South Littleton 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 ...

located 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 ...

, England. South Littleton is located midway between Evesham and Bidford on Avon. South Littleton is the largest of The Littletons, with North and Middle Littleton being smaller. At the 2001 census it had 1,775 inhabitants, while North and Middle Littleton had a population of 906.

History

Though

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

human activity has been documented in the area, it is thought the first permanent settlements were constructed during Romano-British times (the important Roman road of Ryknild Street runs by the area). Other nearby Romano-British at Ullington, Blakes Hill and Littleton Pastures have been documented, and all were thought to be in continuous occupation until the late 4th century. Archeological evidence suggests the area was completely abandoned after the end of the Roman occupation of Britain. The area had been repopulated to an extent by the time of the

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 ...

, which documents the Littletons twice. Later stone buildings remain in the villages today. The parish remained largely as an agricultural area until the late 1940s. Today, very few of the inhabitants of the parish are employed in agriculture.

South Littleton today

The village is served by South Littleton Parish Council. The Littletons Church of England Academy is in South Littleton which also has a large recreation ground. There are also allotments and

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

an
tennis clubs
There is a shop and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

and a

fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop, is a (often fast food) restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and c ...

located on the village High Street. There is also a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

church and a Quaker chapel located in the village. South Littleton is also the location of HMP Long Lartin, a maximum security prison for adult males.

References

External links

South Littleton Parish Council

Local information on the Littletons

HMP Long Lartin
Villages in Worcestershire {{Worcestershire-geo-stub