Martley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district of the English county of Worcestershire. It is approximately nine miles north-west of Worcester. The population of the village is approximately 1,200 people. The mixed farming of the area includes arable, formerly cherry, apple, damson orchards and hopyards. It is a popular village for retired people and professionals working in the city and surrounding towns, and has a large

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) ...

to which around 700 pupils are bussed daily from the surrounding area. It has a sports hall with rock climbing wall and a gym within the grounds of the school can be used by the public out of school times.

Geology

The village and its extensive parish sits astride the

Malvern Line The Malvern Line or Malvern Lineament is the name applied to a north-south aligned lineament which runs through the Malvern Hills of western England and extends southwards towards Bristol and northwards past Stourport. It consists of a series o ...

, a north–south aligned lineament originating in

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

times. To the east are Triassic sandstones whilst to the west are

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

s. Along the lineament itself are a complex mix of rocks of

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

and

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

age.

History

Berrow Hill, an Iron Age hillfort, is one of several in the area, which hosts a beacon. Martley was in the upper division of Doddingtree Hundred. Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Martley Parish ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in its parish. This responsibility was transferred to Martley Poor Law Union. A lane leads south from the village to the church which stands close to a spring known as St Peters Well, suggesting a pre-Christian origin for the site. The red sandstone parish church of St Peter is Norman in origin. Its peal of six bells, cast locally in 1673 by the bellfounder Richard Keene of Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, is the only complete set of original bells in the county. The bells are a

Maiden Ring Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, a peal of bells that sounds the correct notes immediately after casting and needs no further tuning. St. Peter's was one of the first churches in Worcestershire to have as many as six bells and at the beginning of the 18th century very few churches had more than three or four bells. In 1894 the bells were rehung on the original frame and no further major work has been required since.
The church also contains some medieval wall paintings and an alabaster

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

Sir Hugh Mortimer ''Henry VI, Part 3'' (often written as ''3 Henry VI'') is a Shakespearean history, history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas ''Henry VI, Part 1, ...

, Lord of Kyre & Martley, killed in battle at the

Battle of Wakefield The Battle of Wakefield took place in Sandal Magna near Wakefield in northern England, on 30 December 1460. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing forces were an army led by nobles loyal to the captive King Henry VI of ...

in 1460. In 1999 a new stained glass window was cut, leaded and installed by

Patrick Costeloe Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick o ...

for the artist Tom Denny.

Notable people

* Sir Charles Hastings (1794-1866) founder of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

was raised in Martley. * Francis Jukes (1745-1812) engraver was born in Martley. * Martin Stainforth (1866-1957) equine artist was born in Martley.

Amenities

Martley has a village shop, the Crown public house, a petrol station/garage . Schools in Martley include a primary school and the Chantry High School which has approximately 700 students and has a special technology status. It serves a large rural catchment area. Its sports hall is shared with the public. There are many walks in the local area such as the Worcestershire Way which passes close by Rodge Hill, and the River Teme is also near the village. The village is home to Martley Cricket Club, running teams in the Worcestershire League Division 3(Sat), Division 8 (Sat) and the Worcester Evening League (Tues) with friendly games on Sunday's throughout the season. In 2000 Australian cricketer

Glenn McGrath Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer who played international cricket for 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler (cricket), bowler and is considered one of the greatest international ...

played a match in Martley. The

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

has two Saturday teams and a

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

team. Martley has its own radio station, ''

Longside Radio Longside is a village located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, consisting of a single main street. It lies seven miles inland from Peterhead and two miles from Mintlaw on the A950. Its population in 2001 was 721. The River Ugie flows through it. ...

'', currently broadcasting over the Internet. It has growing support locally and hopes to develop links with Chantry High School and youth club. The station broadcasts a wide variety of music and live shows broadcast every evening. Now broadcasting from the heart of the village in the old weighbridge. Details of how to listen and contact the station are on their website.

References

External links

Village website (collaborative)
*
Chantry High School websiteMartley Cricket Club Websitephotos of Martley and surrounding area on geograph Longside Radio - Where Variety Matters
{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire