Kemerton 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 authorit ...

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 H ...

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 lies at the extreme south of the county in the local government district of

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 Evesh ...

. Until boundary changes in 1931, it formed part of neighbouring

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 ...

, and it remains in the

Diocese of Gloucester The Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester. It is part of the Province ...

. The northern half of the parish lies within the Cotswolds

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

. The parish is approximately 5.8 km (3.6 miles) long by 1.2 km (0.7 miles) wide, and encompasses approximately . It descends from the summit 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 ...

in the north, (elevation 300 m / 981 ft) to the Carrant Brook in the south (elevation 20 m / 65 ft). The north and south parish boundaries are recorded in a Saxon charter of the 8th century. Kemerton Court, west front, across park

Notable historic features include ''Kemerton Camp'', an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

surmounting Bredon Hill, thought to have been vacated suddenly after a considerable battle. On the fort's south rampart is a two-storey stone tower known as ''Parsons Folly'' (or the Tower), built in the mid-18th century by John Parsons V, MP (1732–1805), the squire of Kemerton, who reputedly wished to raise the summit of Bredon Hill to 1000 ft (305 m). Significant buildings include the Church of St Nicholas and

Kemerton Court Kemerton Court is the principal manor house of the village of Kemerton, near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. The house is built of local Cotswold stone, dating from the late 16th century onwards. In the early 18th century a 9-bay baroque façade ...

, both of which are listed Grade II*.''Kemerton Village Design Statement'', adopted by Wychavon District Council as a Local Information Source, March 2011. The parish includes several important wildlife sites including the Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve and sections of the Bredon Hill

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

, which are managed by

Kemerton Conservation Trust Kemerton Conservation Trust is a registered charity which aims ''"to conserve wildlife and places of beauty in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and adjoining counties for the public benefit."'' Much of the Trust’s activity takes pla ...

. Well known residents of Kemerton have included the anarchist publisher Charlotte Wilson and the bestselling author John Moore.

References

Bibliography

* Elrington, C.R. ed. (1968). ''Victoria County History: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume VIII''.

External links

Kemerton Conservation Trust website2001 census resultsVictoria County History, A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 8 (1968)
{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire