Eckington is a small village near to the southern border of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, according to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,202. The River Avon passes the village to the North and West and these areas are prone to flooding. It is situated at the north-west side of

Bredon Hill Bredon Hill is a hill currently located 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 i ...

, an outcrop of the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

. The nearest towns to Eckington and also situated along the River Avon are

Pershore Pershore () is a market town and civil parish in the Wychavon district in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2011 UK census, census, the population was 7,125. The town is best known for Per ...

which is north and

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

north east. The historic town of

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town grew following the construction of Tewkesbury Abbey in the twelfth century and played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses. It stands at ...

is situated south west on the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

which river also runs through the nearest city of

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, Engl ...

( from Eckington). Eckington is renowned for Eckington Bridge, which is the subject of a poem by

Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a Cornish people, British writer who published using the pen name, pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication ''The Oxfor ...

, its village cross and its Norman-period church. It has a school, the Eckington Church of England First School, a recreation centre and scout hut with surrounding recreation grounds, home to the village's football and cricket teams, and a village hall. In 2023, Community Fields were opened, with paths for walking, grassed and wild flower areas, and plans for a memorial garden near to the cemetery. Eckington has a

village shop A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

and 2 hairdressers. It currently has two pubs The Bell and The Anchor, both offering food and guest accommodation; a third pub, The Crown, closed in the early 1990s. Eckington railway station was located on the Bristol to Birmingham Line main railway line. It closed in January 1965. One of the

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who travelled to North America on the ship ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith had named ...

, George Soule, is believed to have come from the village.

History

The Grade II listed village cross now stands in a grass triangle at the junction of Church Street and Drakes Bridge Road 52°4'18.83"N+2°6'56.28"W . It was moved to there when restored in 1897, and given a Maltese Cross. The base and shaft are medieval with Victorian inscriptions on North & South faces of the shaft, the former barely visible. The Inscription reads: DOMINE•SALVAM•FAC•REGINAM•MDCCCXCVII (God Save the Queen 1897).

References

External links

Eckington website
picture by Walter J. Phillips

by Sir

Eckington F.C websiteHistoric England Grade II listing pages
{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire