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Bishop's Cleeve | |
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St Michael & All Angels Church parish church in Bishop's Cleeve | |
Location within Gloucestershire | |
Population | 14,068 (2021 Census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SO965202 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Cheltenham |
Postcode district | GL52 |
Dialling code | 01242 |
Police | Gloucestershire |
Fire | Gloucestershire |
Ambulance | South Western |
Bishop's Cleeve is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. The village lies at the foot of Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds. Bishop's Cleeve had a population of 10,612 [2] in 2011, which has increased to 14,068 in the 2021 Census. The village is 13 miles (21 km) from Gloucester and 44 miles (71 km) from Oxford. The village is also close to the towns of Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Evesham.
The name Cleeve, first attested in the eighth century as Clife, comes from the dative singular form of the Old English word clif ('at the cliff, bank, steep hill'). The element 'Bishop's' became attached to the name because the estate was owned by the bishops of Worcester.
Bishop's Cleeve was once served by a railway line, a relative latecomer in British railway history, opened on 1 June 1906 by the Great Western Railway and running from Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham, part of a mainline from Birmingham to the South West and South Wales. Bishop's Cleeve railway station along with almost all others on this section closed on 7 March 1960 and was subsequently demolished, but the nearby Cheltenham Racecourse railway station remained in operation for royal visits to the racecourse until 1965; through passenger services continued until 25 March 1968, and goods until 1976 when a derailment (railway accident) at Winchcombe damaged the line.
With the damage done, It was decided not to bring the section back into use and by 1980 the entire line had been dismantled. However, the 15-mile (24 km) stretch of track between Broadway and Cheltenham Racecourse had since been reconstructed, reopened and preserved as the Heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
Bishop's Cleeve was also served, though less well, by a station, called Cleeve railway station, on the present Birmingham to Bristol main line (ex-Midland Railway, later LMS), about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the west, but this station closed on 20 February 1950.
Bishop's Cleeve is bordered by the village of Woodmancote to the east, the former Great Western railway line dividing the two parishes. In 2020, the population of Bishop's Cleeve was 16,477. [3]
Bishop's Cleeve has three schools; Grangefield Primary School, Bishop's Cleeve Primary Academy, which was built in 1965 and Cleeve School, an academy school in the south-east of the village.
Bishops Cleeve is served by the A435 running through the western side of the village, with direct access to Cheltenham and Evesham. In 2012, the local police station was closed down, part of the county's aim of saving £18 million across the constabulary. [4] The village benefits from a local library and a wide range of community facilities including sports centres, a youth centre, bowling greens, and a local football club.
In 2010, the development of 450 houses began at Homelands Farm, with the developers, Comparo, wanting to build an extra 550 houses on top of this. This was rejected by Tewkesbury Borough Council in 2007, but the developers appealed to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government about the decision, which triggered a full planning inquiry. The main concerns stated were the strain on the local infrastructure it would create, and that the site is prone to flooding. In 2013 the Secretary of State upheld the appeal, 550 dwellings are to be built in the north-west of Bishop's Cleeve and a further 500 dwellings between Gotherington and Cleeve. [5]
There are retail shops in Church Road, Tobyfield Road and The Green. There is an industrial estate with many employers as well as a gym and other facilities. There is also a large business HQ shared by Capita, Lloyds Banking, Zurich and PoloWorks behind Grangefield School. GE Aviation also own a large collection of industrial buildings to the west of the A-road through the village. As well as GE there are many hangars used by companies for helicopter construction and flying; these are especially used during the races in Cheltenham.
Bishop's Cleeve has a Non-League football team, Bishop's Cleeve F.C., who play at Kayte Lane. Bishop's Cleeve Colts FC youth football is the grassroots football club that partners BCC FC and has teams from U5s to U16s for both boys and girls, Bishops's Cleeve Colts F.C. There is also a local sports and arts centre on Two Hedges Road, which provides tarmac netball pitches, cricket nets, tennis courts, squash courts, and a very large sports hall. There are also plans to build a swimming pool for community use.
St Michael & All Angels Church is Grade 1 listed, with parts dating back over 900 years. [7]
The Cotswolds is a region in 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, Bath and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK and that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone. The predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, towns, stately homes and gardens featuring the local stone.
Gloucestershire is a 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 to the east, Wiltshire to the south, Bristol and Somerset to the south-west, and the Welsh county of Monmouthshire to the west. The city of Gloucester is the largest settlement and the county town.
