Rising to over 700 feet, the Bromyard Downs dominate the local area and form an impressive backdrop to the market town of Bromyard. Bromyard Downs Common Association is working in partnership with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, with Heritage Lottery Funding to safeguard the future of the Downs for the local community and wildlife.
Bromyard Downs Common is 114ha registered common. It has long been common land, manorial waste of the ancient Manor of Bromyard, and has for generations provided an agricultural resource for the local farming community, as well as a place of recreation, both formal and informal, for the local community and visitors alike. Indeed, the unimproved nature of the Downs attracts walkers from near and far who come to enjoy its peace and wildlife.
(Brockhampton Estate is owned and run by the National Trust (reg charity no 205846)
Common People Project
Telling the story of Bromyard Downs Common - from past to present - with young and old.
We worked with children from the Conquest Theatre Youth Group and the Rural Media Company to turn oral histories collected from local residents in to short dramas. These were filmed on the Downs by our common people ipad film crew - young people trained in filming skills as part of the project.
Follow the links below to watch the films
The Bromyard Downs are a dominating feature of the landscape, a long s-shaped hill, rising to over 700 feet, with a westerly/south westerly aspect. From its dramatic summit the whole of the ancient manor unfolds on all sides. It forms a key part of an important historic and ecological landscape being linked to the Brockhampton Estate (Registered Parkland) through Warren Wood, and to the nearby extensive Bringsty Common. As such it is part of an important living landscape that links into the nearby Suckley Hills and on to the Malverns. The Downs provide a stunning backdrop to Bromyard town, and have been an intrinsic, and inextricable, part of its history and development.
In 2013 the Bromyard Downs Common Association and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust secured Heritage Lottery Funding for the Bromyard Downs Common Project in order to safeguard its future.
Putting the Sparkle Back in the Downs – Bromyard’s Jewel
The project addresses three main areas of management – people, wildlife and traditional management (farming). Safeguarding the natural, historical and cultural heritage of the common was the basis for the 10 year management plan drawn up in Year 1. Key objectives are to:
- Empower the local community to manage and protect the common
- Equip volunteers with skills and knowledge to carry out practical habitat management and surveying and monitoring of wildlife
- Engage local schools and children and enable them to use the Downs as a resource
- Provide a 10 year management plan which outlines all activities management objectives and activities
- Build the capacity of the BDCA to manage the common after the project ends
- Leave a legacy of a well-managed common and engaged community.
Oral History Transcripts
Locals were interview to record their memories of living on and around Bromyard Downs, these are a few of the extracts from those interviews:
Follow the link to the condensed version of the management plan (without the scientific jargon!)
Follow the link to our wordpress site and the full 10 year management plan