Leominster is a market town towards the north of Herefordshire between Hereford and Ludlow.
A Leominster street
Information
County:
Herefordshire
Parish:
Leominster
Population:
11,691 (2011 census)
Leominster takes it's name from the Celtic Leon or Lene and a community of clergy (minster). During the Saxon period Leominster was the home the saint Æthelmod who was probably buried at Leominster. Leominster was raided by the Vikings and later was the site of a battle in 1052 between the Welsh and Saxons, this being the battle of Llanllieni (the Welsh name for Leominster).
A priory was founded in Leominster in 1121 by Reading Abbey, who had been granted the land by Henry I (there was a Saxon priory earlier on established around 660). Part of the priory survives as the parish church of St Peter and St Paul.
As well as Christianity, Leominster is known for it's wool, Ryeland sheep historically came from Leominster and it's wool was much prized in the Middle Ages. In later years Leominster was the site of one of the earliest cotton mills in the world (from around 1748). Leominster railway station, now a stop on the Welsh Marches Line, was opened in 1853.