Cheltenham is a spa town and borough on the edge of 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 most complete Regency town in Britain.
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 the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and thus became an important trading point, which continued as railways and, later, the M5 and M50 motorway connections were established. The town gives its name to the Borough of Tewkesbury, a local government district of Gloucestershire. The town lies on the border with Worcestershire, marked largely by the Carrant Brook.
Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in southern Warwickshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, 9 miles (15 km) south-southeast of Stratford-upon-Avon, 10 miles north-northwest of Chipping Norton, 14 miles (22 km) south of Warwick and 14.5 miles west of Banbury. In the 2021 census, Shipston-on-Stour had a population of 5,849.
Winchcombe is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, it is 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census and estimated at 5,347 in 2019. The town is located in the Cotswolds and has many features and buildings dating back to medieval times. In 2021 it was the primary strike site of the eponymous Winchcombe meteorite.
The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway is a volunteer-run heritage railway which runs along the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border of the Cotswolds in England.
Ashchurch for Tewkesbury is a railway station serves the market town of Tewkesbury and the village of Ashchurch in Gloucestershire, England. The station is located less than 1⁄4 mile (400 m) from junction 9 of the M5 motorway and located on the main Bristol–Birmingham main line 7+1⁄4 miles (11.7 km) north of Cheltenham Spa and was opened on 1 June 1997 by Railtrack. There are regular bus connections from the station to Tewkesbury town centre, Gloucester Transport Hub and Cheltenham.
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 Hill was on Tuesday 25 August 1818 when the opening race was won by Miss Tidmarsh, owned by Mr E Jones. It was a year later when the results were printed in the Racing Calendar when a programme of flat racing was watched by the Duke of Gloucester who donated 100 Guineas to the prize fund. By 1831 races were being staged at Prestbury, although not on the present day course. In 1834 the Grand Annual Steeplechase was run for the first time. In 1839 Lottery won the Grand Annual having previously won the first Aintree Grand National. In 1840 the meeting transferred to Andoversford for a brief period, only to return to Prestbury in 1847. 1902 was a notable year in that racing moved to the present course at Prestbury Park. The new stands were completed in 1914 and the present day Festival races, as we know them, began to take shape. The Cheltenham Gold Cup, over 3 ¼ miles, was run for the first time in 1924, with the Champion Hurdle following in 1927.
Woodmancote is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. The parish lies immediately east of Bishop's Cleeve; the village is about 3+1⁄2 miles (6 km) north of Cheltenham. In old English the name meant 'woodmen's cottage' and an early form was Wudumannacote. In the southeast of the parish is the small village of Cleeve Hill, under the slopes of the hill of the same name.
Alderton is a village and civil parish in the Tewkesbury district of Gloucestershire, England.
Ashchurch is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashchurch Rural, in the Tewkesbury district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the town of Tewkesbury, 11 mi (18 km) southwest of Evesham, 10 mi (16 km) north of Cheltenham, 13 mi (21 km) north-north-east of Gloucester and 10 mi (16 km) south of Pershore.
Beckford is a small village on the main Cheltenham to Evesham Road, five miles north-east of Tewkesbury, on the Worcestershire—Gloucestershire border.
Bishop's Cleeve Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bishop's Cleeve, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. They are currently members of the Southern League Division One South and play at Kayte Lane. Nicknamed 'The Mitres', the club are affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA.
Gotherington is a small village north of Bishops Cleeve in Gloucestershire, England. It is surrounded on the north by the villages of Woolstone and Oxenton, and to the south by Woodmancote and Bishop's Cleeve, a very large urban village. Gotherington has a population of around 1,200, while its neighbour, Bishops Cleeve, has a population of 15,000. The populations reduced at the 2011 census to 995 for Gotherington.
The Cheltenham Association Football League is a football competition based in England and has a total of three divisions. Its top division, Premier Division, sits at level 14 of the English football league system. It is a feeder to the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League.
Toddington is a village and civil parish in north Gloucestershire in Tewkesbury Borough, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) north-east of Cheltenham with a population of 419 at the 2011 census.
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.
Chambers Crossing Halt railway station was a timber-framed railway halt on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham section of the Honeybourne Line. The station was located two miles south-west of Stratford upon Avon. The site of the station is now part of the Stratford greenway and may in future form part of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's northern extension from Toddington.