103. Gem Towns: England

In putting this post together, I realised there’s still lots to learn about the UK. For example, I only discovered the existence of “gem towns” in September 2022, while doing some prep for a trip to Whitehaven and Workington. The list was produced in response to the Buchanan Report of 1963, relating to the devastation and loss of heritage in the UK, specifically Worcester. A list of 324 historic towns across the UK was drawn up. From that list, 51 were considered to be particularly splendid and precious and were subsequently designated as Gem Towns.

ISGAP (Introduction to Standards and Guidance in Archeological Practice) https://isgap.org.uk/gem-towns – this website is no longer live see instead: https://www.archaeologyuk.org/resource/isgap-introduction-to-standards-and-guidance-in-archaeological-practice.html

The 40 English towns are: Abingdon, Barnard Castle, Bath, Beverley, Blandford Forum, Bradford-on-Avon, Bridgnorth, Burford, Cambridge, Chipping Campden, Cockermouth, Colchester, Hadleigh, Hereford, King’s Lynn, Lavenham, Lewes, Lincoln, Ludlow, Marlborough, Newcastle on Tyne, Newark-on-Trent, Norwich, Oxford, Pershore, Rye, Richmond (Yorkshire), Salisbury, Sandwich, Scarborough, Stamford, Tewkesbury, Thaxted, Totnes, Warwick, Wells, Whitehaven, Wisbech, Wymondham and York

It’s a curious list. Lincoln is included but not Louth. While Lincoln is more important historically it has been buggered about far more than Worcester (for example) and Louth is largely unspoilt. Hadleigh is undoubtedly lovely but is it more worthy of inclusion than Ipswich? And Wisbech rather than Ely? Cheshire gets no mention – neither Chester nor Nantwich…

Is it even still relevant after 60 years?

You have to feel sorry for Chester and Worcester – many fine buildings, glorious cathedrals but fail to make the grade. Similarly Gloucester: one of the finest cathedrals in the country and yet, what must once have been a fine city, has been ruined…

You will, no doubt, have your own favourite towns and, perhaps, be mystified by their absence from the list. But we should celebrate the fact that the list exists at all along with the desire to retain as much as possible of our rich history and heritage…

The towns are featured in alphabetical order. There are more photos of each town in their respective county, or country, post. The Scottish and Welsh gem towns are featured in separate posts (see links at the end)…

I have been struck by several things while putting this post together. The very existence of the Gem Towns list in the first place; just what a fine city York is and that some towns are better at providing a concise history on their websites – Hadleigh being a prime example of the good and Rye being an example of the poor. Yet another thing is that some dates still stand out in British history and reminders exist in most of these gem towns: 1066: the year of the Norman invasion; 1086: the year of the Domesday Book; 1215: the Magna Carta; 1348: the Black Death reaches the country; 1536-40: the dissolution of the monasteries and 1642-51: the Civil War . For anyone with an interest in such things there is a separate post called “Since Time Immemorial” and there’s a post on Abbeys & Monasteries for anyone interested in them…

It could be said that the Industrial Revolution was just as transformational but it bypassed most of the towns on this list and it was more far reaching in that it, ultimately, changed the world…

Data sources are shown where relevant but please note that these links will have cookies and their own privacy policies. This website is quite useful: https://localhistories.org/

I can find no record of the full list of 324 towns…

The 8 Scottish towns are: Aberdeen, Cromarty, Culross, Edinburgh and Leith, Haddington, Inveraray, Kelso and Stirling. The 3 Welsh towns are: Conwy, Monmouth and Tenby. See separate post…

England

Abingdon:

Abingdon was in Berkshire until boundary changes in 1974 put it in Oxfordshire. Abingdon’s Benedictine Abbey of St Mary’s was a centre of excellence in the cultural and religious life of medieval Europe.  Relations with the town which had begun to grow in front of the abbey were not always good and the abbey’s closure in 1538 had little opposition.  In 1556, Mary I signed a Charter incorporating the town, giving it rights to govern itself and raise money by levies on trade and markets.  Abingdon prospered in the ensuing centuries and the town grew steadily, with a thriving mixed economy that included the river barge trade, bookmaking and printing, markets, leather manufacture, malting and brewing.  The growing importance of the town was reflected in the design of the County Hall which dominates the Market Place.  Erected between 1678 and 1684, it was first known as the Sessions Hall as it was built as an assize court above with a market hall below. 

Abingdon is probably best known for MG cars and the Morland brewery. By the early eighteenth century, the Morland family were brewing in West Ilsley. By 1887, Morland had acquired the Abbey Brewery and the Eagle Brewery in Ock Street. Brewing was centralised in Ock Street. In 1956, fearful of hostile takeovers, Morland’s allowed the much larger Whitbread company to take a minority shareholding. This was advantageous at first, giving them access to brands and technical expertise; but in 1992 Whitbread made agreements with Greene King, who bought Morland’s and closed the brewery. MG Cars was a subsidiary of Morris, founded in 1924 to produce high performance versions of standard Morris cars. As sales increased, production was moved to Abingdon. The factory closed in 1980.

See also: https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/

Barnard Castle:

Barnard Castle in Teesdale is a historic market town which takes its name from the castle around which it grew. The castle, an English Heritage property, was named after its 12th Century founder, Bernard de Balliol, and was later developed by Richard III whose boar emblem is carved above a window in the inner ward. The church of St Mary’s benefited from the patronage of the king with much work carried out including the founding of a chantry. The chancel arch bears corbels with the portraits of Richard and Edward IV and there is a carved boar beside the east window of the south transept. In the centre of the town stands an octagonal building, the Market Cross known locally as, the ‘Butter Market’, built by Thomas Breaks and given to the town in 1747. Two bullet holes in the weather vane are reputed to be the result of a shooting competition between a volunteer soldier and a local gamekeeper in 1804.The Bowes Museum is an impressive and charming French-style château, built in the late 19th Century by John Bowes, and surrounded by beautiful gardens and parkland. The museum houses a collection of European fine and decorative arts and is regarded as one of the most significant museums outside London.

Bath:

Founded by the Romans as a thermal spa, Bath became an important centre of the wool trade in the Middle Ages. In the 18th century, under George III, it developed into an elegant town with neoclassical Palladian buildings, which blend harmoniously with the Roman baths. It gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1987.

Bath is considered to be of “Outstanding Universal Value” for the following cultural attributes: the Roman remains, especially the Temple of Sulis Minerva and the baths complex (based around the hot springs at the heart of the Roman town of Aquae Sulis), which are amongst the most famous and important Roman remains north of the Alps, and marked the beginning of Bath’s history as a spa town.

The Georgian city reflects the ambitions of architects John Wood Senior, Ralph Allen and Richard “Beau” Nash to make Bath into one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Bath’s many fine buildings also reflect the influence that Palladio (1508-1580) had on other architects such as Robert Adam, Thomas Baldwin and John Palmer in transposing Palladio’s ideas to the scale of a complete city.

Beverley:

John, bishop of York, founded a monastery in Beverley around 705 before retiring here and dying in 721. He was subsequently canonised and became known as John of Beverley. John’s Saxon minster was replaced by a Romanesque version under the Normans. After a disastrous fire in 1188 a new Gothic building was begun and completed in the 1390s. A new church, St Mary’s, was built at the north end of the town. Dominican and Franciscan friaries were established and markets brought wealth, buying and selling principally wool, cloth, foodstuffs and luxuries. The dissolution had a disastrous effect on Beverley’s economy. The Pilgrimage of Grace (1536), which began in Beverley and was led by Robert Aske, was a serious attempt to halt change. But Henry VIII and Edward VI, demolished all the religious houses and customs that had kept Beverley rich. The cloth trade had also declined. During Elizabeth’s reign the town was in dire straits. In response to a desperate plea, the queen gave the town a charter of incorporation, an MP, and many church properties. So Beverley gradually climbed out of 16th-century depression only to be battered again by the English Civil War. After the problems of the 16th and 17th centuries, the 18th century was a golden time for Beverley. Much of the town centre, which still retains its medieval shape, had the houses rebuilt. Quarter sessions, the races, the assembly rooms, the theatre, gentlemen’s clubs, brought county families with great spending power into the town. Beverley grew into the local government centre that it has remained ever since. 

Blandford Forum:

Blandford Forum was a major market town during the later medieval period. This was principally due to the fact that the main roads from Salisbury to Dorchester and from Poole to Shaftesbury crossed the River Stour here, partly explaining the derivation of the name. In 1605 the town became a borough with its own mayor and burgesses. It was one of the polling places for county elections, giving it an added significance. Blandford Forum is regarded as the most complete, small Georgian town in England.

In the early 18th century, fires decimated much of the town. Following a fire in 1731, it was largely rebuilt and is a wonderful example of Georgian architecture. Most town centre buildings date from this early period and were designed by the Bastard brothers, noted architects of the time. The Fire Monument in the Market Place acknowledges its past and the museum tells the story of the rebirth of the town.

Bradford on Avon:

The town’s name is derived from the ‘broad ford’ across the River Avon. Two of the many gems in the town are the Tithe Barn, described by English Heritage as “one of the largest medieval barns in England, and architecturally one of the finest”. and the town bridge – parts of which date back to the 13th century.  On the bridge are the remains of a medieval pilgrim chapel, later converted into a lock up. Bradford on Avon’s staple industry for six centuries was wool and weaving, starting in the 14th century. The mechanisation of the wool industry in the late 18th century saw the construction of the mills that dominate the town’s architecture, along with the rows of weavers’ cottages lining the hillsides and streets, punctuated by the grand houses of wealthy clothiers. As the wool industry declined, largely because of the development of large-scale mechanised and large-scale wool mills in the north of England, it was replaced from 1848 by pioneering rubber works, which operated in the town until 1994.

Bridgnorth:

There has been a bridge here since at least Saxon times, but the town was established in 1101 when Robert de Belleme, the Earl of Shrewsbury, transferred St. Mary’s Church here and constructed a castle. In 1102 Henry I besieged the town and eventually took it from de Belleme. The town prospered and received a royal charter in 1157.

During the English Civil War the town was staunchly Royalist. During the Parliamentary army’s campaign to take the town a fire, known as the Great Fire, burned down many of the buildings, though a few half-timbered structures survived. After taking the town and castle, Cromwell ordered the castle demolished. Some of the ruins still remain in a small park in the town. One section of the former keep wall leans at a precarious angle.

The bridge across the River Severn at Bridgnorth has always been important, with records of 1313 showing it built of stone. The bridge was substantially rebuilt in 1812 according to designs by Thomas Telford. When the bridge was widened in 1823 the last houses were also removed from the structure. The quay by the bridge was home to a bustling river trade and the town was home to many inns to accommodate the boatmen and traders. With the advent of the railways the river traffic declined and the last commercial barge service ended before the end of the 19th century.

Burford:

Burford is situated in north Oxfordshire, twenty miles west of Oxford and is a beautiful old Cotswold town. Its High Street slopes down from the high Wolds, with views over the open countryside, down to the River Windrush in the Windrush valley. A fine three arched medieval bridge crosses the river at the foot of the hill. In Anglo Saxon times it was the site of a fortified ford and the town grew to be an important crossroads and very wealthy wool town. The broad main street slopes gently down to the river and is lined with dignified old houses and ancient cottages and many shops all of which appear little changed since Tudor times as witnessed by the precarious angles the buildings have come to rest at. The 16th century Tolsey building, once the meeting place for medieval merchants, now houses the local museum illustrating the town’s social and industrial past. The 15th century parish church of St. John Baptist is magnificent and is another sign of bygone riches based on wool.

