Located at the junction of the River Lugg and the River Kenwater, Leominster is a historic market town in Herefordshire. The area was frequently raided by Vikings during the 8th and 9th centuries, with a large hoard of Saxon jewellery and coins (believed to have been buried by Vikings) discovered by detectorists in 2015.
Things to do in Leominster
Learn about the history of the region from pre-Roman times to the present day at the Leominster Museum, which occupies a building constructed in 1855 for railway workers. In addition to local postage stamps and banknotes, its exhibits include a Bronze Age beaker cist and artefacts from the Leominster & Kington Railway. Several works by the locally-born painter John Scarlett Davis are also on display.
Nearby is the Priory Church of St Peter and St Paul, which originated as a Benedictine monastery in the 13th century. Designed in an English Gothic style, it is renowned for the elaborate carvings that adorn its western doorway and houses a wall painting depicting the biblical “Wheel of Life”. Also of note are the church’s rare bells, several of which were cast by William Evans in 1755.
A short drive north of Leominster is Berrington Hall, a Neoclassical mansion designed by Henry Holland in the 1770s. Fronted by four immense columns, it houses the Elmar Digby collection of French furnishings, as well as antique snuff boxes, watches and objets d’art. Explore the Victorian-era laundry and the early 19th-century dairy or browse the costumes collected by the Afro-Caribbean English poet Charles Paget Wade.
Getting around Leominster
Leominster is around 1.5 hours’ drive from Birmingham and Birmingham Airport, which has flights to destinations across the globe. Regular trains connect to the Leominster railway station and the town centre is small enough to explore on foot.