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Shipston-on-Stour is a town and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
in the
Stratford-on-Avon District Stratford-on-Avon is a local government district in southern Warwickshire, England. The district is named "Stratford-on-Avon" unlike its main town of Stratford-upon-Avon where the district council is based. The district is mostly rural and co ...
in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, south-southeast 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-w ...
, 10 miles (16 km) north-northwest of
Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population ...
, south of
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and W ...
and 14.5 miles (23 km) west of
Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
. In the 2021 census, Shipston-on-Stour had a population of 5,849. This area is sometimes termed the Vale of Red Horse, close to the Oxfordshire and
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 ...
borders.Beckinsale, R. (1980) ''The English Heartland'', Duckworth, p.5


History


Etymology linked to sheep and wool trade

In the 8th century, the
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name o ...
was ''Scepwaeisctune'', Old English for Sheep-wash-Town. It had a
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...
marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...
for many centuries. The name evolved through ''Scepwestun'' in the 11th century, ''Sipestone'', ''Sepwestun'' and ''Schipton'' in the 13th century and ''Sepestonon-Sture'' in the 14th century.


Church (vestry) administration, township and parish formation

It was a township in the parish of Tredington until 1720: when they were separated by a Local Act of the 6th year of George I.
A Topographical Dictionary of England''
Samuel Lewis (London, 1845), vol. IV page 86.
The town proved prosperous and generous to its church community: the
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of Saint Edmund has a 15th-century tower. The Gothic Revival architect G.E. Street designed the rebuilding of the rest of the church in 1855. The tower had a ring of five bells until 1695 when they were recast and rehung as a ring of six. Since then all the bells have been recast and rehung from time to time, notably in 1754 and by John Taylor & Co. in 1979.


A staging post for stagecoaches and regional market

Shipston is on the A3400 (formerly part of the A34) between Stratford-upon-Avon and
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
; it was from the 1600s to 1800s a staging place for
stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
es. There are former
coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...
s, such as the Coach and Horses, in the High Street, which has many
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
s. From 1836, agricultural produce and manufactured goods were brought by a branch line from the horse-drawn
Stratford and Moreton Tramway The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was a 16-mile (25-km) long horse-drawn wagonway which ran from the canal basin at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour. The main line open ...
, which had been built ten years before to link Moreton-in-Marsh with Stratford on Avon. In 1889 the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...
upgraded the line to allow the operation of steam trains from Moreton to Shipston. Passenger services to the town's railway station were withdrawn in 1929 and goods services ceased in 1960.


Early Victorian times

The town's first library and reading room were founded in 1837. Manufacture of shag fabric for deep-pile carpets was for some decades an important business, but by 1848 the town had little manufacture or commerce even though it had more than 1800 residents.
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 ...
owned the manorial rights for centuries, and even in the 1840s held a court annually, at which a town constable was appointed. Powers of the short-lived county debt court, established in 1847, extended over Shipston's civil registration district (established 1837). In that era the market was on Saturday and fairs in April, June, August and October. The rectory had Tidmington annexed and received net income of £700. The patrons were Worcester Cathedral and
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...
, the former presenting (appointing the priest) to every third vacancy. The church had extra seats, a gallery, erected in 1790. Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Wesleyans each had a place of worship; and at Foxcote, in the parish, was a Roman Catholic chapel. A National school was endowed with about £130 per annum; and "various small bequests" were distributed among the poor.


Poor law union and rural district

Shipston poor law union (c.1830–1894) administered those functions in 37 parishes or places: 20 in Warwickshire, 13 in Gloucestershire, and 4 in Worcestershire; across in the 1840s a population of 19,685 people. From 1894, until
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...
, the offices and Council meetings of
Shipston-on-Stour Rural District Shipston on Stour was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974 The district covered an area around Shipston-on-Stour. Originally it was a detached part of Worcestershire, but in 1931 it was transferred to the jurisdiction of Warwickshire, a ...
were in Shipston.


County exclave

Shipston was in an
exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of Worcestershire (as part of
Oswaldslow The Oswaldslow (sometimes Oswaldslaw) was a hundred in the English county of Worcestershire, which was named in a supposed charter of 964 by King Edgar the Peaceful (died 975). It was actually a triple hundred, composed of three smaller hundreds ...
hundred) until 1931, when it was transferred to Warwickshire.


