Hereford Butter Market
historical background by Archenfield Archaeology Ltd
Hereford is an old town – one of the oldest towns north of the Alps which is not of Roman origins. Although the precise date of its founding, and that if its cathedral, is not known, both were certainly in existence by the end of the reign of the great King Offa of Mercia. As a town, Hereford would have been a trading centre and must have possessed a market. We may imagine that this market, probably held weekly, took place in the streets of the old Mercian town which lay to the south of St Owen Street, High Town and Eign Gate.
Hereford’s early 17th century guildhall
It is in 1086 that the first clear reference to a market in Hereford occurs. In that year, the Domesday Book entry for the manor of Eaton Bishop has the line ‘Earl William gave it to Bishop Walter for land in which the market is now and for three hides of Lydney.’ After the Norman Conquest, William fitz Osbern had been created Earl of Hereford and had obtained this land from the Bishop of Hereford in order to place his new market place there. In his home town of Breteuil in Normandy, William had made a great triangular market place which still exists. He re-created this in his town of Hereford. This was in the area now bounded by Union Street, St Peter’s Square, Peter’s Street, High Town and High Street. Much of this area was later built on, as market stalls became permanent structures and finally shops with living space for the family above and behind. The sites of these early stalls lie beneath Chad’s and Macdonald’s.
The new market place was designed to accommodate French immigrants who came to Hereford and many other English towns in the years following 1066. These newcomers were encouraged by laws which favoured them above the natives. As in many other places the citizen’s of Hereford would for many years be addressed as ‘Franci et Angli’ – French and English.
Market stalls outside the ‘Old House’ in the 19th century
Sometime in the 12th century, the new French town of Hereford, with its market place, was enclosed by new defensive works. At first built of earth, these ramparts were later re-built in stone. From time to time, these walls needed repair and the town was permitted to raise a tax on goods brought to the market for sale. In 1297 Edward I granted such a ‘murage grant’ which specified how much should be charged for various items. The grant ran for a period of five years.
These are some of the dues that Edward I permitted the citizens of Hereford to raise on merchandise to be sold in the market: -
every horseload of corn one farthing
every hide of horse, mare, bull, cow, or hog –
fresh, dried or tanned one farthing
every five bacons one halfpenny
every ten sheepskins one halfpenny
every hundred skins with wool on one penny
every hundred skins of lambs, goats, hares,
rabbits, foxes, cats and squirrels one halfpenny
every hundred dressed furs six pence
every quarter of salt one farthing
every horseload of rolls or piece of cloth one halfpenny
every entire piece of cloth above the value
of forty shillings one halfpenny
every cartload of pieces of cloth three pence
every hundred rolls of worsted cloth two pence
every hundred salted cod or other dried fish two pence
every cart of sea fish four pence
every horseload of sea fish one penny
every salmon one penny
every twelve lampreys one penny
every thousand herrings one farthing
every horseload of honey one penny
every sack of wool two pence
every two thousand onion or garlic one halfpenny
every hundred pieces of tin, brass and copper two pence
Any parcels or panniers of anything not specified were charged at one farthing for anything valued between five shillings and ten shillings. Any parcels or panniers of non-specified goods valued above ten shillings were charged at one halfpenny.
Various types of merchandise were sold in different locations in the town. The fish market was in St Peter’s Square and the meat market in High Town in a location that would become known as Butcher’s Row. In the late 18th century the garden and hop market was in St Owen’s Street.
The vegetable market became located in what is now Church Street. This consequently became known as Broad Cabbage Lane and Narrow Cabbage Lane. Later the name was gentrified into Broad and Narrow Capuchin Lane – a total fiction as the Capuchin order had no connection with Hereford at all. Now the two parts are identified separately as Church Street and Capuchin Lane.
The heart of the market was the market cross at the western end of what is now High Town. It was in this area that Owen Tudor, grandfather of King Henry VIII was beheaded in February 1461, after his capture by the Yorkist Edward, Earl of March at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, 25 kilometres north-west of Hereford. Owen’s head was placed on the market cross where a madwoman combed his hair and washed the blood from his face. She lit more than a hundred candles and placed them around the cross.
A market scene in Hereford in the second half of the 19th century
On the left is the scene in what is now Capuchin Lane.
In 1809 it was decided to demolish the Redstreak Tree inn and use the site for all the non-livestock markets. The first markets were operating on the site by October 1810. The market did not originally have a roof but the entrance was through the present archway from High Town (left). At the time this was single story, without the carved figures or clock tower.
In 1860 the market was covered with an iron and glass roof, and that winter the old town hall was demolished, the site being finally cleared in early March 1861. As the town clock had been on the old building, a competition for the design of a new clock tower had been held the previous year. Although a design was selected, in May 1861 the council decided not to proceed with the project. A clock was finally placed above the entrance to the market, where it still stands.
The entrance to Hereford Butter Market in 2007
