Birtsmorton

Birtsmorton is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills of Worcestershire, England, which at the 2001 census had a population of 250. It is in the south-west of the county, not far from the borders with Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

Birtsmorton
Birtsmorton Church
Birtsmorton Location within Worcestershire
Population	250
OS grid reference	SO799355
• London	100 miles (160 km)
Civil parish	Birtsmorton
District	Malvern Hills
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MALVERN
Postcode district	WR13
Dialling code	01684
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	West Worcestershire

History

The church is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul and dates from the 14th century.[1] There is a large manor house, Birtsmorton Court, which is used today as a wedding venue.[2] It was the home for many centuries of the Nanfan family, some of whose tombs are in the church.

In 1703, the Rev. Samuel Juice, a former rector, endowed a village school in Rye Street. [3]

Birtsmorton was the birthplace of the chairmaker Philip Clissett who lived in the parish from his birth in 1817 until about 1842.[4]

Toponymy

The village belonged to the Le Bret family from the 12th century onwards. Bret means Breton. The same family name is associated with Westonbirt House near Tetbury, Gloucestershire.[5]

References

1. "St Peter & St Paul, Birtsmorton - a church near you". Archived from the original on 13 May 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
2. Birtsmorton Court Archived January 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
3. British History Online "Birtsmorton". Online reference
4. Rowell, T.A. "Philip Clissett, Chairmaker 1817-1913". Retrieved 6 July 2013.
5. Ekwall, Eilert (1951). Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. 3rd ed., reprinted with corrections. Oxford University Press. pp. 316, 485.