Little Wolford
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Little Wolford is a hamlet 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the
Stratford-on-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west of ...
district of
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, England. With the neighbouring parish of
Great Wolford Great Wolford is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. With the neighbouring parish of Little Wolford it is part of 'The Wolfords'. History According to ''A Dictionary of British Place Names'', W ...
it is part of 'The Wolfords'. Little Wolford is significant for its Grade II* listed 15th- to 16th-century
Little Wolford Manor Little Wolford Manor is a 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 lis ...
.


History

According to ''A Dictionary of British Place Names'', Wolford derives from the
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
'wulf' with 'weard', meaning a "place protected against wolves". ''The Concise Oxfordshire Dictionary of English Place-names'' adds that 'weard' might mean "guard", and as such might here be unique usage, as an "arrangement for protection, rfence", the whole name perhaps "enclosure to protect flocks from wolves".Ekwall, Eilert (1936); ''The Concise Oxfordshire Dictionary of English Place-names'', Oxford University Press, 4th ed. (1960), p. 529 . 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 ...
'', the settlement is variously listed as 'Ulware', 'Ulwarda' and 'Wolwarde', and in 1242 as 'Parva Wulleward'. In 1086, after the
Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
, Little Wolford was in the
Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of
Barcheston Barcheston is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. The village is on the east bank of the River Stour, opposite Shipston-on-Stour. It shares a parish council with Willington. The parish, admin ...
and county of Warwickshire. There were three
Tenants-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, a tenant-in-chief (or vassal-in-chief) was a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opposed to holding them ...
to king
William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...
: Bishop
Odo of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097) was a Norman nobleman who was a bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and was made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and w ...
,
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan ( – 5 June 1118), also known as Robert of Meulan, was a powerful Norman nobleman, one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of Englan ...
(Count of Meulan), and
Robert de Stafford Robert de Stafford () (''alias'' Robert de Tosny/Toeni, etc.) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a member of the House of Tosny and the first feudal baron of Stafford in Staffordshire in England, where he probably built a baronial castle. His man ...
. Bishop Odo retained Gerald as his
lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
, who had acquired the title from the 1066 lord Aelfric (uncle of Thorkil) – the manor contained three villagers, one
ploughland The carucate or carrucate ( or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment. ...
with 0.5 men's plough team, and of meadow. The land of the Count of Meluan had Ralf as lord, again acquiring the title from the 1066 lord Aelfric - the manor contained three villagers, five
smallholders A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...
, two slaves, and four ploughlands with one lord's plough team and one men's plough team. De Stafford had three manorial lands. Firstly, one where he was also Lord, this acquired from the 1066 lord Vagn (of Wootton), which contained eight villagers, eight smallholders, four slaves and a priest, with ten ploughlands, six men's plough teams and a mill. Secondly, one with Ordwy as lord, acquired from the 1066 lord Alwy, which contained four villagers, four smallholders, six ploughlands, and two lord's and one men's plough teams. Thirdly, where Alwin was the lord in 1066 and 1086, which contained four villagers, three smallholders, a slave, and two ploughlands with one lord's and one men's plough teams."Wolford"
''A History of the County of Warwick'' Volume 5, Kington Hundred, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1949), pp. 213–218. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
By the 13th century there were four fields, each two cultivated under a two-field system of crop rotation, and as
virgate The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as   hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equal to 30 acr ...
s. A
corn mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...
and
fulling mill Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate (lanolin) oils, dirt, ...
existed. There were further smaller virgates, one at Pepperwell (then Yperwelle), signified by Pepperwell Lane today at the south-east of the parish. By the beginning of the 17th century there were two
