Bredon, Worcestershire

Description
Bredon, a village and a parish in Worcestershire. The village stands on the river Avon, 3 1/4 miles NE of Tewkesbury, and has a station on the M.R., and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Tewkesbury. Ranulf, grandfather of King Offa, got a grant of it from Ethelbald, King of Mercia, and founded at it a monastery, which ceased to exist before the Conquest, at which period the lands were given to the See of Worcester. The parish includes also the hamlets of Norton-by-Bredon, Hardwick-with-Mitton, Kinsham, and Westmancote, and the chapelry of Cutsdean. Acreage, 3187; population of civil parish, 1099; of ecclesiastical, with Norton, 1447. Bredon Hill separates the vales of Cotswold and Evesham, has an altitude of 960 feet, and commands an extensive prospect. It is rich in rare plants, and numerous fossils have been found in its quarries; Bam-bury Stone, a huge mass of oolitic rock on the summit, has been connected by some with the Druids. Earthworks occur on the hill, and a Roman camp, with a double trench, can be traced on the top. Coins and other Roman remains have been found. The living is a rectory, comprising the chapelries of Bredon's Norton and Cutsdean, in the diocese of Worcester, with ancient exempt jurisdiction, the rector being lord of the manor of Bredon rectory; gross value, £1600 with residence. Patron, the Duke of Portland. The church occupies the site of the ancient monastery, is an old and interesting edifice of different periods, the nave and doorways being Norman, the south chapel Early English, and the rest Decorated English; it has a central tower 72 feet high, surmounted by a graceful spire of 89 feet, and was restored in 1845. It contains a piscina, sedilia, and an aumbry, and the seats are of solid oak with carved ends. The remains of Dr. Prideaux, Bishop of Worcester in the time of Charles I., lie in the chancel; a rich monument of Giles Reed, of date 1611, is in the south chapel; there are several other ancient monuments, and also a remarkable coped high tomb in the churchyard. The tithe aim on the manor farm near the church is of immense size. There is a Baptist chapel at Westmancote.