate, was granted between 500 and 600 acres of land for avillabeside the River Frome.The settlement in the Plegelgate Hundred was allocated 30 hides for 'the gap [in the forest] where 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,villagers), 9bordars(smallholders), and 8 slaves were recorded in theDomesday Bookentry in 1086, one of the largest communities in Herefordshire.

The first mention of the spelling "Bromyard" was inEdward I'sTaxatio Ecclesiasticuson 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.

LikeLeominster,Ledbury,andRoss-on-Wye,the town and fair at the manor of Bromyard was probably founded inc1125 during the episcopate ofRichard de Capella(1121–1127).As with those other three towns, the bishops ofHerefordhad had amanorandminsterthere sinceAnglo-Saxontimes. 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" frompieds 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 threetownshipsof Winslow, Linton, and Norton; these areas were civil parishes in the 20th century.

During theCivil Wars,Prince Rupert's troops in March 1645 "brought all their [power] 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 Istayed the night in Bromyard at Mrs Baynham's house (now Tower House) on 3 September 1645 on his way to HerefordIn 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 firstcomprehensive schoolin Herefordshire in 1969, now known asQueen Elizabeth High School.A Congregational Chapel was built in 1701.

Commercial centre

The Square, Bromyardcirca2008

Crown and Sceptre pub, Bromyard

Gated entrance to Fernie

The Old Rectory, Whitbourne

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 werehops,apples and pears, andsoft fruitremained 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 asCanon 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 theIndustrial Revolutionwhich 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 theOld Red Sandstonemarls.This business continued until the 1970s.

The town's water supply and sanitation was very poor until late in the 19th century;Benjamin Herschel Babbageconducted an inspection in 1850 (as he had the same year for the West Yorkshire town ofHaworth). 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.

DuringWorld War I,Bromyard was the site of aninternment camp,where the Irish nationalistTerence MacSwiney(futureLord Mayor of Corkwho would die onhunger strike), was both interned and married.

InWorld War II,between autumn 1940 and 1945,Westminster Schoolwas temporarily relocated to a variety of buildings on the outskirts of the town, principally Buckenhill, and including, for various purposes,Brockhampton,Clater Park,Whitbourne RectoryandSaltmarshe 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 is a unitary authority.

General Election 2015: North Herefordshire Constituency
Conservative	Liberal Democrats	Labour	UKIP	Green	Maj.	Turnout
26,716 55.6%	6,720 14.0%	5,768 12.0%	5,478 11.4%	3,341 7.0%	19,996 41.0%	42,545 72.0%

General Election 2017: North Herefordshire Constituency
Conservative	Labour	Liberal Democrats	Green	Maj.	Turnout
31097 62.0%	9495 18.9%	5874 11.7%	2771 5.5%	21602 43.1%	50293 74.1%

Bromyard is one of three market towns (Leominster, Bromyard and Ledbury) in the parliamentary constituency ofNorth Herefordshire.The current member as of the general election of 2019 is Conservative SirBill WigginMP.

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 acivil parishinHerefordshire.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 withWinslowto form "Bromyard & Winslow".

Culture

Bay Horse Inn, at Bromyard, Herefordshire

Bromyard Downs - Brockhampton Primary School - geograph.org.uk – 413498

Teddy Bears of Bromyard Museum - geograph.org.uk – 807124

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 includingDr Who,Red DwarfandThunderbirds,as well as props from theStar Warsfilms.

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 withBlackpool Illuminationsin 2010, and Blackpool's director Richard Ryan performed the switching-on ceremony in the same year; the volunteers were awardedThe Queen's Award for Voluntary Servicethat 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-dayfolk festivaleach year in September, which particularly concentrates on English traditional music.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC West MidlandsandITV Central.Television signals are received from theRidge HillTV transmitter.

Local radio station areBBC Hereford and Worcester,Sunshine Radio,Greatest Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire,Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershireand Bromyard FM, a community based station.

The town is served by the local newspapers,Ledbury ReporterandHereford Times.

