Twyning 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 authority ...

on the River Avon in the north of

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 ...

, near

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 Riv ...

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 ...

. The parish is first mentioned in the Liber Wigorniensis in about 1016, where it is called Tuinaeum, part of Gretestane in the county of

Winchcombeshire Winchcombeshire was an ancient county in the South West of England, in the Anglo-Saxon period, with Winchcombe as its county town. The county originated in the shiring of Mercia in the tenth or early eleventh centuries, perhaps by King Edward the ...

and then mentioned in ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'', described as "Tu(e)ninge, Kings Land : Winchcombe Abbey." The name derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for "between the rivers"; despite its spelling, it is pronounced "twinning". The parish forms a land 'isthmus' into 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 His ...

. The village is divided into two main parts, the older "Churchend", and "Twyning Green". In addition, within the parish are the hamlets of Shuthonger which straddles the A38, Woodend, Hillend and Stratford Bridge on the border with

. It has two pubs, The Fleet at Twyning by the river and the Village Inn overlooking the village green. Boats have traditionally ferried people up the river Avon from Tewkesbury to enjoy the Fleet's hospitality. The service operates during summer months. The parish contains large amounts of common land including Brockeridge Common, and extensive meadows bordering the River Avon. There is also a

Spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

shop which houses a post office, and a primary school of approximately 150 pupils. There are still a number of original black and white Tudor houses. There is recreation complex called TRAC, that contains a park, three tennis courts, a 5-a-side football pitch and a pavilion. The village is fortunate to escape the floods that regularly blight this area, as it is situated on a slope up from the river. However, some properties (especially the riverside Fleet Inn) were affected in the great flood of 2007. The village is surrounded by fishing lakes and various places on the river for anglers.

Twyning Ferry

The village had been a crossing point on the River Avon since medieval times. The ferry service, which was an entitlement given to the riverside innkeeper, was protected in law in Court Rolls since the time of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. The landlord was permitted to collect tolls from those wanting to cross the river. However, in 1963, the pub's new landlord halted the ancient ferry service claiming it was too dangerous to run (https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/600598f70265c00027a1cb98). Despite opposition from villagers, the local parish council, district council and his statutory obligation enshrined in law, the ferry service ceased to operate. In 1996, the ferry was briefly reinstated by the pub's current landlords.

Place of worship

The older part of the village, Churchend, contains the village church which is dedicated to

St Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

of the same name exists. This stretches south from Twyning almost to

. The total population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 1,668.

Surname

It is thought that the Twining surname is descended from, or at least connected to, the name of the village. There are records of John Twynyng of Tewkesbury making a will in 1412, and a John Twynnyng of Cirencester being sued for a debt in 1483. A 15th century

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Winchcombe Abbey Winchcombe Abbey is a now-vanished Benedictine abbey in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire; this abbey was once in the heart of Mercia, an Anglo Saxon kingdom at the time of the Heptarchy in England. The Abbey was founded c. 798 for three hundred Benedic ...

, which is also in Gloucestershire, was called John Twining.''Genealogy of the Twining family'' Thomas Jefferson Twining, 1890 The tea merchants,

Twinings Twinings () is a British marketer of tea and other beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate and malt drinks, based in Andover, Hampshire. The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually used company logo ...

, are also thought to originate in Twyning. A branch of the family removed themselves to

Painswick Painswick is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. Originally the town grew from the wool trade, but it is now best known for its parish church's yew trees and the local Rococo Garden. The village is mainly ...

in the early

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 a ...

and worked in the wool trade. In the 17th century Thomas Twining moved to London during a period of economic depression and began his tea business.

References

{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire