Prestbury 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the borough of

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England. Located on the outskirts of

and part of the Tewkesbury parliamentary constituency. The parish of Prestbury had a population of 6,981 according to the 2011 census.

History

The name of the village means "Priests’ fortified place", from

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

''preost'' and ''burh'', possibly from a fortified manor house belonging to the

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. Until 1534, the Diocese of Hereford was in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and two of its bishop ...

in the 13th century. The settlement is mentioned as ''Preosdabyrig'' in 899-904. Prestbury is listed in the

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as "Presteberie", part of the property of the church of

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, with 18 villagers, five smallholders, a priest, a riding man and 11 slaves. By the 13th century it had become ''Presbery''. In 1249 the

was granted permission to hold a weekly market along with a three-day annual fair in August. The village became eclipsed by Cheltenham following the end of the medieval period. The market started to decline in the 15th century and had lapsed completely by the start of the 18th century. In the middle of the 18th century a

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage un ...

was discovered in the parish, and by 1751 a local landowner, Lord Craven, had a business providing bathing and lodging. However it did not last past the end of the century. The Prestbury

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

is a

Cotswold stone 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 ...

gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

column with six engraved panels commemorating the villagers who died in the First World War (1914–1918). The memorial was severely damaged in October 2011 in an act of

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...

when the column was toppled to the ground and smashed. There are claims that Prestbury is the most haunted village in England, and one of the most haunted in Britain.

Amenities

The village shops include two stores and petrol station with store. There is a public library, three hairdressers, a pharmacy, and a butcher. A brasserie and pub, the King's Arms, was the village's main

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, and it was here that the 19th-century jockey Fred Archer grew up, his father being the landlord of the pub. There are three further village pubs: the Plough, the Beehive and the Royal Oak.

Prestbury Racecourse

The village is home to Prestbury Park, the

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Racing at Cheltenham took place in 1815, but comprised only minor flat races on Nottingham Hill. The first racing on Cleeve ...

, which holds the Gold Cup race each March.

Racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

trainers Frenchy Nicholson and his son David Nicholson had stables in Prestbury. Notable Nicholson apprentices include

Pat Eddery Patrick James John Eddery (18 March 1952 – 10 November 2015) was an Irish flat racing jockey and trainer. He rode three winners of the Derby and was Champion Jockey on eleven occasions. He rode the winners of 4,632 British flat races, a f ...

Walter Swinburn Walter Robert John Swinburn (7 August 1961 – 12 December 2016) was a flat racing jockey and trainer who competed in Great Britain and internationally. Biography Swinburn was born in Oxford. He was the son of Wally Swinburn, who won t ...

, and

Mouse Morris Michael Francis Leo Morris, informally known as "Mouse" Morris (born 4 April 1951), is an Irish racehorse trainer and former amateur and professional jockey. As a trainer, he has won the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and has won ...

the 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup winning trainer with the horse War of Attrition.

Governance

Prestbury civil parish has been in the Borough of Cheltenham since 1991; it was in Cheltenham Rural District from 1894 to 1974, and the Borough of Tewkesbury from 1974 to 1991. The parish is presently split between four wards of the Borough of Cheltenham: Swindon Village, Prestbury, Pittville (a very small part) and Oakley; three electoral divisions of the county of Gloucestershire: St Paul's and Swindon, Pittville and Prestbury, and All Saints and Oakley; and two parliamentary constituencies: Tewkesbury and Cheltenham.

Gallery

File:St Marys Church Prestbury.jpg, St Mary's Church, Prestbury; view from Mill Street File:War memorial, Prestbury - geograph.org.uk - 1507634.jpg, Prestbury War Memorial File:The thatched shop, Prestbury - geograph.org.uk - 864553.jpg, Thatched shop in Prestbury

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Areas of Cheltenham Reportedly haunted locations in South West England