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...
s, one perhaps on Nethercote Brook which divides today's parishes of Little and Great Wolford. The fields were evident as late as 1940 through aerial photography which indicated a
ridge and furrow Ridge and furrow is an Archaeology, archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open field system, open-field system. It is a ...
system of
plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...
ing. This
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
or
post-medieval Post-medieval archaeology is a term used in Europe to describe the study of the material past over the last 500 years. The field is also referred to as historical archaeology, a term originating in North America, and common in countries impacted ...
system of cultivation was shown by earthworks which continued beyond the parish. After Robert de Stafford died (c.1100), his manor at Wolford passed through his sister Milicent de Stafford (who married Hervey Bagot), to her son Hervey de Stafford, who had adopted his mother's name. The manor was divided in 1242 at the time of the later Robert de Stafford, becoming Great and Little Wolford. Ownership stayed with the
Stafford family Baron Stafford, referring to the town of Stafford, is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. In the 14th century, the barons of the first creation were made earls. Those of the fifth creation, in the 17th century ...
, including the 15th-century
Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 6th Earl of Stafford, 7th Baron Stafford (15 August 1402 – 10 July 1460) of Stafford Castle in Staffordshire, was an English nobleman and a military commander in the Hundred Years' War and t ...
. In 1521,
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (3 February 1478 – 17 May 1521) was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Katherine Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham, Katherine Woodville and nephew of E ...
, was executed by
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
for treason. The year before he had, through trustees, sold the manors to Henry's
courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...
, Sir William Compton. The manors of Great and Little Wolford stayed in the Compton family until 1819, however, at about 1600 they were bought by
Robert Catesby Robert Catesby ( – 8 November 1605) was the leader of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Born in Warwickshire, Catesby was educated at Oxford University. His family were prominent recusant Catholics, a ...
, the leader of the group of
English Catholics The Catholic Church in England and Wales (; ) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th century, when Pope Gregory I through a Roman missionary and Benedictine monk, Augustine, ...
who planned the failed 1605
Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...
. They were then, in 1605, transferred to a Thomas Spencer and an Edward Sheldon, by Catesby, Sir Thomas Leigh, and Lord Ellesmere whose wife was sister to the second wife of Henry, Lord Compton. Because of transaction inconsistency, the manors reverted to the Compton family. In 1819 they were sold, by Charles Compton, Marquess of Northampton, to the 1st Baron Redesdale, subsequently passing to his son
John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Earl of Redesdale John Thomas Freeman-Mitford, 1st Earl of Redesdale (9 September 1805 – 2 May 1886), styled as the 2nd Baron Redesdale between January 1830 and January 1877, was a Protestant controversialist and member of the House of Lords. Life He was born ...
. The unmarried earl then left the manors to Bertram Mitford, created
Baron Redesdale Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was firstly created in 1802 for the lawyer and politician Sir John Mitford (later Freeman-Mitford) ...
in 1902. After his death in 1916, the manors passed to
David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (13 March 1878 – 17 March 1958), was a British peer, soldier, and landowner. He was the father of the Mitford sisters, in whose various novels and memoirs he is depicted. Ancestry and ...
, the father of the
Mitford sisters The Mitford family is an aristocratic British family who became particularly well known in the 1930s for the six Mitford sisters, the daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife, Sydney Bowles. They were celebrated and ...
.
Sir Nathaniel Brent Sir Nathaniel Brent (c. 1573 – 6 November 1652) was an English college head. Life He was the son of Anchor Brent of Little Wolford, Warwickshire, where he was born about 1573. He became 'portionist,' or postmaster, of Merton College, Oxford, ...
(c.1573 – 1652) was the son of Anchor Brent of Little Wolford. He was in 1616 the ambassador at
the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, in 1622 the warden of
