Mickleton, Gloucestershire Explained

Official Name:Mickleton
Static Image Name:Mickleton viewsouth 02.JPG
Static Image Caption:View over Mickleton
Coordinates:52.0924°N -1.7664°W
Population:1,677
Population Ref:(2011 Census)
Os Grid Reference:SP161438
Civil Parish:Mickleton
Shire District:Cotswold
Shire County:Gloucestershire
Region:South West England
Country:England
Post Town:CHIPPING CAMPDEN
Postcode Area:GL
Postcode District:GL55
Dial Code:01386, 01789
Constituency Westminster:The Cotswolds
Website:Mickleton Parish Council

Mickleton is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. The village is the northernmost settlement in Gloucestershire,[1] lying close to the borders with Worcestershire and Warwickshire, 3miles north of Chipping Campden, 8miles east of Evesham and 8miles south of Stratford-upon-Avon. The population of the parish was 1,677 at the 2011 Census.[2]

Location

The village lies at the western edge of the Cotswold escarpment in the Vale of Evesham.

Attractions

Mickleton is noted for its market gardening and vegetable growing[3] Young plants, seed plugs, apples, cauliflowers and asparagus, or gras, are grown locally. Meon Hill, the scene of the so-called 'witchcraft' murder of Charles Walton in 1945, lies to the north of the village. Meon Hill is said to have inspired Tolkien's 'Weathertop' from The Lord of the Rings[4] According to legend, Meon Hill was formed by the Devil. He intended to throw a clod of earth at Evesham Abbey but missed, and the earth formed the hill.[5]

Mickleton has two old pubs, King's Arms and Butcher's Arms, and a hotel, Three Ways House Hotel. Sited on a green in front of the hotel is a memorial fountain by the Victorian architect William Burges.[6]

The Church of St Lawrence is an Anglican parish church. It contains a memorial to Utrecia Smith, the daughter of a curate of Mickleton whose father was also a schoolmaster. Utrecia had been the fiancée of the writer Richard Graves (who broke off their engagement); she died in 1744 aged 30.[7] At the heart of village activities is King George's Hall, located at the center of the village and home to the many clubs and societies that thrive in the village.

The Heart of England Way runs through the village. The village has many B&Bs that have been set up privately in people's own homes Local market towns and villages include Broadway, Chipping Campden, Stratford-upon-Avon, Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham.

Both Hidcote Manor Garden and Kiftsgate Court Gardens are located nearby.

Notable residents

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Our Village . The Mickleton Society . 30 October 2023.
  2. Web site: Parish population 2011. 22 March 2015.
  3. Web site: Guide to Mickleton, Gloucestershire . Country Life . 27 October 2019.
  4. Web site: 10 beautiful north Cotswold villages you need to visit . Cotswold Life . 27 October 2019.
  5. Book: Ash, Russell . 1973 . Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain . Reader's Digest Association Limited . 325 . 9780340165973 .
  6. Book: Verey . David. Brooks. Alan . 2000 . Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds. The Buildings of England. Penguin . 477 . 0140710981.
  7. Evans, Herbert A. (1927) Highways and Byways in Oxford and the Cotswolds. London: Macmillan; p. 217