Leominster

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Leominster
Population11,000 
OS grid referenceSO496591
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLEOMINSTER
Postcode districtHR6
Dialling code01568
PoliceWest Mercia
FireHereford and Worcester
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Herefordshire
For the Leominster in the USA, see Leominster, Massachusetts.

Leominster (pronunciationⓘ; IPA /ˈlemstə/ or Lemster; is a market town [1] at grid reference SO496590 in Herefordshire, England. It has a population of approximately 11,000 and is on the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater in North Herefordshire.

From 1974 to 1996, Leominster served as the administrative centre for the former local government district of Leominster.

Etymology

The town takes its name from a minster, that is a community of clergy in the district of Lene or Leon, probably in turn from an Old Welsh root lei to flow.[1]. Contrary to certain reports, the name has nothing to do with Leofric, an 11th century Earl of Mercia (most famous for being the miserly husband of Lady Godiva). The Welsh language name for Leominster, still used today on the Welsh side of the nearby border, is Llanllieni.

History

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a raid by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn on Leominster in 1052 resulted in the Battle of Llanllieni, between the Welsh and a combined force of Normans and English Saxons.

Henry II bestowed the minster and its estates on Reading Abbey, which founded a priory [2] at Leominster in 1121, although there was one here from Saxon times[2]. Its Priory Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which now serves as the parish church, is the remaining part of this 12th century Benedictine monastery. Quatrefoil piers were inserted between 1872-79 by Sir George Gilbert Scott.[3]

The priory was ransacked by the Welsh forces of Owain Glyndŵr after their victory at the Battle of Bryn Glas near Pilleth in 1402, along with several local manor houses.

Investigations to the north of the Priory in 2005 located the position of the cloister though most of the stone had been robbed following the Dissolution. Disposed animal bones found on the site when submitted to carbon dating showed that the area was occupied in the 7th century. This agrees with the date of 660 A.D. associated with the founding myth which suggests a Christian community was established here by a monk, St. Edfrid, from Northumberland.

Leominster is also the historical home of Ryeland sheep, a breed once famed for its 'Lemster' [sic] wool, known as 'Lemster ore'. This wool was prized above all other English wool in trade with the continent of Europe in the Middle Ages. It was the income and prosperity [3] from this wool trade that established the town and the Minster and attracted the envy of the Welsh and other regions.

From approximately 1748 to 1754, Leominster was home to one of only four early cotton spinning mills employing the spinning machines of Lewis Paul and John Wyatt. The mill was financed by Lancashire native Daniel Bourn, and was partly owned by other men from Lancashire. Bourn introduced his own version of the carding engine to work at this mill, and of the four Paul-Wyatt mills, it may have been the most successful, for the Manchester Mercury, reported on November 5, 1754, shortly after the fire that destroyed the mill, commented that the cotton works "had been viewed with great pleasure and admiration by travellers and all who had seen them."

Transport

The four-mile A49 £9m bypass opened in November 1988. The town also has a bus station linking it to Hereford and a number of nearby towns and villages.

Leominster railway station has services to Ludlow and Hereford; links to London are achieved by changing at Newport, South Wales.

Schools

The schools in Leominster are very bad except for Southeast which is now a gay elementary school. Sky view is terrible. Never go there. The high school is falling apart and ready to fall down

People from Leominster

Twin towns

Leominster is twinned with:

Local attractions

Black and White Village Trail[8]

Leominster in the news

  • In 2007 a shop in Broad Street, Leominster, called 'Teagowns and Textiles' supplied a number of vintage costumes for the acclaimed film Atonement, which was nominated for 14 BAFTA awards (it came away with 2).
  • Independent columninst Brian Viner lives near Leominster and frequently writes in praise of the town.

New web site launched for Leominster and the surrounding villages of Herefordshire. Locally run for the community and visitors to the region.All contributions welcome.Local to Leominster.

See also

References

  1. ^ J. & C. Hillaby, Leominster Minster, Priory, and Borough c.660-1539 (Logaston Press, Almeley, Herefs. 2006), 4-5.
  2. ^ Hillaby, 53-7
  3. ^ The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1963 p226 ISBN 0-14-071025-6

External links

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