Inkberrow | |
---|---|
The Old Bull | |
Location within Worcestershire | |
OS grid reference | SP014572 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WORCESTER |
Postcode district | WR7 |
Dialling code | 01386 |
Police | West Mercia |
Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Inkberrow is a village in Worcestershire, England, often thought to be the model for Ambridge, the setting of BBC Radio 4's long-running series The Archers . [1] In particular, The Bull, the fictional Ambridge pub, is supposed to be based on The Old Bull in Inkberrow. [1]
The earliest recorded version of the village is Intanbeorgan, from the 8th and 9th century. By the 15th century, the spelling may have become Ingtebarwe; nearby villages also mentioned include Church Lench, Abbots Morton and Arrow. [2] By the 16th century, it was known as Inkebarrow. [3]
The area was within Feckenham Forest, a royal forest with harsh forest law punishments.
Cookhill Priory stood 3 mi (4.8 km) to the east, at the edge of the county.
In 2006 Inkberrow was awarded the title of Worcestershire Village of the Year and won the Building Community Life section of the competition. [4]
Inkberrow was identified as a potential site for a new town in the 1960s,[ citation needed ] but this plan was not carried out. More houses were added to the village in 2013 because of a rising need for accommodation. Inkberrow Millennium Green is an 8-acre public open space to the east of the village, opened in 2000, which includes a medieval moat and fishpond, a variety of wildflowers and fruit trees, and a millennium seat with extensive views. [5]
The village's parish church is dedicated to St. Peter and contains the Savage family chapel. [6] It is a Grade I listed building. [7] The Domesday Book mentions a church in Inkberrow in Saxon times.It is believed that a minster existed as early as 700 AD. The current church is thought to have been built on the site of the minster, and also perhaps a 12th-century wood and earthwork castle destroyed by Henry III in 1233. The current church probably dates from the 13th century, and was not built on the site of the original church. [8]
The baptismal font dates from around 1200 AD, and is typical of the late Norman style. In 1839 it was cleaned and moved near the pulpit, under the arch linking the chancel to the south transept. It was moved again in 1887 to its current position opposite the south door of the nave. [8]
The church is part of the benefice of Inkberrow with Cookhill and Kington-with-Dormston and the Priest-in-charge is Revd. Ian Perry. [9]
The village has junior and adult football clubs with large memberships when compared to those of higher populated towns and villages. Sporting Club Inkberrow play in the Hellenic Football League Division One, and have two 11 a-side pitches and a mini soccer pitch.
There is also a tennis club in Inkberrow, with a clubhouse near the village hall.
Former Inkberrow residents brothers Justin Jones (guitar) and Simon Huw Jones (vocals) formed the post-punk band And Also the Trees in the village in 1979. [10]
The village is the home of Avril and Chris Rowlands whose large Christmas tree has been a local attraction for many years. The tree, which was planted in 1978, is just over 50 ft (15 m) tall and needs more than 1,000 lights to decorate it. In 2023 it raised more than £1,000 for a local charity. [11]
The Archers is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural setting". Having aired over 20,000 episodes, it is the world's longest-running present-day drama by number of episodes.
Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is 12 miles north of Hereford and 7 miles south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is the largest of the five towns in the county; the others being Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, Bromyard and Kington.
Bromyard is a town in the parish of Bromyard and Winslow, in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome. It is near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard has a number of traditional half-timbered buildings, including some of the pubs; the parish church is Norman. For centuries, there was a livestock market in the town.
Presteigne is a town and community in Radnorshire, Powys, Wales on the south bank of the River Lugg. Formerly the county town of the historic county of Radnorshire, the town has, in common with several other towns close to the Wales-England border, assumed the motto, "Gateway to Wales". The border wraps around three sides of the town. Nearby towns are Kington, Herefordshire to the south and Knighton to the north, and surrounding villages include Norton and Stapleton. The town falls within the Diocese of Hereford. The community has a population of 2,710; the built-up area had a population of 2,056.
Borsetshire is a fictional county in the BBC Radio 4 series The Archers. Its county town is the equally fictional Borchester. The county is supposedly set between Worcestershire and Warwickshire, but is also intended as a generic West Midlands rural county. Its name also echoes Anthony Trollope's fictional Barsetshire and the real Dorsetshire.
The Diocese of Birmingham is a diocese founded in 1905 in the Church of England's Province of Canterbury, covering the north-west of the traditional county of Warwickshire, the south-east of the traditional county of Staffordshire and the north-east of the traditional county of Worcestershire in England.
Cofton Hackett is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of north east Worcestershire, England. It is 10+1⁄4 miles southwest of the city centre of Birmingham and 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Worcester. In 2011, the village had a population of 1,893 but with housing development on the former Austin Rover site, this is expected to double over the five years to 2023. The village is served by two main bus services, these being the 20 and 145/145A operated by National Express and Diamond Bus respectively.
Feckenham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Redditch in Worcestershire, England. It lies some 4 miles (6 km) south-west of the town of Redditch and some 11 miles (18 km) east of the city of Worcester. It had a population of 670 in the 2001 census and its immediate area is the location of notable royal manors that cover over 1,000 years of English history documented in many royal charters and Acts of Parliament. At its greatest, the historic Forest of Feckenham stretched to the River Avon in the south and to Worcester in the west. In 1389 Geoffrey Chaucer was as Clerk of Works and Keeper of the Lodge.
Hockley Heath is a large village and civil parish in the Arden area mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. It incorporates the hamlet of Nuthurst, and has a history dating back to the year 705 AD as a wood owned by Worcester Cathedral. The parish, known as Nuthurst cum Hockley Heath, is to the south of the West Midlands conurbation, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Birmingham 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from Solihull town centre and 12.5 miles (20.1 km) north of Stratford-upon-Avon. The village forms part of the border with Warwickshire and the District of Stratford-on-Avon to the south, with some parts of the village on either side of the border. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 6,771, being measured at the 2011 Census as 2,038.
The A422 is an "A" road for east–west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, it is a narrow single carriageway.
Hale is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies on the border of the New Forest, overlooking the valley of the River Avon. The village is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-east of the town of Fordingbridge, and about 8 miles (13 km) south of the city of Salisbury. Within the parish stands Hale House, a large 18th-century mansion which was the country house of architect Thomas Archer, who also rebuilt Hale church in 1717.
Kington St Michael is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Chippenham in Wiltshire, 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.
Upton Snodsbury is a village in Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom, located five miles east of Worcester just off the A422 road. It is surrounded by low hills and farmland.
Elmbridge is a small community, mainly clustered in a village and forms a civil parish in Worcestershire, England.
Dormston is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Redditch.
Frederick Preedy was an architect and glass painter in England.
The church of St Mary the Virgin is an Anglican parish church in the village of Hanbury, Worcestershire. Its earliest parts date from about 1210 and it is a Grade I listed building. The church was the family church for the Vernon family of nearby Hanbury Hall.