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...
, and afterwards commissary of the
diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering East Kent, eastern Kent which was founded by St Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest episcopal see, see of the Chur ...
. During the 19th century Little Wolford was part of the
Brailes Brailes is a civil parish about east of Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire, England. It includes the two villages of Lower and Upper Brailes which are located in the north Cotswolds, but it is often referred to as one village as the two villages ...
division of the
Kington Hundred Kington or Kineton was a historic hundred (subdivision), hundred of the county of Warwickshire in England. The hundred covered the southern part of the county, and lay south of Warwick, between the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon on the we ...
, and described as a hamlet of Great Wolford. In 1801 parish population was 229. By 1841 Little Wolford contained 274 inhabitants in 53 houses, in a parish area of , in which were of
common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
or waste. The industrialist, politician and lord of the manor Sir George Philips in 1844 purchased
Little Wolford Manor Little Wolford Manor is a 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 lis ...
, formerly in the possession of the Ingram family. Directory listed trades and occupations in 1850 included five farmers, two in the same family, a brickmaker, shoemaker,
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
, a corn miller, and two carpenters."Little Wolford"
''A topographical dictionary of England'', Samuel Lewis (London, 1848), vol. IV, p. 643.
"Wolford (Little)" in ''A History, Gazetteer & Directory of Warwickshire'', Francis White (1850), pp. 714, 715. By 1896 Little Wolford Manor House was the property of Juliana, Countess of Camperdown, née Juliana Cavendish Philips (1812–1898), the sole landowner and wife to
Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown (25 March 1812 – 30 January 1867), styled Viscount Duncan between 1831 and 1859, was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British nobleman and politician. Early life Hon. Adam Duncan was bo ...
. Land area was in which lived, in 1891, 178 people. There was a post box but no post office. The nearest money order office was at
Long Compton Long Compton is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England near the extreme southern tip of Warwickshire, and close to the border with Oxfordshire. It is part of the district of Stratford-on-Avon; in the 2001 census had a population o ...
, the nearest telegraph offices at
Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. Its flat and low-lying site is surrounded by the Cotswold Hills. The River Evenlode r ...
and
Shipston-on-Stour Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in southern Warwickshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, Warwickshire, River Stour, points of the compass, south-southeast of Stratford-up ...
. A National School for 70 children was erected in 1874 by Lord Redesdale; its average 1896 attendance was 61. Trades and occupations listed in 1896 included six farmers, a shoemaker, two graziers and a blacksmith &
farrier A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...
.''
Kelly's Directory Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in Britain that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses ...
of Warwickshire'', 1896, p. 274.
Population in 1901 was 181. In 1912 Little Wolford Manor House was the property of the Earl of Camperdown, who was the parish sole landowner. The National School was now a Public Elementary School (
Education Act 1902 The Education Act 1902 ( 2 Edw. 7. c. 42), also known as the Balfour Act, was a highly controversial act of Parliament that set the pattern of elementary education in England and Wales for four decades. It was brought to Parliament by a Conserva ...
), with an average attendance of 57. Trades and occupations listed were eight farmers, two graziers and a shoemaker.''Kelly's Directory of Warwickshire'', 1912, p. 323. Although described as a hamlet of Great Wolford (under 'Wolford') in 19th and 20th-century trade directories, Little Wolford and Great Wolford had attained separate parish status under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1866, which established new civil parishes for the purposes of the
New Poor Law The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 ( 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76) (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 denying the right of the poor to subsistence. It c ...
of 1834, and collection of
poor rate In England and Wales the poor rate was a tax on property levied in each parish, which was used to provide poor relief. It was collected under both the Old Poor Law and the New Poor Law. It was absorbed into "general rate" local taxation in the ...
.


