Stourport-on-Severn

Stourport-on-Severn

High Street
Stourport-on-Severn
 Stourport-on-Severn shown within Worcestershire
Population 20,292 
OS grid referenceSO812715
   – London  135.4m 
DistrictWyre Forest
Shire countyWorcestershire
RegionWest Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN
Postcode district DY13
Dialling code 01299
Police West Mercia
Fire Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK ParliamentWyre Forest
List of places
UK
England
Worcestershire

Coordinates: 52°20′31″N 2°16′34″W / 52.34182°N 2.27624°W / 52.34182; -2.27624

Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and down stream on the River Severn from Bewdley. Stourport lies on the River Severn, and at the time of the 2011 census had a population of 20,292. [1]

In 2006, Stourport-on-Severn was granted Fairtrade Town status. [2]

History and early growth

Map of Stourport, 1942
Astley Hall, Stanley Baldwin's home between 1902 and 1947

Stourport came into being around the canal basins at the Severn terminus of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, which was completed in 1768. In 1772 the junction between the Staffordshire and Worcestershire and the Birmingham Canal was completed and Stourport became one of the principal distributing centres for goods to and from the rest of the West Midlands. The canal terminus was built on meadowland to the south west of the hamlet of Lower Mitton. The terminus was first called Stourmouth and then Newport, the final name of Stourport was settled on by 1771.

The population of Stourport rose from about 12 in the 1760s to 1300 in 1795. In 1771 John Wesley had called Stourport a "well built village" but by 1788 he noted that "where twenty years ago there was but one house; now there are two or three streets, and as trade increases it will probably grow into a considerable town". In 1790 he found the town "twice as large as two years ago".

With the completion of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal in 1816, the revenue of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal plunged sharply and from 1812 the population of Stourport scarcely rose, with many male workers leaving the town.

Stourport Road Bridge

In 1870 the Cast Iron Stourport Road Bridge across the Severn was built. It currently carries the A451 road and was refurbished in 2007 [3]

In the area close to Stourport there are several large manor and country houses, among which Witley Court, Astley Hall, Pool House, Areley Hall, Hartlebury and Abberley Hall (with its clock tower) are particularly significant. Hartlebury was the residence of the Bishops of Worcester from the early 13th century until 2007, and Astley Hall was the home of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who died here in 1947.

In 1968 the Transport Act designated the canal a "Cruise way” for pleasure purposes.[4]

The George Gilbert Scott church replaced an earlier brick church of 1782 by James Rose.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://atlas.worcestershire.gov.uk/IAS/profiles/profile?profileId=32&geoTypeId=11&geoIds=ED47
  2. ↑ http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved/campaigns/fairtrade_towns/towns_list.aspx
  3. ↑ http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/8473319.140th_anniversary_of_Stourport_Bridge/
  4. ↑ http://www.unlocking-stourports-past.co.uk/history/briefhistory.html
  5. ↑ The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 Penguin. p271

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, August 20, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.