Moreton-in-Marsh
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  Map sources for Moreton-in-Marsh at grid reference SP206322
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Moreton-in-Marsh is a town in Gloucestershire, England. The name "Moreton" derives from "Farmstead on the Moor," while "Marsh" may be a corruption of “march”, which means "boundary." A mile west of Moreton the Four Shires Stone marks what was the boundary of the historic counties of Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Oxfordshire.
Moreton is located at the junction of the Roman Fosse Way (now the A429) and the A44 and has a railway station on the Cotswold line. In the nineteenth century the town was also the southern terminus of the horse-drawn Stratford and Moreton Tramway. The town's environs are quite flat and low-lying. During World War II, a large area of this flat land to the east of the town was made into an airfield and used by Wellington Bombers. The airfield may have inspired the title of the radio show Much Binding in the Marsh.
The former airfield is now home to the Fire Service College where senior fire officers from brigades all over the UK undergo operational, management and leadership training. The same complex is also now the headquarters of the Institution of Fire Engineers, the professional body for fire fighters, officers and civilians with an interest in fire engineering.
Moreton has many buildings in characteristic Cotswold stone, numerous antique shops and several hotels. A Caravan Club site is a short walk east on the Broadway road (A44), past a museum devoted to the Wellington bomber . Other local attactions include Batsford Arboretum (near Batsford village)and the “onion-domed” Sezincote house and gardens. Moreton is also the headquarters of the railway spot-hire company Cotswold Rail.
[edit] See also
Moreton in Marsh & Batsford War Memorial, Gloucestershire
[edit] External links
- Town Web-site
- A few old postcards of Moreton-in-Marsh
- Wellington Aviation Museum
- Sezincote house and gardens
- Batsford Arboretum