Cambridge:

The Romans created the first recognisable permanent settlement in Cambridge on Castle Hill although it wasn’t until around 875 AD that Cambridge would have been considered a middle sized and relatively prosperous town. In those days it was known as Granta Brygg, after the Granta river. Over time this became Cambridge and the river’s name subsequently changed to Cam. The Normans built a castle on Castle Hill in 1068, but the only thing that remains of it is an earthen mound. The church of St. Bene’t (Benedict) was built around 1020 and parts of the Saxon church, including the tower, still remain – hence its claim to be the oldest building in the town. The Domesday book (1086) records wealth in Cambridge on a scale rivalled only by London, Bristol, Norwich, and York.

Around 1209 scholars fled violence and disruption in Oxford seeking refuge in Cambridge. By 1226 they were offering regular courses of study, and named a Chancellor to lead them. In 1231 Henry III decreed that only students studying under a recognised Master were allowed to remain in Cambridge. Peterhouse is the oldest college having been founded in 1284, making Cambridge the 4th oldest university in the world. Between 1349-53, the Guild of Corpus Christi was founded, after the Black Death ravaged Cambridge, and plans were formed to create a new college with the same name. There are currently 31 colleges in the university. Trinity is the largest college and was founded by Henry VIII in 1546. Queen Elizabeth I formally incorporated Cambridge University by an Act of Parliament in 1571.

In the fourteenth century it was recorded as a full day’s journey between Cambridge and London, which suggests that traffic and trade was frequent and abundant. However, by 1702 a coach journey took only 15 hours, with a coach service running daily between Cambridge and London by the latter half of the eighteenth century. It had its own newspaper in 1744, a hospital in 1766, its first bank in 1780, and was connected to London by railway in 1845. Cambridge gained city status in 1951.

Chipping Campden:

There was a settlement in Chipping Campden by the 7th century. The word ‘Chipping’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon ‘ceapen’ meaning ‘market’, and was not added until much later when the town had a market. Little is known about Campden before the Norman Conquest and the Domesday Book recorded a population of about 300. Chipping Campden is a very early example of town planning. The Lord of the Manor, Hugh de Gonville was granted a market charter by King Henry II in 1185 and set out the plan of the town. The main street followed level ground by the River Cam, a curve that helps to make the High Street so attractive. He laid out regular plots of land called burgages to be occupied for a fee by craftsmen, traders and others providing services to the community. An aerial view of the town today clearly shows evidence of these burgage plots. The Cotswolds became very prosperous in the 14th and 15th centuries and Campden, in particular, thrived. The wool from the long-backed Cotswold Lion sheep was prized across Europe. William Grevel became one of England’s most successful wool merchants and, about 1380, built a new house in the High Street (Grevel House) that still stands today. The Woolstaplers Hall on the other side of the High Street was built in the 14th century by Robert Calf and illustrates how Campden had become an important collecting point for fleece, later sold to Flemish and Italian clothiers. In the 16th century the export of wool declined as the weaving of high quality cloth in England rose. Campden could not support a large scale cloth industry due to the lack of an adequate water supply. It also became increasingly profitable to supply meat as well as wool and by Victorian days, the main interest was in meat. Silk spinning began to increase in popularity and in the mid 18th Century there are records of silk spinning in the Silk Mill in Sheep Street. However, the silk industry collapsed in Britain during the 1860’s following a trade agreement with France which reduced import duties on French Silk. Around this time the agricultural depression also had an increasing effect and farm workers were moving to the bigger towns to work in factories there. So Campden remained stagnant and half empty until the arrival of C R Ashbee and his Guild of Handicraft which created work and employment for 100 or so families who moved with him from East London. It was Chipping Campden’s outstanding architectural heritage, beautiful surroundings and living tradition of craftsmanship that brought the renowned etcher and architect FL Griggs to settle in Chipping Campden in 1904. Over 25 years he devoted his resources and energies to protecting the heritage and charm of Chipping Campden. He stood out against unsuitable development, had many houses restored, saved Dover’s Hill and had it handed over to the National Trust (NT). Then in 1929, he formed the Campden Trust to continue the conservation effort – as it did very effectively for over 40 years until most of the town was designated a Conservation Area (1970) and protective planning laws were enacted. The Trust did restore many neglected town properties over the years and raised money to acquire The Coneygree and the 17th century Market Hall – both for transfer to the NT. Since the 70s there has been much added development and infilling in the old part of the town but mainly well-proportioned and in natural stone. It is rich in listed buildings, with over 270 in the town, including 170 in the extended High Street.

Cockermouth:

Cockermouth grew up at the confluence of the River Cocker and the River Derwent – that then enters the sea at Workington.The Romans built the fort of Deventio at Papcastle, about a mile from the present town, at a meeting place of roads from Maryport, Carlisle and Penrith. The settlement is one of the largest Romano-British settlements ever found in northern England and was unearthed during the 2009 floods.

Cockermouth Castle was originally an earth and timber motte and bailey fort built around 1134 by Norman, Gilbert de Pipard. It was rebuilt in stone in early 13th century by William de Fortibus mainly from stone from the Roman settlement, in what is now called Papcastle. Significant additions were made in the 13th and 14th centuries. The castle played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses, and the Civil Wars of the 1640s. After this it was dismantled on the orders of Parliament, and much of it is still in a ruinous condition. The castle is home to Lord and Lady Egremont and can be visited on certain days in July by appointment.

The town received its Market Charter in 1221, and has retained its importance as a market town ever since.

The town is probably best known as the birthplace of William and Dorothy Wordsworth. Their father’s grave can been seen in the town’s All Saint’s churchyard. Their home, Wordsworth House, is now in the care of the National Trust and provides a fascinating insight into how the future poet and his family lived in the 18th century.

Colchester:

Colchester started life as a center of the local Celtic tribe, the Trinovantes. It was a group of settlements and farmland surrounded by a network of ditches. The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD and they built a fort in a piece of high ground in this center about 44 AD. The fort was surrounded by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top. About 54 AD a stone temple was built for Emperor Claudius. In 61 AD Queen Boudicca led a rebellion and attacked Colchester. The defenders took refuge in the temple of Claudius but the rebels broke in. They killed the people, burned the temple and the rest of the town. After the rebellion was crushed, the Romans rebuilt Colchester and a wall was built around the town. Roman Colchester probably had a population of 10-12,000 making it a large and important town. It was also an important port because of its position near the sea. Colchester is the earliest recorded town in England. It was first recorded in the year 77 AD. In the late 11th century the Normans built a castle in Colchester. It was probably begun around 1079 and completed by 1100. The castle was built on the vaults of the old temple of Claudius. In 1189 Colchester was given its first charter (a charter was a document allowing the townspeople certain rights and privileges). In the Middle Ages, Colchester had 2 weekly markets and the merchants were allowed to elect bailiffs who ran the town. Colchester was given a new charter in 1413. At that time the town gained its coat of arms. St Helena, the patron saint of Colchester is supposed to have found the true cross of Christ. In 1565 Queen Elizabeth allowed refugees from Holland to come to Colchester and by 1575 at least 500 Dutch had settled here.

Colchester escaped the fighting during the civil war between 1642 and 1646 as it was in an area controlled by parliament. Royalists gained control in 1648 and the town was badly damaged during a siege that lasted about 3 months.

Colchester gained city status in 2022 as part Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

There’s a friendly rivalry between Colchester and Ipswich that I wasn’t aware of. Colchester claims to be the oldest town in England while Ipswich claims to be the oldest English town in the country. It’s a subtle distinction but a relevant one in that, when the Romans invaded, the country was known as Britannia and the people were mostly Britons. The name England comes from the Angles who settled here from the 5th century onwards – although the country wasn’t known as England until the 10th century…

Hadleigh (Suffolk):

“Hadleigh is one of the most perfect small towns in England, with trees, old red brick, flint and plaster and that unassuming beauty of East Anglia which changes to glory in sunlight”   Sir John Betjeman

Hadleigh is an ancient market town set in the valley of the River Brett. West of the town the land rises sharply to arable fields and copses. To the east, the slope is shallower, and it is here that most of the town’s housing has been built. Settlement began in the Stone Age, developed in the Bronze Age, and produced wooden buildings by the Iron Age. The first capital of the Roman province of Britannia was at Colchester, about 15 miles away, has produced plenty of evidence of a Roman presence in Hadleigh – for example, remains of a villa at Town House Farm, as well as numerous artefacts found throughout the area. The quite geometric layout of the old part of Hadleigh may also reflect the influence of Roman principles of town planning.

After the Romans left, there was a period of Anglo-Saxon rule before the area became part of the Danelaw, ruled by Vikings. Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings but allowed their king, Guthrum, to hold the area as a subordinate on condition of his conversion to Christianity. Guthrum’s settlement with Alfred, however, did not put a stop to further Viking raids, and it was after one of these that St Mary’s church Hadleigh acquired its very special relationship with the Church of Canterbury. The town had been part of the domain of the Saxon general Byrthnoth who was killed in 991 at the Battle of Maldon (celebrated in one of the finest surviving Anglo-Saxon poems), and in his will he left the manor of Hadleigh to the Priory Church of Canterbury – later to become the seat of the Archdiocese of Canterbury and hence the property of the Archbishop. It was the connection with Canterbury that preserved Hadleigh from the upheaval that followed the Norman Conquest, as the property of the Church was not confiscated and reallocated as were the estates of Anglo-Saxon noblemen.

The town soon began to prosper in the wool trade and the town’s coat of arms reflect this. The coat of arms was granted in 1618, when the town received its charter as a borough from James I. Like all the wool towns, Hadleigh expressed its importance in its church, the tower dating from the 13th century, the body of the church from about 1450. Standing beside the church are two other buildings of great importance – the Deanery tower built in the late 15th century by Archdeacon Pykenham, and the earlier Guildhall, originally built as a market house and wool hall. These three buildings are all listed Grade 1, and form the heart of a town that contains an exceptional number of listed buildings. The preservation of so many medieval and Tudor buildings is due to the poverty that struck the town after the collapse of the wool trade in the 16th century: the inhabitants could not afford to knock down or renovate in accordance with the fashions of the time.

As other industries began to develop – to be seen in the converted maltings – Hadleigh began to recovery its prosperity, and was sufficiently important for the railway to arrive in the town in 1847. Hadleigh can also claim a significant role in the start of one of the most influential movements in the intellectual life of this country, as the Deanery Tower was the scene of the first meeting of the Anglican clerics who went on the found the Oxford Movement, which transformed the Church of England in the mid 19th century. Another significant figure of the 19th century born in Hadleigh was the sculptor Thomas Woolner, the only sculptor to be part of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, whose most prominent work is the colossal statue of Captain James Cook in Sydney. An important development in Hadleigh was the arrival of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End in 1939, the brainchild of Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett Haines.

Hadleigh has preserved its past in its buildings and in its character while being a successful part of the modern economy. All parts of the town, the ancient centre with its busy High Street, the large areas of newer housing, the industrial estates – all contribute to the making of a confident and thriving community.

Hereford:

There are remains of a Roman settlement here but Hereford is a predominantly Saxon town. The name is derived from here (Saxon for army) and ford – on the River Wye, around which a settlement was established. In 676 it was made the seat of a bishop and by around 700 Hereford had grown into a town. In 760 a battle was fought between the English and the Welsh at Hereford. Hereford was probably protected by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top. Hereford benefited because of its position near the border with Wales. Hereford also benefited from the fact that St Ethelbert was buried here. In those days people traveled long distances to visit the shrines of saints and, of course, they spent money in the town.

