Pershore () is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

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

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 in

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, on the banks of the River Avon. At the 2011

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the population was 7,125. The town is best known for

Pershore Abbey Pershore Abbey, at Pershore in Worcestershire, was a Benedictine abbey with Anglo-Saxon origins and is now an Church of England, Anglican parish church, the Church of the Holy Cross. History Foundation The foundation of the minster at Pershore ...

. Pershore is situated west of

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

and east of Upton-upon-Severn in the Vale of Evesham.

History

The town contains examples of

Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Han ...

. In 1964 the

Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and fut ...

included Pershore in its list of 51 British " Gem Towns" worthy of special consideration for historic preservation, and it has been listed as an outstanding

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

. Parts of the abbey, which stand in an expanse of public grassland close to the centre of the town, date from the 11th century. The current structure is far smaller than the original building, which was plundered during the reign of

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. ...

at the Dissolution. The original

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was destroyed. The north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

collapsed later. The present nave occupies the western part of what would originally have been the choir.

Pershore Town Hall Pershore Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Pershore, a town in Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), Wes ...

, which was originally built as the local post office, was completed in 1932.

Education

Schools in Pershore follow the three-tier

first school Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system. Terminology In a three-tier local educa ...

(ages 5–9),

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

(ages 9–12),

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

(ages 11–18) system practised by parts of Worcestershire County Council.

Pershore High School Pershore High School is a co-educational academy school, with a Sixth form, in Pershore, Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region ...

has a

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

with all-weather sports pitches and sports hall. Abbey Park First School and Abbey Park Middle School are on Abbey Road, they are both situated down the same drive. Pershore High School is on Station Road, which is on the outskirts of Pershore, bordering

Pinvin Pinvin is a village in Worcestershire, England, a little to the north of Pershore Pershore () is a market town and civil parish in the Wychavon district in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At ...

, a small village. Holy Redeemer

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Primary School, situated on Priest Lane beside Holy Redeemer, Pershore's only Catholic church, stands outside the 3-tier model. It is a primary school (ages 5–11) which acts as a feeder school to

Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school located in Worcester, England, locally referred to as "Blesseds". It is a co-educational school, in which there are just over 1,000 students, aged bet ...

in Worcester. Pershore College, a school of horticulture and other land-based activities, became a campus for Warwickshire College (now WCG) following a merger in 2007.

Annual events

Plum Festival

The Pershore Plum Festival is held in August to celebrate the local tradition of growing

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

s including the local varieties Pershore Purple, Pershore Yellow Egg Plum and Pershore Emblem. Activities include crowning the plum princess, a family fun run, plum themed art exhibition and the Plum Fayre. There is also a classic car rally and nearby Worcester Racecourse revived ''The Land O'Plums Chase'' from 72 years ago. The festival won the Best Tourism Event and Festival in the Worcestershire Welcome Awards 2011.

Pershore Carnival

Every year on Spring bank holiday there is a

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

in Pershore with Floats and Stalls and a duck race

Sport

Pershore Bowling Club is situated within Abbey Park; formed in 1928 following an invitation by the then Lord Abbott of Pershore to the tradesmen of the town to play bowls on the lawn at the monastery, long since demolished. The Lord Abbott accepted an invitation to be the Club’s first President and continued to hold this office until 1936 when the monastery was closed and the monks moved to Nashdom Abbey in Buckinghamshire. Pershore's football club, Pershore Town F.C., play in the

West Midlands (Regional) League The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has tw ...

