Hartlebury is a village and civil parish in the

Wychavon Wychavon () is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. The largest towns therein are Evesham and Droitwich Spa; the council is based in the town of Pershore. The district also includes numerous villages and surrounding rural ...

district of

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, England. It is south of

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

. The village had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 2,549 in the 2001 Census. The village is green-buffered from surrounding villages except for the village of Waresley which is contiguous with Hartlebury. The civil parish covering the village also includes the outlying villages of Crossway Green and Torton.

History

Hartlebury Castle

Hartlebury Castle Hartlebury Castle, a Grade I listed building, near Hartlebury in Worcestershire, central England, was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house, on manorial land earlier given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia, ...

was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

. Until 2007 it was the residence of the

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

, with two-thirds of the building leased out to

Worcestershire County Council Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. Its headquarters are at County Hall in Worcester, the county town. The council consists of 57 councillors and there is no over ...

as the

Worcestershire County Museum Worcestershire County Museum is a local museum located within Hartlebury Castle in Hartlebury, Worcestershire, England, near the City of Worcester. The Museum is one of three sites run by Museums Worcestershire, a Museums Service run in partne ...

. Hartlebury Castle is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It is about a mile to the west of the village and half a mile to the west of the church.

Converted buildings

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School

Queen Elizabeth (I) Grammar School (the

regnal number Regnal numbers are ordinal numbers—often written as Roman numerals—used to distinguish among persons with the same regnal name who held the same office, notably kings, queens regnant, popes, and rarely princes and princesses. It is common t ...

was added in 1952 on the accession of Elizabeth II) was in Hartlebury until 1977. The earliest record of the precursor to the school is in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, compiled in 1086. Other early accounts date to 1400, well before Harrow and Rugby were founded. The school was granted a Royal Charter by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

in 1557. Originally a private boys school, it was taken over by the State, and was closed when it was merged in 1977 with King Charles I Grammar School, Kidderminster, and The Kidderminster Girls High School to form King Charles I School. The oldest building standing was converted to a house. Its magnificent New Building has commanding views over fields and woodland, and was rescued from demolition by its alumni association.

New Elizabethan School

A very small independent school unconnected educationally with Hartlebury School opened in 2008: the fee-paying New Elizabethan School was set up to cater for children "who have found learning and school attendance difficult" on part of the Hartlebury School site. A private school, for young boys and girls, operated there 1979–2007, Bowbrook School — renamed Hartlebury Independent School in 1999, then Hartlebury School in 2000. In 2007, it became a charitable organisation. Then in 2008 it was re-launched in its new form.

Former buildings

The Worcestershire house

The house later known as The Worcestershire House was a very old house in Hartlebury, dismantled and re-assembled at the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia, USA, in 1992. The John Smith (Smyth or Smythe) family built it in the 1630s. An example of the Tudor frame variety of

Timber framing Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

construction, it was dismantled in 1970 and shipped.

Notable people

* Henry Eliot Howard,

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

, conducted much of his research in the grounds of his home, 'Clareland', which is extant, and is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. * Daniel J. Collins,

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

, grew up here. His notable works include his debut album
The Parallel Universe
– released 25 March 2024. He took part in

Bewdley Bewdley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley, and is west of Kidderminster, north of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham. It ...

Youth Festival's

Wyre Forest __NOTOC__ Wyre Forest is a large, semi-natural (partially unmanaged) woodland and forest measuring which straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire, England. Knowles Mill, a former corn mill owned by the National Trust lies wi ...

Young Musician of The Year awards 2024 where he received best 'Solo Instrumentalist'.

References

{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire Wychavon