Ledbury

Ledbury was a Christian centre, engaged in missionary activity from the 9th century onwards. The impressive minster church of St Michael, built by the Normans, was second in size only to Hereford Cathedral. King Stephen granted a charter for a Sunday market to Ledbury in 1138. Henry III stayed twice at the Bishop's palace on his way from Hereford to Worcester, once in 1231 and once in 1256. (Joe Hillaby, Ledbury, A Medieval Borough, Logaston Press, 1997)

Richard de Capella is the bishop credited with the founding of the planned town, c. 1125. This new town had a wedge-shaped market place, called Middletown (today's High Street), located at right angles to the earlier market area (now Church Lane). Note, however, that the Market House is post-medieval, having been built in the early 17th century. Burgage plots were laid out on either side of the market place, except for the area occupied by St. Katherine's Hospital. At each end of the market place would have been a market cross. 
 
Two women, who lived near these crosses, took their surname from them: Juliana de la Crose and Agatha de Cruce (Latin for "cross") (Hillaby, see above, p. 32). Names can also indicate the sort of jobs people had. According to the Red Book (a survey of the Bishop of Hereford's property, carried out in 1285), the following names could be found in Ledbury: Johannes le Cupere (cooper or barrel maker), Aluredus le Mercer (someone who sells textiles), Wilelmus le ffolur (fuller, someone who makes woollen fabric), Galfridus Pelliparius (skinner, someone who skins dead animals to make leather), Walterus Plumiber (plumber), Nicholas Pistor (baker) and Galfridus Aurifaber (goldsmith).

[Note: Joe Hillaby's book on Ledbury (see above) has an excellent chapter on the origins of local surnames.]

The most popular male first names in Ledbury in the 13th century were William, Richard and John, while the most popular female names were Alice, Matilda and Juliana.

According to the Red Book, there were 282 tenancies in Ledbury, that is more than twice the number in Ross-on-Wye (105). The medieval street names reflect the commercial nature of town life: Middletown, the Stalls, the Butchers Row and the Shop Row. Edward III granted Ledbury citizens the right to collect money from merchants carrying goods for paving Middletown with gravel in the 14th century (Hillaby 1997, see above).

All important business would have been carried out at the Booth Hall, which stood on land on High Street now occupied by the Feathers Hotel. This was the meeting place of the borough court, and the place where the two members were chosen who represented Ledbury at Parliament in 1295 and 1305. Business deals were also made here, especially major ones which involved exporting wool to the continent. For example, the Italian merchant houses of Bardi and Peruzzi bought wool from Herefordshire. (Hillaby 1997, see above). The woollen industry was very successful in the early part of the 14th century, and this for some time masked the agricultural and commercial decline in many other areas of rural life.  

There were many bad harvests between the years 1290 and 1317 which led to hardship and, in 1316 and 1317, to famine. The population of Ledbury was already in decline when the Black Death hit in 1349. It took until the 16th century for many of the plots left vacant then to be reoccupied.

[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2002]