Premier Division. It also has a women's team, Pershore Town Ladies, who play in the new Herefordshire and Worcestershire Women's County Football League. Pershore Sports club, which houses Pershore Cricket Club who play in the Birmingham and District League, is situated at The Bottoms on Defford Road. Pershore Rugby Club has a clubhouse and pitches by the river in nearby Wyre Piddle. Pershore Tennis Club, based at the Horticultural College, has three indoor and five outdoor courts, with junior, social and adult sections. Multiple BTCC title winning team, Team Dynamics, is also based there. Wychavon Kayak & Canoe Club is situated on the river at Pershore Riverside Centre. Pershore Plum Plodders is an England Athletics affiliated running club serving Pershore and the surrounding villages. The Abbey Park includes a bowls club, children's play area and skateboard park (2006), consisting of a mini ramp and a street section.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

. Television signals can be received from either the

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

or Lark Stoke TV transmitters. Local radio stations are BBC Hereford and Worcester, Heart West Midlands,

Radio Wyvern Radio Wyvern, formerly 106.7 Youthcomm Radio, is a community radio station, licensed by Ofcom, broadcasting to Worcester, England, on 106.7FM, DAB Digital Radio in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and online. Youthcomm Radio was establish ...

, Capital Mid-Counties, Greatest Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire, and Smooth West Midlands. The town is served by the local newspaper, Evesham Journal and its own community based newspaper, The Pershore Times.

Transport

The town lies near the A44, approximately midway between Worcester and Evesham. The nearest motorways are the M5 and M50. Pershore railway station is located in the village of

. It lies 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 ...

which enables travel to London Paddington,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Pershore Old Bridge

About outside the town is Pershore Old Bridge over the River Avon. A bridge was originally built on the site in the 15th century. It was remodelled in the 17th century, after damage in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, and again in the 18th century. It is a Grade II* listed structure.

Notable people

See also
Natives * Hugh Bennett (1862–1943), cricketer. *

Claude Choules Claude Stanley Choules (; 3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011) was a British-born military serviceman from Pershore, Worcestershire, who at the time of his death was the oldest combat veteran of the World War I, First World War from England, havin ...

(1901–2011), was the world's last living veteran of both world wars and

supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...

. * Giles Collier (1622–1678), Anglican divine. * George Dowty (1901–1975), inventor and businessman. * Florence Feek (1876-1940) suffragette * George Mason I (1629–1686), progenitor of the politically significant Mason family in America. * Janet Mary Salsbury (1881-1951) composer and organist Residents * Nigel Clark, singer with pop band Dodgy * Michael Collie (1966–present), TV presenter,

BBC Midlands Today ''BBC Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasti ...

. *

Kay Kinsman Katherine Nixon Bell (June 27, 1909 – 1998), known as Kay Kinsman, was an artist, writer and student of history and languages. She is noted for her works created with watercolour or in pen and ink depicting street views and everyday life. As an a ...

, (1909-1998), visual artist and mature student at

Bishop's University Bishop's University () is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebec, Anglican Bishop of Quebec ...

, Lennoxville, Quebec * Maurice McCanlis (1906–1991), sportsman. * Charles Shadwell (1898–1979), musician. *

Toyah Willcox Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter, actress, and television presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, she has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 ...

, actor and singer, and her husband

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session mu ...

of rock band

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

Climate

Like much of the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

, Pershore has a temperate maritime climate. Maximums range from in January to in July and minimums from in February to in July. The January record high strangely occurred when it was dark; On 9 January 2015, temperatures rose to . On 12 December 1981 the lowest reading of was recorded. The warmest temperature ever recorded was on 19 July 2022. On 31 March 2021 Pershore recorded its warmest March day on record, beating the previous record set the day before. On 7 September 2021, Pershore recorded its hottest September day on record, beating the previous record set in 2005 The lowest maximum temperature ever recorded was on 14 January 1982. On 19 December 2010, Pershore recorded a maximum temperature of . This is the lowest maximum temperature on record for December in England. On the same day Pershore recorded a minimum temperature of (one of the lowest December temperatures ever recorded here) and at the same time exactly 5 years later it was (one of the highest December temperatures ever recorded here). The maximum amount of precipitation in one day was on 20 July 2007 and the highest minimum temperature was on 25 July 1989.https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/07-1989/ws-35290.html

References

External links

Pershore Tourist Information
* {{authority control Towns in Worcestershire Market towns in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire Wychavon Cotswolds