Lendert-with-Cadell
Lendert-with-Cadell | |
|---|---|
City and county corporate | |
| The Mayor, Aldermen and Commoners of the Cities of Lendert and Cadell | |
    .jpg) .jpg)  Following down left to right: Castle of Lerdenstone, Portbridge, St Peter's Cathedral, Palace of St Michael'sgate, buildings on the Calbend, New Stole Park, a Lendert tram. | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Motto(s): "Quoniam filii sanctorum sumus" For we are the sons of saints | |
| Country |  Great Nortend |
| Province | Nortend |
| First mention | 8th century BC |
| City status | 1284 |
| Wards | 28 wards
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| Government | |
| • Body | City Corporation of Lendert with Cadell |
| • Lord Mayor | Sir Walter de Farris |
| • Clerk of Rolls | Richard Carpenter |
| • Town Hall | Fettercourt Halls |
| Area within the walls | |
| • Total | 10.35 km2 (4.00 sq mi) |
| Population (2017) | |
| • Total | 273,422 (within) 2,332,333 (total) |
| • Density | 26,432/km2 (68,460/sq mi) |
| Time zone | DMT |
| Area code | LE (53) |
Lendert-with-Cadell (/ˌlɛndət.wɪð.ˈkeɪdəl/ (listen) LEN-dərt-widh-KAY-dəl), formally the Mayor, Aldermen and Commoners of the Cities of Lendert and Cadell, is the capital city of Great Nortend, in Teudallum, Astyria, that contains the historic centre and main economic centre of the urban conglomeration of Greater Lendert. The City proper is located on the northern banks of the River Wert, which changes its name to the River Nort past Portbridge, though the southern bank has also developed into a large, urban area. Lendert-with-Cadell is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with over 270,000 people living within the walls and an additional 4 million living outside in the surrounding areas. Lendert, as it is commonly known, is the location of the Parliament of Great Nortend, at the Castle of Lerdenstone. The King's primary residence, the Palace of St Michael'sgate, is also located in Lendert, as is St Peter's Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Lendert.
The City is broken down into three main areas, being Lendert, Inner Ward and Cadell, and is made up of 28 ancient wards which form the backbone of the main system of governance for the city. The City Corporation of Lendert and Cadell, usually simply known as the City Corporation, is civic body governing the city, with aldermen elected from each ward. It is headed by the Lord Mayor of Lendert and Cadell, who is presently Sir Walter de Farris.
Numerous industries and professions are based in Lendert, including an almost bewildering array of specialty trades and shops. Trade in the city is regulated by the City Corporation and the various Guilds of the city, which grant the power to trade in the trades controlled thereby. Business forms a major sector of the City's activities, with many national and some international corporations and companies based mainly in west Cadell and the north-east and centre of Lendert.
Governance
The City is governed in much the same way as other chartered towns and cities in Great Nortend. It is a county sui generis, being outside the boundaries of the counties of Enley, Larkshire and Teyshire which border the city. It is administered by the City Corporation of Lendert with Cadell, which is headed by the Lord Mayor of Lendert and Cadell. The City Corporation is controlled by the Court of Aldermen, the aldermen whereof are elected from the City's wards.
Wards
The City has 28 wards, which are integral constituent parts of the City, and not merely electoral districts. Each ward elects one alderman, who has office for life. Aldermen are elected by the freemen of the City, who are those persons who have the right to practise a trade from one of the guilds of the City. Aldermen must be guildmen, being those freemen elected by the guildmen of their respective guild to the rank.
Coat of Arms
The coat of arms of the City is of ancient origin, likely dating back to before the reign of William the Ruthless. It features the Keys of St Peter, the patron saint of the City and of St Peter's Cathedral. It is blazoned:
Per pale gules and argent, a key palewise with double wards and bow flory, counterchanged.
It is surmounted by a red velvet bonnet, trimmed in ermine. The motto is 'Quoniam filii sanctorum sumus'.