Governance

Lowest tier of local government is
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...
through Little Wolford
Parish Meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...
, whose remit is more limited than a parish council. The next higher tier of government is
Stratford-on-Avon District Stratford-on-Avon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Warwickshire, England. The district is named after its largest town of Stratford-upon-Avon, but with a change of preposition; the town uses "upon" and the district ...
Council, to which Little Wolford sends one councillor under the Brailes and Compton ward, above this,
Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are at Shire Hall in the centre of Warwick, the county town. The council's principal functions are county ro ...
, where Little Wolford is represented by the seat for the Shipston division of the Stratford-on-Avon area. Little Wolford is represented in the
UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
as part of the
Stratford-on-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west of ...
constituency, its 2019 sitting MP being
Nadhim Zahawi Nadhim Zahawi (; ; born 2 June 1967) is an Iraqi-born British former politician who served in various ministerial positions under prime ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak from 2018 to 2023. He most recently served ...
of the Conservative Party. Prior to
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
in 2020, it was part of the West Midlands constituency of the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
.


Geography and community

Little Wolford civil parish has no amenities, and is entirely rural, of farms, fields, and dispersed businesses and residential properties, the only nucleated settlement being the hamlet of Little Wolford. It approximates an oval in shape, north to south, and east to west at its widest. It is at the south of
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, and borders the
Todenham Todenham is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District, Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is significant for its Grade I Listed building, listed 14th-century parish church. History Todenham, 'Todanhom' in 804 ( ...
parish of
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
at the north-west. Adjacent Warwickshire parishes are Burmington at the north,
Long Compton Long Compton is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England near the extreme southern tip of Warwickshire, and close to the border with Oxfordshire. It is part of the district of Stratford-on-Avon; in the 2001 census had a population o ...
at the east,
Barton-on-the-Heath Barton-on-the-Heath is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 85. From the Census 2011 population details are included in the neighbourin ...
at the south, and
Great Wolford Great Wolford is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. With the neighbouring parish of Little Wolford it is part of 'The Wolfords'. History According to ''A Dictionary of British Place Names'', W ...
at the west with the boundary defined by the course of Nethercote Brook, a tributary of the River Stour. Most of the southern part of the parish is part of the
Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
(AONB).Extracted fro
"Little Wolford"
Grid Reference Finder. Retrieved 16 October 2019
Extracted fro
"Little Wolford"
''GetOutside'',
Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
. Retrieved 16 October 2019
Extracted fro
"Little Wolford"
civil parish boundary,
Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
. Retrieved 16 October 2019
The
A3400 road The A34 is a major road in England. It runs from the A33 and M3 at Winchester in Hampshire, to the A6 and A6042 in Salford, close to Manchester City Centre. It forms a large part of the major trunk route from Southampton, via Oxford, to B ...
runs north to south through the parish, locally from
Shipston-on-Stour Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in southern Warwickshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, Warwickshire, River Stour, points of the compass, south-southeast of Stratford-up ...
at the north to
Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswolds in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 201 ...
at the south. The only other parish roads, apart from farm and residential tracks and cul-de-sacs, is the minor road running east from the A3400 to the village of Cherington, and the minor Little Wolford Road running from the A3400, south through Little Wolford hamlet, then west along the boundary of the AONB to the village of Great Wolford. Running south off Little Wolford Road is Pepperwell Lane which dog-legs east to the A3400. The
county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...
and city of
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
is to the south-west. Closest towns to the hamlet are
Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. Its flat and low-lying site is surrounded by the Cotswold Hills. The River Evenlode r ...
, to the south-west, and Shipston-on-Stour, to the north. The neighbouring village of Great Wolford is to the south-west. The nearest railway station is at
Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. Its flat and low-lying site is surrounded by the Cotswold Hills. The River Evenlode r ...
on the
Cotswold Line The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England. History Early years The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845 Act of Parliament and opened in 1851 as part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway ...
of the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
. Bus services operate within Little Wolford. A stop in the hamlet includes connections to Shipston-on-Stour and Burmington on a circuitous village Shipston Link service. The only other stop, on the A3400, includes connections to Shipston-on-Stour,
Stratford upon Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west o ...
, Chipping Norton,
Whichford Whichford is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, about southeast of Shipston-on-Stour. The parish adjoins the county boundary with Oxfordshire and the village is about north of the Oxfordshire town of Chipping Norton. The pa ...
,
Long Compton Long Compton is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England near the extreme southern tip of Warwickshire, and close to the border with Oxfordshire. It is part of the district of Stratford-on-Avon; in the 2001 census had a population o ...
, and Lower Brailes.