Amenities

The Sports Club has football, cricket, bowls, tennis and angling clubs. Shipston First Scout Group has Beaver (ages 6–8), Cub (ages 8–10½) and Scout (ages 10½–14) sections. Shipston on Stour Rugby Football Club currently plays in the Midlands 3 West (South) league. Shipston has a brass band. Shipston has a small museum located off Telegraph Street. The museum was set up, and is run by local people. It is stocked with artefacts and memorabilia relating to the town and the surrounding villages.


Public services

The two schools serving the town are Shipston Primary School, and
Shipston High School Shipston High School is a coeducational 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 '' s ...
. The town also has a
library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
, operated by the county council. There is a small NHS community hospital serving the town; the
Ellen Badger Hospital The Ellen Badger is a small community NHS hospital located within the town of Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire, England. It is operated by South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital was built in 1896 to a design by Edward Willi ...
. The Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service operate a retained
fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...
in Shipston-on-Stour.


Transport

The A3400 road runs through Shipston, and links it with Stratford-upon-Avon to the north-west, and to
Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population ...
and
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
to the south-east. The
A429 road A4 most often refers to: *A4 paper, a paper size defined by the ISO 216 standard, measuring 210 × 297 mm A4 and variants may also refer to: Science and mathematics * British NVC community A4 (''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae - Stratiotes aloide ...
passes to the west, using part of the historic
Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis (Bath), C ...
, which connect Shipston with
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and W ...
to the north, and
Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...
to the south-west. The nearest railway station to Shipston today is Moreton-in-Marsh railway station on the Cotswold Line around to the south. Shipston's own former railway station at the end of a
branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...
, having had its passenger services withdrawn in 1929.


Governance

Shipton-on-Stour is a
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
which falls within areas of Stratford-on-Avon District Council and
Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are located at Shire Hall, Market Square, in centre of the county town of Warwick. Politically the county i ...
, each responsible for different aspects of local government. The lowest tier of local government is Shipston Town Council, a parish council, which has 13 elected councillors. Shipston is within the Parliamentary constituency of
Stratford-on-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-w ...


Notable people

Notable people connected with Shipston include: *
Cy Endfield Cyril Raker Endfield (November 10, 1914 – April 16, 1995) was an American screenwriter, director, author, magician and inventor. Having been named as a Communist at a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing and subsequently blackliste ...
(1914–1995) American-born director of such notable films as '' Hell Drivers'' and '' Zulu''; he had emigrated to England and lived and died in Shipston after being blacklisted as a Communist during the McCarthy era. * Francis J. Haverfield (1860–1919) - 19th-century archaeologist, born in Shipston. *
Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 1 ...
(1947–2018) - former Labour politician and government minister, lived at Shipston-on-Stour at the time of her death in 2018. * Richard Morant (1945–2011) - film and TV actor, born in Shipston. *
Edward William Mountford Edward William Mountford (22 September 1855 – 7 February 1908) was an English architect, noted for his Edwardian Baroque style, who designed a number of town halls – Sheffield, Battersea and Lancaster – as well as the Old Bailey in London ...
(1855–1908) architect, born in Shipston.


Cultural references

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...
of the
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era i ...
mentioned Shipston in his song "Cold Be My Days", which contains the lyrics ''"Cold be my days in Shipston-on-Stour":'' The song was recorded in 1970, but not released until 2015 for the unfinished album ''
Sing Slowly Sisters ''Sing Slowly Sisters'' was to have been Robin Gibb's second studio album. Recorded in 1970, the album was finally released in 2015. The album was produced by Gibb and his manager Vic Lewis. Information ''Sing Slowly Sisters'' was recorded in M ...
''. He stated in a
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...
interview in May 2007 that this relates to his youthful experiences, riding horses with his brother
Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...
.Lost Albums: Sing Slowly Sisters (BBC4 documentary.)
The song "Cold Be My Days" in connection to Shipston-on-Stour is mentioned, at 15:16. Souncloud.com


References


Sources

* * *


External links


Shipston Town CouncilShipston on Stour Town websiteShipston-on-Stour Archives
- Our Warwickshire {{authority control Towns in Warwickshire Civil parishes in Warwickshire Cotswolds Stratford-on-Avon District