Bredon 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 ...

Wychavon Wychavon is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, with a population size of 132,500 according to the 2021 census. Its council is based in the town of Pershore, and the other towns in the district are Droitwich Spa and Evesh ...

district at the southern edge 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 ...

in England. It lies on the banks of the River Avon on the lower slopes of

Bredon Hill Bredon Hill is a hill in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Evesham in the Vale of Evesham. The summit of the hill is in the parish of Kemerton, and it extends over parts of eight other parishes (listed below). The hill is geologically par ...

Location and geography

Bredon is located 3 miles (5 km) north of the

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 ...

town of

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 ...

on the B4080 road. The River Avon forms the western boundary of the parish, and two of its tributaries, the Carrant Brook and Squitter Brook form the southern boundary. The parish extends from the Avon valley floor at an elevation of 32 feet (10 m) in the south-west to the upper slopes of

at an elevation of 820 feet (250 m) in the north-east. The northern third of the parish falls within the Cotswolds AONB. At its greatest extent, the parish measures approximately 4.8 miles (7.7 km) long by 2.2 miles (3.5 km) wide and covers around 4,119 acres (16.7 km²).

Population

Bredon parish includes the hamlets of Bredon's Hardwick, Kinsham and Westmancote. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 2,542.

History

Bredon's history of farming and settlement goes back at least four thousand years. Archaeological remains establish that parts of the parish were settled early in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

(2500–800 BC). There are numerous

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

(800 BC–100 AD) remains, some of which would have related to Kemerton Camp, a large

univallate hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Rom ...

at the summit of Bredon Hill. The parish is also rich in remains from the Britto-Roman Period (43–410 AD), revealing a continuing history of settlement and farming. Modern Bredon has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon period (c.500–1066), when in c.716 Æthelbald, King of

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879) Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era= Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ...

, gave land to his kinsman Eanwulf the grandfather of Offa to found a monastery. For some time, the manor of Bredon continued under an abbot of its own, but by 844 it had become the property of the Bishop of Worcester. It remained part of the Worcester monastic estate until the Reformation. Bredon's name evolved during the Saxon period, deriving from bree (

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

for hill) and don (

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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for hill). From the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

(1066) to the end of the Late Medieval Period (1500), the parish was governed under the feudal system. The manor was held by the Bishop of Worcester, who maintained a summer residence, park and fisheries on the site of the first monastery, and the medieval village developed around these church buildings. Following the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in the 16th century, the manor passed to the Crown. In 1718, wealthy resident William Hancock founded Bredon Hancock's Endowed Church of England First School. Bredon's Act of Inclosure was passed in 1811, and among those gaining large consolidated holdings were the lord of the manor, Rev. Richard Darke, and the rector, Rev. John Keysall. The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, one of the world's oldest main line railways, was constructed during the 1830s and 1840s through the village, with Bredon railway station opening in 1841. This remained in operation until 1965, when it was closed under the Beeching Axe. The station is currently closed on the

Cross Country Route A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

. In February 1971, a new section of the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

was opened, cutting through the parish to the west of the village.

Buildings

There are 43 listed buildings in the village, including St Giles's Church and Bredon Barn (both Grade I), and the Old Rectory (Grade II*); the remainder are Grade II. A further 41 buildings were formerly listed prior to the abolition of the Grade III category in 1970. As is the case in most Cotswold villages, a variety of architectural styles and materials are in evidence, but almost all historic buildings are at least partly built from Cotswold limestone, quarried on

. Timber-frame construction was used as a secondary material up until the mid-17th century (often not painted black and white until the 20th century). The earliest surviving building in the village, the parish church of St Giles, is one of England's most admired churches. It is built largely in the Norman, Early English and Decorated styles. A substantial part of the nave, the north porch and the western tower arch date from the 12th century, with significant additions in the 13th and 14th centuries – the most visible being a tall, octagonal spire, dating from 1300 to 1350, made famous by the poet,

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

. A number of 14th century heraldic tiles are set in the sanctuary steps, showing the arms of England, France, Beauchamp of Powick, Beauchamp of Warwick, Mortimer, Berkeley and others. The church contains many interesting monuments, including several to members of the interrelated Reed, Copley and

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

families. To the west of the church is Bredon Barn, a late 14th century threshing barn (often incorrectly referred to as a

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious orga ...

) measuring approximately 40 metres by 12 metres. It has an enormous steep pitched roof covered in Cotswold limestone tiles. Walls are of limestone rubble masonry, divided into nine bays by oak posts on stone plinths forming aisles and carrying the open timber roof. The barn was badly damaged by fire in 1980. Now restored, it is in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Natural history

Bredon and its surroundings are exceptionally rich in wildlife, boasting sites of international importance for their rare fauna. The parish contains parts of the Bredon Hill

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

; parts of three

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

; and parts of twelve Local Wildlife Sites (the best sites in Worcestershire not covered by national designations). Bredon Hill has been recognised as the third most important site in the UK for dead-wood beetles and other invertebrates, a large proportion of which are in Bredon. The north of the parish is the richest area in Worcestershire for rare arable plants. Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve (half in the parish), managed by the

Kemerton Conservation Trust Kemerton Conservation Trust is a registered charity which aims ''"to conserve wildlife and places of beauty in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and adjoining counties for the public benefit."'' Much of the Trust’s activity takes pla ...

, is the West Midlands Region's most important site for dragonflies, with 22 species recorded.Kemerton Conservation Trust
retrieved 23 November 2011. It is also Worcestershire's most important site for jack snipe, and more than 170 other bird species have been recorded here. Purple milk-vetch, violet click beetle, barbastelle bat, lesser horseshoe bat, otter, polecat and great-crested newt are some of the other interesting species found in and around the village. File:Bredon Fields Farm - geograph.org.uk - 52740.jpg, Farm in Bredon File:Bredon church - geograph.org.uk - 318613.jpg, St Giles's Church, Church Street File:The Royal Oak, Bredon - geograph.org.uk - 318650.jpg, The Royal Oak pub, Main Road File:Main street at Bredon - geograph.org.uk - 629814.jpg, The Fox and Hounds pub, Church Street File:Wychavon Way on Bredon Hill - geograph.org.uk - 66349.jpg, Wychavon Way on Bredon Hill File:Site of Bredon Station - geograph.org.uk - 61490.jpg, Bredon railway station (currently closed)

References

External links

Bredon, Bredon's Norton & Westmancote Parish CouncilVictoria County History, A History of the County of Worcester: volume 3, 1913
*
Bredon Hill SSSI citation
{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire Wychavon