Wichenford is a village and civil parish (with Kenswick) in the

Malvern Hills District Malvern Hills is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Malvern, and its area covers most of the western half of the county, including the outlying towns of Tenbury Wells and Upton-upon-Sev ...

in the county 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. It lies 7 miles (11km) to the north-west of the city of

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 has a population of c 400 for around 250 households. Primary education is provided at nearby

Hallow To hallow is "to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate". The adjective form ''hallowed'', as used in ''The Lord's Prayer'', means holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered. The noun form ''hallow'', as used in ''Hallowtide'', ...

, and at

Martley Martley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district of the English county of Worcestershire. It is approximately nine miles north-west of Worcester. The population of the village is approximately 1,200 people. The mixed farming of ...

, which also has a secondary school.

History

Two

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

coins were found in the parish of Wichenford during an excavation at Woodend Farm which took place a few years before 1848. The coins are from the times of

Victorinus Marcus Piavonius VictorinusSome of the inscriptions record his name as M. Piavvonius Victorinus, as does the first release of coins from the Colonia mint. A mosaic from Augusta Treverorum (Trier) lists him as Piaonius. was emperor in the Gallic ...

and

Constans Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), sometimes called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of '' caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. After his father's death, he was mad ...

of the early 4th century. During the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

period, Wichenford was gifted by

Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æth ...

(The Midland King) to the Church of Worcester in the later part of the 8th century. A church or chapel has existed at Wichenford from early times with mention of a chapel which was attached to the church of St. Helen, Worcester around 1234. Parts of the present church of St. Lawrence date from about 1320. The manor of Wichenford belonged to the Washbourne or Washburn family, and there are two monuments with effigies and family heraldry in the church. It is said that the estate came into the Washbourne family from Margaret le Poher (d. 1454) who stabbed a French prisoner to death in Wichenford Court. Another version of this story is given in the 1979 ''The Story of Wichenford'', in which it says that around the year of 1400, a battle took place a few miles north of Wichenford on

Woodbury Hill Woodbury Hill is a hill near the village of Great Witley, about south-west of Stourport-on-Severn in Worcestershire, England. It is the site of an Iron Age hillfort. Description The hill overlooks the River Teme to the south-west. The fort (a ...

between forces loyal to

Henry IV of England Henry IV ( April 1367 – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of F ...

and

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...

from Wales who was supported by a contingent of French troops. A French nobleman was captured and brought to Wichenford Court where he was murdered by Margaret Washbourne, a story which has persisted through the centuries, and there is allegedly still a bloodstain on the landing of the Court from the stabbed French gentleman. According to Robert Peach's 1896 history of the Washbourne family, it was actually one of the Bourbon Princes who was confined and put to death by Lady Washbourne. In 1651, John Washbourne of Wichenford arrived at Pitchcroft in Worcester with "forty horse" to support

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child o ...

. Although it is not clear what happened to him, he may have been killed at the subsequent

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

as there is no reference to him after that and his wife was recorded as a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

in 1653. Wichenford Court, a partly moated manor house, has a timber-framed 17th-century

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

, now in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. 17th-century panelling from Wichenford Court was removed to decorate Kenswick Manor by the Britten family in 1895. Following the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

Wichenford Parish ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in its parish. This responsibility was transferred to Martley Poor Law Union. The school, now closed, was built in Wichenford in 1847. The Wichenford branch of the Women's Institute was started in 1944. In the 1950s, the parish council arranged for Queen's Estate to be constructed and to make sure that the residents were able to park their cars. Wichenford parish was joined with Kenswick parish, which had its own chapel, in 1972 for local government arrangements. In 1973, the parish council erected a bus shelter near Castle Hill and installed the first street lighting in the village which was at Queen's Estate. Julius Falconer's 2010 publication ''The Wichenford Court Murder'' is an entirely

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradit ...

story set in the 20th century and has no connection or coverage of the murder at Wichenford Court that took place in the early 1400s.

No Shops

Until the mid-1990s Wichenford had both a village shop with Post Office and a village bakery, both now closed down. The two shops were situated at opposite sides of the village green, in the centre of the village. Wichenford also has a pub, the Mason's Arms, which is situated on the road to

and is not near the village centre.

Open Gardens and Village Fete

Every two years (the "odd" years) a number of the village's gardens are opened by their owners over a weekend in June. The 2017 event made in excess of £10,000. Proceeds go to local charities. In even numbered years, a Fete is held in mid-July at The Memorial Hall. This popular event raises very welcome funds which are distributed to local good causes.

Millennium Green

In the year 2000 the

Millennium Green Millennium Greens are areas of green space for the benefit of local communities. 245 were created in cities, towns and villages across England to celebrate the turn of the Millennium. Their creation was funded in part by the National Lottery via ...

was opened.

Village Hall

Wichenford Memorial Hall stands opposite the church and is used by local societies and for a variety of functions. The hall has modern kitchen facilities and a "committee room" with a bar area. There is a "War Memorial" plaque to those from the village that have lost their lives while serving their country.

Notable residents

Thomas Washbourne Thomas Washbourne (1606–1687) was an English clergyman and poet, known for his 1654 book ''Divine Poems''. ''The Poems of Thomas Washbourne, D.D.'', was published in 1869, edited by Alexander Grosart, and kept Washbourne's name as a religious po ...

(1606–1687), poet.R. E. Peach, ''The Washbourne Family'' (Gloucester, 1896), p. 8. * Charles Colville, 5th Viscount Colville of Culross, lived for at time at Abingdon Cottage.

References

Bibliography

External links

Kenswick & Wichenford Parish information
Villages in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire Malvern Hills District {{UK-geo-stub