Strensham

History

The name Strensham derives from the Old English Strengshām or Strengshamm, meaning 'Streng's village/hemmed-in land'.

The Church of St John the Baptist lies in Lower Strensham atop a hill overlooking the River Avon, constructed in the 14th century.

Strensham was once part of the Royal forest of Horewell. The woodlands were mostly removed around the time of the English Civil War.

Geography

The eastern edge of the parish lies on the banks of the River Avon, while the River Severn is 2 mi to the west. Both rivers converge 4 mi to the south in the Gloucestershire town of Tewkesbury.

Nearby villages include Twyning, Bredon, Eckington and Ripple. The town of Upton-upon-Severn lies 3 mi to the north west.

Transport

On 19 May 1966, in Nottingham, two new proposed 54-mile motorways were announced, planned by five counties. One motorway would join the M1 at Lockington in Leicestershire, and to join the M5 at Rashwood in Worcestershire. This became the M42. The A42 would later terminate at Lockington.

The proposed 54-mile M69 motorway was planned to extend through Warwickshire to Strensham, on the M5. This extension of the M69 was largely built as the dual carriageway A46, around Warwick.

Strensham services

Main article: Strensham services

The village gives its name to a motorway service area located just to the north of the village on the M5 motorway which opened with the motorway in 1962. The Midlands Air Ambulance service has been operating one of its helicopters from the services site since 1991 following a deal with the then operator, Take a Break.

Strensham Court

Strensham Court was an early 19th-century country house in a landscaped park. It was built of ashlar in two storeys to a rectangular plan. A substantial portico was added later with large Ionic pillars.

The manor of Strensham belonged historically to the Russell family. The Strensham estate was purchased in 1817 from descendants of the Russell family by John Taylor, grandson of John Taylor, the wealthy Birmingham industrialist. He had a new building constructed in 1824 to replace an earlier house on the site. Taylor was High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1817 and died unmarried in 1848. The property passed to his brother James who died soon after, then to James's son James Arthur (MP, died 1889) and to the latter's son Arthur James.

The house was vacated in 1935, occupied during World War II by the Convent School from Acocks Green in Birmingham, thereafter becoming derelict, and demolished after a fire in November 1974.

Notable residents

• Samuel Butler, a poet, was baptized in the village in February 1613. He was buried in St Paul's, Covent Garden and a memorial later placed in Westminster Abbey
• Treadway Russell Nash, Rector in 1792, partly responsible for re-popularising Butler

References

References

1. "Archived copy".
2. "Parishes: Strensham | British History Online".
3. "Gazetteer (how far)". GENUKI.
4. "Strensham". The Institute for Name-Studies.
5. (2006). "Church of St John the Baptist, Strensham". Heritage Gateway ([[English Heritage]], Institute of Historic Building Conservation and [[ALGAO.
6. • 'Parishes: Pershore, St Andrew with Defford and Wick', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 4, ed. William Page and J W Willis-Bund (London, 1924), pp. 163–177 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol4/pp163-177 [accessed 30 August 2015]
7. ''Nottingham Evening Post'' Thursday 19 May 1966, page 1
8. ''Birmingham Daily Post'' Saturday 4 June 1966, page 29
9. (6 May 1998). "Ambulance lands a new base - on the M5". Birmingham Evening Mail.
10. "Strensham Court, Strensham". British Listed Buildings.
11. "Strensham Court, England Record Id: 3163". Parks and Gardens.
12. "A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4". British History Online.
13. "Strensham". Worcesterbmsgh.co.uk.