Ardens Grafton is a hamlet or small village in the

Stratford-on-Avon District Stratford-on-Avon is a local government district in southern Warwickshire, England. The district is named "Stratford-on-Avon" unlike its main town of Stratford-upon-Avon where the district council is based. The district is mostly rural and co ...

of Warwickshire, England, situated about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Alcester and 14 miles (23 km) west of the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

of Warwick. It has a main street and consists mostly of houses constructed of local stone with tiled roofs, with the exception of two properties, '

Manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

Cottage' and ' Chapel House' both of which have timber-framed walls and a thatched roof. Two other buildings retain fragments of ancient framing.'Parishes: Temple Grafton', A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3: Barlichway hundred (1945), pp. 94-10
Date accessed: 26 August 2011.
/ref> During the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

in 1347 the village was recorded as Grafton ''Inferior'' while neighbouring

Temple Grafton Temple Grafton is a village and civil parish in the Stratford district of Warwickshire, England, situated about east of Alcester and west of the county town of Warwick. The place name is misleading, the Knights Templar never having any associ ...

(where the population details can be found), to the East, was named ''Superior'' William Dugdale, ''The Antiquities of Warwickshire'', 1656 Other designations used during the Middle Ages were Nether Grafton, Grafton Inferior or Grafton Minor whilst the larger village of Temple Grafton was distinguished as Over Grafton, Grafton Superior, Church Grafton, or Grafton Major. A reference to 'Temple Grafton alias Ardens Grafton' occurs in 1650.

History

Grafton Minor occurs in a grant to Evesham Abbey by Ufa,

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of Warwickshire, dated 973. As it is included among Ethelwig, Abbot of Evesham's acquisitions ('Alia Graftun') it may in the meantime have been lost by the monastery, and with

seized by the

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097), Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux, was the maternal half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, second in power after the King of England. Early life Odo was the son of William the Conqueror's mother ...

, quasi lupus rapax, (like a ravaging wolf) after Ethelwig's death. It is most probably to be identified with the 3 hides and 1 virgate in 'Graston' which the Domesday Book records among the possessions of William Fitz-Corbucion; Leuric and Eileua held it of him and before the Norman Conquest they had held it freely. "Leofric and Aelfeva hold 3 hides and 1 virgate in Graston (Ardens Grafton). Land for 2 ploughs. In lordship 1; 2 slaves; 1 villager and 3 smallholders with 1 plough. Meadow 4 acres. The value was 40s; now 30s. They also held it themselves freely."''Domesday Book'' for Warwickshire, Phillimore edited by John Morris

Governance

Ardens Grafton is part of the Bardon ward of

Council and represented by Councillor Robert Vaudry,

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Nationally it is part of Stratford-on-Avon (UK Parliament constituency), whose current MP is Nadhim Zahawi of the Conservative Party. Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was part of the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

electoral region of the European Parliament.

Geography

The land rises to an altitude of over 300 ft. in the northern part of the parish and slopes down to about 180 ft. by the river-bank at Hillborough, to the south. The hamlet stands on the edge of the hill, commanding views across the valley to Bredon Hill and the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

Education

The nearest Primary School is

Church of England Primary School having 102 pupils on its roll. The nearest

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s are located in Alcester or

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

References

{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire