The town, previously spelled 'Lemster', takes its name from the English word minster, meaning a community of clergy and the original Celtic name for the district Leon or Lene, probably in turn from an Old Welsh root lei to flow.[3] The Welsh name for Leominster is Llanllieni, with Llan suggesting a possible Celtic origin to the town's religious community.
Contrary to certain reports, the name has nothing to do with Leofric, an 11th-century Earl of Mercia (most famous for being the legendarily miserly husband of Lady Godiva).[citation needed]
During the 8th and 9th Century, Danes (or Vikings) frequently raided the area. In 2015, two individuals (operating without landowner permission), using metal detectors, found a large hoard near Leominster (the Herefordshire hoard) consisting primarily of Saxon jewellery and silver ingots but also coins; the latter date to around 879 AD. According to a news report, "experts believe it was buried by a Viking during a series of raids", while Wessex was ruled by Alfred the Great and Mercia by Ceolwulf II of Mercia.
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Investigations to the north of the priory in 2005 located the position of the cloister, although most of the stone had been stolen following the Dissolution. Discarded animal bones found on the site when submitted to carbon dating showed that the area was occupied in the 7th century. This agrees with the date of 660 AD associated with the founding myth, which suggests a Christian community was established here by a monk, St. Eadfrith, originally from Lindisfarne in Northumbria.[9]
Leominster is also the historical home of Ryeland sheep, a breed once famed for its wool, known as 'Lemster ore'. This wool was prized above all other English wool in trade with the continent of Europe in the Middle Ages. It was the income and prosperity from this wool trade that established the town and the minster and attracted the envy of the Welsh and other regions.[citation needed]
From approximately 1748 to 1754, Pinsley Mill in Leominster was home to one of the Paul-Wyatt cotton mills, the first four cotton mills in the world, employing the spinning machines of Lewis Paul and John Wyatt.[10] The mill was financed by Lancashire native Daniel Bourn, and was partly owned by other men from Lancashire. Bourn introduced his own version of the carding engine to work at this mill, and of the four Paul-Wyatt mills, it may have been the most successful, as shortly after the fire that destroyed the mill, it was reported that the cotton works "had been viewed with great pleasure and admiration by travellers and all who had seen them."[11]
One of the last ordeals by ducking stool took place in Leominster in 1809, with Jenny Pipes as the final incumbent.[12] The ducking stool is on public display in Leominster Priory; a mechanised depiction of it is featured on the town clock.[13]
Climate
The town has a maritime climate, with mild winters and summers. The data below is from a weather station in Preston Wynne, a village about 10 miles south-east of Leominster.
Climate data for Preston Wynne, elevation 84 metres (276 ft), 1971–2000
The town has a bus station which is the focal point for its bus services. Routes are operated by Lugg Valley Travel and First Worcester, which link Leominster with Hereford, Ludlow and Ledbury.[16]
John Abel (1578/9–1675), an English carpenter and mason, granted the title of 'King's Carpenter', who was responsible for several notable structures in the ornamented half-timbered construction, notably the market house known as Grange Court (1633) in Leominster, which originally stood in Broad Street, but was rebuilt in 1855 near to the Priory Church. It is widely regarded as one of Abel's finest works.[20]