Wadborough is a small village 2 miles outside

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 ...

and 7 miles from

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. The village is in

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 ...

, England. The village is an old farming community, with its nearest church a mile away in Pirton. In the 2001 census the parish of Drakes Broughton and Wadborough recorded a population of 1,762. Wadborough itself has approximately 200 inhabitants. Wadborough has one public house, the Masons Arms. The village has one bus service, the 382, which runs between Pershore and Worcester, once an hour in both directions.

History

Wadborough is first mentioned in the 10th century when King Edgar of England confirmed that four manses (priests houses) there belonged to

Pershore Abbey Pershore Abbey, at Pershore in Worcestershire, was an Anglo-Saxon abbey and is now an Anglican parish church, the Church of the Holy Cross. History Foundation The foundation of the minster at Pershore is alluded to in a spurious charter of Ki ...

.British History summary
/ref> The Abbey owned most of the land in the area. Place names like Abbottswood and Hermitage Farm reflect a long church ownership. Wadborough appears 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 manus ...

as Wadberge, meaning Old English wad "woad" beorg "hill".

Woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

dye production was usually carried out at some distance from towns (Wadborough is about four miles from

) because of the offensive smells produced. Wadborough railway station was situated west of the village on the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

main rail line. The line remains open and high-speed trains regularly pass through, but the station closed in January 1965.

References

Villages in Worcestershire Wychavon {{Worcestershire-geo-stub