In the late 9th century Alfred the Great created a network of fortified settlements called burhs across his kingdom. In the event of a Danish attack, all the men in the area could gather in the burh to fight them. By the 10th century, Hereford was a burh. Saxon Hereford also had a mint and a weekly market. Hereford was able to resist a Danish attack in 914. About 1050 a castle was built in Hereford but the town was burned by the Welsh in 1055.

In 1100, a stone bridge was built across the Wye to replace the wooden one. In June 1121 Hereford was allowed a fair – medieval fairs were like markets but bigger and usually only held once a year, albeit over a few days. The Normans set about rebuilding Hereford cathedral. A new bishops palace was built about 1180. In 1189 Hereford was given its first charter. At the end of the 12th century stone walls were built around Hereford. In 1227, Hereford gained a second fair that took place in October.

In Medieval Hereford the main industries were wool and leatherworking. Leather was used for all kinds of goods e.g. shoes, gloves, hats, bottles, arrow spacers (for holding arrows), and saddles. The first quay at Hereford was recorded in 1256.

In the mid 13th century the friars arrived – there were 2 denominations in Hereford. Franciscans (grey friars) and Dominicans (black friars). In the Middle Ages, the church ran the only hospitals for the poor and the sick. In Hereford, there was the Hospital of St John founded in the 12th century and St Ethelbert, which was founded in the 13th century.

Hereford continued to prosper in the 17th century. Coningsby hospital was built in 1614; the Old House in 1621 and Aubrey’s almshouses in 1630. However like all towns at that time Hereford suffered from outbreaks of plague, which struck in 1566, 1580, 1604, and 1610.

In 1642 came civil war between the king and parliament. Hereford strongly supported the king. Nevertheless, in September 1642 a parliamentary force took Hereford but withdrew in December. A small royalist army then held the town but fled in April 1643 when a superior parliamentary force came. However, Hereford soon changed hands again when the parliamentarians left and a royalist army arrived. A parliamentary army laid siege to the town in July 1645 but they were unable to take Hereford. They withdrew in September but, by then, the king was losing the war. In December the parliamentarians took Hereford by trickery. Some of their soldiers dressed as laborers and took shovels and picks. They went to Bysters Gate. When it was opened they took control and let in more parliamentary soldiers.

During the 17th century, the wool industry in Hereford declined sharply due to competition from the North of England but it had become known for brewing and cider making. Furthermore, the leather industry continued to be important. In the 18th century, Hereford remained a quiet market town.

In 1774 an act of parliament formed a group of men with powers to pave and light the streets of Hereford. Afterward, the main streets were paved and they were lit by oil lamps. Hereford hospital was built in 1783. At the end of the 18th century, all the gates around Hereford were demolished as they restricted traffic. Wye Bridge Gate and Friars Gate went in 1782; St Owens Gate in 1786; Eign Gate in 1787 and Bysters Gate and Widemarsh Gate were demolished in 1798. In 1786 the west tower of the Cathedral collapsed and had to be rebuilt.

There were many improvements in Hereford during the 19th century. From 1836 Hereford had gas street lighting and from 1849 it had a fire brigade. In 1854 the Hereford Improvement Act was passed. In 1856, following the act, a waterworks was built followed by a network of sewers and from 1899 Hereford had an electricity supply. A canal was dug from Gloucester to Hereford in 1845. It closed in 1880. The railway reached Hereford in 1854 – the last major town in Britain to be connected by rail. Several new churches were built as the town expanded including St Pauls at Tupsley and St James in Green Street in 1865. In the 19th century, leatherworking continued to be an important industry in Hereford, while brewing and cider making continued to flourish. There was also a boat building industry, a brick and tile industry. and furniture making but it remained principally a market town rather than a manufacturing centre.

King’s Lynn:

In 1101 Bishop Herbert de Losinga of Thetford began the first medieval town between the Purfleet and Mill Fleet by building St. Margaret’s Church (now King’s Lynn Minster) and authorising a market. A small prosperous town grew up quite quickly and, in 1204, following a charter from Bishop John de Grey of Norwich, the town became Bishop’s Lynn. Trade built up along the waterways that stretched inland from Lynn, and the town expanded and quickly filled the space between the two rivers, Millfleet to the south and Purfleet to the north. By the late 12th century, a further period of expansion began, more deliberately planned than the first, with wider straighter streets, a much larger market place and it became one of England’s most important ports.

Bishop’s Lynn grew rich on trade, both within Britain and abroad. The Hanseatic League, a powerful German trading organisation made up of merchants from North Germany and neighbouring countries around the Baltic Sea contributed greatly to this prosperity. German merchants from the Baltic and Hamburg secured trading privileges at Lynn in 1271 and these were confirmed, after some local disputes, in 1310. Bishop’s Lynn and Boston attracted the German Hanse because their extensive hinterlands offered commercial opportunities and rewards. Herring, timber, wax, iron and pitch were imported into England, via Lynn, while grain, wool, skins, cloth and lead were exported.

Commercial relations between England and the Hanse deteriorated following the seizure of its Bay salt fleet by English privateers in 1449. Then all Hanseatic towns united against England after a major incident off Denmark in 1468. Peace was negotiated at Utrecht in 1473/74 after several years of sea warfare and the German delegation achieved most of its diplomatic aims. It insisted on a free gift of their former trading posts or steelyards at London and Boston and of a new one at Lynn. The Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1474 and the Edward IV conveyed a quay and tenements in the Norfolk town to the Hanse. Lübeck invited Danzig to take charge of the property, the complex now known as Hanse House. This is today the only surviving Hanseatic business headquarters or steelyard in England.

See: https://www.hanse.org/en

In 1537 Bishop’s Lynn became King’s Lynn when the charter of Henry VIII finally dispossessed the Norwich bishops and transferred full political power to the town’s merchants. By the 16th century the east coast trade in corn and coal, mainly involving London and Newcastle respectively, kept the commercial wheels of this Norfolk seaport turning. Though its international trade with the Baltic and south-west France (wine imports were substantial) continued, it was relatively less important than before. Lynn’s hinterland remained the key to its success. In 1722 the travel writer Daniel Defoe was impressed by the fact that the Wash haven enjoyed “the greatest extent” of inland navigation of any English port outside London and served six counties “wholly” and three “in part” with coal, wine and provisions. Lynn was in turn a major corn exporter with granaries lining the river.

Lynn’s population doubled between 1801 and 1851 as the market and port expanded with East Anglia playing a leading role in feeding London and the new industrial regions. Then the coming of the railways in the 1840s robbed Lynn of its geographical advantages as river and coastal traffic gave way to the iron road. Population fell from 20,000 to 17,000 in the period of 1851-1871 and economic recovery followed through the building of docks linked to the new national railway network, which sparked the town’s first industrial revolution. New factories began to supply English farmers with machinery, artificial manure and animal feed. Yet the town grew slowly because it was too remote from the industrial regions; its hinterland remained agricultural when food imports into England from America increased to compete with home farmers. Despite the growth of suburbs and some redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s, the Old Town of King’s Lynn remains of national significance for its architectural and historic interest.

King’s Lynn’s treasures include the Grade 1 listed St George’s Guildhall, Britain’s oldest working theatre, with performances since 1445. Recent research supports local tradition that Shakespeare performed at the Guildhall in 1593, and Shakespeare’s comedian Robert Armin was born in King’s Lynn. The Robinson Cruso family (note spelling) has a ledger stone in St. Nicholas Chapel. It is thought that Daniel Defoe, while in King’s Lynn saw the stone and took the name for his eponymous novel. The Minster has a unique tide clock and there is the carving of the ‘witch’s heart’ on numbers 15 and 16 in the Georgian Tuesday Market Place. The heart marks the death of Margaret Read, a woman burned at the stake in the square in 1590, a full three decades before Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins was even born and almost 60 years before he began his witch purges in the east of England.

Lavenham:

Lavenham is one of England’s best preserved medieval villages with around 320 listed buildings. The Saxon Manors of Overhall and Netherhall were granted to Alberic De Vere by William the Conqueror and became a manorial village. It was granted its first market charter in 1257 by Henry III. Lavenham was already making woollen cloth and the new charter enabled it to trade with other areas. Merchant clothiers were drawn to the area to organise the workers during the 15th century and the quality and reputation of Lavenham ‘blew’ broadcloth was soon known far and wide. The blue dye (blew) came from the leaves of woad, which was grown locally. By 1524 Lavenham was ranked as 14th richest in the country despite its small size. It paid more tax than even the big cities of the time such as Lincoln and York. Records refer to Lavenham as a town and its wealth was flaunted with the construction of magnificent buildings such as the lavish perpendicular gothic style church of St Peter and St Paul with its 141 foot tower. The main streets of Lavenham were lined with fine timber framed ‘open hall’ houses.

During the reign of Henry VIII, trade sanctions and heavy taxes due to the Imperial campaigns in France led to a loss of the country’s export markets.  In addition, Dutch refugees in nearby Colchester began weaving lighter, cheaper and more fashionable cloths.  The Italian clothiers introduced cottons and silks.  By 1525 the bubble had burst. The demise of the cloth trade for which Lavenham was famed meant that the merchants were left looking for their next venture. The locals were unable to maintain the timber-framed buildings, which had previously been funded by the cloth trade, and the buildings began to crumble.  By the 17th century there was a threat of mass demolition. The situation was so severe that the Lord of the Manor took some of his tenants to court to prevent the destruction. Many of the former Merchant’s houses were divided up to provide small homes for large families.  The Guildhall building was used as a workhouse.  By a twist of fortune it was the extreme poverty and neglect that preserved Lavenham.  The Market Place and the five streets and one lane leading from it,  together with Water Street, High Street and Church Street, are still very much on the same scale as they would have been in the 15th century. There was a period of revival in the early 19th century when the railway (dismantled 1964) breathed new life into the area, opening it up for trading in coconut matting, flax and horse hair manufacturing.

 

Lewes:

The Saxons invaded East Sussex in the 5th century and Lewes was probably founded in the 6th century. By the early 10th century Lewes was included in King Alfred’s network of burhs. In the event of a Danish attack, all the men in the area would gather in Lewes to fight. Saxon Lewes was protected by a ditch and an earth rampart probably with a wooden stockade on top. Saxon Lewes was more than a fortress, it was also a busy little town. Lewes had weekly markets. At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 Lewes probably had less than 2,000 inhabitants, but by medieval standards, Lewes was a fair-sized town.

The Normans built a castle to guard Lewes. At first, it was made of wood but later it was rebuilt in stone. The Normans also founded the priory of St Pancras. In 1148 King Stephen granted Lewes a charter (a document granting the townspeople certain rights). In the Middle Ages Lewes was a busy little river port. Grain and wool from Sussex were exported from there. In the 13th century, Franciscan friars arrived in Lewes. In 1264 the Battle of Lewes was fought between King Henry III and some rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort. The barons won a decisive victory and the king was captured.

In 1537 Henry VIII dissolved the Priory – stone from its buildings was used to make Southover Grange and in 1540 he gave Anne of Cleves House to his wife after their divorce, although Anne never actually lived there. During Mary’s reign, 17 protestants from Sussex were martyred in Lewes.

