Walking the county towns #County Town - Walking the County Towns

IPSWICH

05/01/2024 06:13 PM

First recorded during the medieval period as Gippeswic, Ipswich has been continuously inhabited since the Saxon Period. The largest settlement in the county and a port on the River Orwell and the birthplace of Cardinal Wolsey. Dickens stayed at the Great White Horse when he was a reporter, the Inn providing him with the setting for Mr Pickwick's misadventure when he went into a lady's bedroom by mistake.

14Dec

CHELMSFORD

14/12/2023 02:01 PM

The County Town of Essex,. A Roman fort was built in AD 60 and a civilian town grew around it, being named Caesaromagus ( Caesers marketplace) the town mainly disappearing after the departure of the Romans. The city's present name is derived from Ceolmaer's ford being changed to Chelmsford by 1189. Its position on the London road ensuring its early prosperity. The Church of St Mary, with its 15th centuary tower became a cathedral in 1914.

07Dec

HERTFORD

07/12/2023 04:45 PM

Being remote from main through roads has left the County Town of Hertfordshire relatively unspoilt. The ruins of a Norman Castle stand on the site of an earlier Saxon stronghold built to protect London. The Shire Hall in the middle of the town was designed by Robert Adam and built in 1768

29Nov

AYLESBURY

29/11/2023 02:21 PM

Located in central Buckinghamshire, the town name is of Old English origin. During the early medieval period Aylesbury became a major market town and the burial place of Saint Osgyth Aylesbury was declared the new County Town of Buckinghamshire in 1529 by King Henry VIII In 1963 the Great Train Robbery culprits were sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court

17Nov

WARWICK

17/11/2023 04:46 PM

Overlooking the River Avon, stands Warwick Castle, sold by Lord Brooke in 1978 after being in his family’s possession since 1605. St Mary’s Church contains the tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who died in Rouen in 1439, and was largely responsible for the execution of Joan of Arc. Robert Dudley favourite of Elizabeth I is also buried here

09Nov

WORCESTER

09/11/2023 06:05 PM

Worcester stands on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of a rich fertile plain The cathedral was started in 1084 the tower being added in the 14th century , now overlooking one of most splendid cricket grounds in England

30Oct

HEREFORD

30/10/2023 04:39 PM

Once the Saxon capital of West Mercia. The cathedral dates from the 12th century, it is mainly Norman but there have been changes throughout time , the central tower and choir stalls are 14th century The River Wye flows through the city under a 15th-century six-arched stone bridge

28Oct

GLOUCESTER

28/10/2023 07:51 AM

Gloucester was one the Roman fortified town of Glevum, guardian of the routes to Wales, that converged at the Severn’s lowest crossing point The opening of the canal between Gloucester and Sharpness in 1827 made the city an important inland port The cathedral’s stained glass east window is second only to York Minster in size in this country

25Oct

BRISTOL

25/10/2023 04:46 PM

Bristol was made a County in its own rights in 1373, and is where John Cabot set sail in 1497 to discover New Foundland and North America, a year before Columbus landed on the American mainland Bristol cathedral started as an Augustinian monastery in 1148

07Sep

TROWBRIDGE

07/09/2023 06:19 PM

Trowbridge was once a major settlement of Flemish weavers bringing great prosperity

24Aug

READING

24/08/2023 04:07 PM

Burial place of Henry I and where Oscar Wild composed The Ballad of Reading Gaol and ‘De Profundis’ while imprisoned in the town

10Aug

GUILDFORD

10/08/2023 07:45 PM

The name Guildford is thought to derive from a crossing of the River Wey, a tributary of the Thames Following the Norman conquest a Motte and Bailey castle was constructed and further developed by Kinds Henry 11 and 111 The simplified Gothic cathedral on Stag Hill had its first foundation stone laid in 1936