Little Washbourne Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Little Washbourne
Coordinates:52°N -2.015°W
Static Image Name:The_Hobnails_Inn%2C_Little_Washbourne_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1537606.jpg
Static Image Caption:Hobnails Inn, Little Washbourne
Shire District:Tewkesbury
Shire County:Gloucestershire
Region:South West England
Civil Parish:Dumbleton
Constituency Westminster:Tewkesbury
Post Town:Tewkesbury
Postcode District:GL20
Postcode Area:GL
Os Grid Reference:SO991335
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Little Washbourne is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dumbleton, in the Tewkesbury district, in Gloucestershire, England, 6miles east of Tewkesbury and 6miles west of Evesham. In 1931 the parish had a population of 27.[1]

St Mary's Church dates from the 12th century, and is a Grade II* listed building.

History

Little Washbourne was first mentioned in a copy of a document dated to 780, in the form Uassanburnan. The name is from the Old English wæsse (genitive wæssan), meaning "swamp", and burna, meaning "stream", and so means "stream with land subject to flooding". "Little" was added much later (first recorded in the 17th century), to distinguish the place from Great Washbourne.

In 780 Offa, King of Mercia, gave land there to the monks of Worcester, and as a result the manor became a detached part of Worcestershire, separated from the rest of the county by Great Washbourne in Gloucestershire. It formed a hamlet of the Worcestershire parish of Overbury. In the 13th century the manor was held by a family who took the name Washbourne, from the place.[2]

In 1844 Little Washbourne was transferred to Gloucestershire under the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844. It became a civil parish in 1866, but on 1 April 1935 the civil parish was abolished and merged into the parish of Dumbleton.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Population statistics Little Washbourne Hmlt/CP through time. A Vision of Britain through Time. 6 December 2022.
  2. Web site: Parishes: Overbury. Victoria County History. A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 3. 1913. 468–478. 25 August 2017.
  3. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10395150 Vision of Britain website