Bidford-on-Avon

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Bidford-on-Avon
Bidford on Avon - geograph.org.uk - 41362.jpg
The main street in Bidford-on-Avon
Warwickshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Bidford-on-Avon
Location within Warwickshire
Population6,818 (2021)
OS grid reference SP099518
Civil parish
  • Bidford-on-Avon
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ALCESTER
Postcode district B50
Dialling code 01789
Police Warwickshire
Fire Warwickshire
Ambulance West Midlands
List of places
UK
England
Warwickshire
52°09′52″N1°51′24″W / 52.16438°N 1.85668°W / 52.16438; -1.85668

Bidford-on-Avon is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire, very close to the border with Worcestershire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 4,830, increasing to 5,350 at the 2011 census, increasing again to 6,818 in the 2021 census. [1]

Contents

History

Two villagers at the Bidford Mop (Michaelmas Fair) c. 1900 Sippers and Topers c1900 Stone.jpg
Two villagers at the Bidford Mop (Michaelmas Fair) c. 1900

The Roman road Ryknield Street passes through the village, going north towards Alcester. [2] There is also an ancient Anglo-Saxon burial site under the free car park located just behind the Indian restaurant "No 72". First discovered in the 1920s, [3] artefacts from more recent excavations are located at Warwick Museum, while material from the first excavations on the site currently resides in the hands of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. A Bronze Age razor was found in excavations at Bidford-on-Avon. [4] Bidford was the birthplace and childhood home of the 20th-century author Barbara Comyns. [5]

William Shakespeare is said to have joined a party of Stratford folk which set itself to outdrink a drinking club at Bidford-on-Avon, and as a result of his labours in that regard to have fallen asleep under the crab tree of which a descendant is still called Shakespeare's tree. When morning dawned his friends wished to renew the encounter but he wisely said "No I have drunk with “Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston, Haunted Hillboro’, Hungry Grafton, Dodging Exhall, Papist Wixford, Beggarly Broom and Drunken Bidford” and so, presumably, I will drink no more." The story is said to date from the 17th century but of its truth or of any connection of the story or the verse to Shakespeare there is no evidence. The Falcon Inn was a favourite tavern in his day. [6]

Location

Bidford-on-Avon village is, as its name suggests, situated on the River Avon, some 7 miles (11 km) downstream of Stratford-upon-Avon and about the same distance upstream of Evesham. The village grew up around an ancient ford (Byda's Ford), [2] now replaced by a narrow stone bridge, on the Ryknild Street Roman road, now a minor country road to Honeybourne, four miles (six kilometres) south. To the north Alcester is about four miles (six kilometres) away, Redditch 10 miles (16 km) away and Birmingham 25 miles (40 km) away. It also lies on the Heart of England Way.

Local government

Bidford-on-Avon is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwickshire County Council. The three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government. Besides the village of Bidford itself, the civil parish includes the settlements of Barton, Broom and Marlcliff. Broom lies to the north of Bidford, whilst both Barton and Marlcliff lie south of the river. [7]

Bidford Community Library

When Warwickshire County Council took the decision to close the Bidford Library in April 2012, a Social Enterprise company was formed. The Library officially reopened on 2 May 2012, by children's author Anne Fine. The library was fully refurbished in Spring 2018, thanks to funding provided by a Section 106 Planning Obligation. [8]

Transport

Bridge over the River Avon Uk-bidford-on-avon-1.jpg
Bridge over the River Avon

The river is crossed by Bidford Bridge, which is a scheduled monument. [9] During the week beginning on Monday 26 November 2012, the Bridge had to be closed due to flooding, when the River Avon burst its banks, in various places. [10] On 9 June 2015, the bridge was closed to traffic after a heavy duty farm vehicle crashed into it, causing serious damage to the historic structure. Police cars were positioned either side of the bridge to alert drivers to the fact that the bridge was inaccessible to traffic. After repairs, the bridge has now re-opened. [11] [12]

Bidford no longer has an active railway line, but it once had a station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway, which ran east–west across the county from Broom Junction on the Midland Railway's Barnt Green to Ashchurch line, through Stratford-upon-Avon to Towcester and beyond. The Broom to Stratford section (including Bidford-on-Avon and also Binton), was an early casualty, with passenger services suspended in June 1947 and closure rubber-stamped as permanent in May 1949. The line itself remained open with the south curve of Broom Junction until at least 1952. [13] Today the closest station to Bidford, is Honeybourne railway station, which is located five miles (eight kilometres) south of the village. Honeybourne station provides regular rail services to London Paddington, Oxford, Evesham, Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford along the Cotswold Line.

