Ashton under Hill is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

Wychavon Wychavon is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, with a population size of 132,500 according to the 2021 census. Its council is based in the town of Pershore, and the other towns in the district are Droitwich Spa and Evesha ...

district of

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is situated at the foot of

Bredon Hill Bredon Hill is a hill in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Evesham in the Vale of Evesham. The summit of the hill is in the parish of Kemerton, and it extends over parts of eight other parishes (listed below). The hill is geologically par ...

. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 743, about six miles south-west of Evesham. A five house hamlet named Paris is located above the village with panoramic views over the surrounding hills.

History

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, it was transferred to Worcestershire under the Provisional Order Confirmation (Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire) Act 1931. The village church, St Barbara's is dedicated to St Barbara who is alleged to afford protection from lightning strikes. In 2005, villagers celebrated the 900th anniversary of the church. The author

Fred Archer Fred or Frederick Archer may refer to: * Fred Archer (jockey) (1857–1886), English jockey * Fred R. Archer (1889–1963), photographer and co-inventor of the photographic Zone System * Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857), inventor of the photogr ...

lived in Ashton at Stanley's Farm. He wrote a series of popular books about tales of country life. The books described life in the village between the years 1876 and 1939.

Railways

Ashton-under-Hill railway station belonged to the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

(later part of the LMS). It was situated on a lengthy loop line,

Gloucester Loop Line The Evesham branch line is a mostly disused English railway line running from via Redditch, Alcester and Evesham to . It was sometimes known as the Gloucester loop line of the Midland Railway. It opened in stages between 1859 and 1868, built b ...

branching off the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway main line at

Ashchurch Ashchurch is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashchurch Rural, in the Tewkesbury district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England, east of the town of Tewkesbury, southwest of Evesham, north of Cheltenham, north-n ...

, passing through

Evesham railway station Evesham railway station is in the town of Evesham in Worcestershire, England. It is between and stations on the Cotswold Line between and ''via'' Worcester and . It is operated by Great Western Railway. Trains to take about 1 hour 45 min ...

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Reddit ...

and

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

, and rejoining the main line at Barnt Green, near Bromsgrove. The loop was built to address the fact that the main line bypassed most of the towns it might otherwise have served, but it took three separate companies to complete. The loop officially closed between Ashchurch and Redditch in June 1963, but poor condition of the track had brought about withdrawal of all trains between Evesham and Redditch earlier, in October 1962, being replaced by a bus service for the final eight months. Redditch to Barnt Green remains open on the electrified Birmingham suburban network. Ashton under Hill station house still stands as a private residence.

Schools

The school Bredon Hill Academy is located in Ashton under Hill. In October 2015 it received an Ofsted rating of outstanding. Ashton under Hill First also follows the amazing standings set by the middle school in that it too received an outstanding award from ofsted. The pair of schools boast a huge pull factor for many families outside the village applying for their children to be accepted to the school. Ashton is located near to the Bredon Hill satellite villages of Conderton, Beckford,

Elmley Castle Elmley Castle is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, in England, United Kingdom. It is located on the north side of Bredon Hill 3 miles south east of Pershore in the local government district of Wychavon. Amenities and history It ha ...

Overbury Overbury is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, midway between Evesham and Tewkesbury south of Bredon Hill. The manor of Overbury was purchased by the banking family of Martin in the 18th century from the Parsons family, memb ...

and

Kemerton Kemerton is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire in England. It lies at the extreme south of the county in the local government district of Wychavon. Until boundary changes in 1931, it formed part of neighbouring Gloucestershire, and it ...

References

External links

*
Ashton under Hill community site

Bredon Hill Academy web site
* Villages in Worcestershire {{Worcestershire-geo-stub