Blockley

Blockley is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Moreton-in-Marsh. Until 1931 Blockley was an exclave of Worcestershire.

For other uses, see Blockley (disambiguation).

Blockley
Blockley Location within Gloucestershire
Population	2,041 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	SP1634
District	Cotswold
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Moreton-in-Marsh
Postcode district	GL56
Dialling code	01386
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Cotswold
Website	www.cotswolds.info › Places to Visit

The civil and ecclesiastical parish boundaries are roughly coterminous, and include the hamlets of Draycott, Paxford and Aston Magna, the residential development at Northwick and the deserted hamlets of Upton and Upper Ditchford.

Blockley village is on Blockley Brook, a tributary of Knee Brook. Knee Brook forms the northeastern boundary of the parish and is a tributary of the River Stour.

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward has the same area and population as the civil parish.

Manor

In AD 855 King Burgred of Mercia granted a monastery at Blockley to Ealhhun, Bishop of Worcester for the price of 300 solidi.[2] In 1086 the Domesday Book recorded that the Bishop of Worcester held an estate of 38 hides at Blockley.[2] The Bishops of Worcester retained the estate until 1648, during the English Civil War, when the Parliamentary Trustees sold it.[2] After the restoration of the English monarchy the estate was restored to the Bishop of Worcester, whose successors held the manor until at least 1781.[2]

Churches

Blockley village including Saints' Peter and Paul Church

The Church of England parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul is late Norman,[3] built in about 1180.[2] The ecclesiastical parish now forms part of the Vale and Cotswold Edge team of Church of England churches,[4] with the Team Vicar remaining responsible for Blockley and its outlying villages of Paxford, Draycott and Aston Magna, as well as the parish of Bourton-on-the-Hill.[5]

The church is used as St Mary's Roman Catholic church in the Father Brown television series and the vicarage as the presbytery, Father Brown's residence.[6]

The Baptist Chapel was built in 1835.[7]

Economic and social history

In 1715 the Vicar, the Rev. Dr. Erasmus Saunders, had a new school built for the parish.[2] Blockley still has a Church of England primary school.[8]

Much of the parish was farmed under an open field system until 1772, when an Act of Parliament provided for the enclosure of the remaining common lands.[2]

Blockley railway station in 1962

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, built between 1845 and 1851, passes through the parish. Blockley railway station was more than 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of the village and nearer to Paxford. British Railways closed Blockley railway station in 1966 but the railway remains open as part of the Cotswold Line. The nearest railway station still open is Moreton-in-Marsh.

Blockley is home to Watsonian Squire, the largest UK manufacturer of sidecars and trailers for motorbikes. It has been based in the village since 1984.[9]

Amenities

Russell Spring, a 19th-century roadside spring in the village

Blockley has two public houses. The Crown Inn and Hotel is a former coaching inn.[10] The Great Western Arms belongs to the Hook Norton Brewery.[11]

The post office closed in 2007. In May 2008, under a co-operative agreement, the village residents opened a new local not for profit store[12] that is a grocer, newsagent, post office, off-licence and café.[13]

References

1. "Parish population 2011". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
2. Victoria County History, 1913, pages 265-276
3. Verey, 1970, page 121
4. "Mission and Pastoral Measure Pastoral Scheme" (PDF). Church of England. Diocese of Gloucester. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
5. A Church Near You: St Peter & St Paul, Blockley
6. "Cotsworld journal". Retrieved 17 January 2014.
7. Verey, 1970, page 123-124
8. Gloucestershire County Council: Details for: Blockley Church of England Primary School
9. "Watsonian Sidecars". Made in Birmingham. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
10. Verey, 1970, page 123
11. The Great Western Arms Archived 19 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
12. Blockley Shop & Cafe Archived 11 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
13. Readhead, Pamela (26 November 2008). "Collective spirit". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2008.

Sources

• Verey, David (1970). The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 121–125. ISBN 0-14-071040-X.
• Victoria County History: A History of the County of Worcester, Volume 3. 1913. pp. 265–276.

External links

Media related to Blockley at Wikimedia Commons