In the 18th century, Lewes was a busy little port and the principal town of Sussex. At the beginning of the 19th century, Lewes was a fair-sized town. It grew rapidly in the early 19th century. During the 19th century, there were a number of improvements to Lewes. In 1806 an Act of Parliament formed a body of men called Improvement Commissioners with powers to pave, clean, and light the streets of Lewes. The town gained gas light in 1822 and electricity in 1901. The railway reached Lewes in 1846. The railway meant the end of Lewes as a port as it was now easier to transport goods by train than by water.

Lincoln:

It was the Romans who first created a major settlement in Lincoln around 50ad. A wooden fortress was built at the top of the hill and the name Lindon was latinised to become Lindum Colonia. During this time, one of the most important Roman thoroughfares in Britain passed through the city of Lincoln. Ermine Street was built to connect London to York, giving direct communication to the main centres of military occupation at Lincoln and York. Stone walls and gates were erected in the settlement and the city soon boasted an impressive forum and public baths.

The Roman Army left Britain around 410ad and the settlement was abandoned. It wasn’t until the Danes conquered the area in the late 9th century that a town was re-established within the old city walls. In Viking times, Lincoln became an important trading centre. The city issued coins from its own mint, and the local economy boomed with the settlement of the Danes. Lincolnshire was the heart of the Viking Danelaw and its Danish inheritance can still be seen today in its place names – towns ending in -by (eg. Grimsby, Wragby, Spilsby) and streets ending in -gate (eg. Danesgate, Bailgate, Eastgate).

By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066, Lincoln was flourishing. The Normans began to fortify and expand Lincoln almost immediately. In 1068, William the Conqueror ordered the building of Lincoln Castle and the city walls – which were initially built in wood. In the 12th century, the castle and walls were rebuilt in stone – both of which are still a key part of the city today. When the Bishop moved his seat to Lincoln in 1072, work also began on the cathedral.

When the Domesday Book was commissioned by King William in 1086, Lincolnshire was the second most populated county in the kingdom, and Lincoln (recorded as ‘Lincolia’) was one of the four largest cities.

In 1092, Lincoln Cathedral, built of Lincolnshire limestone, was consecrated by Remigius de Fécamp, the first Bishop of Lincoln. The magnificent 900 year old medieval building crowns the city, though it is the third building to occupy the site. The original church of A.D. 953 was replaced in 1072 by the Norman Cathedral of which only part of the west front now remains. Following a disastrous fire and earthquake, work on the present gothic structure was begun by St.Hugh in 1192. The nave has limestone and marble columns, a vaulted roof, and two famous stained glass windows, the Dean’s Eye and the Bishop’s Eye, as well as the famous Lincoln Imp.

When King John placed his seal on Magna Carta at Runnymeade in 1215, a copy was brought back to Lincoln by then Bishop of Lincoln, Hugh of Wells. The city was of great importance at this time, being the capital of England’s largest diocese at the time stretching from the Humber in the north to the Thames in the south. Lincoln’s Magna Carta is still owned by the Cathedral and is one of only four surviving copies. 

Lincoln Cathedral became the tallest building in the world in 1300, passing the Great Pyramid, when the spire on the central tower was raised. It held that title until 1549 when the spire collapsed during a storm.

Throughout the 17th – 19th centuries, Lincoln was a wealthy town supported by a healthy wool trade. The city’s cloth became famous in legend through Robin Hood being said to have worn garments of Lincoln Green.

Lincoln boomed during the industrial revolution and began to excel in the engineering industry, in particular through production of air engines and tanks. In 1916,  the first ever tanks were designed and built in Lincoln, giving the city the nicknamed ‘Tank Town’., and it was also a centre for the early aviation industry. Later, in WW2, the county became known as Bomber County with a large number of RAF bases running on the flat countryside.

Ludlow:

Ludlow’s recorded history begins in 1086 when the castle was first developed, as one of a line of castles along the Welsh Marches to defend the border and subdue the local Anglo Saxon population. The local Norman overlords, the De Lacy family, who decided to situate Ludlow Castle here also decided to develop a new settlement.

Ludlow was a planned town, and just like the planned towns of the mid 1960’s it was developed around a grid network of streets, adapted to fit the local topography. The wide main streets were intersected by narrow side streets, with the flow of people drawn to the centre for the market, church and castle. The area of settlement was probably the wide market place to the east of the castle gates. As the town continued to grow, it joined the ancient north-south road, now called Corve Street to the north and Old Street to the south. Mill Street and Broad Street were added later.

From 1233 onwards the town walls were constructed; the Ludlow Castle stood within the circuit of the walls and shared a common line of defence. Four main gates and three postern (secondary) gates were built. Apart from the Castle, Ludlow retains some well-preserved stretches of town wall and the sites of its seven gates can still be identified. Broadgate, at the bottom of Broad Street is the sole surviving medieval gate. You can see some large sections of the remaining town wall here by walking from Broadgate along Silk Mill Lane towards Mill Street and the site of the town gate there.

Ludlow was a fortified town, one of just over a hundred in England and Wales which had a full circuit of walls. As in most fortified towns, the walls and gates served many purposes other than defence. They were a means of controlling the entry of all sorts of undesirables, many of them far less formidable than invading armies. They enabled market tolls to be collected easily and gave support to lean-to buildings. In times of peace they were a ready source of building stone, and continued to exercise a strong influence on the town long after their defensive function had ceased.

In the 18th and 19th centuries Ludlow was a fashionable social centre. County families built elegant Georgian brick houses along the wider medieval streets; which can still be seen in many of the streets most notably Broad Street, Mill Street and Dinham.

Glove making became a major industry along with included light engineering, nail manufacture and textiles. The population grew rapidly in the early 19th century; many back to back buildings were constructed inside the disused town walls. The railway came to Ludlow in 1853 when Ludlow Railway Station was connected to the Shrewsbury and Hereford line. Many new buildings were built near the railway station to service the railway as well as other developments which made use of the easy access to markets which the railway offered.

From about 1880 to the 1940’s Ludlow stagnated economically, there was very little population growth and the size of the town altered very little. This was due to a number of factors including the decline of the importance of wool in relation to cotton, there were many other towns with easier access to larger markets and raw materials such as coal and the decline in agriculture as a share of the national wealth.

Paradoxically this stagnation is now seen to be something of a blessing in disguise; many similarly sized towns had a rapid expansion in population and industry and many old buildings were demolished and redeveloped; Ludlow’s town centre has pretty much survived as it was. This accounts for the fact that there are nearly 500 listed buildings in Ludlow and the original medieval street layout survives to this day almost unchanged.

Marlborough:

The town of Marlborough, in the Kennet Valley, is surrounded by downland and forest and can trace its history back to Neolithic times. The area possesses some of the finest surviving Neolithic relics with both Avebury and Stonehenge being UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A mile to the east of the town lay the Roman settlement of Cunetio, (now within the Parish of  Mildenhall), at the crossing of the roads between Londinium (London) and Aquae Sulis (Bath) and Corinium (Cirencester) and Venta Belgarum (Winchester). Cunetio later became a planned, gridded town with walled defences. It was occupied for about 300 years until it was abandoned in the early 5th century. In 1978, the largest coin hoard from Roman Britain was discovered there and it is now on display in the British Museum.

At the time of the Norman conquest, a motte and bailey castle was built in what are now the grounds of Marlborough College. It utilised a prehistoric mound which legend says is the burial place of Merlin, King Arthur’s magician. The castle was a royal residence and this may have been the reason that King John gave the town its first charter in 1204. In 1267, the Statutes of Marlborough were passed under Henry III. They deal with the rights of the citizen and are the oldest statute laws that have never been repealed.

In the later Middle Ages, the castle fell into ruins and the royal family opted for more comfortable accommodation. The building became a kind of quarry, its stones providing a resource for the townspeople. It is said that the coping on the walls of the graveyard at St Peter’s Church came from the castle. The town’s importance as a staging post on the road between London and Bristol ensured that it received a number of visits in the 1590s from the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s acting company.

With the outbreak of Civil War in 1642, the townspeople supported Parliament, while the Seymours held the Castle for the King, who dispatched a force under Lord Digby to take the town. What became known as ‘The Battle of Marlborough’ ensued, fought in the streets, alleys and even the churches of the town. After Digby captured and looted the town, he  marched 120 prisoners in chains to Oxford. In April 1653, The Great Fire of Marlborough burned the Guildhall, St Mary’s Church, the town’s armoury and many houses to the ground. Devastating fires also swept through Marlborough again in 1679 and in 1690.

Newcastle upon Tyne:

The line of Hadrian’s Wall ran from Wallsend through what is now the centre of modern Newcastle. The eastern end of the Roman Empire’s northern frontier was protected by three forts – Arbeia at South Shields, Segedunum at Wallsend and Pons Aelius on the high ground above the River Tyne in what was to become Newcastle. This is the earliest known crossing of the river and the origin of Newcastle as a settlement. Archaeological evidence has shown that there was not only a bridge and a fort here in Roman times but also a civilian settlement. The advent of Norman control in the 11th century saw the establishment of Newcastle’s contemporary urban landscape. The castle was founded in 1080 by Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, on the same sandstone bluff high above the River Tyne as that used for the Roman fort. This was the new castle which gave the town its name. Henry II replaced the original timber castle with a stone keep between 1172-77 and the main gatehouse was added in 1247-50 by Henry III.

The construction of the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas and the building of the town walls, begun in the reign of Henry III, established Newcastle as one of the country’s key medieval towns. It was within the largely 13th century walls that the town thrived – spreading out from the high ground around the castle and St. Nicholas Church. Three main streets led to the gates in the walls. Four principal churches developed and the precincts of at least eight religious houses, a Benedictine nunnery and the four houses of the Austin, White, Grey and Black friars all stood within the town.

The strategic importance of Newcastle was matched by its growing importance as the centre of what was to become known as the Great Northern Coalfield. The accessible coal had been exploited by the Romans and was established in 1239 by charter of Henry III. A royal act in 1530 decreed that all coal exports in the North East were to be shipped from Newcastle quayside, even coal which was not mined in the town. This allowed Newcastle to prosper as a regional centre for trade and halted the growth of local neighbours such as Sunderland, thus creating a rivalry which remains today.

By the time of the Civil War, Newcastle was established as not only a regional capital but as the second city in the land. However, Newcastle suffered in its support of King Charles I and was under siege for 8 months in 1644. Its prominent trade links were soon restored and it was business as usual after the Reformation when Newcastle began to trade and export products such as iron, slate and glass. Carr’s Bank, one of the first banks to appear outside the Capital, opened in Newcastle in 1755.

The steam locomotive, and with it the modern railway, was originally developed not to provide public transport but to serve the coal industry. The work of George and Robert Stephenson in the 1820s and 1830s developing the locomotive, most famously the Rocket, in their Newcastle works – the first purpose built locomotive works in the world. Within a few decades of the success of the Rocket at the Rainhill Trials railways had begun to cross not only Britain and Europe but were opening up North America and the sub-continent.  By 1860 the Tyne was Britain’s second most important river. It was the focal point of coal mining, railway engineering and shipbuilding forming an inter-connected relationship which lay at the base of Britain’s prosperity, its industrial power and its global strength. 

Newcastle underwent an architectural transformation unique to English cities.  Richard Grainger, builder, developer and entrepreneur, was probably the most important influence on the development of central Newcastle in the nineteenth century. He changed the appearance, the nature, commercial heart and external perception of Newcastle. His creation of a wholly new stone built classical town centre, using a range of high quality architects including John Dobson, John and Benjamin Green, Thomas Oliver, John Wardle and George Walker within the still predominantly medieval town was one of the architectural achievements of the nineteenth century.  The highlight is the magnificent Grey Street – ‘ one of the best streets in England’ (Pevsner).