Sports

Sports clubs in Bromyard includeBromyard Town F.C.who are currently members of theHerefordshire LeaguePremier Division and play at Delahay Meadow; Bromyard Cricket Club that play at Flaggoners Green, whose three senior sides play in theWorcestershire County Cricket League(WCL). Their 1sts are in the Worcestershire Premier Division which acts as a feeder into theBirmingham League;and Bromyard Rugby Club based at the Clive Richards Sports Ground, with senior men's and ladies teams, and junior teams.

Transport

Bromyard railway station (postcard)

TheWorcester, 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 theGreat Western Railwayin 1887, the shares were only worth ten shillings.The line had only arrived fromWorcesterin 1877, but it was already 3.5 miles to the east atYearsett.It was not until 1897 that an onward connection was made toLeominster.It was a common destination for 'hop-pickers' specials' from theBlack Country.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 – theBromyard and Linton Light Railway– which still exists, albeit now disused.

Bromyard is the starting place of theA465 roadwhich terminates at junction 43 of theM4 motorwayatLlandarcyinSouth Wales.The town centre is bypassed by theA44 roadthat connectsAberystwythtoOxford.Bromyard is notable for its many old and historically interesting buildings that are designatedblue plaquebuildings, especially in High Street, Broad Street, Market Square, Sherford Street and Rowberry Street, including a number ofhalf-timberedpublic-houses and dwelling houses.

Architecture

St Peter's, Bromyard

circa2015

Detail of a door jamb

Medieval arch

Interior

Detail of Knight's brass plate

Bromyard Methodist Church

St Peter's Church is a largecruciformbuilding described in 1574 "with many cathedral churches no fairer" with parts dating back to Norman times, including an effigy ofSt. 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 theDecorated Stylewith 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 HerefordRed Book of the Exchequertestified in 1277. The Lancastrian knightsSir John Baskervilleand Sir Hugh Watcham donated two chantry chapels; with an unusuallavacrumin 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.

The lane toAvenbury

Winslow

The Green Estate

The civil parish of Winslow was a total 2,854 acres (1,155 ha) in the original township devolved from the Saxonparochia.To the west stands two outstanding Georgian properties.The Green Estateis a large farm on which a big house was built in 1770 for Thomas Colleywho, by 1771, had taken ownership of the new three-storey house with its brick facade which was two miles west of Winslow Township. TheGeorgianmansion was built on land - 114 acres (46 ha) - of which nearly half was meadow. It consisted of 5 bays with a pedimnented centre and doorways of tripartite Doric columns. Typical of theDecorated Style,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 GeorgianGrand Tourand the ornate style architecture typical of the county. It also contains a remarkable baluster staircase. According toNicholas Pevsner,in horse country it was usual to have outbuildings and stables made of stone.

The Green Estate was owned in 1911 byWilliam George Luptonwho reportedly "took a keen interest in local politics" as did his first cousin, Mr. J.E. Schunck (1869-1940), the 1910 and 1912Liberalcandidate forTauntonand son ofKate Lupton, Baroness von Schunck(1833-1913). Lupton accidentally shot himself at home on his farm at The Green in August 1911. Lupton's children,William Darnton Lupton(1909-1915) and Joan (1911–1981) were the half-brother and sister ofSir Reginald Anthony Hungerford Lechmere, 7th Baronet(1920-2010).There was a blacksmith's smithy nearby to the estate on 21 acres (8 ha) of woodland.

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

Bredenbury Church – geograph.org.uk – 113399

Bredenbury Primary School - geograph.org.uk – 113648

AlthoughWacton Courtno longer exists,Wacton Farmwas part of the same estate. It was purchased byRichard Hardwickin 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 elaboratecarved mouldingson diagonalwooden dragon-beamsin 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 Courtbuilt for William West in 1809 and then remodelled for the Barnebys by A.T.Wyatt in 1873–4. The red-rock facedItalianateNeo-Elizabethanmansion had a number of bays before additions in 1898 by a new ownerFrancis Greswolde-Williams.The architectGuy Dawberwas instrumental in much of the current improvements: a west end extension, rusticatedcorner pilasters,and open pediments. The east wing dated after the 18th century architectJames Gibbswith fine plaster work and a Wyatt staircase withtwisted 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 Barnebylaid 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 VictorianW.H. Knightin 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.Ashlardressings and fish-scale tiles were decorated in the 14th century new-medieval style. The beautiful interior was sumptuously appointed with marble alabaster tombs, fittings andreredos.A chancel was added in 1880 and a pulpit two years later. Ornate carving fromR.L. Boultonwas matched byLaversstained glass which took ten years (1877–87) to complete.

Rowden

Rowden – geograph.org.uk – 1265099 approaching the manor

Rowden Mill – geograph.org.uk – 955489

The 465 acres of land area in Rowden (meaning a rough hill) was occupied bySir John la Moignein 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 ofWarren Hastings,the Governor-General of India.Rowden Housewas 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, andcarved roof-beams.The estate was owned by the industrialistJohn Arkwrightwho 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 presentRowden Abbeywas rebuilt in 1881 as a half-timbered mansion for landownerHenry 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-Saxontacca.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

Looking from Bromyard and Winslow parish towards Buckenhill Manor in Norton parish

The medievalmanorof 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 ofMapleton Barnwhen 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 comprisedThe Rheain 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 theRiver Frometo 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 evacuatedWestminster School.

Buckenhill Grangewas 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

Brockhampton Park - geograph.org.uk – 621479

Brockhampton Estate – manor house

Brockhampton Church – geograph.org.uk – 1307168

Richard, son of Robert de Brockhampton was the first holder of the advowson of the chapelry in 1283. The main effect of theBlack Deathand end ofserfdomwas 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 atLudlow Castle.

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 modernBirmingham). 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 atTowtonin 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 extensiveNational Trustproperty, 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, theMalvern Hills,theClee Hills,and the Welsh borders, with theBlack Mountainsand 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

See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in England

Bromyard istwinnedwithAthis-Val de Rouvre,France.

Notable people

• 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,royal favourite
• George Henry Evans,a radical
• Ronald Adam,actor
• Roger Lewis,writer, journalist and biographer, author ofThe Life and Death of Peter SellersandErotic Vagrancy

See also

• Bromyard and Linton Light Railway
• Bromyard Downs
• Bromyard Town F.C.
• Queen Elizabeth High School, Bromyard
• Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway

References

Primary Sources

• HD and CM Hereford Dean and Chapter Muniments 4067
• BL Harleian MSS
• Collectanea Curiosa
• Certain Observations

Secondary Sources

• Bannister, A.T. (1923). "A Descriptive catalogue of Manuscripts of St Katherine's, Ledbury".Transactions of Woolhope Naturalists Field Club.
• Brooks, Alan; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2012).The Buildings of Hereford: Herefordshire.New Haven and London.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Eisel, J.; Shoesmith, R. (2003).Pubs of Bromyard, Ledbury and East Herefordshire.
• Hillaby, Joe; Pearson, E. (1970).Bromyard: A Local History.
• Hillaby, Joe (2003).St Katherine's Hospital, Ledbury.Ledbury.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Hillaby, Joe (1997).Ledbury: A Medieval Borough.
• Hopkinson, Charles (1985).Herefordshire Under Arms: A Military History of the County.Bromyard and District Local History Society.
• Kelly, Cherry (2005).Bromyard's Victorian Heritage.Bromyard and District Local History Society.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Leese, Joan (1970). "Bromyard – a Local History".Bromyard and District Local History Society.
• Pearson, E.D. (1993).Two Churches: Two Communities, St Peter's Bromyard and St James Stanford Bishop.The Bromyard & District Local History Society.
• Pinches, Sylvia (2009).Ledbury: a market town and its Tudor Heritage.London. pp. 55–59, 68, 88, 107, 112–3, 116–7, 120, 126, 156, 162.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Robinson, Rev.Charles J. (2001) [1872].A History of the Mansions & Manors of Herefordshire.Hereford and London.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Ross, David (2012).Royalist but...Herefordshire in the English Civil War 1640–51.Logaston. pp. 50, 94, 111–3, 158.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Frank Thorn; Caroline Thorn, eds. (1983).Domesday Book: Herefordshire.Chichester.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Williams, P. (1987).Bromyard: Minster, Manor and Town.
• Bromyard & District Local History Society (2007) [1988].A Pocket Full of Hops.Bromyard.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

• – local history society
• – local history
• – town ancestors
• tourism – Bromyard
• Lower Brockhampton
• Bromyard Workhouse
• tourism – Bromyard
• Explore – Bromyard