Pershore

Pershore is a market town in the Wychavon district in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. The town is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 census, the population was 7,125. The town is best known for Pershore Abbey, Pershore College (now a campus of Warwickshire College) and plums grown locally.

Pershore is situated on the River Avon, west of Evesham and east of Upton-upon-Severn in the Vale of Evesham, a district rich in fruit and vegetable production.

History

The town contains much elegant Georgian architecture. In 1964 the Council for British Archaeology included Pershore in its list of 51 British "Gem Towns" worthy of special consideration for historic preservation, and it has been listed as an outstanding conservation area. Parts of the abbey, which stand in an expanse of public grassland close to the centre of the town, date from the 11th century. The current structure is far smaller than the original building, which was plundered during the reign of Henry VIII at the Dissolution. The original nave was destroyed. The north transept collapsed later. The present nave occupies the western part of what would originally have been the choir.

Education

Schools in Pershore follow the three-tier first school (ages 5–9), middle school (ages 9–12), high school (ages 12–18) system practised by parts of Worcestershire County Council. Pershore High School has a sixth form with all-weather sports pitches and sports hall.

Abbey Park First School and Abbey Park Middle School are on Abbey Road, they are both situated down the same drive. Pershore High School is on Station Road, which is on the outskirts of Pershore, bordering Pinvin, a small village.

Holy Redeemer Roman Catholic Primary School, situated on Priest Lane beside Holy Redeemer, Pershore's only Catholic church, stands outside the 3-tier model. It is a primary school (ages 5–11) which acts as a feeder school to Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College in Worcester.

Pershore College, a school of horticulture and other land-based activities, became a campus for Warwickshire College (now WCG) following a merger in 2007.

Arts

The town has a community arts centre, a Volunteer Centre, and a morris dance tradition.

Annual events

Plum Festival

The Pershore Plum Festival is held in August to celebrate the local tradition of growing plums including the local varieties Pershore Purple, Pershore Yellow Egg Plum and Pershore Emblem. Activities include crowning the plum princess, a family fun run, plum themed art exhibition and the Plum Fayre. There is also a classic car rally and nearby Worcester Racecourse revived ''The Land O'Plums Chase'' from 72 years ago. The festival won the Best Tourism Event and Festival in the Worcestershire Welcome Awards 2011.

Pershore Carnival

On the spring bank holiday, usually the last Monday in May, a carnival is held for the entertainment and enjoyment of the townsfolk and people from a wide surrounding area. Each year has a different theme, the programme covers being designed by children attending Pershore schools. The day starts with a procession of a variety of entries that passes through the town ending at Abbey Park. During the procession a bucket collection is taken in support of the year's two carnival charities. In the park there are stalls, a show arena, a dog show and other attractions, each year being different. The day ends with an evening concert and firework display. Various fundraising events take place prior to the carnival, such as a quiz night, a race night and a duck race on the river.

Sport

Pershore Bowling Club is situated within Abbey Park; formed in 1928 following an invitation by the then Lord Abbott of Pershore to the tradesmen of the town to play bowls on the lawn at the monastery, long since demolished. The Lord Abbott accepted an invitation to
be the Club’s first President and continued to hold this office until 1936 when the monastery was closed and the monks moved to Nashdom Abbey in Buckinghamshire.

Pershore's football club, Pershore Town F.C., play in the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division. It also has a women's team, Pershore Town Ladies, who play in the new Herefordshire and Worcestershire Women's County Football League.

Pershore Sports club, which houses Pershore Cricket Club who play in the Birmingham and District League, is situated at The Bottoms on Defford Road.

Pershore Rugby Club has a clubhouse and pitches by the river in nearby Wyre Piddle.

Pershore Tennis Club, based at the Horticultural College, has three indoor and five outdoor courts, with junior, social and adult sections.

Multiple BTCC title winning team, Team Dynamics, is also based there. Wychavon Kayak & Canoe Club is situated on the river at Pershore Riverside Centre. Pershore Plum Plodders is an England Athletics affiliated running club serving Pershore and the surrounding villages. The Abbey Park includes a bowls club, children's play area and skateboard park (2006), consisting of a mini ramp and a street section.

Economy

The high street has retail and food outlets, just off the High Street is a covered market and there are two supermarkets, one in the town and one on the outskirts.

Transport

The town lies near the A44, approximately midway between Worcester and Evesham. The nearest motorway junctions are junction 7 of the M5 (South Worcester) or junction 1 of the M50.

Pershore railway station is located more than from the centre of the town towards Pinvin. It lies on the Cotswold Line, enabling direct travel to London Paddington, via Evesham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Oxford, Didcot and Reading.

Bus services in Pershore are operated by First Midland Red, Astons Coaches and N.N. Cresswell, with links to Evesham, Stratford and Worcester.

Pershore Old Bridge

About outside the town is Pershore Old Bridge over the River Avon. A bridge was originally built on the site, in about 1413, by monks, supposedly after their abbot, Upton, was drowned falling from stepping-stones. The scene is included in the historical window installed in 1862–64 in Pershore Abbey.

In 1644, during the English Civil War, a later bridge was damaged and almost destroyed. In subsequent years the bridge was maintained by re-using stones from nearby Elmley Castle and from the abbey. In 1926 the bridge was taken out of service for road traffic and is now used only as a footbridge.

Notable people

See also

Natives
* Hugh Bennett (1862–1943), cricketer.
* Claude Choules (1901–2011), was the world's last living veteran of both world wars and supercentenarian.
* Giles Collier (1622–1678), Anglican divine.
* George Dowty (1901–1975), inventor and businessman.
* Florence Feek (1876-1940) Suffragette
* George Mason I (1629–1686), progenitor of the politically significant Mason family in America.

Residents
* Nigel Clark, singer with pop band Dodgy
* Michael Collie (1966–present), TV presenter, BBC Midlands Today.
* Kay Kinsman, (1909-1998), visual artist and mature student at Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Quebec
* Maurice McCanlis (1906–1991), sportsman.
* Charles Shadwell (1898–1979), musician.
* Toyah Willcox, actor and singer, and her husband Robert Fripp of rock band King Crimson.

Twin towns

Pershore is twinned with Bad Neustadt an der Saale in Germany and Plouay in France.

Climate

Like much of the British Isles, Pershore has a temperate maritime climate. Maximums range from in January to in July and minimums from in February to in July. The January record high strangely occurred when it was dark; On 9 January 2015, temperatures rose to . On 12 December 1981 the lowest reading of was recorded. The warmest temperature ever recorded was on 19 July 2022. On 31 March 2021 Pershore recorded its warmest March day on record, beating the previous record set the day before. On 7 September 2021, Pershore recorded its hottest September day on record, beating the previous record set in 2005

The lowest maximum temperature ever recorded was on 19 December 2010. This is also the lowest maximum temperature on record for December in England. On the same day Pershore recorded a minimum temperature of (one of the lowest December temperatures ever recorded here) and at the same time exactly 5 years later it was (one of the highest December temperatures ever recorded here). The maximum amount of precipitation in one day was on 20 July 2007 and exactly 9 years later the highest minimum temperature of was recorded on 20 July 2016.

References

External links

Pershore Tourist Information
*

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Towns in Worcestershire
Market towns in Worcestershire
Civil parishes in Worcestershire
Wychavon
Cotswolds