Romsley | |
---|---|
St Kenelm's Church, Romsley | |
Location within Worcestershire | |
Population | 1,601 (2001) |
OS grid reference | SO963800 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | HALESOWEN |
Postcode district | B62 |
Police | West Mercia |
Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Romsley is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, England, on the east side of the Clent Hills about 4 miles south of Halesowen. In 2001 it had a population of 1,601. [1]
The parish church, dedicated to Saint Kenelm is a Grade I listed building. [2] The nave of the church continues directly into the chancel, both are from the 12th century and built of red sandstone. A 15th-century tower is of greenish sandstone, and the church has a timber porch. The chancel is built over a crypt that once contained the shrine of St Kenelm. [3] A spring marks the reputed site of his martyrdom.
The village and its area attract walkers, campers, and caravanners on the Clent and Walton Hills and on the Cuckoos Corner site. The main road that runs through Romsley is called Bromsgrove Road. There are limited local amenities including a post office, a butcher, a pub-restaurant, and a hairdresser.
Romsley features in Geoffrey Hill's long poem The Triumph of Love:
Spraddled ridge –
village sacred to the boy-martyr,
Kenelm, his mouth full of blood and toffee.
Halesowen is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands, England.
The Stour(, rhymes with "flour") is a river flowing through the counties of Worcestershire, the West Midlands and Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England. The Stour is a major tributary of the River Severn, and is about 25 miles (40 km) in length. It has played a considerable part in the economic history of the region.
Bromsgrove is a local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England. It is named after its only town, Bromsgrove, where its council is based, but also includes several villages and surrounding rural areas. It borders the built-up area of Birmingham to the north. Other places in the district include Alvechurch, Aston Fields, Belbroughton, Catshill, Clent, Hagley, Rubery, Stoke Prior and Wythall. The population at the 2021 census was 99,475.
Saint Kenelm was an Anglo-Saxon saint, venerated throughout medieval England, and mentioned in the Canterbury Tales. William of Malmesbury, writing in the 12th century, recounted that "there was no place in England to which more pilgrims travelled than to Winchcombe on Kenelm's feast day".
The Clent Hills lie 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Birmingham city centre in Clent, Worcestershire, England. The closest towns are Stourbridge and Halesowen, both in the West Midlands conurbation. The Clent Hills range consists of, in order from north-west to south-east: Wychbury Hill, Clent Hill, and Walton Hill. The north Worcestershire range of hills continues eastwards to include Romsley Hill, Waseley Hills and the Lickey Hills.
At 316 metres (1,037 ft) above sea level, Walton Hill is the highest point in the range of hills in northern Worcestershire known as the Clent Hills. It is the highest point for 21 miles (34 km) in all directions, and as such commands an excellent panorama. Its neighbours include Clent Hill, Wychbury Hill, Calcot Hill, and Romsley Hill.
Broome is a village and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 338. The village is situated on the lower slopes of the Clent Hills and lies to one side of Broome Lane, a minor road that runs westwards from the outskirts of Clent to the outskirts of Hagley.
Hagley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated population was 7,162 in 2019.
Cradley is a village in the Black Country and Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands, England, near Halesowen and the banks of the River Stour. Colley Gate is the name of the short road in the centre of Cradley. It was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen, but unlike much of the rest of that parish, which was an exclave of Shropshire, Cradley was always in Worcestershire, until the creation of the West Midlands county in 1974. This meant that for civil administrative purposes, Cradley formerly had the officers which a parish would have had. The population of the appropriate Dudley Ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,340.
Enstone is a village and civil parish in England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Chipping Norton and 15 miles (24 km) north-west of Oxford city. The civil parish, one of Oxfordshire's largest, consists of the villages of Church Enstone and Neat Enstone, with the hamlets of Chalford, Cleveley, Fulwell, Gagingwell, Lidstone and Radford. The 2011 Census put the parish population as 1,139 living in 453 households. It was estimated at 1,256 in 2019.
Halesowen was a medieval parish in the West Midlands of England.
Old Hill is a village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England, situated around 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Halesowen and 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Dudley. It is part of the West Midlands conurbation.
The A491 is an A road in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme.
Clifton upon Teme is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district in the county of Worcestershire, England. In 2021 the parish had a population of 871.
Clent is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, England, southwest of Birmingham and close to the edge of the West Midlands conurbation. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,600.
Holy Cross is one of five hamlets in village of Clent in the county of Worcestershire, England. The hamlet consists of housing apart from the Bell and Cross public house, Clent Parish Hall and Clent Primary School.
Dodford is a village in the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire, England, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Bromsgrove, officially founded on 2 July 1849 by members of the Chartist movement. It was one of five settlements created in the land scheme and retains a characteristic grid street plan, along with narrow lanes and many plum and pear trees from its market gardening past. The civil parish of Dodford with Grafton has a population of 731.
William Jeffrey Hopkins (1820–1901) was a British architect.
Between the late 11th century and 1844, the English county of Shropshire possessed a large exclave within the present-day Black Country and surrounding area. This territory was gained from neighbouring Worcestershire, and the exclave's border corresponded with the medieval Manor of Hala. Shropshire (Detached) contained the townships of Halesowen, Oldbury, Warley Salop, Ridgacre, Hunnington, Romsley and Langley. The exceptions were Cradley, Lutley and Warley Wigorn, which were exclaves or enclaves still aligned with the original county. Bounded entirely by Staffordshire and Worcestershire, Hala was part of Brimstree hundred, and totally detached from the rest of Shropshire. Bridgnorth, the nearest town within the main body of Shropshire, is 16.8 miles (27.03 km) away from Halesowen, whilst the county town of Shrewsbury is 34.6 miles (55.62 km) away.