Situated east of Hereford and west of the Malvern Hills, the overall style of the architecture is Tudor Revival style - pictured to the left is Ledbury Market Hall often referred to as the Market House. Local belief is that the Market House was designed by architect John Abel the Market House was once a row of shops, it was not until John Phillips a local tradesman proposed that they should build a Market House where this row of shops was standing. He collected public subscriptions and brought the Shoppe Row for around £40.00 and had it demolished. Work started on the Market House in 1617, records suggesting that it was set out to be a two storey building raised on sixteen pillars with a number of shops constructed below in between the stilts. Eventually completed in 1668 the upper rooms were variously used as storage and in the Victorian period as a meeting room.
Restoration on the building has been necessary throughout the years but the most notable and recent was in 2006. It was discovered that the wooden stilts had become infested with insects and also was decaying due to rot. To restore this the Market House was raised 600mm off the ground to allow builders to scrape out the damaged wood from the insides of the bases and lower part of the supports, and was replaced with a mixture of lime/grout mortar and lowered back onto its bases.
Presently the Market House itself is used for meetings, sales, exhibitions and notably a civil marriage too. On market days traders still sell beneath it.
Overall a pretty, quaint town filled with admirable architecture which each have a space in the history of Ledbury.
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