Leintwardine
Encyclopedia
Leintwardine is a large village
and civil parish
in north Herefordshire
, England
, close to the border with Shropshire
.
called the village Branogenium. Branogenium in fact refers to a Roman fort roughly ¼ of a mile south of the village. The Roman name for Leintwardine was Bravonium. The high street in Leintwardine is on the same line as the Roman road
known as Watling Street
.
The name Bravonium, as it appears in the Antonine Itinerary
(Iter XII), is derived from the Celtic word
for quern
. This suggests that there was either a hill or rock formation here that looked like a quern, or that there were quern quarries nearby. In the Upper Silurian
series, the Leintwardine beds outcrop in the area and these consist of a calcareous
sandstone
which would have been suitable for making querns of a finer grade than could be obtained from Millstone grit
, which was commonly used. Querns of this calcareous sandstone have been found at Viroconium
.
It is theorised, by Herefordshire historian Duncan Brown, that Leintwardine performed the role of a trading post and outpost early in the Roman conquest of Britain. It is commonly accepted that a mansio
was constructed in Leintwardine. The archaeological excavations at the W. & C.A. Griffiths site prior to the construction of a modern warehouse in the early 1990s discovered Roman baths, which further points to Leintwardine being a "travel lodge" of Roman Britain.
The construction of a rampart
in around 170 AD (ranging up to two metres tall), and still visible in places around Leintwardine, is thought by local historians to be the result of one of two events. The argument currently in retreat is that following a local uprising the Romans evicted all locals and constructed a rampart and palisade
. The preferred line is that the ramparts were built following widespread local unrest to protect the mansio and the baths, which serviced Roman cavalry forts to the north, south and north-west. There exists a Roman praetorium/principia 1.6 KM South West of Leintwardine stop Brandon Hill, believed to have contained a storage depot, regimental HQ, latrines and cookhouse. Aerial photographs as early at the middle 1950s showed circular crop marks within the confines of the hill fort. Much of the site's earthworks still exist and Brandon Hill remains an impressive sight.
Graves dug in Leintwardine's church, St Mary Magdalene, to a depth of 8 ft show a clear strata level of broken pottery sherd
s and charcoal
, evidence of burning. This is in line with the historical thought that Roman Leintwardine burnt down much like the nearby Roman towns of Magnis
, (Kenchester) and Ariconium (Weston-under-Penyard
).
- formerly known as the Lent which means simply 'torrent, stream' - coupled with the Old English word 'enclosure', later replaced by wording 'enclosed settlement'. The modern name therefore means 'the enclosed settlement on the River Lent'.
Roger Mortimer, the Earl of March, paramour of Edward II's Queen Isabella and usurper of the young Edward III's kingship, founded a collegiate chantry at Leintwardine and built the Mortimer Chapel at the church of St. Mary Magdalene, now known as the Lady Chapel, where prayers could be said for the souls of his family. It was to a statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel that in September and November 1353 Edward III made pilgrimages, laying a cloth of gold at the feet of the statue on the occasion of his September visit.
Philip Dunne
, who represents the Ludlow
constituency and Leintwardine itself is represented by Bill Wiggin
, MP for Leominster
.
Businesses in the village
W. & C.A. Griffiths: historically born and bred within Leintwardine this business provides Leintwardine with services rare in today's rural England; a fuel station, mini-market or video rental, post office
, car repairs, and newspaper delivery. The business has expanded twice in recent years.
A.H. Griffiths: the family butcher
s, originally based within Leintwardine, has expanded to the local market town
of Ludlow
and is famed for its sausage
s and high-quality meat produce. It is one of the last remaining abattoirs left in this country with its own butchers shop out front.
The Sun Inn
is one of the country's last remaining 'parlour inns' - the traditional mode of British recreational drinking.
The Frog: right on the boundaries of Leintwardine and nationally known as a specialised fish
restaurant
.
Walford
is the next parish about 2 km southwest of Leintwardine.
The River Clun
joins the River Teme
to the southwest of the village.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in north Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, close to the border with Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
.
Roman Leintwardine
A popular misconception is that the RomansRoman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
called the village Branogenium. Branogenium in fact refers to a Roman fort roughly ¼ of a mile south of the village. The Roman name for Leintwardine was Bravonium. The high street in Leintwardine is on the same line as the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
known as Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
.
The name Bravonium, as it appears in the Antonine Itinerary
Antonine Itinerary
The Antonine Itinerary is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another...
(Iter XII), is derived from the Celtic word
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
for quern
Quern-stone
Quern-stones are stone tools for hand grinding a wide variety of materials. They were used in pairs. The lower, stationary, stone is called a quern, whilst the upper, mobile, stone is called a handstone...
. This suggests that there was either a hill or rock formation here that looked like a quern, or that there were quern quarries nearby. In the Upper Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
series, the Leintwardine beds outcrop in the area and these consist of a calcareous
Calcareous
Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
which would have been suitable for making querns of a finer grade than could be obtained from Millstone grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
, which was commonly used. Querns of this calcareous sandstone have been found at Viroconium
Viroconium
Viroconium Cornoviorum, or simply Viroconium , was a Roman town, one corner of which is now occupied by the small village of Wroxeter in the English county of Shropshire, about east-south-east of Shrewsbury...
.
