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Tourist Sites

Travel Information
Carolin Lowry
The Manor House
Eardisland
Herefordshire, UK HR6 9BN
Tel. 01544 388138

Black and White Visitor Centre
East St.
Pembridge, HR6 9HA
Tel. 01544 388761

Kington Tourist Information Centre
2 Mill St,
Kington, HR5 3BQ
Tel. 01544 230778.
Open: April-end Oct, 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.

Leominster Tourist Information Centre
1 Corn Square
Leominster, HR6 8LR
Tel. 01568 616460
Open: Easter-end Sep, Mon-Fri, 9.30am-5pm; Sat from 9am-5pm; Oct-Easter, Mon-Sat, 9.30am-4pm

Leominster Folk Museum
Etnam Street, HR6 8AL
Tel. 01568 615186
Open: April-Oct, Mon-Fri, 10.30am-4pm; St, 10.30am-2pm; in winter, Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm

Hergest Croft Gardens
Kington, HR5 3EG
Tel. 01544 230160
Website: Hergest Croft Gardens
Open: weekends in March, 12.30-5pm; daily from April-end Oct, until 6pm in May and June.
Tearoom, gift shop, plant sales

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Black and White Trail

Black and White Villages Cycle Ride

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Old houses in Wales

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The official trail is a 40-mile journey round Herefordshire villages, with many examples of timber-framed buildings and churches in village settings. The 40-mile circular trail is marked with brown and white tourist signs. Pick up a trail leaflet [or pamphlet with CD] at the tourist information centre where the trail begins at Leominster [1 Corn Square, Tel. 01568 616460]. From there it goes to Weobley, Pembridge, Eardisley, Dilwyn, Kinnersley, Sarnesfield, Lyonshall, Kingsland, Kington, Eardisland, and then back to Leominster. Click on any thumbnail to see an enlarged picture.

Many of the houses to be seen on the Black & White Trail are timber-framed - that is, the framework of the house is built from green (unseasoned) oak, and the panels are infilled with woven wood lathes covered with plaster, or sometimes with brick. The panels were painted with limewash tinted with natural pigments such as the local earth or blood. Painting the beams black and the panels white is a relatively recent idea. Many of the houses date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and timbers were often left unpainted to weather naturally, sometimes both beams and panels were limewashed. In the eighteenth century stucco and stone finishes became fashionable, and many houses had their timbers plastered over.

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many houses were restored and their timbers exposed. The practice of painting the beams black and panels white, to emphasise the patterns of the timber frame, became established. Now, some houses have had paint removed from beams to reveal the natural colour of the weathered wood, and the panels have been limewashed in soft earth tones.

Leominster dates from Saxon times and was a wool town in the medieval period. There are antique shops in the town, many of them in old black and white buildings as are a number of other shops. Click on thumbnails below to see larger image or view the Leominster slideshow

From Leominster the trail goes via Barons Cross to Dilwyn, and from there to Weobley. Weobley dates from the 7th century, and is a very pretty black and white village. The trail continues through Sarnesfield to Kinnersley Castle, built c1588. The village of Eardisley is next, and then the town of Kington, a small market town named after Edward the confessor, where many of the houses are 300 years old. Then on to Lyonshall where the 16th century Royal George pub is an attraction.

Pembridge which has many timber-framed buildings is next , with more than 90 listed buildings. The river Arrow runs through the village and under the road. Click on the thumbnails below to see larger image or view the Pembridge slideshow

 

Eardisland, also on the river Arrow, is next, with an 18th-century house which was built around a 14th century great hall with a timber roof. In the village are two timber-framed inns, the Cross and the White Swan and a 15th century cruck hall house, Knapp house. Click on the thumbnails below to see larger image or view the Eardisland slideshow

Then the trail returns to Leominster via Kingsland. Click on thumbnails below to see larger picture, or view Kingsland slideshow

 

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Leominster
Dilwyn
Weobley
Sarnesfield
Kinnersley
Eardisley
Kington
Lyonshall
Pembridge
Eardisland
Kingsland
Leominster
Wigmore