Ledbury

Coordinates: 52°02′02″N 2°25′25″W / 52.0339°N 2.4235°W / 52.0339; -2.4235

Ledbury
The Market House, Ledbury
Ledbury Ledbury shown within Herefordshire
Population	8,837  (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SO710373
Unitary authority	Herefordshire
Region	West Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LEDBURY
Postcode district	HR8
Dialling code	01531
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
European Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Leominster
List of places: UK • England • Herefordshire

Ledbury is a town in Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and south of the Malvern Hills.

Today, Ledbury is a thriving market town in rural England. The town has a large number of timber framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane. One of Ledbury's most outstanding buildings is the Market House, located in the centre of the town. Other notable buildings in the area include the parish church, the Painted Room (containing sixteenth century frescoes), and Eastnor Castle.

History

Ledbury is an ancient borough, dating back to the Domesday Book, where it was recorded as Liedeberge, and returned members to Parliament in the reign of Edward I. Ledbury probably takes its name from the River Leadon, on which it stands. The Old English berg (hill) has been added to the river name.

Ledbury was once home to the poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who spent her childhood days at Hope End. It is also the birthplace of poet laureate John Masefield, after whom the local secondary school is now named - John Masefield High School (JMHS).

The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal, which was opened from Gloucester as far as Ledbury in 1798, passed through the lower part of the town with wharves at Bye Street and at what is now the Ross Road near the Full Pitcher public house. After closing in 1885, the canal route was used by the Great Western Railway for the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway. When that closed, as a result of the Beeching cuts, it became disused until it was converted to a nature trail.

A recent study has also shown that the majority of houses in Ledbury are from the Georgian period (1714-1836) with many other houses/buildings built before 1714.^{[citation needed]}

Transport

The main roads through the town are the A449 and the A417, and the M50 motorway runs to the south. Ledbury railway station is near the western end of the Cotswold Line and offers direct services to Hereford, Worcester, Birmingham, Oxford and London.

Industry

For many years, a factory producing Robertson's jam for Premier Foods was a major employer but production was moved to Histon in Cambridgeshire in September 2007.^[1] The site is now used by Universal Beverages to process fruit for cider producers such as Bulmers and includes two giant fermentation tanks, each capable of holding 800,000 litres.^[2][3]

Recreation

Ledbury is the venue for various festivals including the Ledbury Poetry Festival and The Big Chill music event at nearby Eastnor Castle, which brings thousands of young people to the town each year.

The Ledbury hunts (Ledbury, which dates from 1846, and North Ledbury, established in 1905) are well-supported^{[citation needed]} Ledbury is also home to the Silurian Border Morris men. There are a number of singing groups in the town, including Ledbury Choral Society and Ledbury Community Choir, the latter with over 60 singers.

The Market Theatre is situated in the centre of the town in between New St and Bye St on the site of the former livestock market now occupied by Ledbury Cottage Hospital. A Theatre was first recorded in Ledbury in the early 1700's in nearby New St. The latest Theatre opened in January 2000 on the site of the former church room which was adopted in the 1950's by Ledbury Amateur Dramatic Society - L.A.D.S. They kept the tin and wooden structure running until 1999 when after a fire it was decided to demolish the old building and funds were raised to build the new structure with greatly improved amenities including toilets for audience and artists,dressing rooms, lighting and sound box and a bar. The Auditorium seats 128 audience with a stage 7.5 metres x 7 metres approx. L.A.D.S. still run the current building, mounting three productions a year and also playing host to the Ledbury Poetry Festival, small scale professional touring shows and films on a regular basis.

Folklore

At Tedstone Delamere the Sapey Brook runs its course to Upper Sapey. A story is told of a mare and a colt that had been stolen and the hoofprints stopped at the bank of the brook. The owner was Saint Catherine of Ledbury who prayed for their safe return and upon examining the bed of the brook saw hoofprints clearly visible in the rocky bottom. These hoofprints were followed and the thief caught, the horses being safely recovered. The nearby Hoar Stone is said to be the horse thief petrified for his crimes^{[citation needed]} A local pastime was once the creation of fake hoofprints for visitors, however the original petrosomatoglyphs are still visible in the brook to this day.^[4]

Notable people

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet
• Mary Duggan, cricketer
• Steve Emery, footballer
• Henry Scott Holland, professor of divinity
• Terry Jenkins, darts player
• Conroy Maddox, artist
• John Masefield, poet laureate
• James Crosbie Smith, cricketer
• Rachel Whitear, student

See also

• Ledbury Town F.C. - football club
• Ledbury Amateur Dramatic Society - Drama & Theatre Club

References

External links

• Ledbury Community Portal DIY Journalism, News, Forum, Directory
• Ledbury Tourist Association Website
• Ledbury Online
• Ledbury Reporter Local Ledbury weekly Newspaper
• Ledbury Swifts Youth football team
• Ledbury Rugby Club - Rugby union club
• Ledbury Rugby Juniors Youth rugby team
• Genuki UK & Ireland Genealogy site for Ledbury
• Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Trust
• The Market Theatre Home of Ledbury Amateur Dramtic Society
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Ledbury and surrounding area
• The Ledbury and District Society Trust Ltd (also known as Ledbury Civic Society) - Registered charity - A 'watch-dog' organisation: promoting conservation and improvement; creating amenity projects; combining the past and present - protecting our heritage; in short: "Looking after Ledbury"