Churches

The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Laurence. [14] St. Joseph the Worker Church is the local Roman Catholic church. The Barn is the home of Bidford Baptist Church. [15] Bidford also has a Methodist church.

Twinning village

Bidford is twinned with Ebsdorfergrund, a village close to Marburg in Rheinhessen, Germany. [16]

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratford-upon-Avon</span> Town in Warwickshire, England

Stratford-upon-Avon, commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, 91 miles (146 km) north-west of London, 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Birmingham and 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Warwick. The town is the southernmost point of the Arden area on the edge of the Cotswolds. In the 2021 census Stratford had a population of 30,495.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Avon, Warwickshire</span> River in central England

The River Avon in central England flows generally southwestwards and is a major left-bank and easternmost tributary of the River Severn. It is also known as the Warwickshire Avon or Shakespeare's Avon, to distinguish it from several other rivers of the same name in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icknield Street</span> Roman road in England

Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in England, with a route roughly south-west to north-east. It runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire to Templeborough in South Yorkshire. It passes through Alcester, Studley, Redditch, Metchley Fort, Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield, Burton upon Trent and Derby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcester</span> Market town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England

Alcester is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England. It is 8 mi (13 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditch. The town dates back to the times of Roman Britain and is located at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warwickshire</span> County of England

Warwickshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire to the south, and Worcestershire and the West Midlands county to the west. The largest settlement is Nuneaton and the county town is Warwick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Grafton</span> Human settlement in England

Temple Grafton is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England, situated about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Alcester and 14 miles (23 km) west of the county town of Warwick. The place name is misleading, the Knights Templar never having any association with the place but owing to a naming error made in the time of Henry VIII the mistake has been perpetuated. During the reign of Richard I the estate in fact belonged to the Knights Hospitaller. During the reign of Edward III in 1347 the village was recorded as Grafton Superior while neighbouring Ardens Grafton was named Inferior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratford-upon-Avon railway station</span> Railway station in Warwickshire, England

Stratford-upon-Avon railway station is the southern terminus of the North Warwickshire Line and Leamington–Stratford line, serving the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. The station is served by West Midlands Trains (WMT) and Chiltern Railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honeybourne railway station</span> Railway station in Worcestershire, England

Honeybourne railway station serves the village of Honeybourne in Worcestershire, England. Opened in 1853, it is on the Cotswold Line and was formerly a busy junction with five platform faces, also serving trains on the Great Western Railway's Honeybourne Line between Cheltenham Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon, which formed part of a strategic route between the West Midlands and the West of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wixford</span> Human settlement in England

Wixford is a hamlet and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District of Warwickshire, England, situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Alcester. The population at the 2011 census was 155. The area is largely agricultural with no large employers in the area, most residents commuting to larger towns nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Marston, Warwickshire</span> Village in Warwickshire, England

Long Marston is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. The southern and western boundaries of the parish form part of the county boundary with Worcestershire. The 2011 census recorded the parish's population as 436.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pebworth</span> Human settlement in England

Pebworth is a village and civil parish in the county of Worcestershire, lying about 5 miles north-north-west of the town of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire. Until 1931, the parish – which includes the hamlet of Broad Marston – was itself also in Gloucestershire, as part of Pebworth Rural District. Pebworth is bordered to the north and north-east by the parishes of Dorsington and Long Marston, which are today in Warwickshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvington</span> Human settlement in England

