Wigmore
Encyclopedia
Wigmore is a village
and parish
in the northwest part of the county
of Herefordshire
, England
. It is located on the A4110 road, about 8 miles (12.9 km) west of the town of Ludlow
, in the Welsh Marches
. In earlier times it was also an administrative district called a hundred
.
, thus "quaking marsh" or similar.
Wigmore has usually been identified as the Wigingamere of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
(s.a. 917, 921) in 19th century scholarship, but Wigingamere is now known to have been in Newport, Essex
.
The misidentification goes back to Edward Lye
, who recorded a Wicinga-mere (introducing an association with Viking
s) as a villa in agro Herefordiensi.
on a hill close by the location of the present village seems to have been called Merestone or Merestun (from the Old English Mersc, meaning mere
or marsh and Tūn, meaning enclosure, farmstead, village, manor or estate - thus literally "village by the marsh"). The name of the marsh itself seems to have been applied to the later village.
Although Roman
remains have been found in the area (near Bury Farm, to the east) on the western branch of Watling Street
(which crosses Wigmore Moor). Wigmore Church is an Anglo-Saxon foundation, with substantial surviving wall portions dating to the 10th century.
, the barony of Wigmore belonged to Edric Sylvaticus, the Saxon
Earl of Shrewsbury
. However, he refused to submit after the Norman conquest and was defeated in battle and taken prisoner. His possessions were subsequently granted to William FitzOsbern
, the Earl of Hereford
under William I
from 1068 to 1072, as a reward for his services.
FitzOsbern built Wigmore Castle
, as it became known. Although it was probably initially only built of earth and timber
, it was to become one of the main English border castles along the Welsh Marches
during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
However, FitzOsbern's son Roger de Breteuil
took part in the Revolt of the Earls
; after the Earl's subsequent defeat William I seized the castle and gave it to another of his supporters, Ranulph de Mortimer
. From this time on Wigmore became the head of the barony of the Mortimer
s, Earls of March.
Wigmore is one of very few Herefordshire borough
s recorded in the Domesday Book
. Although Hereford
was the only borough in the county in 1066, boroughs were attached to the castles of Clifford (also built by FitzOsbern) and Wigmore by 1086.
Wigmore, at the time situated in the Hazeltree hundred, is mentioned three times in the Domesday Book. The first entry is under the lands held by Ranulph Mortimer and records that he holds Wigmore Castle, which Earl William built on wasteland that was called Merestun, which Gunfrid held before 1066. It also records that there were two hide
s that paid tax, two ploughs in lordship and four slaves. The borough of Wigmore is recorded to have paid £
7 - "bergu qd ibi est redd vii lib". Secondly, in the section recording the lands of the king
, Merestone is recorded as being a part of the manor
of Kingsland
which Ranulph Mortimer held for the king. A third section mentions that Ranulph Mortimer holds Wigmore, which Alfward held, and that there is half a hide, which Wigmore Castle is situated upon. If a rental of 12 d
per burgage
(as was customary with other rental properties at the time), the money paid by the borough may represent about 140 burgages.
Although it is not considered to have been a failed borough, as it was a fairly prosperous small market town during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, Wigmore does not seem to have flourished as much as others in the region, such as Bromyard
.
There are two 14th-century extents (assessments or valuations of land for taxation purposes) preserved in the Public Record Office
which include the settlement. In the one of 1304 it was recorded that there were 102 tenants who held 140 and a quarter burgages. It was also recorded that there was a weekly market and a fair, which was held on the feast of St Andrew.
The importance of Wigmore as a market town was at least partly due to the influence of the Mortimer family and their castle, which probably attracted much local and regional business to the town. However, Wigmore's prosperity probably waned somewhat in the mid-14th century when the Mortimer family moved its administrative centre to Ludlow Castle
, which they had inherited through marriage in 1314.
However, Wigmore Castle still remained the family's official seat for the next 250 years, until the demise of their house; when the male line of the Mortimers died out in 1424, the castle passed to the crown. It was maintained throughout the sixteenth century, partly as a prison
, although the castle was already in decay. The town of Wigmore shared the fate of the castle and it declined to village status by the 16th century. The castle was finally dismantled in 1643 to prevent it being garrisoned during the English Civil War
.
In 1870 - 1872 it was recorded in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
that Wigmore village was a seat of petty-sessions and that it had a post office
, a police station
, two Methodist
chapel
s and a national school
. Fair
s were held on 6 May and 5 August. The parish included part of Limebrook and was in the Ludlow
district. The size of the village was 3441 acres (13.9 km²), it had a population of 499 and 104 houses. Regarding the Wigmore hundred, it was recorded that it contained 14 parishes and 5 parts. It had a size of 47075 acres (190.5 km²), a population of 6,309 and contained 1,234 houses.
The Gazetteer of the British Isles of 1887 showed that the village of Wigmore had not changed much in fifteen years - indeed, the number of inhabitants had declined slightly: 3441 acres (13.9 km²) contained a population of 417. Similarly, the Wigmore hundred's 46354 acres (187.6 km²) contained a population of 5,665.
which have a catchment area of North Herefordshire although some pupils attend from southern Shropshire
and from across the border in Wales. The High School is notable as an extremely well performing comprehensive school
nationally. The schools are currently in a consultation period as they prepare to amalgamate to help share resources.
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 parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
in the northwest part of the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of 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...
. It is located on the A4110 road, about 8 miles (12.9 km) west of the town 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...
, in the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
. In earlier times it was also an administrative district called a hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
.
Name
The placename is attested as Wigemore (1086), Wiggemora (1165), from an Old English *wicga-mōr, the element wicga likely denoting the yielding quality of the moorlandMoorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
, thus "quaking marsh" or similar.
Wigmore has usually been identified as the Wigingamere of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
(s.a. 917, 921) in 19th century scholarship, but Wigingamere is now known to have been in Newport, Essex
Newport, Essex
Newport is a large village in Essex near Saffron Walden, in which Newport Free Grammar School is located. The village has a population of just over 2,000....
.
The misidentification goes back to Edward Lye
Edward Lye
Edward Lye was an 18th century scholar of Old English and Germanic philology.His Dictionarium Saxonico- et Gothico-Latinum, published posthumously in 1772, was a milestone in the development of Old English lexicography, surpassed only by, and substantially contributing to, Joseph Bosworth's...
, who recorded a Wicinga-mere (introducing an association with Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s) as a villa in agro Herefordiensi.
Early history
An early settlementTown
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
on a hill close by the location of the present village seems to have been called Merestone or Merestun (from the Old English Mersc, meaning mere
Mere (lake)
Mere in English refers to a lake that is broad in relation to its depth, e.g. Martin Mere. A significant effect of its shallow depth is that for all or most of the time, it has no thermocline.- Etymology :...
or marsh and Tūn, meaning enclosure, farmstead, village, manor or estate - thus literally "village by the marsh"). The name of the marsh itself seems to have been applied to the later village.
Although Roman
Roman 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...
remains have been found in the area (near Bury Farm, to the east) on the western branch of 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...
(which crosses Wigmore Moor). Wigmore Church is an Anglo-Saxon foundation, with substantial surviving wall portions dating to the 10th century.
The Mortimer period
At the time of the reign of Edward the ConfessorEdward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, the barony of Wigmore belonged to Edric Sylvaticus, the Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the peerage of England.-First creation, 1074:The first creation occurred in 1074 for Roger de Montgomerie, one of William the Conqueror's principal counselors...
. However, he refused to submit after the Norman conquest and was defeated in battle and taken prisoner. His possessions were subsequently granted to William FitzOsbern
William Fitzosbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William FitzOsbern , Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England...
, the Earl of Hereford
Earl of Hereford
The title of Earl of Hereford was created six times in the Peerage of England. See also Duke of Hereford, Viscount Hereford. Dates indicate the years the person held the title for.-Earls of Hereford, First Creation :*Swegen Godwinson...
under William I
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
from 1068 to 1072, as a reward for his services.