History
Pre-Arlethian era
There is evidence for a number of clustered Ethlorek Erebic settlements in the area along the River Wessert, perhaps owning to the fertile earth of the area and the fresh running water provided by the Rivers Hame and Burn. A fort was established in the 9th century BC by the Lanadi tribe of Erebes, whose territory stretched in an approximate triangle with apices at the modern day hills of Occotham, Cornworth Hill and Sumhill. The Common Erebbonic name of the fort is recorded in the 8th century BC as Ladaretlas, 'lad' on, 'aret' hill + 'las' fort, meaning fort on the hill, apparently referring to Lerdenstone Hill. The fort was a major centre of power for the Lanadin king, Plaviebunus, who minted coins there.
Wooden ramparts and fortifications were built around the town, then known as Lendartus, in around AD 32. The town prospered in the 1st and 2nd centuries, becoming a major port, commercial centre and capital of the region. The first stone Castle of Lerdenstone was built during this time, replacing the wooden fort which had stood hitherto on the hill.
Arlethian migration
By the time the first Arlethic tribes had begun to invade the Erbonian Isles, Lendartus had a population of over 10,000 people clustered within the town walls. The town had entered a decline, as trade from the isles began to flow to the coastal towns of Durmen and Litford or further inland to Polton, Sulhampton or the religious centre of Chepingstow.
From the late fifth century, a small Cardish settlement was established outside the north-eastern gate of the now nearly emptied town, on the slopes of Lerdenstone. The village is thought to have been named Cardaleudenton, mean the settlement of the Cardes without (outside) the walls. When the second wave of Nords arrived in the region, they took over Lendartus along with much of the surrounding lands and formed the Kingdom of Lanort. By this time, the Latin name of Lendartus had morphed into the Arlethic Lundart.
Cardaleudenton men and the inhabitants of Lundart increasingly mingled and associated with each other, flowing between the two until the Cardes had become assimilated into the greater Nortish population. In the 7th century, Cadaldenton as it had become known, was too walled. The two towns became a major port town, owning to their good location on a defensible portion of the easily navigable River Wessert.
8th to 11th centuries
From the eighth century, the town suffered owing to severe famines which ravaged the entire Lesser Erbonia and a number of attacks from the south and east. Recovering slowly in the early tenth century after the suppression of attacks, the population of the town increased steadily under the now united Kingdom of Nortend and Cardoby. Lundart became the largest town in the Kingdom with trade flourishing.
In the late eleventh century, the town was attacked by armies from Lorecia. Though they were defeated by the Nortish forces, large portions of the defensive wall in Lundart and Cadaldenton were breached, including most of the wall surrounding the latter city, though the Castle of Lerdenstone remained unbreached. However, during this siege, much of the mostly wooden Cadaldenton was burnt to the ground by the Nortchmen in an attempt to wipe out the invading armies, a necessary sacrifice that succeeded in driving them out. During the battle, the gates between Lendert and Cadell were opened in the Breaking of the Fetters to allow the Cadell citizens to escape their burning town. To this day, Fettercourt is one of the only portals in the inner walls of the city without a gate.
12th, 13th and 14th centuries
Though the walls was repaired soon afterwards and faced in solid stone instead of wood and earth, it took until 1150 or so for trade to flourish again in the wounded town. To help prevent further attacks, the Castle of Lerdenstone was rebuilt and expanded, with a moat being dug following what is now Little Ditch Street and the Calbend. It grew in population, and its increasing wealth resulted in the building of more and more buildings. The city of Lendert gained an academic significance in 1256 when Edmund IV granted a charter to the Lord Bishop of Chepingstow to establish a university associated with Lendert Abbey, which later developed into the University of Aldesey. In 1284, the new Bishop of Lendert took the Abbey as his seat, whose church dedicated to St Peter was finally finished in 1322 during the reign of William I.
The buildings of government grew in size as well, and started to remain fixed in place as the Royal Court settled down permanently in the Castle of Lerdenstone. In the 14th century, the first and last instance of wide-spread Black Plague struck the city and surrounds in the Spring of 1350. Over a quarter of its population was killed and many more severely made ill by the plague, leading to a mass exodus.
The Castle of Hameford located a few miles outside the city in the then countryside of Enley was occupied by Henry IV and his family in an attempt to escape the Plague until it ended in Feburary, 1352. The city once again slowly restored itself to its former status; however unlike many other cities, focussed greatly on sanitation after it was found that the Plague appeared to be spread by the then commonly-held theory of miasma. The old pre-Arlethian sewerage and plumbing systems were nearly completely reconstructed and expanded after centuries of cobbled-together fixes and additions, and an officially organised street cleaning duty put on every citizen, which could be bypassed through the payment of a levy. A semi-organised system of waste collection was also established by the City, with men collecting human and household waste from houses and turning it into fertiliser and other useful products.
The city, which had up until then gone by a variety of names such as Lundarte, Lendurte-proper, Lendurte-cum-Cadaldenton &c., was officially named in the fourteenth century Royal survey as Lenderte-cum-Cadaldenton.
15th and 16th centuries
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The city remained still compact during this time, with most of the city remaining within the walls, though sizeable settlements had sprung up around the gates of the walls and along the banks of the river. It was mostly situated amongst farmed countryside. Two bridges across the River Nort opened up the other side of the river to expansion, which had previously been a number of small hamlets and villages.
The city was heavily attacked by sea during the Battle of Travlesea in 1455 and most of the sea-facing city walls suffered some damage. A section collapsed into the sea and was not rebuilt, serving as an open wharf in lieu of the previous enclosed docks.
The sixteenth century began with the fall of the House of Dester and the death of King Albert without issue in 1518. The new King Edmund V of the House of Anthord took the throne and instigated a wide range of changes in the capital. Fearing a fresh attack from the developing Lorecian naval powers, he built the Three Towers of Lendert in order that they may serve as a deterrent, as well as to serve as a symbol the kingdom's power and wealth.
During this time, the city was still mostly built of wood, with most houses and buildings constructed in the wattle and daub method and framed in wood, though some parts of Cadaldenton had been rebuilt in stone after the 11th century siege. After a small fire broke out near the middle of the city, the King declared that all new buildings in the citer were to be built from stone or brick. With the cheap availability of Bargh stone from Bentshire and Conwent stone from Teyshire, nearly all of the buildings built during the century up until the 17th and 18th centuries employed them as main material. This foresight proved to be fortunate in the 1692 when a wooden house caught on fire from an unswept chimney on Halton Street. The fire spread to neighbouring wooden buildings and much of the south side of the western portion of Halton Street burnt down. The street was widened at the time to cope with the growing traffic, and the city then mandated that chimneys be swept at least once every six months to prevent chimney fires.
17th and 18th centuries
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the city grew exponentially. This resulted in a drastic increase in traffic congestion and petty crime. To combat these two afflictions of the city, the City Corporation Watch Constabulary was established by Parliament, incorporating the existing night-watchmen and constables of the parishes. The new force was so successful that by 1768 crime had decreased by 40 per cent.
The first public transport network was established in 1789 by the City Corporation, a revolutionary horse-drawn omnibus service operated by the carriagemen of the city down Halton Street. It proved exceedingly popular with the citizenry, and was expanded in 1792.
19th century
The first railway line in the city, Lendert Saint-le-Cross railway station by Gilesgate to Stallinghamton only a few miles thither, was opened in 1831 by the Cadell and Stallinghamton Railway Corporation, which later became the Eastern Railway. After Red Street railway station was opened in the city two years later, greatly adding to congestion, the City Corporation forbade any further building of any railway station within the walls of the city. This resulted in the now famous horse drawn tramway system being built along the major roads in 1832.
Despite the reduction in crime through the increase in powers of the Constabulary, the ancient mediaeval prisons and gaols of the city could not cope with the increase of prisoners during the period. To solve the problem, two new prisons were built in the east of the city, outside of the walls, though the existing prisons continued to be used and are still used to this day.
Though public transport had improved within the city, traffic congestion continued to rise exponentially until the passing of the Horses in the Cities of Lendert and Cadell Act of 1845. This meant any horse inside the city would be liable to a levy of five shillings every three annually. This resulted in one of the first personal identification systems in the world, with every driver of a horse-drawn vehicle required to carry proof of his payment of the levy. Many of the larger streets were only open to certain vehicles on certain days. The Act successfully reduced congestion by over half, emptying the larger roads and smaller streets of hundreds of miscellaneous waggons and carts.
Parliament also granted permission to the Lendert Underground Railway Company to build an underground railway under the roads of the city through the cut-and-cover method in 1856. This became the City Railway. A number of other lines were opened after the initial line extending from Fishgate Hill to Parade Street, extending into the surrounding towns and districts which had developed by the time.
Modern day
Lendert-with-Cadell and the surrounding Greater Lendert is the largest city in Great Nortend in terms of area. Since the late 20th century, with the advent of smoke-suppression devices which are now fitted to nearly all chimneys in Great Nortend, the air quality has improved markedly, and the city is cleaner than ever. Recent initiatives such as the installing of new public furniture, the restoration of churches and public buildings, refurbishment of the sewers, cleaning of rivers and the introduction of gas lighting has further improved the city's atmosphere and the quality of the life.
Geography
The city of Lendert-with-Cadell proper, is situated directly on the northern banks of the River Nort, in Lesser Erbonia, centred around the historic confluence thereat of the River Burm and the River Hame with the Nort. The land upon which the modern city is built on and which surrounds it is fertile loamy clay, with an underlying geology of mudstones, shales and clays. The hill of Lerdenstone is the highest area in Lendert and the surrounding regions, with the Cathedral of St Peter occupying the next highest hill in the City.
From a cadastral point of view, the City is located at the point where the counties of Enley, Larkshire and Teyshire meet each other, and is considered a sort of county in se, though it is not formally a county. The entire walled city is around 4 square miles in size, with Lendert being the largest portion and Inner Ward the smallest. It is divided into 28 wards as abovementioned, and around 100 Church of Nortend parishes.
The River Hame was diverted in the 12th century to supply drinking water and water for a moat surrounding the Castle of Lerdenstone. Most of the historic riverbed, which originally ran down towards Little River Street after passing through Cadell Green. Nowadays, the River is culverted through its original path except through the Green, where it remains as a small stream feeding a small ornamental pond, being diverted through a dug channel through the more raised terrain between the Cathedral and Lerdenstone to serve as a moat, resulting is steep slopes where the existing soil height has been lowered to allow the water to flow.
Architecture
The City is world recognised for its historically important collection of well-preserved mediaeval houses and street layout, as well as possessing an extensive range of 18th and 19th century buildings. The most important historic buildings include the Castle of Lerdenstone and St Peter's Cathedral, which were built in much their present state in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Over one hundred small and medium-sized churches dot the city, many being extremely important historical as well as religious buildings. Edcheap was one of the major 18th century engineering works, which created a large square in the middle of the historic centre of the mediaeval city. More modern structures include the magnificent Saint-le-Cross railway terminus, built in the early 20th century, as well as the monumental Fettercourt Arch, built to commemorate the coronation of Catherine II in 1964.
The majority of the City's buildings have residential flats or chambers. The design varies depending on the date of construction. However, the typical Lendert 18th or 19th century "warren house" tenement is four storeys high, with a front building, a courtyard shared with the adjoining house, a rear building, and a side wing joining the two buildings. The front building has ground floor shop premises, and the other floors house one medium sized family per storey.
Transport
Public transport
Lendert-with-Cadell has the most extensive public transport network in Great Nortend, comprising rail, tram, omnibus and wherryboat networks governed by the Board of Railways, the Compagnie of Carriagemen and the Compagnie of Watermen. There are eight main railway termini in the central area of the City, each operated by one of the eight railway companies which service Lendert. Suburban commuter rail is run by the City and Counties Railway. In conjunction with the City Corporation's Commission of Lendert Transport, the four major modes of public transport are integrated. The omnibus and tram networks are completely combined, with a uniform ticketing system, livery and uniform.
Roads
Lendert-with-Cadell is centred on the intersection of two main roads—Halton Street and the ancient Ritway. Their intersection is at a the large public market square at Edcheap which is from where all distances from Lendert are measured, at the location of the Hastican Column, erected in 1750 to commemorate the return of Hastica to Erbonian possession.
Roads in the City are typically paved in cobbles or setts, although some retain experimental enamel coatings of asphalt or tarmacadam. Byelaws have reduced the number of vehicles within the City walls; however, there is still a considerable amount of horse-drawn and motorised traffic causing some congestion at peak hours. The vast majority of traffic in the City proper is commercial, as most City residents there are working class and stabling facilities are scarce. Outside of the city walls in the suburbs, vehicle ownership is more common with mews providing stabling facilities for private horses and carriages.
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 | This page is written in Erbonian English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, realise, instal, sobre, shew, artefact), and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. |