Harvington is a village near Evesham in Worcestershire, England. Bounded by the River Avon to the south and the Lench Hills to the north, three miles northeast of Evesham and now on the Worcestershire/Warwickshire border. The village today is an amalgamation of two smaller villages, Harvington and Harvington Cross, and has a population of around 1,750.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binton railway station</span> Former railway station in Warwickshire, England

Binton railway station was a railway station serving the village of Binton in Warwickshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidford-on-Avon railway station</span> Former railway station in Warwickshire, England

Bidford-on-Avon railway station was a railway station serving the village of Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broom Junction railway station</span> Former railway station in Warwickshire, England

Broom Junction was a railway station serving the village of Broom in Warwickshire, England. It was an interchange for both the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway and the Barnt Green to Ashchurch line.

Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse Platform was a railway station on the Stratford upon Avon to Cheltenham section of the Honeybourne Line. Located one mile south of the town centre, its purpose was to serve Stratford Racecourse. It closed in 1968 as a result of falling passenger numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exhall, Stratford-on-Avon</span> Human settlement in England

Exhall is a village and civil parish about 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) south-south-east of Alcester in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Its parish includes the hamlet of Little Britain and part of Ardens Grafton, the greater part of which is in the neighbouring civil parish of Temple Grafton. The 2011 Census recorded Exhall parish's population as 203. Exhall is on Hay Brook, a tributary of the River Arrow. The civil parish neighbours those of Alcester and Wixford, with which it shares both an ecclesiastical parish and a cricket club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broom, Warwickshire</span> Human settlement in England

Broom is a village in the civil parish of Bidford-on-Avon in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England, about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) north-west of Bidford. The village lies in the north-west corner of the parish between the River Avon, which forms its western boundary, and the road from Bidford to Alcester. Broom formerly consisted of two hamlets known as King's Broom and Burnell's Broom. Burnell's Broom, the southern portion, was said to have been depopulated by Sir Rice Griffin of Broom Court during the reign of Elizabeth I. At the 2011 census Broom has a population of 550

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evesham loop line</span> Railway line in England

The Evesham branch line is a mostly disused English railway line running from Barnt Green via Redditch, Alcester and Evesham to Ashchurch. It was sometimes known as the Gloucester loop line of the Midland Railway.

The Stratford on Avon Railway was a branch railway line opened in 1860, to connect the town of Stratford-upon-Avon to the Great Western Railway main line at Hatton, in England. It was worked by the GWR. In 1861 it was connected through Stratford to a branch line from Honeybourne, and this later enabled the development of a through mineral traffic. The company was absorbed by the GWR in 1883.

References

  1. ↑ "Bidford-on-Avon Parish in West Midlands". City Population. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Information for record number MWA591: Ford (Byda's Ford)". Warwickshire County Council. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. ↑ "Site of Saxon cemetery 100m N of Bidford Bridge". Our Warwickshire. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Warwickshire County Council: New Prehistoric Archaeology Objects
    "Even further away in time, during the Bronze Age, we now have evidence of people taking care of their appearance. This leaf-shaped bronze razor was found near Bidford on Avon and is one of only a few of this type of Bronze Age razor to be found in this country."
  5. ↑ "Barbara Comyns profile". Virago Press. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. ↑ Hutton, W. H. (1914) Highways and Byways in Shakspeare's Country
  7. ↑ "Bidford-on-Avon Parish Council". Bidford-on-Avon Parish Council. Archived from the original on 7 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  8. ↑ "Bidford Community Library". Archived from the original on 24 October 2020.
  9. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1355318)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Wet weekend for rain-soaked UK". ITV. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "Bidford's historic bridge closed after crash | Stratford Herald". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Bidford Bridge update – 03/11/2015 – Warwickshire Direct - Residents". Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Dunn, J.M., (1952) The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway, Lingfield: The Oakwood Press
  14. ↑ "St Laurence Parish Church, Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire". St Laurence Parish Church. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "theBarn - Home of Bidford Baptist Church". Bidford Baptist Church. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Bidford-on-Avon Parish Council - Twinning Association". Archived from the original on 28 March 2007.

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