The coming of the railways into Newcastle brought with it two of the country’s finest railway structures – Newcastle Central Station and the High Level Bridge, the world’s first combined rail and road bridge. The High Level Bridge, Armstrong’s innovative Swing Bridge, the iconic Tyne Bridge and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge are remarkable.

The collapse of the area’s industrial base, which resulted from the concentration of interrelated mining, shipbuilding, armaments and heavy engineering industries in the inter-war years left a legacy with which the region was forced to struggle for decades.

Newark upon Trent:

Newark’s importance derives from its location at the intersection of major communication routes: the River Trent, the Roman Fosse Way and the Great North Road. It became a substantial inland port, particularly for the wool trade, and later its position on main roads encouraged the development of inns and hostelries to sustain the many travellers passing through the town. The arrival of the railways in the 1840s gave further stimulus to the town’s growth.

The early history of Newark is vague. Remains of Roman settlement have been identified but the full size and character of the settlement remains unknown. A large pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery has been uncovered in Millgate and a Christian cemetery dating from around 950 was discovered at the castle. Following excavations in the 1970s, archaeologists concluded that the Saxon borough occupied a relatively small area within the current town.

Newerche is not referred to as a borough in the Domesday Book but 56 burgesses, 42 villagers and 4 smallholders and 7 free men are recorded; the Bishop of Lincoln was lord of the manor. The name means ‘new work’ to distinguish it from an unidentified defended site known as ‘The Aldwark’ in 1316. The ‘Aldwark’ could well be one of the Romano-British defended settlements such as Thorpe or Brough or even the North Gate site in Newark itself.

The first castle was built shortly after the Norman conquest, possibly after the ‘Harrying of the North’ in the winter of 1068-9. Excavations on the town rampart in Slaughter House Lane suggest that the rampart is contemporary with the castle so the evidence points to Newark having been developed as a planned town by the Normans, incorporating the existing but smaller Saxon settlement within it. Charters dating from the 1130s record Henry I’s permission to build the castle, divert the King’s Highway (now Castle Gate), to build a bridge over the Trent, and to establish a five-day fair “at the castle”. Bishop Alexander founded the hospital of St. Leonard at the same time and it is possible the defensive circuit was extended. A survey of 1225-31 reveals that the town had by then extended beyond its defences, and suburbs had grown up along all the roads approaching the town.

The borough was incorporated on 21^st December, 1549. The town had a population of around 3,000 and derived its wealth from trade in wool, hides and leather, cloth manufacture, the traffic in coal and other commodities on the River Trent and business brought by the growing use of the Great North Road (a route developed during the middle ages that crossed the Trent at Newark).

The Civil War (1642-1646) was without doubt the most dramatic period in Newark’s history. The town’s geographic location was again important as it controlled the Trent crossing that linked York and the north with London and King Charles’ headquarters at Oxford. The town stood solidly behind the King and withstood three violent sieges in 1643, 1644 and 1646. The inhabitants suffered greatly: apart from deaths resulting from the conflict typhus spread through the population between 1643-1645 and plague broke out in 1646. Both diseases probably killed more people than the fighting.

The siege of 1646 lasted six months and, following Charles’ surrender to the Scots at Southwell, ended with the capitulation of the Royalist garrison. By 1801 Newark was the county’s second town. Road traffic between Scotland and the north and London used the Great North Road so coaching inns such as the Ram and Saracen’s Head were not short of business. The weekly market and six annual fairs underpinned Newark’s wealth which was reflected by the rebuilding of the Market Place in the 18^th century with coaching inns, houses of leading citizens and the new Town Hall (1773) by John Carr. Georgian Newark was considered to be elegant and well-built. It was also fashionable, with a rich cultural life: a theatre was established in 1774 and a large bowling green laid out in the castle grounds.

River traffic grew in quantity during the 18^th century but it was not until the 1772 Act to improve the Trent that locks were built at Newark thus ensuring it became a busy inland port with warehousing, boat building and wharfages based around the Town Lock. The two railway routes arrived in 1846 (Great Northern Railway) and 1852 (Midland Railway) and gave the town considerable economic stimulus. Coach traffic, however, was adversely affected and dramatically declined.

Principal industries in the late 19^th century were malting and brewing, engineering (in particular the manufacture of agricultural machinery, boilers and industrial hardware), flour milling, tanning and textiles. Newark’s prosperity during this period is embodied in the fine Victorian buildings around the town: The Corn Exchange (1847-8), the Gilstrap Free Library (1883) and the Ossington Coffee Palace (1882). By the early 20^th century Newark benefited from the establishment of two engineering companies, Worthington-Simpson and Ransome and Marles. The strong foothold in engineering and the arrival of new industrial activities such as sugar-refining helped to lessen the effect of the decline in malting and brewing.

Norwich:

Before the Romans invaded Britain, the Iceni tribe lived in this area. They were led by Prasutagus and, after his death, by his wife Boudicca – she led a revolt against the Romans in 60ad. The Romans continued to occupy the area (called Venta Icenorum, in what is today the South Norfolk area) for another 300 years or so. By 410ad the Anglo-Saxons were starting to invade the area, building minor settlements and gaining a stronghold on the area which we today call Norwich. The river was an ideal connection to the sea and the land was fertile and ideal for growing crops. Soon they began to establish industries such as pottery and metal work, which helped develop the area’s success as a trading centre. By 575ad King Uffa had made Norvic a royal city and capital of East Anglia with its own mint. Saxon Norvic centred around Tombland, where the market was located.

The Vikings arrived around 866ad and in 869ad killed Edmund, the last King of the Angles. They lived alongside the Saxons until 917 when King Edward the Elder, of the Anglo-Saxons, took back control. There are still various remnants of the Viking rule in Norwich – Magdalen Street, for example, was the main street during Viking rule, whilst Tombland (used then as a market place) was named after the Danish word for ‘tom’, meaning open or empty. The Saxons established various villages in this area which would then merge together; one of the villages was called ‘Norwic’ which is where the city later got its name from. In 1066 the Normans took Norwich, which at that point was one of the largest towns in England with a thriving trade and industries. They built a temporary timber castle and closed the market, clearing space in Tombland for the cathedral. The stone castle took around 20 years to complete, whilst the Cathedral took nearly 200 years using stone imported from Caen. The medieval city walls were begun in 1297 and encircled 2.5 miles of the city, with 12 defensive gates. The ruins of the walls can – just about – still be seen today. Under the Normans, Norwich steadily grew to become an important medieval city. In 1345 the King gave the castle to the city and it became the county gaol, with regular hangings outside. In 1549 Robert Kett, from Wymondham, leader of the rebellion against the enclosure of common lands, was hung in chains from the walls.

Norwich was known as England’s ‘second city’ from 1650 – 1750, and in the 1800’s some new industries began to grow. Printing was a key developing industry, as was leather production, and a railway in the area was completed in 1845, providing links from Norwich to London.

Oxford:

The Saxons called the settlement, which grew up around the confluence of the Thames (Isis) and Cherwell, “Oxenforda”. In the 10th century Oxford became an important frontier town between Mercia and Wessex. It was also strategically important to the Normans who in 1071 built a timber castle. The castle was rebuilt during the 12th century in stone and extended in the 13th century. Matilda was imprisoned here in 1142 during “The Anarchy” *. The castle, like many other castles, was mostly destroyed during the English Civil War. In 1258 Simon de Montfort and 23 other rebellious barons held a meeting in Oxford and forced Henry III to accept a number of reforms known as the Provisions of Oxford.

*The Anarchy was a period of civil war in England between 1135 and 1153, following the death of Henry I. See: Time Immemorial post

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Oxford was a manufacturing town. It was noted for cloth and leather. In Oxford wool was woven and then fulled, that is it was cleaned and thickened by being pounded in water and clay. There were many tanners in the town and leather workers such as shoemakers and saddlers. However, in the 14th and 15th centuries manufacturing declined. Oxford came to depend on the custom of students. It became a town of brewers, butchers, bakers, tailors, shoemakers, coopers, carpenters, and blacksmiths. In the later Middle Ages Oxford declined in importance.

In the 16th century, Oxford declined further in terms of national importance though it remained a fairly large town by the standards of the time. Tudor Oxford was economically dependent on the university. The students provided a large market for beer, food, clothes, and other goods. Oxford was full of craftsmen who supplied these needs. By this time hostility between ‘town and gown’ had died out. Like all towns in the 16th and 17th centuries, Oxford suffered outbreaks of plague. Severe outbreaks occurred in 1603 and 1625-26.

In 1538 Henry VIII closed the abbey, the priory, and the friaries in Oxford. In the Middle Ages, the priory and one of the friaries had the right to hold annual fairs and to charge tolls. After they were closed this right was transferred to the town. Yet both fairs declined and had virtually ceased to exist by the middle of the 17th century. In 1542 Oxford was made a city and was given a Bishop. Henry’s daughter Mary tried to undo the religious changes of the previous decades and restore Catholicism. During her reign, 3 famous Protestants were tried in St Mary’s Church in Oxford. They were Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nicholas Ridley the Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer. All three were condemned to death for heresy. Latimer and Ridley were burned in Broad Street.

In 1642 came civil war between the king and parliament. Opinion among the townspeople was probably divided but in 1642 a royalist army occupied Oxford. For the rest of the war, the king made Oxford his headquarters. By this time the walls around the town were in disrepair so the king forced the townspeople to erect earthwork defenses. However, by 1646 the king was losing the war and he was forced to flee in disguise. Oxford eventually surrendered to a parliamentary army. Although there was a fire in 1644 Oxford was not seriously damaged by the civil war.

In 1651 the first coffee house in England opened in Oxford. Coffee was a new drink at that time but it soon became popular. Many coffee houses were opened where middle-class and upper-class men could meet, have a drink, read newspapers, and talk shop. Officially opened in 1683, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street is Britain’s oldest public museum and possibly the world’s oldest museum.

18th century Oxford remained a market town where produce from the surrounding area was bought and sold but most industries in Oxford were still geared toward supplying the needs of the university. The city was full of brewers, bakers, butchers, tailors, and grocers. In the 18th century, the streets of Oxford were becoming increasingly congested on market days as the stalls interfered with traffic. So, in 1774 a covered market for vegetables, meat, and fish was built. There had been a prison in Oxford since the Middle Ages. It was rebuilt in 1789. From 1819 Oxford had gas street lighting. There were some drains and sewers in Oxford in the early 19th century but the sewers emptied into the river. In the 1870s a modern system of sewers was built. In the 18th century, a private company provided piped water – to those who could afford it. In 1808 the council took over the water company but many people continued to rely on wells. It wasn’t until the 1880s that everybody in Oxford had piped water. Despite these improvements, there were epidemics of cholera in Oxford in 1832, 1849, and 1854.

A railway from Oxford to London was built in 1844. Another to Banbury was built in 1850. In 1860 the Natural History Museum opened. The first electricity generating station in Oxford was built in 1892. The fate of Oxford was changed in 1913 when a man named Morris began making cars in the city. In 1919 a radiator-making company was formed and in 1926 a pressed steel company that made car bodies. By the 1930s Oxford was an important manufacturing center. It was also a prosperous city. Furthermore, it escaped serious damage during the Second World War.

