Powick is a village and civil parish in the

Malvern Hills district Malvern Hills is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Malvern, and its area covers most of the western half of the county, including the outlying towns of Tenbury Wells and Upton-upon-Sever ...

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, located two miles south of the city of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

and four miles north of

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and i ...

. The parish includes the village of

Callow End Callow End is a constituent village of the civil parish of Powick in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. It is located on the B4424 road about to the south of its junction with the main A449 Malvern to Worcester road. The Riv ...

and the hamlets of Bastonford, Clevelode, Collett's Green, and Deblins Green. Powick lies on the

A449 The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of th ...

and has two bridges across the

River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; cy, Afon Tefeidiad) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of B ...

, one ancient and one modern. The village contains a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, three pubs - The Crown, The Red Lion and The Three Nuns, a garage and a Chinese restaurant/takeaway. It is locally pronounced "Pow-ick" (the "ow" rhyming with the word "mow").

History

Powick Old Bridge

Old Powick Bridge over the River Teme - geograph

The old bridge across the Teme at Powick is late mediaeval with 17th-century alterations, built of sandstone with brick parapets. It is a grade I listed structure. In 1642 the bridge was the scene of one of the first skirmishes between Royalist and Parliamentarian soldiers in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

in what became known as the

Battle of Powick Bridge The Battle of Powick Bridge was a skirmish fought on 23 September 1642 just south of Worcester, England, during the First English Civil War. It was the first engagement between elements of the principal field armies of the Royalists and Parli ...

. It was a short, sharp, but decisive cavalry engagement that resulted in a victory for the Royalists and showed the Parliamentarian cavalry their shortcomings, setting the tone for the early stages of the conflict. A long ballad gives a surprisingly detailed account of the battle. The more famous

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

later on in the war, in 1651, was fought in part in much the same locality close to the River Teme, when the two northern-piers of the bridge were destroyed by the Royalists. The church in Powick village was used by the Royalists as a lookout point as it commanded elevated views over the surrounding countryside and the bridge and its approaches. Its tower has a lot of pockmarks from small bore cannon balls which were fired by Parliamentarian gunners to deter the Scottish Royalist forces using the tower. They extend up the south face of the tower from as low as head height up to the top.

Powick Hospital

Collett's Green - the former hospital - geograph

A mile from the village towards Malvern was the site of the Victorian complex of the county psychiatric hospital, generally referred to as Powick Hospital. The hospital was notorious for its use of LSD in therapy and mistreatment of patients. Built in 1852, the hospital finally closed in 1989 and was mostly demolished shortly thereafter. The name ''Powick'' entered the local

colloquialisms Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

and became synonymous for mental disorder in many informal expressions relating to madness or stupidity. Before he became England's most famous composer, in 1879 at the age of 22 Edward Elgar was appointed bandmaster of the asylum until about 1886, and wrote compositions for the asylum's band.

Victorian power station

A former

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

, next to Powick Bridge, was converted in 1894 to become the world's first combined steam/hydro electric

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

from this mill provided about half the city of

's needs. The Powick site continued generating until the 1950s. When it closed, it was converted into a laundry and has since been converted into residential apartments. The site was chosen as a mill site from at least the 11th century, and very probably earlier than that. The mill

leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...

was dug in 1291. A succession of water mills replaced each other throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and into the 16th century and later. The mill is a Grade II Listed Building.

Notable residents

John Wall Johnathan Hildred Wall Jr. (born September 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Wall was chosen with the first overa ...

, physician, was born at Powick in 1708. *

James Piers St Aubyn James Piers St Aubyn (6 April 1815 – 8 May 1895), often referred to as J P St Aubyn, was an English architect of the Victorian era, known for his church architecture and confident restorations. Early life St Aubyn was born at Powick Vicara ...

, architect, was born at Powick Vicarage in 1815 * Lord Alfred Douglas, lover of Oscar Wilde, was born at Ham Hill House in 1870.

Gallery

Powick Bridge Monument 1.jpg, Monument commemorating the

(1642) and the

(1651), located on Powick Old Bridge Powick Bridge Monument 2.jpg, Memorial to the Scottish soldiers who died at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, located by Powick Old Bridge Powick Parish Church.jpg, Powick Parish Church, Worcester. The tower is said to be from where

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

observed the Battle of Worcester in 1651 whilst his enemy Charles II of England observed the battle from

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bles ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the tower was used by the Home Guard to watch for incoming German bombers heading towards the City of Worcester. Powick Parish Church Musket damage.jpg, Damage to Powick Parish Church allegedly caused by Oliver Cromwell's troops firing their muskets at it around the time of the Battle of Worcester in 1651 Powick Parish Church Musket Damage close up.jpg, Damage to Powick Parish Church allegedly caused by Oliver Cromwell's troops firing their muskets at it around the time of the Battle of Worcester in 1651 Powick Parish Church sword damage.jpg, Damage to Powick Parish Church allegedly caused by Oliver Cromwell's troops sharpening their swords on it around the time of the Battle of Worcester in 1651

References

External links

Powick parish community web sitePowick primary schoolBritish history online entryPowick watercolours of Burney
{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire