Mamble

Roman remains have been found in the area, and at the time of the Domesday Book the settlement was known as Mamele. Although agriculture was always a major industry for the inhabitants of Mamble, coal mining was also important from the 14th century onwards, and the last local pit, at Hunthouse to the south-east of the village, remained in operation until its closure in 1972. In the 1790s the Leominster Canal was opened in the area which allowed coal to be carried to Tenbury Wells and Herefordshire, but the canal was unprofitable and was closed in 1859.

Mamble was in the lower division of Doddingtree Hundred.[1]

The poet John Drinkwater wrote a poem about the village, called simply Mamble:[2]

I NEVER went to Mamble

That lies above the Teme,
So I wonder who's in Mamble,
, And whether people seem
Who breed and brew along there
As lazy as the name,
And whether any song there
Sets alehouse wits aflame.
The finger-post says Mamble,
And that is all I know
Of the narrow road to Mamble,
And should I turn and go
To that place of lazy token
That lies above the Teme,
There might be a Mamble broken
That was lissom in a dream.
So leave the road to Mamble
And take another road
To as good a place as Mamble
Be it lazy as a toad ;
Who travels Worcester county
Takes any place that comes
When April tosses bounty

To the cherries and the plums.