The University of Oxford is first mentioned in the 12th century although the exact date of its foundation is unknown. The University expanded rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris and the returning students settled in Oxford. However, in 1209 a student fled the city after apparently murdering his mistress, and the townsfolk retaliated by hanging two students. The ensuing riots resulted in some academics fleeing to Cambridge and establishing the University of Cambridge. The relationship between “town and gown” was often uneasy – as many as 93 students and townspeople were killed in the St Scholastica Day Riot of 1355.

Oxford is a collegiate university, made up of 38 colleges and six permanent private halls. Three colleges claim to be the oldest of the Oxford colleges. Balliol was founded in 1263, following a dispute between John de Balliol and the Bishop of Durham, which turned violent. Henry III condemned Balliol’s behaviour. The Bishop had Balliol whipped, and imposed a penance on him of a substantial act of charity. This he did, by renting a property and creating a house of scholars, which was soon known by his name. After John de Balliol’s death in 1269, his widow, Dervorguilla of Galloway, guaranteed the future of the ‘House of the Scholars of Balliol’ by establishing a permanent endowment and giving it Statutes in 1282 – so bringing into being Balliol College as it is today. Merton College, the first fully self-governing College in the University, was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, sometime Chancellor of England and later Bishop of Rochester. University College’s claim is vague. Its website simply states: “University College owes its origins to William of Durham, who died in 1249;”. Christ Church, founded by Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey, is the largest Oxford college and is also the Cathedral seat of Oxford.

Pershore:

Pershore is renowned for its outstanding Georgian façade and many of the buildings are listed. In 1964 the Council for British Archaeology included Pershore in its list of 51 British “Gem Towns” worthy of special consideration for historic preservation, and it has been listed as an outstanding conservation area.

There has been a settlement in Pershore since the iron age and evidence has also been found of Roman occupation. In 681 land given to fund a monastery and the abbey was founded in 689 by King Oswald. By 972 the abbey was under Benedictine rule and was also the year that King Edgar granted Pershore a charter – although there are two separate surviving documents relating to this and so there is some doubt as to which is authentic. In 1002, the abbey was badly damaged by fire and then it was struck by an earthquake in 1020. By 1130 a Norman abbey was completed. Two further fires followed in 1223 and 1288, both causing considerable damage.

In 1540, the monastery dissolved but the parishioners were allowed to buy what remained – the east end, crossing and tower – for £400.

There was further deterioration when in 1686 the north transept fell and in 1861 there was considerable storm damage. In 1864 George Gilbert Scott undertook restoration of the surviving church. in 1932 the Friends of Pershore Abbey was formed and raised funding for further repairs and restoration. In 1996, the foundations of the Anglo-Saxon Church were identified and the south transept was repaired. Further repairs were carried out between 2005-17.

Rye:

Rye started life as a small fishing community, almost surrounded by water. The sea has since retreated and now lies two miles from the town, at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. Originally part of the Manor of Rameslie, Rye was promised to the Abbey of Fécamp by Ethelred the Unready after the Abbey gave him sanctuary in 1014. When Normandy was returned to the French in 1205, Rye went with it and wasn’t reunited with the English Crown until 1247. After this Rye’s defences were boosted with the construction of four gates and a wall. Parts of these fortifications still exist, with the Landgate, castle and a small section of the wall in Cinque Port Street dating back to this time.

The Charter of the Cinque Ports consolidated the defence of the realm, with towns along the coast of Kent and Sussex providing safe harbour, ships and men. In return the ports (Dover, Hastings, Hythe, Rye, Sandwich and Winchelsea), were granted freedom from taxes and custom duties, trading concessions and rights to hold judicial courts. 

The French attacked Rye regularly, testing the defences and raiding the port. In a devastating attack in 1377, Rye was almost completely destroyed by fire, and the bells of St Mary’s Church were stolen. The following year a revenge voyage saw the bells returned, along with other previously stolen loot.

In the 18th century smuggling was rife in Rye, with hoards of booty stored in old vaulted cellars networked by secret tunnels and passages. 

Richmond (Yorkshire):

Richmond was founded around 1071 with the building of the castle but people have lived in the area since the earliest times and there have been local finds from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman period. Of the most famous finds are a Bronze Age sword found near Catterick Bridge; the Easby Cross (Christian) now in the Victoria and Albert Museum; and a Viking sword that was pulled out of Gilling beck that is a key exhibit in the Castle Museum at York. Another early building is the ruined remains of 12^th century Easby Abbey that can be reached by a short riverside walk. Within the abbey’s precinct is the still-active parish church of St Agatha with its well-preserved 13^th century wall paintings. Also of note in the centre of town is the 15^th century Friary Tower – a striking Franciscan bell tower that looks out over the public Friary Gardens.

During the Civil War, Richmond became the headquarters of the Parliamentarians who occupied St Nicholas – the oldest domestic house in Richmond.  During the late 17^th century, Richmond gradually prospered and the two main industries were lead mining and knitting. The wool, which came from the Swaledale sheep (still a feature of the farming landscape today), was rough but waterproof. The wool was brought into Richmond and sold to buyers who passed it onto local knitters. Caps and stockings were made in the town and exported to Holland and Belgium.

Richmond’s heyday was the Georgian era, spanning from 1714 to 1837. During this period, Richmond flourished and became an important regional hub for social activities, bringing with it prosperity and status. Fine buildings sprang up and the town gained a reputation for beauty and elegance. Georgian architecture is still dominant in the town today. The imposing King’s Head Hotel opened in 1725; the Town Hall was built in 1756 to provide a facility for balls and other assemblies; and in 1788 Samuel Butler built The Georgian Theatre Royal. Other key Georgian landmarks include the impressive folly of Culloden Tower and the obelisk in the Market Place. Large numbers of private houses were either rebuilt or ‘Georgianised’ during this time and they can still be seen in the town centre, particularly around the Market Place, Newbiggin and Fenchgate.

The other dominant style of architecture in the centre of the town dates from Victorian times with buildings like The Fleece Hotel on Victoria Road and the 19th-century former Grammar School on Station Road. One of Richmond’s key attractions The Station – which now houses a cinema, art galleries, café bar and artisan food outlets – celebrates the early days of rail.

During the First World War, Richmond’s own Green Howards Regiment raised 24 battalions for the war effort and the Castle assumed a role as a barracks and training camp for new recruits and members of the Non-Combatant Corps. In 1915, the first troops occupied the area south of Richmond in what was to become Catterick Camp.

Salisbury:

The original site of the city can be found at Old Sarum, which was originally an Iron Age hill fort, reused by the Romans, Saxons and Normans. With tensions at Old Sarum between the church and army, a decision was made to relocate the city and the new cathedral was founded around two miles south. What remains today are the ruins of the old castle and the foundations of the original Cathedral. In 1220 work on the present cathedral started down in the valley, and the city grew up along with it. With much more room to expand than was available at Old Sarum, and better access to water, growth was rapid. By the second half of the 14th century Salisbury was probably the seventh largest city in the country, a position it maintained for around 200 years.

As a consciously planned city, rather than one growing naturally from ancient beginnings, Salisbury’s central parts have a very distinct layout, based on a grid pattern. Each block of buildings bounded by four streets is known as a Chequer, and there are twenty of these with historic names, many derived from inns. The plan also included provision of water channels in most of the streets, fed from the river Avon.

Salisbury has five rivers: Avon, Bourne, Ebble, Nadder and Wylye. The Bourne, Ebble and Nadder all flow into the Avon, while the Wylye (whylee) flows into the Nadder. The Salisbury Avon rises in Pewsey Vale and joins the Stour at Christchurch. There are 8 Avons in the country (Avon being an ancient Briton word for river): 4 in England, 3 in Scotland and 1 in Wales.    

Salisbury stagnated after the 16th century until the arrival of the railway in the 1840s, which brought good links to London and Exeter on one line, and Bristol and Southampton on another. The Southampton and Salisbury Canal of the late 1790s was never completed, and only a few traces of it now remain.

Sandwich:

The first recorded mention of Sandwich was around 664 AD but there was probably some kind of settlement in Roman times as the site is very close to Richborough Roman Fort (Rutupiae) and a trading settlement existed here in the Saxon early period.  

In the 11th century, the five ports Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Hastings and Winchelsea joined together to provide ships and men for King Edward the Confessor. They became known as the Cinque Ports. In return for providing naval and ferry services, these towns received many rights and privileges, which helped medieval Sandwich to thrive as a port. However, in 1287 a great storm silted up many of the ports and harbours, eventually, over many centuries, leaving Sandwich two miles inland, although the title of Cinque Port remains.

Sandwich is now about two miles from the sea, but the River Stour used to be large enough for big trading and war ships to sail to and from the quay. This large harbour was called Sandwich Haven. It was also large enough for invading ships, and the town was invaded many times in the past. For example, in 1457, the town was attacked by 4,000 Frenchmen (mainly from Honfleur) under Marshal Pierre de Breze or as English accounts call him, Peter Brassey. The Mayor of Sandwich, John Drury, was killed along with many citizens. In memory of this event, the Mayor of Sandwich still wears a black robe. Honfleur is now a twin town of Sandwich.

Scarborough:

The town was founded in 966AD as Skarðaborg by Thorgills Skarthi, a Viking raider. But there is evidence of settlers on the Headland from 2,500 years ago. The oldest house in Britain, dated 8500BC, was discovered outside Scarborough at Star Carr (near Seamer). The Mesolithic archeological site has been compared to Stonehenge in terms of its importance.

Scarborough Castle was built by Henry II. A charter of 1253 granted the rights to hold the Scarborough Fair – a six-week festival attracting merchants from all over Europe. It ran from Assumption Day, 15 August, until Michaelmas Day, 29 September. and was held up to the 18th century. There are plans to reintroduce the fair in 2023, albeit in a very different format.

In 1626, Elizabeth Farrow discovered a stream of acidic water running down the cliff and into the sea in the South Bay. The water, rich in minerals, had healing properties. A book about the spa waters published in 1660 was a huge catalyst for visitors to ‘Scarborough Spa’ and the town became Britain’s first seaside resort. The famous bathing machines were introduced in 1735.

Most of the old town has been lost, making Scarborough’s inclusion in the Gem Towns list a bit of a mystery. But there are still some historic buildings, streets and landmarks, aside from the castle.

St. Mary’s Church dates from 1170 and originally had two but these were removed in the 14th century. The central tower and the chancel were destroyed during the civil war when Parliamentarians used the church as a base from which to attack the Royalists in Scarborough Castle. Anne Bronte is buried in the graveyard on the castle side.

The Bolts are a series of narrow, poorly lit passageways running intermittently behind the seafront cafés and amusement arcades. In 1225, Henry III made a grant of forty oaks to construct a new quay and houses were erected, however, the existence of long established rights of way ensured that the The Bolts did not disappear beneath the new buildings. Emerging from The Bolts at the beginning of Quay Street, the old house at the junction with Whitehead Hill (No. 2 Quay Street) is another survivor from an earlier age. It probably dates from the late 15th century and is a timber-framed gabled building with huge posts at each corner rising to the eaves. Internally they support heavy beams known as dragon beams. The timbers of the second storey jut out to support the gable but originally they supported another whole storey. No 2. Quay Street was restored in 1965; the casement windows date from then and the lath and plaster was removed at that time to reveal the timber frame. The pebbledash finish is also modern but the house still provides a reminder of how this ancient street looked in Elizabethan times, when it was the principal thoroughfare of Scarborough.

In 1993, Jonathon Fletcher from Scarborough invented the world’s first web-crawling search engine – called JumpStation – the very technology that powers Google, Bing, Yahoo and all the major search tools on the web today.

