Hello, I'm Michael Lever, and I’ve created Ledbury Picture Library as a home for my photography and to share my knowledge of local history.

A mediaeval market town in Herefordshire, in a beautiful part of the world, amidst tranquil countryside, with gorgeous sunsets, with half-timbered buildings and former burgage plots, associations with the Civil War and more recently the Barrett Brownings and John Masefield, Ledbury, much loved by residents and visitors alike, is a small and vibrant town with a long and distinguished heritage.

Ledbury has many buildings of national importance, including 173 Listed buildings, including three Grade I and eighteen Grade II*. The church of St Michael and All Angels, the "premier parish church of Herefordshire”, is thought to date back to the 11th century; the St Katherine's Hospital site, with Master’s House, hall and chapel, is a rare surviving example of a 13th century hospital complex; the outstanding Market House, built in 1617, is still in regular use; the Painted Room contains 16th century frescoes; used in numerous films and television programmes, the narrow cobbled Church Lane is one of the most photographed streets in the UK.

With so much to see, where’s the best place to start? Generally, people wander around looking at anything that might interest them, or maybe follow the popular Heritage Trail map published by Ledbury and District Civic Society, but actually the best place to start, where everything falls into place and makes Ledbury really come ‘alive’ is not immediately obvious, because much of the original layout has been altered over the centuries. So, when you arrive in Ledbury, I suggest not doing what most people do. Instead, go immediately to St Michael's and All Angels Church, at the top of the cobbled Church Lane, off High Street by the Market House, (the black/white building on stilts); (not to be confused with Church Street, which is not cobbled!) As soon as you’re on the footpath in front of the Church, turn around and look towards Church Lane and start there, as if going into town.

Ledbury Picture Library is designed to replicate the guided tours that I host for visitors so it begins with an overview (once upon a time) and then from the best place to start. Ideally, the tour should be taken in order which is why I’ve numbered the pages on the menu, but if you’d prefer to dart around (and risk missing how and why everything falls into place) then clicking the links on the pages will take you off course. Also, you can perform a search, but whether you’ll find what you’re looking for depends partly on whether Google has indexed it, and whether it’s in the Library.

Even so, Ledbury Picture Library is not intended as a substitute for the real thing: walking around Ledbury and seeing for yourself; and if you’d like to me to host a tour for a group of at least three people (children/dogs welcome) then please contact me.

I hope that Ledbury Picture Library will help to make your visit to Ledbury just that little more stimulating and enjoyable.

Please note: Ledbury Picture Library is still under construction: I hope to have added most of the content by the end of March 2012; after that content will be updated and added at regular intervals. Also, if any of the words or photos are out of position when you view the site, you can adjust the width or height of your browser window and most of the content should adjust automatically.

Michael Lever

PS - I took this photo whilst travelling Herefordshire in a hot-air balloon. Were it not for the plastic polytunnels in the distance (that some think a blot on the landscape) we might not be able to see Ledbury from afar!