FitzOsbern built Wigmore Castle
Wigmore Castle
Wigmore Castle is a ruined castle which is barely visible from the village of Wigmore in the northwest region of Herefordshire, England.- History :...
, as it became known. Although it was probably initially only built of earth and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, it was to become one of the main English border castles along the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
However, FitzOsbern's son Roger de Breteuil
Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford , succeeded to the earldom of Hereford and the English estate of William Fitz-Osbern in 1071.- Disobeying King William :...
took part in the Revolt of the Earls
Revolt of the Earls
The Revolt of the Earls in 1075 was a rebellion of three earls against William I of England . It was the last serious act of resistance against William in the Norman Conquest.-Course:...
; after the Earl's subsequent defeat William I seized the castle and gave it to another of his supporters, Ranulph de Mortimer
Ranulph de Mortimer
Ranulph I de Mortimer of Mortemer-sur-Eaulne, was a Marcher Lord from the Montgomery lands in the Welsh Marches. In England, he was Lord of Wigmore in Herefordshire. In Normandy, he was the Seigneur of St. Victor-en-Caux. Ranulph was the founder of the English House of Mortimer of Wigmore...
. From this time on Wigmore became the head of the barony of the Mortimer
Mortimer
Mortimer is a popular English name, used both as a surname and a given name.- Norman origins :The origin of the name is almost certainly Norman, but the details are disputed....
s, Earls of March.
Wigmore is one of very few Herefordshire borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
s recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. Although Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
was the only borough in the county in 1066, boroughs were attached to the castles of Clifford (also built by FitzOsbern) and Wigmore by 1086.
Wigmore, at the time situated in the Hazeltree hundred, is mentioned three times in the Domesday Book. The first entry is under the lands held by Ranulph Mortimer and records that he holds Wigmore Castle, which Earl William built on wasteland that was called Merestun, which Gunfrid held before 1066. It also records that there were two hide
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
s that paid tax, two ploughs in lordship and four slaves. The borough of Wigmore is recorded to have paid £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
7 - "bergu qd ibi est redd vii lib". Secondly, in the section recording the lands of the king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, Merestone is recorded as being a part of the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Kingsland
Kingsland, Herefordshire
Kingsland is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. It is located north-west of Leominster.To the west of the church are the earthwork remains of a motte-and-bailey castle.-External links:...
which Ranulph Mortimer held for the king. A third section mentions that Ranulph Mortimer holds Wigmore, which Alfward held, and that there is half a hide, which Wigmore Castle is situated upon. If a rental of 12 d
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
per burgage
Burgage
Burgage is a medieval land term used in England and Scotland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town rental property , owned by a king or lord. The property usually, and distinctly, consisted of a house on a long and narrow plot of land, with the narrow end facing the street...
(as was customary with other rental properties at the time), the money paid by the borough may represent about 140 burgages.
Although it is not considered to have been a failed borough, as it was a fairly prosperous small market town during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, Wigmore does not seem to have flourished as much as others in the region, such as Bromyard
Bromyard
Bromyard is a town in northeast Herefordshire, England with a population of approximately 4,000. It lies near to the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard has a number of traditional half-timbered pubs and some buildings dating back to Norman times...
.
There are two 14th-century extents (assessments or valuations of land for taxation purposes) preserved in the Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
which include the settlement. In the one of 1304 it was recorded that there were 102 tenants who held 140 and a quarter burgages. It was also recorded that there was a weekly market and a fair, which was held on the feast of St Andrew.
The importance of Wigmore as a market town was at least partly due to the influence of the Mortimer family and their castle, which probably attracted much local and regional business to the town. However, Wigmore's prosperity probably waned somewhat in the mid-14th century when the Mortimer family moved its administrative centre to Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a large, partly ruined, non-inhabited castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme...
, which they had inherited through marriage in 1314.
