Water Orton

Water Orton is a village near the River Tame in the North Warwickshire borough of Warwickshire in England. It is located between Castle Bromwich and Coleshill, and borders the West Midlands metropolitan county boundary to the north, west and south. At the census in 2001, the population was 3,573, falling to 3,444 at the 2011 Census.[1]

Water Orton
Water Orton
Location within Warwickshire
Population3,444 (2011)
OS grid referenceSP179927
Civil parish
  • Water Orton
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBIRMINGHAM
Postcode districtB46
PoliceWarwickshire
FireWarwickshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

Etymology

Water Orton was first documented in an Assize Roll of 1262 as Overton[2] which means farm by the bank or edge. This usage continued to be recorded through the 13th and 14th centuries, but the name Oreton is recorded in the Warwickshire Feet of Fines in 1431. Water Ouerton is used in the Parish register of Aston in 1546 and Water Ouerton al. Water Orton in the Feet of Fines of 1605 and 1652.[2]

It is now thought that Water Orton may have been included in the Domesday Book in 1086 as 'Wavre' (Over) with Castle Bromwich.[3]

History
The Chestnuts, a 15th century house in the old part of the village, may have been the old manor house

The oldest part of the village is centred on the western end of Old Church Road and was designated a conservation area in 1983.[4] This area overlooking the crossing of the River Tame formed the original medieval settlement of Overton and has seen the discovery of pottery remains dating back to the 12th century.[4] It contains a number of listed buildings including The Chestnuts, a 15th-century house with late 16th or early 17th century additions that may have been the old manor house; and Wakefield House, a timber framed house with a 17th-century main block and a 16th-century cross wing.[4]

Water Orton was originally part of the parish of Aston, forming a narrow extension of the parish along the River Tame to the north of the parish of Coleshill.[5] Until the 14th century Water Orton's inhabitants attended ordinary church services at the chapel of ease in Castle Bromwich.[5] In 1346 they built their own chapel and were granted a license to have their own priest, although they remained subject to the mother church of Aston until 1871.[5] The original chapel no longer remains but the graveyard in Old Church Road survives, including the stone village cross dating from 1347.[4]

The present Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul was built in 1879 for £4000 to a design by Bateman and Corser.[6] It had a fine spire, which unfortunately had to be dismantled in the 1980s due to the effects of atmospheric pollution.

Water Orton Bridge

Water Orton Bridge was built in 1520 by John Vesey, the wealthy Sutton Coldfield-born Bishop of Exeter.[7] It replaced an earlier bridge that was recorded as being in a poor state in 1459 when Reginald Boulers, the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, offered to issue an indulgence to anybody who would contribute to its repair.[5]

Until the 1840s Water Orton was mainly an agricultural village, but this changed with the coming of the railways. The first one was from Birmingham to Derby via Water Orton, Coleshill, Whitacre Heath and Tamworth. Later a junction was constructed and another line was built via Kingsbury to Tamworth. The lines pass through the centre of the village. The present railway station dates from 1908 and is the second station. There were extensive sidings and much commercial traffic here, especially during and after the Second World War, until the activities of Dr Beeching in the 1960s. An effect of the railway was to increase house building in the village. Commuters could now make the journey to Birmingham's Lawley Street and Curzon Street (later New Street) Railway Stations in a shorter time than by road. This made the village an ideal residential area for Birmingham professionals who wanted to get away from the city and live in the country. The railway also brought the Meat Industry here. There were large stock yards near the sidings and next to the Dog Inn in Marsh Lane. Cattle were offloaded from rail wagons into pens, then driven two miles down the road to butchers' slaughter houses in Castle Bromwich, when meat was provided for nearby villages.

Features

There is a grade II listed bridge,[8] which is scheduled as an Ancient Monument, over the River Tame on the road to Minworth. It was built by Bishop John Vesey of Sutton Coldfield in 1520.

Transport

The village is close to the M6, M6 toll and M42 motorways. Water Orton railway station was built in 1842 and is located at the junction of the B4118 and Birmingham Road. The station has limited services to Birmingham and Leicester. The village is also served by the X70 bus to Birmingham and Chelmsley Wood via Coleshill.

Notable residents and organisations

References
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. "Water Orton (Settlement) located in the Parish of Water Orton". The Historical Gazetteer of England's Place-Names. Queen's University Belfast, the University of Nottingham, the University of Edinburgh and King's College London. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. Gethin, Bryn; Wright, Kevin (2012). Plank Lane, Water Orton, Warwickshire: Archaeological Evaluation (Report). Archaeology Warwickshire Report. 1208. Archaeology Warwickshire. p. 5. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  4. "Water Orton Conservation Area - Designation Report". Conservation areas in the Borough of North Warwickshire (Report). North Warwickshire Borough Council. 1995. pp. 89–96. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  5. Salzman, L. F., ed. (1947). "Parishes: Water Orton". A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 4, Hemlingford Hundred. Victoria County History. London. pp. 262–263. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  6. Nikolaus Pevsner and Alexandra Wedgwood, The Buildings of England, Warwickshire, 1966, ISBN 0-14-071031-0
  7. Historic England. "Water Orton Bridge (332032)". PastScape. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  8. Listed Buildings in North Warwickshire, 25 April 2016
  9. Pierce, Kevin (1992). "Nick Gilbert Interviewed". Absolute Classic Masterpieces (CD booklet). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  • Walmley and its surroundings (Chapter VIII: Water Orton), Douglas V. Jones, 1990, Westwood Press (ISBN 0-948025-11-5)
  • Water Orton Station
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