Grange Court is a timber-framed market hall built by John Abel in 1633.
The building has had many different functions in its near 400-year
life.
The building originally stood at the top of Broad Street in
Leominster and housed the weekly butter market, selling chickens, eggs,
and butter. It was then known as the Butter Crosse.
By the mid nineteenth century, the market hall was proving a traffic
hazard in the town centre.
The building was dismantled and lay in pieces
in a builder’s yard until 1859, when the building was bought by John
Arkwright (of the spinning jenny family). It was then rebuilt on the
park known as the Grange and, with some modifications, leased to the
Moore family.
Grange Court remained a family home until 1939, when Leominster
District Council made a compulsory purchase to save it from being moved to South Wales to become the gatehouse to St.
Donats Castle.
The Borough Council, then the District Council, and later the County
Council had offices in Grange Court until 2008, when the redevelopment
began to turn it into a Heritage site for visitors to come and see.
More information on Grange Court can be found here on http://www.grangecourt.org
Or if you are really interested in learning first hand why not Visit? http://www.grangecourt.org/find-us
Signed
The About Herefordshire Team
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