Strensham is a village in the
Wychavon district of
Worcestershire. In the 2001 census, the
civil parish of Strensham had a population of 314 across 127 households.
Since 1991, the population has risen 28.7% from 244 residents.
History

The
Church of St John the Baptist lies in Lower Strensham atop a hill overlooking the
River Avon, constructed in the 14th century.
Strensham was once part of the
Royal forest of
Horewell. The woodlands were mostly removed around the time of the Civil War.
Geography
The eastern edge of the parish lies on the banks of the River Avon, while the
River Severn is to the west.
Both rivers converge to the south in the
Gloucestershire town of
Tewkesbury.
Nearby villages include
Twyning
Twyning is a village and civil parish on the River Avon in the north of Gloucestershire, near Tewkesbury, England. The parish is first mentioned in the Liber Wigorniensis in about 1016, where it is called Tuinaeum, part of Gretestane in the co ...
,
Bredon
Bredon is a village and civil parish in Wychavon district at the southern edge of Worcestershire in England. It lies on the banks of the River Avon on the lower slopes of Bredon Hill.
Location and geography
Bredon is located 3 miles (5 km) ...
,
Eckington and
Ripple. The town of
Upton-upon-Severn lies to the north west.
Strensham services
The village gives its name to a
motorway service area located just to the north of the village on the
M5 motorway which opened with the motorway in 1962. The
Midlands Air Ambulance service has been operating one of its helicopters from the services site since 1991 following a deal with the then operator, Take a Break.
Strensham Court
Strensham Court was an early 19th-century country house in a landscaped park. It was built of
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
in two storeys to a rectangular plan. A substantial portico was added later with large Ionic pillars.
The manor of Strensham belonged historically to the Russell family. The Strensham estate was purchased in 1817 from descendants of the Russell family by John Taylor, grandson of
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to:
Academics
*John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487
*John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar
*John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
, the wealthy Birmingham industrialist. He had a new building constructed in 1824 to replace an earlier house on the site. Taylor was
High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1817 and died unmarried in 1848. The property passed to his brother James who died soon after, then to James's son James Arthur (
MP, died 1889) and to the latter's son Arthur James.
The house was vacated in 1935 and demolished after a fire in 1974.
Notable residents

*
Samuel Butler, a poet, was baptized in the village in February 1613. He was buried in St Paul's, Covent Garden and a memorial later placed in
Westminster Abbey
*
Treadway Russell Nash, Rector in 1792, partly responsible for re-popularising Butler
References
External links
Strensham Parish Council
{{authority control
Villages in Worcestershire
Wychavon