See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23945326

Stamford:

The recorded history of Stamford goes back well over 1,000 years. It first came to prominence in the 9th and 10th centuries when it became one of the 5 controlling boroughs of Danelaw. It was one of the first towns to produce glazed wheel-thrown pottery after the departure of the Romans. Stamford prospered under the Normans with an economy based mainly on wool; it was particularly famous for its woven cloth called haberget. The town’s excellent communication routes via the Great North Road and via the River Welland to the North Sea ensured the success of its trade. By the 13th century Stamford was one of the 10 largest towns in England. It had a castle, 14 churches, 2 monastic institutions, and 4 friaries; parliaments met here and there was a tradition of academic learning which finally led to the establishment of a short-lived breakaway university in the mid 14th century. Many buildings survive from this period including the early 12th-century St Leonard’s Priory; the magnificent early 13th-century tower of St Mary’s Church; the rich 13th-century arcades in All Saints’ Church; fine 13th-century stone-built hall houses and undercrofts, and the 14th-century gateway to the Grey Friary.

The wool trade shifted to East Anglia in the 15th century and the town went into decline, and the trade that remained was concentrated in the hands of rich merchants like the Browne family. These merchants helped rebuilt many of the churches in the mid-late 15th century including St John’s; St Martin’s and All Saints’ which are fine examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture. William Browne also founded an almshouse which remains one of the best surviving medieval almshouses in England, complete with exemplary stained glass.

While the overall decline continued into the 16th century, Stamford was linked to national affairs by the fact that a local man, William Cecil, became secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth I. He built a palatial mansion just outside Stamford for his mother and Burghley House survives as one of the crowning glories of the Tudor age. The great tombs of Cecil and his descendants lie in St Martin’s Church.

The town escaped the civil war relatively unscathed despite Oliver Cromwell’s siege of Burghley House and the visit of the fugitive King Charles in May 1646. After the Restoration of 1660, the town recovered as improvements to the Great North Road encouraged road trade and the river was made navigable again by a canal. Everyone who travelled north passed through Stamford and the coaching trade elevated old medieval inns like the George into renowned hostelries. The arrival of the railway in the 1830s signalled a death blow to the coaching trade and so to Stamford’s fortunes. In 1837 Henry Smith started a company making agricultural machinery. In 1877, Edward Blackstone joined the company and changed its name to Blackstone & Co in 1889. Their diesel engines and agricultural machines were sold all over the world. Blackstone’s aside, the lack of industrialisation together with the traditional, almost feudal, relationship between town and house (the Cecils of Burghley were Stamford’s landlords) preserved and pickled the town so that today the historic urban fabric survives almost unscathed. Stamford is a unique treasure trove of provincial English architecture built in some of the finest stone in the country.

Tewkesbury:

The name Tewkesbury comes from Theoc, the name of a Saxon hermit who arrived in the area in the 7th century. Then it was known as Theocsbury and became Tewkesbury over the centuries. Theoc is believed to have settled on the site of Tewkesbury Abbey. The Abbey was founded in 1087 by nobleman Robert FitzHamon but building of the present Abbey did not start until 1102. Built to house Benedictine monks, the Norman Abbey was near completion when consecrated in 1121.It has one of the finest Norman towers in the world.

The houses and shops throughout the town chart the Tewkesbury’s prosperity through a variety of trades. Medieval cottages exist alongside Tudor town houses and Georgian architecture. There was once a network of 90 alleyways around the town and 30 still exist today.  The town was famous for its mustard (Shakespeare’s Falstaff has the line “his wit’s as thick as Tewkesbury mustard”), other major industries over the years in Tewkesbury include brewing and malting, pin making and the framework knitting of stockings.

With the rivers to transport goods, Tewkesbury was a thriving commercial hub and a popular market town. One of the town’s entrances over the River Severn is the Mythe Bridge designed by Thomas Telford. A cast iron structure with a 170-foot span, the bridge opened to traffic in 1826. A much older bridge is over the Avon close to the former flour mill. King John’s Bridge over the Avon has its origins in the late 12th century as part of improvements to the main road from the cities of Gloucester to Worcester.

In 1471, during the Battle of the Roses, fighting in fields south of the town saw the House of York secure victory over the Lancastrians, a decisive result depicted in the Arrivall statue on the outskirts of town.

Thaxted:

The Domesday Book records Thaxted as a well-established and prosperous community by the end of the Saxon period. The town was owned by a number of manors, the largest was the Thaxted Manor, based on the south-west side of Town Street. A market was granted in 1205, but it probably had already had a market function before that date.

Thaxted Church is one of the grandest in Essex. The Church stands on a hill and dominates the town. Building began in 1340, and its growth continued until the Reformation. It was completed in 1510. The stone spire, said to be the only mediaeval stone spire in Essex, originally rose to a height of 183 feet (56m), but now rises to a height of 181 feet (the loss of two feet occurred due to an error when it was rebuilt in 1822).

There was a rapid expansion in the town in the 14th century, as from the 13th century it had become a centre for a cutlery industry. It is not known how or why Thaxted became a centre for cutlery but it was a major employer before dying out by the sixteenth century.

The Guildhall at the top of Town Street was more likely a “Moot” or meeting hall, still used today for Parish Council and other meetings. There were other guildhalls in Thaxted, in particular there was a Guild Hall built by the Fraternity of St John the Baptist in Newbiggen Street. Settlement spread out from the core along Bolford Street, Newbiggen Street, Park Street and Weaverhead Lane. Local historians have found many examples of medieval coins and tokens in the Park Farm fields around the Church Mill which suggests it was an area used for fairs and markets. Other finds have been of worked bone around Town Street and Weaverhead Lane suggesting this was the site of the cutlery industry. In the sixteenth century weaving became established and an attempt was made to establish a Guild of Clothiers in 1583.

Totnes:

Dating back to 907 AD, Totnes has a wealth of history to explore with many historic buildings and museums. Of particular interest are the Guildhall, which has been the home of the town council for over 450 years; the Norman castle which overlooks the town and the 15th century St Mary’s Church.  Located in South Devon on the banks of the River Dart, Totnes has a reputation for its lively and diverse community and relaxed atmosphere.

By the 12th century Totnes had established itself as a market town and prospered throughout the medieval period. In recent times it has gained a reputation as a centre for learning, arts, alternative lifestyles and culture. The Brutus Stone, which can be found in Fore Street, set into the pavement. According to legend, this stone marks the spot where Trojan Prince, Brutus, disembarked from his ship. As he stepped ashore on to the stone he said “Here I stand, and here I rest. The town shall be called Totnes”.

Hopefully I can find out something more useful when I visit the place…

Warwick:

The town of Warwick was founded on the banks of the River Avon in 914 AD by Æthelflæd , daughter of King Alfred the Great, as a defence against the Danish invaders, on a site overlooking earlier riverside settlements. It is built on a small hill which controlled not only the river valley but also the river crossing on the road to London and the roads to Stratford, Coventry and the salt way to Droitwich. The Anglo-Saxon town was surrounded partly by a wall and partly by a ditch. The medieval core of the town was prevented from expansion by the open spaces that surround it: the Common and Racecourse, the grounds of the Priory, St Nicholas Meadow, the River Avon, and later, Warwick Castle. Within a relatively small area there are many buildings of historic interest, of which the Castle is the most important. This is one of the most dramatic and complete medieval castles in the country. It has been inhabited continuously since the Middle Ages, and was the home of the Earls of Warwick until recently.

Many of the central streets of the town were destroyed by the Great Fire of 1694. The buildings which were burnt, and many which were not, were re-built in the handsome style of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. St Mary’s Church, which dominates the surrounding countryside, had a new nave and tower at the same time. Several important medieval buildings survived the fire, notably the town’s medieval Guildhall, now the Lord Leycester Hospital, as well as a group of timber framed buildings around Oken’s House.

Wells:

In 766 King Cynewulf gave land to ‘the minster by the Great Spring which they call Wells’, an early reference to the city name that still stands today. The diocese of Wells was founded by King Edward the Elder in 909, and St Andrew’s Church was made the cathedral of the new diocese. In 1066 the cathedral fell into Norman hands after the defeat of King Harold in the battle of Hastings, and the first Norman bishop moved the seat of the diocese to Bath. Wells therefore lost its cathedral status and buildings were demolished. However, extensive improvement work began on the old St Andrew’s church in 1180, which was also the year that Wells was granted its royal charter by King John, and the diocese seat returned from Bath in 1244.

Wells was the largest city in Somerset for several hundred years, flourishing not only because of the existence of the cathedral, but also because of a local trade in wool and cloth. As the church owned much of the land and business, great wealth was accumulated and this was used in the construction of one of the most outstanding examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Britain, the main part of the cathedral construction being carried out between the 12th and 13th centuries. The 160-feet high central tower was added during the reconstruction work which followed a fire in the 14th century.

There was another set-back when much of the 14th century work was destroyed when Edward VI blew up the grand chapel with gunpowder as part of the Reformation started by King Henry XIII, and the Civil War brought more damage when Parliamentary troops used the cathedral to stable their horses, while at the same time using the ornate medieval sculpture for target practice. Wells was also the scene of an uprising during the Monmouth Rebellion, when rebel soldiers used lead from the roof and windows to make shot.

Built between 1175 and 1490, Wells Cathedral has been described as “the most poetic of the English Cathedrals” and set in the medieval heart of England’s smallest city. Wells is the earliest English Cathedral to be built in the Gothic style and has an international reputation. As well as its iconic West Front, Wells Cathedral has unique features that separate it from other English cathedrals including the beautiful ‘scissor arches’ supporting the central tower; a structure which was added in 1338 after the weight of a new spire on the top of the tower threatened to collapse the whole thing. The Cathedral houses one of the largest collections of historic stained glass in the country. Experts agree that the Jesse Window at Wells Cathedral is one of the most splendid examples of 14th century stained glass in Europe, narrowly escaping destruction during the English Civil War. The Cathedral also boasts the famous Wells Clock (which is believed to be the second oldest clock mechanism in Great Britain), the fascinating octagonal Chapter House and one of only four chained libraries in the UK. The medieval palace has been the home of the Bishops of Bath & Wells for over 800 years. The first bishop of Bath & Wells received a crown licence to build a residence and deer park to the south of the cathedral. Within the fortified Palace walls lie the ruin of the Great Hall, the Bishop’s private chapel and 14 acres of gardens, including an arboretum. This moated palace has an imposing gatehouse with portcullis and drawbridge giving the impression of a castle structure.

Whitehaven:

The development of Whitehaven owes much to the Lowther family, it was Sir John Lowther, inspired by Christopher Wren’s designs for rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666, who laid out the original grid system of streets and specified the type of houses to be built. Many historians believe that New York’s street system is inspired by Whitehaven’s grid system.

Lowther also played a leading role in establishing the town’s connections to the transatlantic slave trade. As part of his strategy to enrich the town, Lowther rallied local merchants to take part in the ‘triangular trade’ – exchanging Whitehaven coal, salt and textiles for enslaved Africans, who would then be transported to North America and the West Indies to work on plantations. Lowther was successful in this endeavour, and Whitehaven became heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade between 1710 and 1769. Whitehaven ships carried out sixty-nine slave voyages during this period, transporting and trading hundreds of enslaved people.

The port development was linked to the exploitation of rich local deposits of coal and iron ore. Some coal mines extended for several miles beneath the sea bed. The first undersea mine in England was constructed in Whitehaven in 1729. By 1931 it was the deepest undersea mine anywhere at the time.

