Birlingham is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Wychavon Wychavon is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, with a population size of 132,500 according to the 2021 census. Its council is based in the town of Pershore, and the other towns in the district are Droitwich Spa and Evesh ...

district of

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. The village is south of

Pershore Pershore is a market town in the Wychavon district in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. The town is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 census, the population was 7,125. The town is ...

, located in a bend of the River Avon.

Toponymy

The name Birlingham is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''Byrla–inga–hamm'', meaning "Land, in a river-bend, of a man called Byrla". It has been recorded as Byrlingahamm (972) and Berlingeham (1086,

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

History

Roman Britain

Romans are believed to have settled in Birlingham during the Roman occupation of Britain, suggested by the discovery of a Roman

brooch A brooch (, also ) is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with g ...

within the village. It is possible that there was a crossing point near the village at Swans Neck, though no evidence has been found of this.

Late Middle Ages

The Swan Inn, the village's

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, is believed to date back to the 16th century.

Governance

The village of Birlingham is primarily governed by Birlingham Parish Council, then by

Wychavon District Council Wychavon is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, with a population size of 132,500 according to the 2021 census. Its council is based in the town of Pershore, and the other towns in the district are Droitwich Spa and Evesham ...

. It falls within the West Worcestershire constituency.

Geography and demography

Birlingham is surrounded on the north, south and east sides by a river-bend known as Swans Neck, part of the River Avon. The village is located on a

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

Bow Brook The Bow Brook is a substantial brook that flows for through Worcestershire, England. It is a lower tributary of the River Avon which it joins near Defford downstream of Eckington Bridge. Its principal tributaries include the Stoulton, De ...

passes by the village's west side. Nearby villages include Defford and Eckington. In 2001, the parish had a population of 325, compared to a population of 373 in 1991.

Transport

There are two bus services that serve Birlingham: the 52/53, which goes between

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

and Eckington (via

and Evesham), and the 54, which goes between Worcester and Pershore. Both services are run by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Entrance Arch, Birlingham Church - geograph

Flag of the Church of St James the Great, Birlingham

Birlingham is served by the church of St James the Great, located in the

Anglican Diocese of Worcester The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Church of England ( Anglican) Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese was founded around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the man ...

. The original church was built in the 12th century, with its

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

arch now located outside as the churchyard's entrance. The current west tower was built in the 15th century, the rest of the church being rebuilt around the 1870s by Rev Robert Rashleigh Duke.

Sport

Birlingham is represented in Worcestershire Cricket League Division League Six by Birlingham Cricket Club.

References

External links

Birlingham Parish Council website
Villages in Worcestershire {{Worcestershire-geo-stub