Andoversford 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

Cotswold District Cotswold is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. It is named after the wider Cotswolds region. Its main town is Cirencester. Other notable towns include Tetbury, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Campden. ...

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 ...

, England, about east of Cheltenham. The village is on the

River Coln The River Coln is a river in Gloucestershire, England. It rises to the north of Brockhampton, a village to the east of Cheltenham, and flows in a south/south-easterly direction through the Cotswold Hills via Andoversford, Withington, Fosseb ...

, parallel to the A40.The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 555. In 2019 the parish a population of 905.

Amenities

Amenities include a post office, two community or

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

s, 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 ...

, a local shop and two pubs: the Kilkeney Inn and the Royal Oak. The disused livestock market has been developed into a small housing estate. As well as its own primary school, Andoversford is now in the priority catchment area for

Cotswold School The Cotswold School is an 11 to 18 academy school located in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, Great Britain. The school achieved academy status in September 2010. The principal from 2012 is Mr Will Morgan. In 2016, the schools roll in si ...

Bourton-on-the-Water Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village ...

. Andoversford used to be in the catchment area for several schools including Balcarras. Various private schools are also within reach. Andoversford is on the bus routes for the Balcarras, Cotswold and St Edward's (private) schools. The village used to have a

doctor's surgery A doctor's office in American English, a doctor's surgery in British English, or a doctor's practice, is a medical facility in which one or more medical doctors, usually general practitioners (GP), receive and treat patients. Description Doc ...

which was a branch of the Sixways Clinic. This has now closed and the site is being sold for redevelopment. The village has several meeting areas (pubs, schools, church, social club, playground, etc.) as well as annual events. These include point to point events on its point to point course, village fetes, social evenings, quizzes and live music. The events are organised by the Andoversford Social Events Committee, a group formed by local residents. The village also supports a football team, a cricket team, majorettes and has Cubs and Scout groups. There are four golf courses near Andoversford: Shipton Golf Course, Naunton Downs Golf Club, Cotswold Hills Golf Club and Lillybrook Golf Club.

Governance

The parish is part of the Sandywell electoral ward of

Cotswold District Council The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jura ...

. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,829. For elections to

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is a county council which administers the most strategic local government services in the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in the South West of England. The council's principal functions are county road ...

, Andoversford is part of the ward of Bourton-on-the-Water and Northleach.

Former railways

Two railways used to serve Andoversford. In 1881 the

Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway (B&CDR) was a railway company through the Cotswolds in England that built a line between points near Banbury and Cheltenham. Its principal objective, as well as a general rural rail service, was the conve ...

opened through the parish.

Andoversford railway station Andoversford Junction railway station was in Gloucestershire on the Great Western Railway's Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway that opened in 1881. Situated about six miles east of Cheltenham, the station served the village of Andoversford wi ...

was just west of the village. The B&CDR was operated by the Great Western Railway. In 1891 the

Midland and South Western Junction Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' tr ...

was extended north from Swindon to Andoversford. The M&SWJR opened a new Andoversford and Dowdeswell railway station south of Andoversford. The GWR took over the M&SWJR in 1923, renamed Andoversford Station "Andoversford Junction" in 1926 and closed Andoversford and Dowdeswell to passenger traffic in 1927. In 1948 the GWR became part of British Railways, which in 1962 closed Andoversford and Dowdeswell to goods and Andoversford Junction to all traffic.

References

External links

Andoversford Village
{{authority control Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Cotswold District Villages in Gloucestershire