History of Lendert-with-Cadell

Pre-Arlethic 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.

Arlethic 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

The city walls at the River Burm.

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.