Bockleton is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

(with a shared parish council with neighbouring

Stoke Bliss Stoke Bliss is a small village and civil parish (with a shared parish council with neighbouring Kyre and Bockleton) in the Malvern Hills district of the county of Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a coun ...

and

Kyre Kyre is a small village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district of the county of Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire w ...

) in the Malvern Hills 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 of Tenbury Wells. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 190. It is close to the

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

border and is about east of Leominster in Herefordshire.

History

The village of Bockleton was originally called "Bocklington" until its name changed some time between 1785 and 1787 according to maps of the region. One of the earliest mentions of the village dates from 1246 in the life of Peter of Aigueblanche the then Bishop of Hereford. Extant sources state "In 1246 his new statutes on these points duly received papal confirmation (Bliss, i. 229). He was celebrated in the church of Hereford for his long and strenuous defence of the liberties of see and chapter against ‘the citizens of Hereford and other rebels against the church.’ He bought the manor of Holme Lacy and gave it to his church, appropriated the church of Bocklington to the treasurer, gave mitres, and chalice, vestments and books, and various rents (Monasticon, vi. 1216)." The Barnaby family lived at the Manor. In 1604 Amphylis Barnaby wanted to get a cousin a place in the household of Prince Henry in London. She wrote to her friend and niece Meriel Lyttelton of Hagley for help. Lyttleton explained that competition was fierce for these court positions and the social advantages they might bring. Young Barnaby had no chance. The parish church of St Michael is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. It has an 1867 monument, in white marble, by Pre-Raphaelite sculptor

Thomas Woolner Thomas Woolner (17 December 1825 – 7 October 1892) was an English sculptor and poet who was one of the founder-members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was the only sculptor among the original members. After participating in the foun ...

to William Prescott, a local squire who died from an infection caught after tending his sick gamekeeper. It depicts him nursing the aged man. Bockleton was in the upper division of

Doddingtree The Hundred of Doddingtree was granted to Ralph Todeni, or ''Ralph de Toni'', a relative of the Duke of Normandy, in 1066 by William the Conqueror as a reward for his services as Standard bearer during the Norman Conquest. It consisted mainly of ...

Hundred.''Worcestershire Family History Guidebook'', Vanessa Morgan, 2011, p20 The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire.

References

Villages in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire {{Worcestershire-geo-stub