Eardisley
Heritage in Eardisley Village
Every year, tourists come to the lively village of Eardisley following the 'Black and White Trail'. Here's a small part of the story that has shaped the village they see today.
At the time of Doomsday the name of the village was 'Herdeslege', meaning a manor containing a 'defended house' in the middle of a wood. The first record of an actual castle was in the 12th century; for 500 years, that castle was held by the Baskerville family who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066.
Eardisley began to thrive as a medieval rural settlement around the Castle and the Church (also 12th century). It was granted a market and fair in about 1225. The character and shape of the village were set in the l3th century when long narrow tenement plots were laid out at right angles to the road running north from the castle.
You can still see this pattern when you visit Eardisley.
Look out for:
- a long, narrow village with houses spread on either side of the main road, with the church, the site of the castle and a farm near the south end and a large farm complex at the north end. This suggests that the early settlement was almost the full extent of the present village.
- 14 mediaeval hall houses built before the early 1500s, at intervals along the road. A typical medieval hall house would probably have had the hall parallel to the road with one or two wings at the back. It was built with timber frame and wattle and daub or later, brick fill. Several of the original mediaeval halls are now divided into small houses, like 1-4 Church Road.
- other fine buildings, like Castle House, that date from a revival in building in the 1700s.
- the black and white Tram Inn. It commemorates the horse-drawn trams that brought coal from Brecon to Eardisley and on to Kington in the early 19th century. Steam railway came to Eardisley in 1864, creating jobs and an increase in the population, until 1962 when the line was closed.
In the Church, you can pick up information about the oldest buildings to make your walk through the village a rich experience.