Landmarks

Within Little Wolford is one Grade II* and nine Grade II listed buildings and structures. Little Wolford Manor House (Grade II* listed in 1987), within the hamlet on Little Wolford Road, with its attached
bakehouse A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...
and gateway, dates to the late 15th or early 16th-century, but with later additions and changes. Of limestone courses, with earlier parts of
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
, it is of two storeys and L-plan, previously U-plan until the early 19th century. At the rear of the house is a 17th-century
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d range with a
timber framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...
jetty A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...
with
oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...
s. Attached is the 17th-century bakehouse, and a cottage. On the opposite side of the road from the Manor House, and just north of Rosary Lane on a private road, is The Hollows (listed 1987), a late 18th century limestone farmhouse, 'L-plan' of two storeys. There are three
bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
, each with
casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...
s, and a gabled porch off centre to the right. Between these two buildings, and at the west side of Little Wolford Road at its junction with Rosary Lane, is a
wellhead A wellhead is the component at the surface of an oil or gas well that provides the structural and pressure-containing interface for the drilling and production equipment. The primary purpose of a wellhead is to provide the suspension point and ...
(listed 1987) which probably dates to the 19th century. Set into the pavement wall, and recessed within a structure of coursed limestone which includes fragments of architectural elements, it comprises an iron trough fed by a "beast head". Inset within the structure face, and to the right of the trough is a Victorian post-box. On the A3400 there are four Grade II lodges. The northernmost, at the junction with the road to Cherington, is Broadmoor Lodge (listed 1987), possibly designed by
Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career Blore was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's backg ...
as part of his scheme for the now demolished Weston House. It dates to c.1830 and is of coursed limestone in two storeys with a gabled and
buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...
ed porch with Tudor-arch-style portal, and an upper
sill course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the f ...
with
gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...
at each corner below a
castellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
. To the north of Broadmoor Lodge is a 2011 Grade II listed
milepost A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...
. Farther south is a house listed in 1987 as Double Lodges, divided into two residences. Dating to c.1830, of two storeys in coursed limestone and T-plan, it is in Tudor domestic style, with
dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and which has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the terminat ...
s with two-light
mullion window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s, and a porch on its front face at right angles to the road. Farther south still is Bedlam Lodge (listed in 1987 with its attached buildings). This dates to the mid-19th century, and is built of coursed limestone in T-plan, and is of one storey and an attic in Tudor domestic style. There are mullioned windows and a gabled porch. The listed rear range outbuilding to the lodge contains a kitchen and a "small dog kennel with 4-centred arch." Farthest south is Weston Lodge (listed 1987), dating to c.1830, and again possibly designed by Edward Blore as part of his scheme for Weston House. It is built in coursed limestone and in two storeys in Tudor domestic style, with a gabled and buttressed porch with Tudor-arch-style portal, and an upper sill course below a castellated parapet with "polygonal corner turrets". The windows are mullioned with
hood mould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin , lip), drip mould or dripstone is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a '' pediment''. This moulding can be ...
s, the one on the ground floor facing the road, a
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
. To the rear is a one-story gabled range. At the head of the drive at Weston Lodge are two gate piers (listed 1987), both probably dating to the early to mid-19th century. Both of limestone, they are surmounted by poppy-head
finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...
s. Two levelled former earthworks of banks and ditches signifying
enclosures Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...
, photographed by the Warwickshire National Mapping Project in 1947, are to the east from the hamlet and A3400 road (), and which, according to
Pastscape The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. It is a public archive of architectural and arc ...
, "are presumed to be the remains of copse enclosures" and "appear to be a ornamental Park land feature" at what was the south-east edge of the formal park of the now nonexistent Weston House, until the 18th century a deer park which was established by Henry VIII.


References


External links

*
"Wolford"
Genuki GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...
. Retrieved 18 October 2019 {{Warwickshire, state=collapsed Hamlets in Warwickshire Civil parishes in Warwickshire Stratford-on-Avon District