Rock, Worcestershire Explained

Country:England
Coordinates:52.3387°N -2.3894°W
Official Name:Rock
Population:2366
Static Image Name:The Rock Cross Inn - geograph.org.uk - 937551.jpg
Static Image Width:250px
Static Image Caption:The Rock Cross Inn, Rock
Shire District:Wyre Forest
Shire County:Worcestershire
Region:West Midlands
Civil Parish:Rock
Postcode District:DY14
Postcode Area:DY
Post Town:KIDDERMINSTER
Os Grid Reference:SO735712

Rock is a village and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England, which lies south-west of Bewdley. It had a population of 2,366 in 2001.[1]

In the parish is Fingerpost, the junction of the A456 and A4117 roads. The parish council erected a large commemorative stone near the junction for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.[2]

The Church of St Peter and St Paul contains a number of Herefordshire School Romanesque carvings.[3] The local church has a major congregation, and the village hall always has local events taking place from wedding functions to the Rock Show.

The Bewdley School and Sixth Form Centre provides secondary education for pupils from the area.

History

See also: History of Worcestershire.

Rock was in the lower division of Doddingtree Hundred.[4] It is a geographically large civil parish, embracing various settlements including Far Forest.

There is a moated site, and earthworks showing remains of a medieval village, near the church.

A grammar school was established in King Edward VI's reign.

Mary Whitehouse, the TV/radio clean-up campaigner and founder of Mediawatch UK, was reportedly living at Triangle Farm farmhouse in Rock just before moving to Essex in 1975.[5]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790558 Census 2001
  2. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3240535 Geograph
  3. [Malcolm Thurlby|Thurlby, Malcolm]
  4. Worcestershire Family History Guidebook, Vanessa Morgan, 2011, p20 The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
  5. News: Fearsome Mary and her fight to rid TV of 'filth'. Shropshire Star. 11 October 2021. 29. Report by Toby Neal, part of 'Great Lives' series on Midlands worthies, which noted she was reportedly living there in April 1975.