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Hereford
1142
1142 - William fitz Osbern became Earl
of Hereford in 1066.
He built a new castle
near the old monastery
and a new town north
of the old defences,
which have fallen into
ruin. Its centre is
a large triangular market-place,
with two churches, All
Saints and St Peter's.
A new cathedral has
been built to the north
of the old one. Since
fitz Osbern died, in
1072, the town has suffered
in the war between Matilda
and Stephen.
Fitz Osbern's castle
is now expanding, pushing
out St Guthlac's monastery
which is moving to a
new site to the north-east.
The town is enjoying
a boom time and is becoming
one of the largest in
England.
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The union of England with
Normandy was to accelerate
the process, begun under
the Confessor, which
was to replace the Saxon
institutions with the
Norman feudal system.
William fitz Osbern
was created Earl of
Hereford and a new castle
was built at Hereford.
Fitz Osbern acquired
land to the north of
the old Mercian town
from the Bishop of Hereford.
Here he laid out a large
triangular market place
in the area now bounded
by High Town, Union
Street and Commercial
Street. Around this
market place, and the
roads leading to it,
he laid out a new town.
The French
Town
Immigration was encouraged
by a legal system -
the laws of Breteuil
- which gave favourable
treatment to French
settlers. A new cultural
element had been introduced
which meant that French
joined English and Welsh
as the languages of
the local market places.
The language of the
ruling class was however
French - it would remain
so for three hundred
years.
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It would have been French
immigrants who
populated the
new burgage plots
in Hereford. These
long, narrow plots
appear to have
been laid out
along both sides
of the road approaching
the market from
the north-east
(Commercial Road)
and the northern
side of that approaching
from the south-east
(St Owen's Street).
Immediately to
the rear of these
plots were the
open fields of
Hereford - the
'Port Fields'.
Stimulated by
the activity caused
by the on-going
Norman-French
invasions of Wales,
Hereford was soon
to grow into one
of the largest
towns in England.
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The Castles
It was perhaps
in Herefordshire
that the Norman
presence was to
leave its heaviest
imprint. An aggressive
policy of castle
building along
the Welsh border
or 'Marches' was
initiated. Forward
of the great castles
of Shrewsbury,
Ludlow and Hereford
a rash of smaller
castles was established
on the border
itself. This has
left a legacy
of 150 medieval
fortified sites
in Herefordshire
alone. Beyond
these, the kingdoms
of south Wales
fell to the Norman
lords who operated
in virtual independence
of the crown.
Administratively,
the town of Hereford
was partitioned
between the lay
and ecclesiastical
authorities. The
earl's portion
of the town -
the Earl's Fee
- was confiscated
by the crown after
the rebellion
of fitz Osbern's
son Roger in 1075.
Henceforth this
part of the town
would be the 'King's
Fee'. |
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High Town, Hereford, from the spire of
All Saints Church.
The church in
the centre, St
Peter's, originally
stood in an open
triangular market
place laid out
by Earl William
fitz Osbern just
after the Norman
Conquest. Fitz
Osbern came from
Breteuil in Normandy
where the large
triangular market
place has not
been filled in
by later buildings.
Stalls in the
Hereford market
gradually became
permanent structures,
which were the
forerunners of
the buildings
to the left of
the church.
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