Bidford-on-Avon

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Bridge over the River Avon

Village from bridge

Bidford-on-Avon is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 4,830

1 Location
2 Local government
3 History
4 Bridge
5 Churches
6 Trivia
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Location

Bidford-on-Avon village is, as its name suggests, situated on the River Avon, some 7 miles downstream of Stratford-upon-Avon and about the same distance upstream of Evesham. The village grew up around an ancient ford, now replaced by a narrow stone bridge, on the Ryknild Street roman road, now a minor country road to Honeybourne 4 miles to the south. To the north Alcester is about 4 miles away, Redditch 10 miles away and Birmingham 25 miles away.

[edit] Local government

Bidford-on-Avon is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwickshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

[edit] History

William Shakespeare mentions "Drunken Bidford" in one of his plays. William Shakespeare once had a drinking compitition and then wrote a poem about 'Drunken Bidford' and 'Papist Wixford', to name but a few. There is also an ancient Saxon burial groung under the free car park located just behind Spice Avon, Formerly the pub "The Anglo-Saxon".

[edit] Bridge

lt is wider than a pack-horse bridge, suggesting that Bidford was an important river crossing. The bridge dates from the early 15th century but has been repaired many times; in the 16th century stone from Alcester's demolished priory was used. There are eight arches, with cut-waters on the upper side. In 1644 Charles I demolished the bridge to cover his retreat from Worcester to Oxford - this was repaired in 1650 by Quarter Sessions, for whom Bidford Bridge was a 'county bridge' under its control.The narrow stone bridge that replaced the ford underwent repairs as a combine harvester got stuck on the bridge and the sides had to be demolished for it to free.

[edit] Churches

St Lawrence (Anglican)
Bidford Methodist Church
St Joseph The Worker (Catholic)
Bidford on Avon Baptist Church

[edit] Trivia

The village was featured on the motoring programme Top Gear when the presenters resurfaced a local road in a day, a task that would have usually taken a whole working week.