Like many towns in the lovely county of Herefordshire, Ledbury is quite old. This isn't necessarily cause for alarm because most towns in this area of England date back to the Domesday Book and beyond. What sets Ledbury apart, however, is that the various buildings built through the many different eras and styles of architecture over the years are among the most impressive and beautiful in all of the United Kingdom. While certain cities in England may boast unique white chalk or red sandstone walls and homes on account of the local minerals in each respective city, Ledbury is nearly impossible to pin down to one cohesive theme or element. This is the nature of the town and it works beautifully.
A visit to the Church Lane section of the town will display a plethora of gorgeous timber-framed houses that evoke days long since past. If you head toward the center of town from Church Lane you'll see one of the shining beacons of Ledbury: The Market House. This beautiful edifice dates back to the Middle Ages when a market square was a necessary part of any English town trying to become a city. Those who love the art of the Renaissance will marvel at the famed "Painted Room" of Ledbury which boasts lovely frescoes made during the 1500s around the time that masters like Donatello and Michelangelo were first dipping their brushes into the complex art of the fresco wall. The majority of the houses in Ledbury are made in the Georgian architecture style although a considerable amount of them predate the 1700s, when Georgian influences first began to pop up around England. This lovely mix of the old and the older perfectly sum up the rich heritage of Ledbury.
Ledbury's roots stretch much further back than the Renaissance, however. In the early days of the first Edward's reign Ledbury was known as Liedeberge. Most experts assume that this was an alteration of an older Roman name given to the area as the Empire was winding down and giving way to Saxon and Norman influences. At any rate, Ledbury sits comfortably along the Leadon River and this is likely how Ledbury earned its early moniker. One thing that is certain, though, is that Ledbury is and always has been beautiful and the scenery of the landscape mixed with the stately austerity of the Leadon River has influenced countless poets, painters, and writers. It is little wonder, then, that several famous artists were in fact born and raised in Ledbury. The world-renowned poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning spent a large portion of her life in Ledbury and it is surmised that she first got a taste for the beauty of the Earth by taking in the local sights. John Masefield, former poet laureate, also hails from Ledbury and there is a school in the city named for the famous wordsmith. Ledbury has the perfect combination of natural wonder and manmade beauty and it is for this reason that countless artists frequently make a pilgrimage to this lovely locale. Isn't it time you went to see what all the fuss is about?
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