Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BREDON

BREDON, a village in the district of Tewkesbury, and a parish in the districts of Tewkesbury and Winchcombe, and county of Worcester. The village stands on the river Avon, adjacent to the Birmingham and Gloucester railway, 3½ miles NE of Tewkesbury; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Tewkesbury. Eanulf, grandfather of King Offa, got a grant of it from Ethelbald, King of Mercia; and founded at it a monastery, which was transferred, before the Conquest, to the see of Worcester. The parish includes also the hamlets of Norton-by-Bredon, Hardwick-with-Mitton, Kinsham, and Westmancote, and the chapelry of Cutsdean. Acres, 5,818. Real property, £11,608. Pop., 1,555. Houses, 366. Bredon hill separates the vales of Cotswold and Evesham; has an altitude of 900 feet; commands an extensive prospect; has traces of a Roman camp with a double trench; and is a meet for the Worcester hounds. Wollashill Hall is the ancient seat of the Hanfords. The living is a rectory, united with the p. curacies of Norton and Cutsdean, in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £2,300.* Patron, the Duke of Portland. The church occupies the site of the ancient monastery; is an old and interesting edifice of different periods, chiefly early English; has a central tower, surmounted by a graceful spire; and was restored in 1845. The remains of Dr. Prideaux, bishop of Worcester in the time of Charles I., lie in the chancel; a rich monument of Giles Reed, of date 1611, is in a south chapel; and several ancient monastic tombs are in the churchyard. There are a Baptist chapel, a free school with £130 a year, and charities £350.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Bredon AP/CP       Worcestershire AncC
Place: Bredon

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