Weobley
Weobley (/ˈwɛbli/ WEB-lee) is a large village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, it is today one of the county's black and white villages.
Weobley | |
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Sargeants Bros bus in Weobley | |
Weobley Location within Herefordshire | |
Population | 1,255 (2011)[1] |
Civil parish |
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Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | HEREFORD |
Postcode district | HR4 |
Dialling code | 01544 |
Police | West Mercia |
Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
History
The name possibly derives from 'Wibba's Ley', a ley being a woodland glade and Wibba being a local Saxon landowner. In the Domesday Book the village name was transcribed as Wibelai. It is still pronounced as "Web-ley" (the spelling being similar to nearby Leominster which also does not pronounce the letter 'o' in its name).
The village has early 13th century Church, St Peter and St Paul's Church, Weobley.[2] The Church has a Norman south doorway, a 13th-century chancel and 14th-century tower and a spire that is the second-tallest in the county. The church also has the tomb of Colonel John Birch. There is also castle ruins; a high school (Weobley High School) and a primary school with a pioneering system of heating.
In the village is 'the Throne', a large 400-year-old building - King Charles I spent the night here on 5 September 1645, after the Battle of Naseby during the English Civil War.
It was once incorporated as a borough, sending two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons until the Reform Act 1832, (see Weobley (UK Parliament constituency)) and once had a borough corporation.
In 2001 the artist Walenty Pytel completed a sculpture of a magpie for the village (a magpie is the village's emblem). The sculpture was commissioned after the village won the Calor Gas/Daily Telegraph Great Britain Village of the Year in 1999.[3]
On 3 August 2016, the BBC's The One Show was broadcast entirely from Weobley.
Governance
Weobley is part of the electoral ward called Golden Cross and Weobley. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 2,985.[4]
Gallery
- Colonel John Birch's tomb, St. Peter & St. Paul's Church, Weobley
- The magpie in Weobley
References
- "Civil parish population 2011". Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- http://www.visitherefordshirechurches.co.uk/st-peter-st-paul-weobley/
- Palmer, Mike (10 February 2001). "Taking pride of place". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- "Golden Cross and Weobley ward population 2011". Retrieved 30 October 2015.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Weobley. |