Whitbourne (

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

for "white stream") is a village in Eastern

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 Monmouthshire ...

, England on the banks of 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 ...

and close to the

A44 A44 may refer to : * A44 road (Great Britain), a road connecting Oxford, England and Aberystwyth, Wales * A44 motorway (Germany), a road connecting Aachen at the German-Belgian border and Kassel * A44 motorway (Netherlands), a motorway in the Nethe ...

. It is close to

Bringsty Common Bringsty Common is a scattered settlement and of common land in Herefordshire, England, spanning the A44. It lies close to the Worcestershire border and within of the town of Bromyard. The area falls within the civil parish of Whitbourne. The ...

on one side and the border 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 ...

on the other. Around 400 people live in the village itself with about as many residing in surrounding houses and farms. It has a

Welsh Water Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

pumping station, which supplies the town of

Bromyard Bromyard is a town in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome. It lies near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard has a number of traditional half-timbered buildings, inclu ...

and the surrounding area and which

flooded A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

in July 2007. Whitbourne

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

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 ...

was a

voluntary controlled school A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy than ...

located at the centre of the village. Pupil numbers fluctuated between 40 and 70 and closed due to falling numbers in July 2013 but a local group opened the premises, with the permission of the landlords, the church, as a free school WISH - in September 2013. This closed after a short while. The village currently has one pub, The Live at Whitbourne. The village shop, which is staffed and managed entirely by volunteers, is located in new premises south of the school: it has a recycling/composting arrangement for all its unsold fruit and vegetables, with effect from 2021. It remained open every day throughout the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-21, to the huge benefit of the community. As a non-profit, it ploughs money back into community efforts.

Whitbourne Hall Whitbourne Hall is a grade II* listed Greek Revival country house located in the village of Whitbourne in Herefordshire (near the Worcestershire border), England. The hall was first constructed in 1860 by the architect E. W. Elmslie, who als ...

is a

grade II* listed 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 Irel ...

neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

located outside the village. The hall is divided into private residences, but is hired out for private receptions, business conferences and group tours. Whitbourne Court by the church was once the summer home of the Church of England Bishop of Herefordshire, Francis Godwin, who wrote the first book of science fiction, entitled ''The Man in the Moone'', which was published in 1638.

References

External links

Whitbourne Parish websiteFuture Whitbourne projectWhitbourne Primary School websiteWhitbourne Hall websiteThe Wheatsheaf
{{authority control Villages in Herefordshire

See also

References

External links