Clifford Chambers is a village and former civil parish two miles south of

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 ...

town centre, in Warwickshire, England. It is on the B4632 road and one mile south of the A3400. It consists of 150 houses and the population of the parish in the 2001 census was 418. Until 1 April 2004 the village was in its own parish but it is now part of the parish of

Clifford Chambers and Milcote Clifford Chambers and Milcote is a civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District, in the county of Warwickshire, England, formed on 1 April 2004. It is made up of the two villages of Clifford Chambers and Milcote. The Honeybourne Line, Honeybourne ...

. The village was in Gloucestershire until 1931. The River Stour runs along the north-eastern edge of the village.

History

The

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

ed manor house belonged to the Rainsford family from 1562 until the English Civil War. Around the turn of the seventeenth century, during the tenure of Sir Henry Rainsford and his wife Anne, the house was visited by well-known poets, including Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. Drayton viewed Anne as his muse, writing poems such as "''Idea. The Shepheards Garland as Poemes Lyrick and pastorall"'' in her honour. Drayton also eulogized Sir Henry Rainsford in his poem "Upon the Death of his Incomparable Friend, Sir Henry Raynsford Of Clifford." The estate was sequestered during the English Civil War for taking the side of King Charles I, but the owners compounded before selling it. Subsequent generations of Rainsfords were to be found in London, rather than Clifford Chambers. The

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 ...

was remodelled by

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

in 1918, following a fire and the garden design has been attributed to Lutyens and

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...

. Many of the houses were still owned by the occupants of the manor house until after the Second World War. It was the lady of the manor who switched on the village's electricity supply when it was connected to the National Grid in 1933. During the Second World War children from the Roman Catholic school in Edgbaston, Birmingham were evacuated to the village. Shortly after the war deep-texture furnishing fabric was developed by

Tibor Reich Tibor Reich ATI, FSIA, FRSA (1 October 1916 – 3 February 1996) was a British textile designer. His company, Tibor Ltd., produced designs featured in projects including the Festival of Britain, Concorde, Royal Yacht Britannia, Coventry Cathe ...

at Clifford Chambers mill.

The village today

Since 1996 the village has been the headquarters of the Hosking Houses Trust, a charity for female writers. The Shire Horse centre, one mile from the village, closed soon after the foot & mouth crisis and is now a business park. Another local business is Stratford Garden Centre, lying just half a mile outside the village. The village also has one pub (The New Inn Hotel and

Restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

) and a

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...

. The Shakespearean and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

actor Sir Ben Kingsley is a former resident of the village.

References

External links

'Parishes: Clifford Chambers', A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 6 (1965), pp. 207-216.

Clifford Chambers
{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire Former civil parishes in Warwickshire Stratford-on-Avon District