Tarrington
| Tarrington | |
| Herefordshire | |
|---|---|
 St Philip and St James, Tarrington | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SO617408 |
| Location: | 52°3’52"N, 2°33’32"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 576 (2011) |
| Post town: | Hereford |
| Postcode: | HR1 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Herefordshire |
Tarrington is a small village in Herefordshire, located halfway between Ledbury and Hereford on the A438 road.
The village
The village has approximately 225 residences and a population, according to the 2001 census, of 506. The village has three main meeting places, the Lady Emily Community Hall, St. Philip and St James Church, and the public house, the Tarrington Arms (formerly Foley Arms).
History
The Domesday Book of 1086, contains the earliest written record of Tarrington, where it is recorded as Tatintune, or Tatintyne. At this time, the manor of Tarrington was held by Roger de Laci, and under him by Ansfrid de Cormeilles, who came to England with William the Conqueror.
Through marriage to a niece of the de Lacy family, Ansfrid gained 20 manors in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, including Tarrington. The manor of Stoke Edith, which included parts of Little Tarrington, was given to Ralph de Todeni, William’s standard bearer at the Battle of Hastings. In later ages the manor came to the Lingens, who also owned the manor of Stoke Edith.
Henry Lingen, a recusant, became a Royalist Colonel in the Civil War, and was knighted by King Charles I in 1645. The following year, Sir Henry made a heroic, though unsuccessful, defence of Goodrich Castle against the Roundheads, and as a result, the Stoke Edith Estate, which now included large parts of Tarrington, was heavily fined and effectively confiscated by the Commonwealth Government under Oliver Cromwell. It was returned to the family at the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Henry Lingen later became Member of Parliament for Herefordshire in 1661, but died of smallpox the following year.
In 1670, Thomas Foley (1616-1677), a highly successful ironmaster from Stourbridge, bought the Stoke Edith Estate. The Foley family had benefited from the Civil War by supplying charcoal and iron needed for making cannon to the Roundheads, and, later, to the Restoration Government. Thomas Foley’s son, Paul, built a new house on the Estate and continued to expand it into Tarrington, he became Speaker of the House of Commons in 1694.
According to the 1851 census, the population of Tarrington was 534, including 11 farmers, 2 masons, 2 wheelwrights, a blacksmith, a Cooper, 2 shoemakers, a builder, a rate-collector, a plumber and glazier, a butcher, 2 shopkeepers, a publican, a schoolmaster and schoolmistress, a doctor and the vicar.
In 1919, due to the depression in farming and the agricultural economy, parts of the Stoke Edith Estate in Tarrington and the surrounding parishes were auctioned at the Green Dragon Hotel in Hereford. The auction included the Foley Arms, Tarrington House, Tan House Farm, Free Town and many other farms and cottages. In all, 3,370 acres of land in Tarrington and beyond were made available and passed back into individual ownership. However, a substantial part of the estate was retained by the family.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Tarrington) |
