Weobley

Weobley (/ˈwɛbli/ WEB-lee) is a large village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, it is today one of the county's black and white villages.

Weobley

Sargeants Bros bus in Weobley
Weobley
Location within Herefordshire
Population1,255 (2011)[1]
Civil parish
  • Weobley
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHEREFORD
Postcode districtHR4
Dialling code01544
PoliceWest Mercia
FireHereford and Worcester
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

History

The name possibly derives from 'Wibba's Ley', a ley being a woodland glade and Wibba being a local Saxon landowner. In the Domesday Book the village name was transcribed as Wibelai. It is still pronounced as "Web-ley" (the spelling being similar to nearby Leominster which also does not pronounce the letter 'o' in its name).

The village has early 13th century Church, St Peter and St Paul's Church, Weobley.[2] The Church has a Norman south doorway, a 13th-century chancel and 14th-century tower and a spire that is the second-tallest in the county. The church also has the tomb of Colonel John Birch. There is also castle ruins; a high school (Weobley High School) and a primary school with a pioneering system of heating.

In the village is 'the Throne', a large 400-year-old building - King Charles I spent the night here on 5 September 1645, after the Battle of Naseby during the English Civil War.

It was once incorporated as a borough, sending two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons until the Reform Act 1832, (see Weobley (UK Parliament constituency)) and once had a borough corporation.

In 2001 the artist Walenty Pytel completed a sculpture of a magpie for the village (a magpie is the village's emblem). The sculpture was commissioned after the village won the Calor Gas/Daily Telegraph Great Britain Village of the Year in 1999.[3]

On 3 August 2016, the BBC's The One Show was broadcast entirely from Weobley.

Governance

Weobley is part of the electoral ward called Golden Cross and Weobley. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 2,985.[4]

  • Colonel John Birch's tomb, St. Peter & St. Paul's Church, Weobley
  • The magpie in Weobley

References
  1. "Civil parish population 2011". Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  2. http://www.visitherefordshirechurches.co.uk/st-peter-st-paul-weobley/
  3. Palmer, Mike (10 February 2001). "Taking pride of place". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  4. "Golden Cross and Weobley ward population 2011". Retrieved 30 October 2015.
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