This viral Instagram account is putting the ancient architecture of Leominster on the map
Do you know what a corbel is? Now you do, thanks to a Herefordshire preservation architect documenting his town's architectural heritage
If you don’t know how to pronounce Leominster, the historic market town in Herefordshire, England, you’d be forgiven. It’s pronounced Lem-ster, a fact that swiftly differentiates out-of-towners from locals. Another thing you might not know? That Leominster (population: 12,000) is home to a significant collection of medieval and Tudor buildings, some dating back to the 12th-century.
While Leominster may not have the star power of other historic towns in the UK, one local preservation architect is spotlighting the town’s architectural heritage, one viral video at a time.
An aerial view of Leominster, a town that can trace its roots back to 660 AD.
Earlier this month, Christian Montez, founder of the firm Montez Architects, decided to spotlight Leominster’s lesser-known architectural treasures on Instagram with a silly ditty. In the resulting video, photos of Leominster's unsung medieval and Tudor elements – corbels, bargeboards, mullions, finials – flash by in an absurdist sequence, set to a bouncy tune.
To the architect’s surprise, the video has racked up more than 2 million views since Montez uploaded it to Instagram on 20 August. ‘I'm like, what on earth? Like, do people really want to see a silly video about bargeboards and finials?’ Montez, 39, tells Wallpaper*.
Montez decided to run with the theme. Next came a whistle stop tour of Leominster via classical column orders; an explainer on astragals; and a spotlight on breastsummers.
It’s all in an effort to spark pride in Leominster’s architectural heritage, an asset Montez recognised when he moved to the town nearly three years ago to base his practice, which specialises in restoring ancient buildings ranging from castles to timber-framed Tudors.
‘The whole town's basically built on a medieval footprint, and it became incredibly lucrative for the production of wool. You can probably find every element of architectural styles from the 12th-century onwards,’ Montez explains. ‘The reason stuff survives here is lack of money, so people haven't changed things. If we were in the southeast, every building would have been done up in the ‘60s. Everything would have been lost.’
That curiosity has resulted in a personal research project and website, Leominster Heritage. Montez hopes that by combining local lore, alongside centuries-old maps, modern surveys and cutting-edge technology like drone scanning, he can work with the community to help better understand the town’s history.
‘The thing that really excites me – what brought me to this area– is that it’s all still here to discover,’ Montez says.
Many buildings throughout Leominster have Georgian facades that conceal much older Tudor structures.
Social media is a vehicle to help bring visibility to Leominster’s heritage, and Montez hopes he can partner with local groups, like Leominster Heritage Guides, an organization that provides walking tours, to further engage locals and out-of-town visitors.
The architect recalls, ‘‘If someone asked on Facebook, “What’s the best thing about Leominster,”? The response would be like, “leaving.” We've got problems like most towns. It's just about trying to get everyone together and excited.’
Montez is encouraged by the global interest in the architecture videos, and plans to further expand the Leominster Heritage website. More ditties are to come, he promises: ‘I've got an audience now, so the Pandora's box is open and everyone's going to have to listen to what rubbish is in my brain.’
