Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 20,292.

History and early growth

Stourport came into being around the canal basins at the Severn terminus of the

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...

, which was completed in 1768. In 1772 the junction between the Staffordshire and Worcestershire and the Birmingham Canal was completed and Stourport became one of the principal distributing centres for goods to and from the rest of the West Midlands. The canal terminus was built on meadowland to the south west of the hamlet of Lower Mitton. The terminus was first called Stourmouth and then Newport, with the final name of Stourport settled on by 1771. The population of Stourport rose from about 12 in the 1760s to 1300 in 1795. In 1771

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

had called Stourport a "well built village" but by 1788 he noted that "where twenty years ago there was but one house; now there are two or three streets, and as trade increases it will probably grow into a considerable town". In 1790 he found the town "twice as large as two years ago". With the completion of the

Worcester and Birmingham Canal The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn (just after the river lock) and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long. There ar ...

in 1816, the revenue of the

plunged sharply and from 1812 the population of Stourport scarcely rose, with many male workers leaving the town. Severn_River,_Stourport_Road_Bridge_(82)

Severn_River,_Stourport_Road_Bridge_(82)

In the area close to Stourport there are several large

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

and

country houses An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

, among which Witley Court,

Astley Hall Astley Hall may refer to * Astley Hall (Chorley), country house in Lancashire, England * Astley Hall (Stourport-on-Severn) Astley Hall is a country house in Astley near Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England. The hall was the home of Pr ...

, Pool House, Areley Hall,

Hartlebury Hartlebury is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England which is in Wychavon district centred south of Kidderminster. The civil parish registered a population of 2,549 in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census. The Hartlebury ra ...

and Abberley Hall (with its

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

) are particularly significant. Hartlebury was the residence of the Bishops of Worcester from the early 13th century until 2007, and Astley Hall was the home of Prime Minister

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

, who died here in 1947. The

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

church replaced an earlier brick church of 1782 by James Rose. This building was never finished, and after suffering storm damage, had to be partly demolished. The current St. Michael's church sits partially within its ruins. The Font was salvaged from the ruins of the old church, and is still used in the current building. In 1944, this was the location of a famous address to the troops, by USA General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

. In 1968 the Transport Act designated the canal a "Cruise way" for pleasure purposes. The town is the birth place of singer-songwriter

Clifford T. Ward Clifford Thomas Ward (10 February 1944 – 18 December 2001) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for his career as a solo artist. Ward's 1973 album '' Home Thoughts'' remains his best known recording and he had hit singles with "G ...

References

External links

The official Stourport-on-Severn website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stourport-On-Severn Populated places on the River Severn Towns in Worcestershire Market towns in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire Wyre Forest District

History and early growth

See also

References

External links