It is theorised, by Herefordshire historian Duncan Brown, that Leintwardine performed the role of a trading post and outpost early in the Roman conquest of Britain. It is commonly accepted that a mansio
Mansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...
was constructed in Leintwardine. The archaeological excavations at the W. & C.A. Griffiths site prior to the construction of a modern warehouse in the early 1990s discovered Roman baths, which further points to Leintwardine being a "travel lodge" of Roman Britain.
The construction of a rampart
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
in around 170 AD (ranging up to two metres tall), and still visible in places around Leintwardine, is thought by local historians to be the result of one of two events. The argument currently in retreat is that following a local uprising the Romans evicted all locals and constructed a rampart and palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
. The preferred line is that the ramparts were built following widespread local unrest to protect the mansio and the baths, which serviced Roman cavalry forts to the north, south and north-west. There exists a Roman praetorium/principia 1.6 KM South West of Leintwardine stop Brandon Hill, believed to have contained a storage depot, regimental HQ, latrines and cookhouse. Aerial photographs as early at the middle 1950s showed circular crop marks within the confines of the hill fort. Much of the site's earthworks still exist and Brandon Hill remains an impressive sight.
Graves dug in Leintwardine's church, St Mary Magdalene, to a depth of 8 ft show a clear strata level of broken pottery sherd
Sherd
In archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels as well....
s and charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
, evidence of burning. This is in line with the historical thought that Roman Leintwardine burnt down much like the nearby Roman towns of Magnis
Magnis (Kenchester)
Magnis was a Romano-British town and an important market centre for the British Dobunni tribe, located near modern-day Kenchester in Herefordshire, England...
, (Kenchester) and Ariconium (Weston-under-Penyard
Weston-under-Penyard
Weston under Penyard is a small village in Herefordshire, England.It lies on the A40 road two miles east of Ross-on-Wye. The Penyard is a prominent hill....
).
Medieval history
Leintwardine is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lenteurde, and is apparently derived from the Celtic name for the River TemeRiver Teme
The River Teme rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown in Powys, and flows through Knighton where it crosses the border into England down to Ludlow in Shropshire, then to the north of Tenbury Wells on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border there, on its way to join the River Severn south of Worcester...
- formerly known as the Lent which means simply 'torrent, stream' - coupled with the Old English word 'enclosure', later replaced by wording 'enclosed settlement'. The modern name therefore means 'the enclosed settlement on the River Lent'.
Roger Mortimer, the Earl of March, paramour of Edward II's Queen Isabella and usurper of the young Edward III's kingship, founded a collegiate chantry at Leintwardine and built the Mortimer Chapel at the church of St. Mary Magdalene, now known as the Lady Chapel, where prayers could be said for the souls of his family. It was to a statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel that in September and November 1353 Edward III made pilgrimages, laying a cloth of gold at the feet of the statue on the occasion of his September visit.
Modern Leintwardine
Modern Leintwardine has a vibrant community feel so often lost in some modern day villages. Its parish council is active and many interest groups such as the Leintwardine Historical Society exist with active and numerous members. Leintwardine is home to the Conservative MPMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Philip Dunne
Philip Dunne (politician)
Philip Martin Dunne is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for the Ludlow constituency in Shropshire....
, who represents the Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
constituency and Leintwardine itself is represented by Bill Wiggin
Bill Wiggin
William David Wiggin is a British Conservative Party politician, Member of Parliament and a former Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries. He held the seat of Leominster from the 2001 election until the 2010 election, when the seat of Leominster was abolished...
, MP for Leominster
Leominster
Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...
.
Businesses in the village
W. & C.A. Griffiths: historically born and bred within Leintwardine this business provides Leintwardine with services rare in today's rural England; a fuel station, mini-market or video rental, post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, car repairs, and newspaper delivery. The business has expanded twice in recent years.
A.H. Griffiths: the family butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
s, originally based within Leintwardine, has expanded to the local market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
and is famed for its sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
s and high-quality meat produce. It is one of the last remaining abattoirs left in this country with its own butchers shop out front.
The Sun Inn
Sun Inn
The Sun Inn is a Grade II listed, National Inventory listed parlour pub in Leintwardine, Herefordshire, UK.The 200+ year old establishment, one of the UK's last remaining parlour pubs, had been owned and operated by resident Flossie Lane, who was born in the Sun Inn in 1914, and took over ownership...
is one of the country's last remaining 'parlour inns' - the traditional mode of British recreational drinking.
The Frog: right on the boundaries of Leintwardine and nationally known as a specialised fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
.
Walford
Walford, Letton and Newton
Walford, Letton and Newton is a civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire.Walford village lies just south of the River Teme about 2 km southwest of Leintwardine and 2 km northeast of Letton. The post town is Craven Arms and postcodes start with SY7...
is the next parish about 2 km southwest of Leintwardine.
The River Clun
River Clun, Shropshire
The River Clun is a river in Shropshire, England which runs through the small town of Clun, as well as Newcastle-on-Clun and other villages. It meets the River Teme at Leintwardine, Herefordshire....
joins the River Teme
River Teme
The River Teme rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown in Powys, and flows through Knighton where it crosses the border into England down to Ludlow in Shropshire, then to the north of Tenbury Wells on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border there, on its way to join the River Severn south of Worcester...
to the southwest of the village.