Bromyard Downs

Grid Ref: SO670557

At Bromyard Downs you will find a 15-space car park from which you can explore Downs.

There are also 3 picnic tables and an information shelter.

Off B4203, 1 mile north of Bromyard next to the Royal Oak Inn.

There are 262 acres of open land on Bromyard Downs. This area has always been used to graze stock by those with common rights. At present 89 properties on or around the Downs have rights attached to them, but only one small flock of sheep is grazed on the common. Instead the grass is cut for hay in the summer. If this was not done, bracken and bushes would soon cover the whole area. Some of the Downs was ploughed during the Second World War to grow crops, but much has not been cultivated for centuries

There were several quarries on the Downs. The underlying rocks are called the Lower Old Red Sandstone, which produces the red soil characteristic of much of Herefordshire. It contains thin layers of harder grey stone and these were quarried to build the houses and cottages on and around the Downs.