Andoversford is a village and
civil parish in the
Cotswold District of
Gloucestershire, England, about east of
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
. The village is on the
River Coln, parallel to the
A40.The
2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 555. In 2019 the parish a population of 905.
Amenities
Amenities include a post office, two community or
village halls, a
primary school, a local shop and two pubs: the Kilkeney Inn and the Royal Oak. The disused livestock market has been developed into a small housing estate.
As well as its own primary school, Andoversford is now in the priority catchment area for
Cotswold School in
Bourton-on-the-Water. Andoversford used to be in the catchment area for several schools including
Balcarras. Various private schools are also within reach. Andoversford is on the bus routes for the Balcarras, Cotswold and
St Edward's (private) schools.
The village used to have a
doctor's surgery which was a branch of the Sixways Clinic. This has now closed and the site is being sold for redevelopment.
The village has several meeting areas (pubs, schools, church, social club, playground, etc.) as well as annual events. These include point to point events on its point to point course, village fetes, social evenings, quizzes and live music. The events are organised by the Andoversford Social Events Committee, a group formed by local residents. The village also supports a football team, a cricket team, majorettes and has Cubs and Scout groups.
There are four golf courses near Andoversford: Shipton Golf Course, Naunton Downs Golf Club, Cotswold Hills Golf Club and Lillybrook Golf Club.
Governance
The parish is part of the Sandywell
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
of
Cotswold District Council. The total ward population taken at the
2011 census was 1,829. For elections to
Gloucestershire County Council, Andoversford is part of the ward of Bourton-on-the-Water and Northleach.
Former railways
Two railways used to serve Andoversford. In 1881 the
Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway opened through the parish.
Andoversford railway station was just west of the village. The B&CDR was operated by the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
.
In 1891 the
Midland and South Western Junction Railway was extended north from Swindon to Andoversford. The M&SWJR opened a new
Andoversford and Dowdeswell railway station south of Andoversford.
The GWR took over the M&SWJR in 1923, renamed Andoversford Station "Andoversford Junction" in 1926 and closed Andoversford and Dowdeswell to passenger traffic in 1927. In 1948 the GWR became part of
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways, which in 1962 closed Andoversford and Dowdeswell to goods and Andoversford Junction to all traffic.
References
External links
Andoversford Village
{{authority control
Civil parishes in Gloucestershire
Cotswold District
Villages in Gloucestershire