Rochford, Worcestershire
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Rochford consists of two hamlets, Lower and Upper Rochford. A
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
Malvern Hills District Malvern Hills is a Districts of England, local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Tenbury Wells and Upto ...
near
Tenbury Wells Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a small market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north-western extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Situated 6 miles southeast of Ludlow, its northern border ...
, in the county of
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 ...
, England, Rochford is 18 miles (29 km) NW 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 ...
. The
River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; ) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of Bucknell and continu ...
, which rises in
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, flows past Lower Rochford and joins 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 ...
in Worcester. The
chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...
of Rochford was an
exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
of
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
, part of the hundred of Wolphy. It was transferred by the
Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 ( 7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), also known as the Detached Parishes Act 1844, which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of co ...
to Worcestershire.


History

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' described Rochford as follows:
ROCHFORD, a parish, with a village, in Tenbury district, Worcester; on the river Teme, 2¾ miles E of Tenbury r ilway station. It has a post-office under Tenbury. Acres, 1,379. Real property, £2,150. Pop lation, 315. Houses, 66. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £400. Patron, J. P. Jones, Esq. The church is Norman, and was restored and enlarged in 1865. There are a national school, and charities £8.
'An old English name, Rochford means Hunting-dog ford. The elements of the name are ræcc A hunting dog and ford A ford'. The Domsday Book (1086) entry for Rochford shows it was part of the Wolfhay
Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
'It had a population of 19 households (population likely to be 5 times greater), and a total tax assessed of 2.8 geld units'. The value of Lord Leofnoth in 1066 was £'2,' however his value reduced to '£1.5 in 1086.' Villagers paid rent to the lord, amongst other costs. Rochford has a small population which has fluctuated between 201 and 319 people. Population data from the first UK census (1801) showed that the population was 258; and it peaked at 319 in 1881. The lowest population recorded by the census was in 1961, when the population had fallen to 201; the census data also shows that between the last two censuses, 2001 and 2011 the population was reducing. Records show that between the years 1831 and 1901, the number of vacant houses in Rochford went from zero to six, and between 1841 and 1851 a house was under construction. Historically, employment in Rochford was firmly based within the agriculture sector, which employed over 33.5% of the population in 1881. According to the 2011 census there was currently nobody employed within the agricultural sector: of the 118 people of working age in Rochford (those aged 16–74 in employment), 23.7% were skilled tradespersons and 15.3% were employed in a senior capacity as either directors or managers. The 1881 census also revealed that over 50% of the population were of unknown occupation or not in employment. The pie chart shows the types of occupations of the population of Rochford, and the percentage of the population employed in each sector.


St Michael's Church

'The church of ''ST. MICHAEL'' consists of a chancel 18 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. 6 in., north vestry, nave 45 ft. 8 in. by 17 ft. 10 in., south porch, and wood bell-turret at the west end of the nave roof.' Parts of the chancel and the greater part of the nave date from the early years of the 12th century and the Norman features of the church include the nave and the north doorway. Restored in 1864/65 the church of St Michael is a
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building and gained its status in 1966. 'The church is built of red sandstone ashlar, which has been repaired in places, and the walls of the nave are plastered internally'. The church is located on the bank of the river Teme in Lower Rochford.


Listed buildings

There are 12 listed buildings within the parish of Rochford. These include a number of cottages, farmhouses and a mansion, Old Hall. The Old Hall is a
grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building on Rhyse Lane, gaining its status on 6 October 1952. It was an old house dated 1704 with possible C17 or earlier origins. 'The construction of the building is Brick faced with sandstone rubble, plain tiled and large brick stack at centre of main ridge'. A majority of the buildings that are listed were constructed within the 17th century, with the exception of Parsonage Farmhouse, which was built circa 16th century.


Modern day

Rochford population ranged from 0 – 94 years of age, (2011 census) with ages evenly spread throughout the range, causing roughly equal numbers of both older and younger people. 11 people were aged 51 in 2011, making that age the most common within the population, as it is nearly twice as many any other age. The census supports the idea that the population of Rochford is older and the area is home to families and older people without dependent children rather than young single people or new families as there was 49 families without dependent children in 2011 apposed to 39 with dependent children. Despite this there is still a large number of families and children within the parish including 40 people under the age of 18, proving it to be popular with families. This combined with lower than average house prices, around £10,000 cheaper than UK national average (£290,000) it is a popular and reasonably priced area to live.


Transport

Like many rural villages, Rochford has limited public services close at hand. The nearest railway station,
Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...
, is about 8 miles (13 km) away, and there is no bus service: the nearest bus stop is in
Tenbury Wells Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a small market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north-western extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Situated 6 miles southeast of Ludlow, its northern border ...
, more than 2 miles (2.2 km) away. As a result, car ownership is high, with 199 cars registered within the parish. 65.6% of households have access to two or more cars, as a result of the limited public transport prevision.


References

{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire Places formerly in Herefordshire