BREDON - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"BREDON, a parish partly in the upper, partly in the middle division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, in the county of Worcester, 2 miles to the N. of Ashchurch. Tewkesbury is its post town. It is a station on the Bristol and Birmingham section of the Midland railway. The parish is situated on the border of Gloucestershire, on the E. bank of the river Avon, and contains the chapelries of Norton-by-Bredon, Cutsdean (which is about 12 miles distant from Bredon, in the upper division of the hundred), and the hamlets of Hardwick, Mitton, Kinsham, and Westmancote.

A small monastery was founded here during the Saxon period, which was given, before the Norman Conquest, to the see of Worcester; and in the churchyard may still be seen several ancient tombs of monastic dignitaries, probably superiors of this house. To the N.E. of the village is Bredon Hill, rising to the height of 900 feet, and commanding a wide and splendid prospect over the surrounding beautiful country, including the vales of Eversham and Cotswold, the towns of Cheltenham, Gloucester, and Tewkesbury, the course of the Severn and Avon, the Malvern Hills, the mountains of South Wales, &c. On the summit of the hill, which is green to the top, is an ancient encampment, covering about 20 acres, and surrounded by a double trench. Some of the villagers are employed in stocking-weaving.

The living is a rectory* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] in the diocese of Worcester, of the annual value, with the perpetual curacies of Norton and Cutsdean annexed, of £2,300, in the patronage of the Duke of Portland. The church, which is very old, is dedicated to St. Giles, and was restored with much taste in 1845, when if was re-roofed. The tower rises upon arches between the nave and chancel, and is surmounted by an elegant spire. It has a porch of Saxon architecture, and contains monuments to Giles Reed, who died in 1611, and one to Dr. Prideaux, Bishop of Worcester in the reign of Charles I., but deprived of his see during the Civil War.

There is a Baptist chapel at Kinsham. The charitable endowments of the parish are of considerable value, producing altogether about £366 per annum. The principal foundations are the free school for boys, founded by William Hancock in 1718, and rebuilt in 1845, which has a revenue of £130; and Reed's almshouses for eight poor women, the revenue of which is £143. In the parish is Wollashill Hall, an ancient mansion, formerly the seat of the Hanford family. Bredon Hill is a meet for the Worcester hounds."
"HARDWICK, a hamlet in the parish of Bredon, county Worcester, 2 miles N.E. of Tewkesbury. It is situated on the river Avon, near the Birmingham and Gloucester railway, and is united to Mitton."
"KINSHAM, a hamlet in the parish of Bredon, county Worcester, 3 miles N. E. of Tewkesbury."
"MITTON, a hamlet in the parish of Bredon, county Worcester, 2 miles N.E. of Tewkesbury. It is joined with Hardwick to form a township."
"WESTMANCOTE, a hamlet in the parish of Bredon, middle division of Oswaldslow hundred, county Worcester, 5 miles N.E. of Tewkesbury. It is situated under Bredon Hill, near the line of the Birmingham and Gloucester railway. The Baptists have a chapel."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]