The July visit was a walking tour of Gloucester to be told about the Siege of Gloucester and see the remaining evidence. 26 members in three groups had excellent tours organised by the Civic Society.
We started by being told of the background to the siege and the proclamations by the King’s herald and The City’s reply.
We then visited a variety of locations.
St Mary de Crypt which was a gunpowder store and had bullet hole damage.
We then walked along the line of the eastern city walls and the city’s defences were vividly described. The Sally Port in front of Boots was visible and in King’s Walk we were shown the trapdoor to the King’s Bastion.
A section of the walls is now visible in the corner of a shop on Northgate Street, and we then finished by The Folk, having seen the statue of King Charles and been told of its travels
NEWENT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY
Summer Visit to Herefordshire – Thursday 8 th August 2024.
Twenty-five members boarded the Grindles Coach setting off for the County town of
Hereford. We alighted in Broad Street at the west end of Hereford Cathedral. Once
Inside, we were met by the Cathedral Visitor Engagement Officer, Owen Towndrow
who directed us to the Mappa Mundi exhibition and the Chained Library. The Mappa
Mundi is the largest surviving medieval map of the known world from approx. 1300
AD. Drawn on a single skin of vellum it is listed with UNESCO on the “Memory of
the World Register”. It was nearly sold in 1988 to pay for essential repairs of the
Cathedral but luckily it was saved for the nation and Hereford, by a Memorial Fund
with assistance from the Paul Getty Foundation. The monies raised enabled the new
library to be constructed to house the Mappa Mundi exhibition and also the famous
Chained Library. Expert Guides in the library were keen to point out they housed the
8 th Century Hereford Gospels.
At 11 am we were split into two groups to be given a fascinating guided tour of the
Cathedral where the history, architecture, misericords and monuments were viewed.
The most modern monument was the sombre memorial the SAS Regiment
containing no names. In the tiny Adley Chapel we admired the most breath-taking
window designed by Thomas Denny in 2007. The intricate detail, interpretation and
complex colours of the glass were astonishing. We were told that Hereford Cathedral
housed one copy of only four in the land of the later 1217 Magna Carta.
Following 2 hours or so of free time around the city, we boarded the coach heading
back towards Ross on Wye stopping off at Much Birch to visit “The Laskett”. These
gardens were transformed from 5 acres of fields into a formal garden with a theme of
both Italian renaissance and Tudor and Stuart tradition. Created by Sir Roy Strong
(of V and A Museum fame) and his late wife Lady Julia Trevelyan Oman CBE who
was a theatre, ballet and opera set designer, to record their many years of happy
marriage. In 2015 Sir Roy bequeathed the gardens to PERENNIAL, the only UK
charity dedicated to helping people in horticulture. The weather could have been
kinder to allow us a better appreciation of the views and vistas. Sheltering in the
Colonnade Court was the “Artist in Residence” Clair Hodgson painting a scene
reflecting the overcast weather conditions. Clair is the Artist in Residence for the
other two Perennial gardens in Suffolk and West Yorkshire.
The two visits had an interesting link. During our tour of the Cathedral great
emphasis was given to the removal of the Hereford Screen which was designed by
Sir George Gilbert Scott and made in Coventry, It is now on display in the Victoria
and Albert Museum, South Kensington where Sir Roy Strong was the Director at one
time. One wonders whether he had an influence on its acquisition and restoration – it
is a huge structure of enormous beauty and quality.