Aymestrey ( ) is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in north-western

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, England. The population of this civil parish, including the hamlet of

Yatton Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clav ...

, at the 2011 Census was 351.

Location

It is located on the A4110 road, about 7 miles north-west of

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...

and 8 miles south-west of the historic

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

, in south

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. The village is on the

River Lugg The River Lugg () rises near Llangynllo in Powys, Wales. From its source, it flows through the border town of Presteigne and then into Herefordshire, England. It meets its main tributary, the River Arrow, to the south of Leominster, then ...

Amenities and history

Aymestrey is home to several homes and cottages, the church dedicated to St John the Baptist and St Alkmund, a

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

and a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

: The Riverside Inn, situated next to River Lugg just off the main road. The

Mortimer Trail The Mortimer Trail is a waymarked long-distance footpath and recreational walk in the counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire in England. The route The route is named after the Mortimer family of ruling Marcher Lords, often titled Earl of Mar ...

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/71159
''geograph.org.uk'' waymarked recreational walk passes through the village. Leominster Museum - 2014-07-11 - Andy Mabbett - 13

Leominster Museum - 2014-07-11 - Andy Mabbett - 13

In 1987, the

Aymestrey burial The Aymestrey burial was a Beaker culture, beaker cist at Aymestrey, Herefordshire, England. The remains and objects are now in a recreated cist, at Leominster Museum. Discovery While working a Gravel pit, gravel quarry at Aymestrey, in June ...

, an

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, beaker

cist In archeology, a cist (; also kist ; ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...

, was discovered during gravel working. It has since been recreated at

Leominster Museum Leominster Museum, formerly known as Leominster Folk Museum, is an independent, volunteer-run, museum in Leominster, Herefordshire, England. The museum, which opened in 1972, owns and displays a collection of artefacts relating to the local ...

In fiction

Aymestrey is featured in the supernatural crime novel ''

Foxglove Summer ''Foxglove Summer'' is the fifth novel in the ''Peter Grant (book series), Peter Grant series'' by English people, English author Ben Aaronovitch, published in 2014 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, Gollancz. Plot Peter Grant is left shaken by the sud ...

'' by

Ben Aaronovitch Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the series of novels '' Rivers of London''. He also wrote two ''Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Who ...

, where it is described as being "less a village than a diorama of the last six hundred years of English vernacular architecture stretched along either side of the road.”

References

External links

* http://www.Aymestrey.org - Aymestrey Community Website * https://web.archive.org/web/20170704022837/http://www.theriversideinn.org/ - The Riverside Inn at Aymestrey * Aymestrey on Google Maps
HybridMap
* Villages in Herefordshire {{Herefordshire-geo-stub