Honeybourne

Honeybourne
The Thatched Tavern
Population	1,619 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SP1144
Civil parish	Honeybourne
District	Wychavon
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	EVESHAM
Postcode district	WR11
Dialling code	01386
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands

Honeybourne is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) east of Evesham in Worcestershire, England. Much of the parish is farmland. RAF Honeybourne just south of the village was operational from 1940 until 1947.

History

Honeybourne was two villages: Church Honeybourne was in Worcestershire while Cow Honeybourne was in Gloucestershire. Boundary changes in 1931 moved Cow Honeybourne into Worcestershire and the two parishes were united in 1958. Honeybourne has several historic timber framed and thatched buildings. The Thatched Tavern in Cow Honeybourne has a cruck truss.

Parish churches

In Church Honeybourne the Church of England parish church of Saint Ecgwin was consecrated in 1295. Its antiquity is reflected in a local rhyme "when Evesham was bush and thorn there was a church at Honeybourne". Its nave and chancel appear to be original late 13th century structures. There was a south aisle, but it was demolished and its windows re-set in the south wall of the nave. The bell tower has a Decorated Gothic spire with three tiers of lucarnes. The south porch is a late mediaeval Perpendicular Gothic addition.

In Cow Honeybourne the parish church has a 15th-century Perpendicular Gothic west tower and formerly had an ornate Elizabethan pulpit. The church was used as almshouses from the 16th to the 19th century. Apart from the tower, the church was rebuilt in 1861-63 to designs by the Worcester Diocesan Architect W.J. Hopkins. The church has since been made redundant, deconsecrated and converted to private houses.

Amenities

Honeybourne has two public houses: the Gate Inn and the 13th century Thatched Tavern. Other amenities include The Ranch, and Honeybourne Pottery.

Education

Honeybourne Primary Academy teaches children between the ages of four and 11. Honeybees Nursery takes children between the ages of two and four.

Railways

Great Western Railway (train operating company) serves Honeybourne railway station on the Cotswold Line with direct train services to Worcester Shrub Hill, Oxford and London Paddington.

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was built through the parish in the 1840s and opened Honeybourne station. The Great Western Railway took over the OW&W in 1862 and enlarged Honeybourne station in the 1900s when it built the railway between Stratford-upon-Avon and Cheltenham Spa.

British Railways closed the Honeybourne Line between Stratford and Cheltenham, reduced the OW&W line to single track and in 1969 closed Honeybourne station. However, with increased use of the Cotswold Line, the station was re-opened in 1981 with a single platform; work completed in 2011 saw this part of the line restored to double track and Network Rail enlarged Honeybourne to two platforms with a rather large, wheelchair-accessible bridge.

There is a good business case to restore the Stratford-Cotwolds link line.

Honeybourne railway station with a British Rail Class 43 (HST).

In July 2015 a drunken squirrel caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage to the Honeybourne Railway Club, when it emptied an entire barrel of beer onto the floor and knocked glasses and bottles from the shelves.

Sources

• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1968). The Buildings of England: Worcestershire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 119, 125.

External links

Media related to Honeybourne at Wikimedia Commons