However, Wigmore Castle still remained the family's official seat for the next 250 years, until the demise of their house; when the male line of the Mortimers died out in 1424, the castle passed to the crown. It was maintained throughout the sixteenth century, partly as a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, although the castle was already in decay. The town of Wigmore shared the fate of the castle and it declined to village status by the 16th century. The castle was finally dismantled in 1643 to prevent it being garrisoned during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
Modern history
Wigmore was one of the first areas in England to have an Enclosure Act. Dating from 1772, this act affected the moor and woods nearby. The dividing earth banks still survive.In 1870 - 1872 it was recorded in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales...
that Wigmore village was a seat of petty-sessions and that it had a 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...
, a police station
Police station
A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
, two Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
s and a national school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
. Fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
s were held on 6 May and 5 August. The parish included part of Limebrook and was in 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...
district. The size of the village was 3441 acres (13.9 km²), it had a population of 499 and 104 houses. Regarding the Wigmore hundred, it was recorded that it contained 14 parishes and 5 parts. It had a size of 47075 acres (190.5 km²), a population of 6,309 and contained 1,234 houses.
The Gazetteer of the British Isles of 1887 showed that the village of Wigmore had not changed much in fifteen years - indeed, the number of inhabitants had declined slightly: 3441 acres (13.9 km²) contained a population of 417. Similarly, the Wigmore hundred's 46354 acres (187.6 km²) contained a population of 5,665.
Schools
The village has one primary school and one secondary schoolSecondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
which have a catchment area of North Herefordshire although some pupils attend from southern 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...
and from across the border in Wales. The High School is notable as an extremely well performing comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
nationally. The schools are currently in a consultation period as they prepare to amalgamate to help share resources.
Places of interest
- Wigmore AbbeyWigmore AbbeyWigmore Abbey was an Augustinian abbey with a grange, from 1179 to 1530, situated about a mile north of the village of Wigmore, Herefordshire, England.Only ruins of the abbey now remain.-History of the abbey:...
, an AugustinianAugustiniansThe term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
abbeyAbbeyAn abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
and grange about a mile (2 km) north of Wigmore was founded by Ranulph de Mortimer and his son, Hugh de MortimerHugh de MortimerHugh de Mortimer was a Norman English medieval baron.- Lineage :The son of Hugh de Mortimer , the son of Ralf de Mortimer, he was Lord of Wigmore Castle, Cleobury Mortimer and at times, Bridgnorth, Bishop's Castle and Maelienydd.- Anarchy :During the Anarchy of King Stephen's reign, Mortimer was...
in 1179. In the abbey church many of the Mortimers were buried, among them five holders of the title Earl of MarchEarl of MarchThe title The Earl of March has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or boundaries between England and either Wales or Scotland , and was held by several great feudal families which owned lands in those border...
. The abbey continued to flourish until the period of the dissolution of the monasteriesDissolution of the MonasteriesThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, when it was destroyed. - Wigmore Church, dedicated to St James, is also a landmark in the village and surrounding areas, as it stands on the pinnacle of a hill overlooking the village. It was built as a collegiate churchCollegiate churchIn Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
in the 11th century by the Mortimer family and lies on the site of an earlier SaxonAnglo-Saxon architectureAnglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing...
building. The church has a very early NormanNorman architectureAbout|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
naveNaveIn Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and herringboneHerringbone patternThe herringbone pattern is an arrangement of rectangles used for floor tilings and road pavement.The blocks can be rectangles or parallelograms...
opus spicatumOpus spicatumOpus spicatum, literally "spiked work," is a type of masonry construction used in Roman and medieval times. It consists of bricks, tiles or cut stone laid in a herringbone pattern.-Uses:...
masonryMasonryMasonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
is still visible on the outside of the north wall. Little, apart from detail, has been added to the church since the 1330s. - Another place of interest is LeintwardineLeintwardineLeintwardine is a large village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire.- Roman Leintwardine :...
the Roman Fort Bravonium which is found 2 miles from Wigmore.