Do you have some knowledge about what Warndon Parish used to be like? 

Do you have any photographs of a time when this area was just fields, or under construction?

If so we would like to here from you.  This page/chapter is awaiting further information from you the residents.  Perhaps you have photos of your area both now and before it was built?

We want to make this page a special interests page to both new residents, children and visitors alike.  By looking to the past we can help shape the future.

The Parish Council

Parish Councils were established by an Act of Parliament in 1894. Prior to this local affairs were dealt with by Vestry meetings held in the Parish Church after Sunday morning service. The meetings dealt with church affairs and also they looked after the old, poor and sick, appointed church wardens, sextons and village constables ! With the passing of the Act, civil matters became the prerogative of the Parish Council, whilst church affairs became the business of the parochial church councils.

The Council in the making...

Warndon Parish Council was inaugurated in August 1984 by a group of residents living in Heron Grange, to be able to comment with authority on the Worcester Local plan. It is true to say that certain members of the City Council were against the formation of the council, but lost the day. They were supported by residents who lived in the Trotshill area and as time progressed, other Councillors have been elected or co-opted from other parts of the Parish.

The Council began with five members and a part-time clerk.
In 1996 there were some minor boundary changes and the
number of councillors was increased to seven.
There were major changes in 2002 as explained in the
adjacent column, resulting in the number being increased
to eight where in remains today, still with a part-time clerk
 

The Council and it's relationship with the City and County Councils

When the Parish Council was first formed it was part of St.Martin’s Electoral Ward with an estimated population of 12000 adults when all the building was completed. It was overseen by one County Councillor and three City Councillors.

In 2002 the Government decided that councillors should be more accessible
to the people and recommended that each councillor should have approximately 2000 constituents.
This major Electoral Review meant radical changes to the City Ward boundaries and resulted in the parish being divorced from ‘old’ Warndon (which is now Gorse Hill & Warndon) and known officially as Warndon Parish.

For electoral purposes the parish was divided into North and South, with the boundary being the end of the back gardens of the houses starting in Middle Hollow and along Trotshill Lane. Although the parish councillors are nominally elected for each ward they are collectively responsible for the administration of the whole parish.
There is one County Councillor and four City councillors, two in each ward.

The voting population at the time was 3898 in the north and 3663 in the south. Currently in 2008 the north has 4063 and the south 3886, so the original figure was well calculated.
The parish is unusual as, along with St.Peter’s, it is within the city boundary and thus all the services are provided by the County and City Councils.
 

What's in a name..??

The concept of a civil parish within a city causes confusion, more so in our case because there is a mix of areas. The major part is the new houses and because the city planners came up with the excellent idea of the "hamlet" or "village" style of development, this gave the Developer's marketing people an ideal name - "Warndon Villages", but it ignored the rest of the parish - The result was that not even the City Council, in committee reports, could not adequately differentiate between the "old" area of Warndon, and the "new". Hence the Parish Council suggested to them that "old" Warndon is referred to as "Warndon" and we are referred to as "Warndon Parish". This is now the official title.

The Parish Boundary

The boundary in the North starts at the M5 Junction 6, follows the Worcester/Birmingham Canal to Blackpole Road, then along Cotswold Way to Wall Meadow. It follows the closed part of Tolladine Road to Middle Hollow, and then continues along Tolladine Road to the entrance to the golf club (next to The Fairway), skirting the golf course along the back of the houses to open space to the rear of Ronkswood Hospital. It cuts Aconbury Close to Aconbury Farm, out onto Newtown Road across the fields behind County Hall, to Swinesherd, then north inside the M5 back to Junction 6 and the A449.

Click HERE and see the Parish Boundary Map.

OLD COUNTY MAP

A short history of Warndon

Warndon is situated on an ancient Saltway, a track used to transport salt from Droitwich Spa to Worcester and then on to boats on the Severn. The earliest church record of Warndon dates from 978AD when Bishop Oswald gave land in the Parish to Aethenoth of Smite, when the Parish was held by the Bishops of Worcester (ref C. Monkhouse). The settlement was recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 when it was spelt "WARMEDUN".

The Ordanance Survey map of 1970 shows the area as farm and woodland with farms named

• Great Tolladine (the house at the Poacher's Pocket) 

• Little Tolladine (underneath Berkeley Beverborne)

• Warndon Court (the 15th century, Grade 2 listed farmhouse now restored)

• Trotshill (the house used by Beazer/Bryant consortium as offices until 1996)

• Aconbury (only the orchard remains)

• Lyppard Grange, (demolished in 1992 to make way for the local centre).

The Church held the land until 1086 when they sold it to the Poer family. It then passed through the Bracy family to the Lygons and eventually to the Berkeleys who owned it from 1594 until 1986 when they sold it to the Developers. For hundreds of years the whole area was farmland.

The oldest was Lyppard Grange farmed by the monks from Worcester Priory. ` from the 11th and 15th centuries.
(See a leaflet - the History of Lyppard Grange published by the City Council)

Warndon Court (recently restored as a private home) is a Grade 2* listed building. It was originally a farmhouse built in the 15th century.There were three other farms all built around 1840. Trotshill, which is now a private home, was used as the offices by the Beazer/Bryant consortium, the developer for the northern part of the parish.

Of the other two, Great Tolladine farmhouse is still standing in the grounds of the Barn Owl public house, whilst Little Tolladine lies beneath Bodiam Close in Berkeley Beverborne.

Conservation areas.
There are two in the Parish - The first is Warndon Court, which includes St. Nicholas Church (parts of which date from the 12th Century) and the Old Parsonage (a Grade 2 listed, 15th Century house). The second is Trotshill Lane (both sections), with several houses dating from the 17/18th century.

Development
The first phase of the Local Development Plan was Heron Grange built in 1979. The ‘big build’ began in 1989 with Beazer/ Bryant starting at Wall Meadow in the northern part of the parish and then moving south, where the Heron/Prowting consortium began at Home Meadow and went on to complete the southern section.

The last phases were the affordable housing developments at Swallowfield and Huxley.

Other small builds have taken place. Four houses at The Fairway and conversions at Middle Hollow. The last plot of land is at Mabs Orchard were permission has been given for the erection of a mixed development of 34 house with adjacent allotments and a kick-about area.

The population has grown from 141 adults in 1901 to just under 8000 in 2009. In addition there are approximately 2000 under18s.
 

WARNDON PARISH OLD BOUNDARY MAP