The Go West Heritage Knights are challenging heritage detectives to discover which parishes in the Pershore Hundred belonged to Pershore Abbey (St Mary) and which belonged to Westminster Abbey (St Peter).
FOR INFORMATION
THE HUNDRED OF PERSHORE 1904 as recorded in THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER edited by William Page and J Willis-Bund (London 1924).
Nearly the whole district now comprised in the hundred of Pershore originally belonged to Pershore Abbey having probably formed part of its earlier endowments. In a Charter of King Edgar dated 972. the lands granted are said to have seen given to the Abbey by Coenwulf, Edgar’s predecessor at the request of the ealdorman Beornorth.
Nearly half of this property was taken from Pershore Abbey and later given by Edward the Confessor as the Manor of Pershore to the refounded monastery at Westminster. In the Domesday Survey the hundred of Pershore is not mentioned, but the lands afterwards contained in it were then comprised in the possessions of Westminster Abbey belonging to the Manor of Pershore and the lands of St. Mary of Pershore (see the rest of the article in Bristish History Online: The Hundred of PershoreI Introduction.)
Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Hundred of Pershore was shared by the Abbots of Westminster and Pershore and in 1542 was granted to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster as all those lets and views of frank[ledge of *Calcot and Rydgrene* and it has since remained in the possession of the dean and chapter.
Calcot was in the town of Pershore, near the site of the abbey(today a street carries the name)
Rhyd Green is on the boundary between Hanley Castle and Malvern
FOR INFORMATION: These are the parishes included in the 1904 list.
ABBERTON*
ALDERMINSTER
BEOLEY*
BESFORD
BELLINGHAM
BIRTSMORTON
BROADWAY*
BROUGHTON HACKETT*
BUSHLEY
CASTLEMORTON
CHACELEY
GREAT COMBERTON*
LITTLE COMBERTON*
DORMSTON
ECKINGTON
ELDERSFLIELD
FLYFORD FLAVEL*
GRAFTON FLYFORD
HANLEY CASTLE
LEIGH WITH BRANSFORD*
LONGDON
MADRESFIELD
GREAT MALVERN WITH NEWLAND
MARTIN HUSSINGTREE*
MATHON
NAUNTON BEAUCHAMP*
PEOPLETON*
BOROUGH OF PERSHORE
PERSHORE, HOLY CROSS WITH WADBOROUGH AND WALCOT CUM MEMERIS
PERSHORE, ST ANDREW WITH DEFFORD PENSHAM, PINVIN* & WICK*
NORTH PIDDLE*
PIRTON*
POWICK WITH CLEVELODE AND WOODSFIELD
SEVERN STOKE*
STAUNTON
STRENSHAM*
UPTON SNODSBURY*
UPTON UPON SEVERN*
NOTE
PLACES IN BOLD - already covered
PLACES WITH * currently under investigation and for which photographs are needed.
MORE INFORMATION
These are the places with Anglican churches today that are included in the Deanery of Pershore. One might imagine that they were all in the Pershore Hundred but were they?
Abberton*
Flyford Flavell
Grafton Flyford.
North Piddle
Naunton Beauchamp
Bishampton
Bredon
Bredon’s Norton
Defford cum Besford
Eckington
Elmley Castle w Netherton
Bricklehampton
Great Comberton
Little Comberton
Fladbury
Wyre Piddle
Moor
Cropthorne w Charlton
Overbury
Teddington
Alstone
Beckford
Ashton-under-Hill
Peopleton
White Ladies Aston w Churchill
Spetchley
Upton Snodsbury
Broughton Hackett
Pershore Holy Cross
Pinvin
Wick
Birlingham
Stoulton w Drakes Broughton
Pirton
Norton juxta Kempsey
NOTE. The parishes in bold were all investigated by heritage detectives in the PBHQ. The remainder need to be investigated. Download a working copy of this list and see if you can fill in the gaps.