Whitehaven was the last place in Britain to be attacked by American naval forces. On 23rd April 1778 during the American War of Independence, John Paul Jones arrived in Britain with the intention of setting the whole merchant fleet on fire. The alarm was raised, and he retreated forthwith. Another American link is that Mildred Warner Gale, the grandmother of the American president George Washington, came from Whitehaven. She was buried in the grounds of St Nicholas’ Church.

Whitehaven had a grant for regeneration of the harbour area for the millennium but our exit from the EU presumably means no more funding to help restore and preserve the 250, mostly Georgian, Listed Buildings…

Wisbech:

In 1069 the Normans built a castle at Wisbech. At first, it was of wood but was later rebuilt in stone. In 1487 it was replaced by a bishop’s palace – the bishop of Ely was lord of the manor. By the time of the Domesday Book, Wisbech was a large village with a population of about 350. in 1190 Richard I gave Wisbech a charter, a document granting the townspeople certain rights and about this time a weekly market began in Wisbech. The market was originally held on Old Market, as the name suggests but by the 13th century it had switched to the street named Market Place. In 1392 a grammar school and by this time Wisbech was a busy little port – part of the port of Lynn. In those days it was only 4 miles from the sea whereas today it is more than 11 miles.

In 1549 Wisbech was incorporated. That is, it was given a corporation and a mayor. The corporation could own property, sue people and make by-laws. Like all towns in those days, Tudor Wisbech suffered from outbreaks of the plague. There was a severe outbreak of plague in Wisbech in 1587.

The 17th century was a period of great change for Wisbech. It was in the center of the parliamentary area and escaped fighting during the Civil War but, in 1655, suffered a severe flood. Wisbech remained a relatively small town until the mid-17th century when the Fens were drained. The newly claimed farmland was very fertile. Agricultural products such as grain, butter, and rapeseed oil were exported from Wisbech to London. The Bishop’s palace was replaced by a mansion, built by Thomas Thurloe, who was Oliver Cromwell’s secretary of state and in 1680 the growing port of Wisbech was made a port in its own right separate from Kings Lynn.

Today, Wisbech is renowned for its elegant Georgian architecture, a legacy from an era when the town was a booming trade centre, with some fine Georgian houses the Brinks and the Crescent. Peckover House and Gardens on North Brink, once the home of the Peckovers, a Quaker banking family, is now in the care of the National Trust. A little further along North Brink is a completely different example of Georgian architecture. Elgood’s Brewery was one of the first Georgian breweries to be built outside London and has stood almost unchanged for more than 200 years. Wisbech has two museums; the Wisbech and Fenland in the Crescent and Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House on South Brink. The Wisbech and Fenland Museum is one of the oldest museums in the United Kingdom. It is very unusual because it is not only a museum, but also home to two historic libraries and a substantial archive, holding diocesan and borough items. The original manuscript of the Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations, can also be found here. Wisbech also has one of the oldest surviving Georgian Theatres in the country – The Angles Theatre – and has just 112 seats.

In the 19th century life in Wisbech continued to improve (at least for the well-off). An act of parliament of 1810 gave Wisbech corporation powers to pave, clean, and light the streets. Following this act, the town hall was built. In 1816 a builder named Joseph Medworth built the present ‘castle’ in Wisbech. Then from 1832, the streets of Wisbech were lit by gas. Leverington Road cemetery was laid out in 1835. It was followed by another cemetery, which was laid out at Mount Pleasant in 1881. Meanwhile, a museum opened in Wisbech in 1835 and the railway reached Wisbech in 1847. The port of Wisbech continued to prosper. In 1852 new wharves were built by the river. In 1890 the banks of the River Nene were strengthened by piling.

Like other towns, Wisbech suffered outbreaks of cholera in 1832, 1849, and 1854. After the outbreak in 1854, the corporation began building sewers and created a piped water supply. The corn exchange was built in 1858. In 1881 a memorial was erected on Bridge Street to Thomas Clarkson 1760-1846, who was born in Wisbech and fought against slavery. The memorial was designed by the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott.

The railway line closed in 1968 and Wisbech is now one of the country’s largest towns with no rail link.

Wymondham:

This is a work in progress within a work in progress. Trying to find a decent potted history of Wymondham is proving difficult to the point where I might have to resort to using Wikipedia. Like that’s going to happen…

The town might appear to be of little interest if it wasn’t for the abbey, the fine medieval buildings and the story of Robert Kett.

1549 was the beginning of Kett’s Rebellion. Robert Kett, a Norfolk farmer, agreed to lead a group of protesters who were angry with the enclosure of common land. The protesters marched on Norwich, and by the time they reached the city walls, it is said that they numbered around 16,000. They marched on Norwich and took the city. This clearly didn’t go down well Edward VI and a battle ensued. Robert Kett fled the battle scene, but was captured the following day at the nearby village of Swannington. He and his brother, William, were imprisoned in the Tower of London and then tried for treason. They were both found guilty and were hanged on 7th December 1549; Robert at Norwich Castle and William at Wymondham Abbey.

Until then: Wymondham is an attractive, historic Norfolk market town with its red roofs and the massive towers of the Abbey church set against green fields of the Tiffey Valley. It has maintained its market town atmosphere with an attractive town centre, some outstanding old buildings, a good range of shops and other facilities. Like many East Anglian towns, Wymondham earned its wealth from wool, but another industry which survived in the town was the making of small wooden objects – spoons for example – and some of the streets of Wymondham take their name from this, such as Spooner Row. Wymondham has a magnificent, twin tower Abbey, founded in 1107 by William d’Albini and has been adapted over the centuries.

York:

While archaeological evidence suggests that settlements around York date back to the Mesolithic period, the city as we now know it began with the Romans in 71 AD, when 5000 men from the ninth legion marched from Lincoln to set up camp and conquer York. Not only did the Romans create York, they lived and ruled in it for the next three centuries, turning it into a city of global importance. The longest stretch of surviving Roman Fortress wall is in the Museum Gardens, including the Multangular Tower. The remains of York’s Roman bathhouse can be seen in St Sampson’s Square and The Yorkshire Museum is home to some of Britain’s most significant Roman treasures. The Viking invasion of York took place on November 1st 866AD and was led by Ivar The Boneless who along with King Halfden renamed the city Jorvik. The Vikings who settled in York were mainly peaceful, who farmed the land, were craftsmen, traders, artists, engineers and ship builders. Over the one hundred years that York was under Viking rule the city prospered greatly.

By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, York was booming and it probably had a population of around 10,000. William the Conqueror built a wooden castle in York. However, in 1069 the north of England rebelled. The Normans in the castle were massacred. William recaptured York and built a second wooden castle to control the town.

In 1190 a horrific massacre took place in York. Jews took refuge in the main castle. Some committed suicide. The townspeople set fire to the castle and the rest were persuaded to surrender but they were murdered anyway. Clifford’s Tower was built in the mid-13th century to replace the keep of the main castle which had been burned in 1190. Then in 1212, King John gave York a charter, which allowed the city self-government.

Medieval York was a flourishing port. Wine was imported from Europe. York was also a busy manufacturing centre. Wool was woven in York. It was then fulled – meaning that the wool was cleaned and thickened by pounding it in a mixture of water and clay, then dyed. There was also an important leather industry in York, making things like gloves, shoes, and saddles. There were many other craftsmen in Medieval York such as butchers, bakers, blacksmiths, coopers, goldsmiths, and barber-surgeons (who cut your hair, pulled your teeth, and performed operations like setting bones), and many others. By the 13th century York had 2 annual fairs. In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but were held only once a year. People would come from all over Yorkshire for a York fair.

In the Middle Ages the church ran the only hospitals. In York, there were several hospitals where the monks cared for the sick and poor as best they could. There was also an abbey dedicated to St Mary outside the town walls. There were also several priories (small monasteries) in York or immediately outside the walls. In the 13th century, friars came to York: Franciscans (grey friars), Dominicans (black friars), Carmelites (white friars), and Augustinians. In 1538 Henry VIII closed the friaries and priories in York and in 1539 closed St Mary’s Abbey. The number of parish churches in York was cut from 40 to 25.

In 1349 the Black Death reached York and it may have killed half the population of the town. The city suffered further outbreaks of plague in 1550-51, 1604, 1631, and 1645 – each time killing hundreds of people.

In the late Middle Ages, several great buildings were built in York. The Merchant Adventurers Hall was built in 1368; the Guildhall in 1453; York Minster between 1220 and 1472 and St Williams College in 1461.

The textile trade in York declined during the 16th century and 17th century because of competition from towns in the West Riding. In the 16th century, York was still an international port but in the late 17th century it declined. This was largely due to the new colonies in North America and the West Indies. York was on the wrong side of the country to trade with them. York also faced growing competition from Hull. Although international shipping to and from York declined there was still an important coastal trade. Ships carried goods to and from other ports in Britain.

In 1642 civil war between the king and parliament began. Most of the people of York supported the king. In April 1644 York was besieged by the parliamentarians but the parliamentary soldiers left at the end of June when a royalist army came to relieve the town. The royalists were then defeated at Marston Moor on 2nd July. leading to another siege. The town surrendered to the parliamentarians on 16 July 1644.

In the 18th century, York became less important as other northern towns grew rapidly. Nevertheless, York was still quite large. It was a market town rather than an industrial town but it had many types of craftsmen like butchers, brewers, bakers, tailors, shoemakers, coopers, comb makers, jewelers, and pipe makers. There were also booksellers and wine merchants. The first newspaper in York appeared in 1719; in 1732 Assembly Rooms were built where the wealthy could attend balls and play cards and the first theatre in York opened in 1736. York County Hospital was built in 1740 and a lunatic asylum followed in 1777. Then in 1788, a dispensary was opened where the poor could obtain free medicines.

A railway was built from Leeds to York in 1839. Another railway was built from York to Scarborough in 1845 and from 1865 York was connected to Hull by railway. Meanwhile, in 1842 a repair workshop opened. Soon afterward York became famous for making railway carriages. In the late 19th century confectionery and making cocoa also became major industries in York, as did flour milling. During the 19th century, the population of York grew rapidly and houses spread across the fields outside the walls. In the 1840s many Irish immigrants arrived in York escaping a potato famine. Many of the new houses in York were overcrowded and like all 19th-century towns, York was dirty and unsanitary. In 1832 and 1849 it was struck by epidemics of cholera. Meanwhile, there was also an epidemic of typhus in 1847. Conditions in York slowly improved. From 1824 the city had gas street lights and in 1825, an Act of Parliament formed a body of men called the Improvement Commissioners who were responsible for paving, lighting, and cleaning the streets. The first modern police force was formed in 1836 and from 1880 horse-drawn trams were introduced. York Art Gallery opened in 1892 and the first public library opened in 1893.

In the early 20th century the confectionery industry in York expanded as rising living standards meant people had more money to spend on sweets. By the mid-20th century, confectionery was the main industry in York. In the 1920s and 1930s, the council cleared slums and built many council houses. During the Second World War York was bombed and some 87 people were killed in bombing raids. The worst bombing raid was on 29 April 1942. The church of St Martin le-Grand was badly damaged by fire. The first York Festival was held in 1951; York University was founded in 1963; the National Railway Museum opened in 1975 and the Jorvik Viking Centre opened in 1984.

114. Gem Towns: Scotland and Wales

104. Since Time Immemorial

117. The Peasants Are Revolting: Heroes and Villains

100. Abbeys and Monasteries