Suckley 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 ...
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 ...
in the county of
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, close to the border with
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...
. The parish includes the hamlets of Suckley Knowl (at ), Suckley Green at and Longley Green at .
Covering , Suckley is geographically one of the largest parishes in Worcestershire, but one of the least populated with only around 250 residences. Seven farms use the greater part of the available land, producing apples, beef, cereals, hops, milk, oil seed rape, pears and potatoes. The eastern side of the Parish is part of the
Malvern Hills
The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit aff ...
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 ...
. Within Suckley there are several dozen micro-businesses operating from private homes, ranging from beauty therapy to furniture restoration, from computer maintenance to interior design, from motor mechanics to plumbing. Most of the population in employment commute to
Malvern,
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 ...
,
Hereford,
Cheltenham or the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
.
The parish's population increased from 549 to 599 between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, the increase being entirely attributable to older age groups. The population of school age reduced sharply over the decade. 2011 census data shows a population with above average levels of educational attainment, lower than average unemployment and levels of poverty.
Car ownership is at a very high level (535 cars or vans for a population of 506 aged 17 or over), with only 5 households of 262 not having access to a car.
A summary parish profile has been created by
Malvern Hills District Council
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
.
History and amenities
![Suckley,-Worcestershire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Suckley%2C-Worcestershire.jpg)
The
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
is dedicated to
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
. Plans to modernise the church are going ahead, the aim is to make the church more important and useful to the local community by making it into a community centre as well as a church.
Following the
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...
Suckley Parish ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in its parish. This responsibility was transferred to
Martley Poor Law Union
Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 individual parishes ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in their parish. Poor law unions were established. In west Worcestershire the Martley Poor Law Union was established to take the po ...
.
Suckley railway station
Suckley railway station was a station in Suckley, 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 o ...
was opened in 1897 on the
Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway
The Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway was a single track branch railway line, that ran between a junction near on the West Midland Railway line south of Worcester (present day Cotswold Line) to the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway line ...
. The station lay outside the parish in the parish of
Knightwick
Knightwick is a small village and civil parish (with Doddenham) in the Malvern Hills district in the county of Worcestershire, England.
History
Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Knightwick Parish ceased to be responsible for maintainin ...
, as did the nearby stations of Knightwick and Yearsett, both of which dated from the opening of the line from Worcester to a temporary terminus at Yearsett in 1877 (closed 1888 when the line was opened throughout to Bromyard). Suckley station closed with the Worcester-Bromyard line on 5 September 1964. The replacement bus service ran until 2012 when the Suckley-Bromyard section was cancelled due to lack of ridership. Bus services continue to operate between Suckley and Worcester. After a review of public transport by Worcestershire County Council in 2014, the frequency doubled to six buses per day, the most frequent service ever of public transport for the parish. In contrast the 2014 review ended the single, weekly bus service between Suckley and Malvern.
The village has a
village shop and
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
serving the community, plus two public houses, The Nelson Inn and The Cross Keys. The village also has a thriving
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 ...
for pupils between 4 and 11 years of age. Over 80 pupils were enrolled for the 2014/15 school year, with many travelling from adjacent parishes which lack schools. It was renamed from Suckley Primary School to Suckley School after being granted Academy status in September 2011.
Suckley was in the upper division of
Doddingtree
The Hundred of Doddingtree was granted to Ralph Todeni, or ''Ralph de Toni'', a relative of the Duke of Normandy, in 1066 by William the Conqueror as a reward for his services as Standard bearer during the Norman Conquest. It consisted mainly of ...
Hundred.
Three websites document various aspects of parish life:
* Suckley Parish Council
* Suckley Post Office & Stores
* The Village of Suckley
Suckley.net
/ref>
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Worcestershire
Civil parishes in Worcestershire