Powick

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Coordinates: 52°09′41″N 2°14′47″W / 52.161267°N 2.2463°W

Powick
The Red Lion
Powick Powick shown within Worcestershire
OS grid reference	SO833513
Civil parish	Powick
District	Malvern Hills
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WORCESTER
Postcode district	WR2
Dialling code	01905
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	West Worcestershire
List of places UK England Worcestershire

Powick is a Worcestershire village two miles south of the city of Worcester and four miles north of Great Malvern, close to the River Teme. It is a civil parish of the Malvern Hills District, and it includes the village of Callow End and the hamlets of Bastonford, Clevelode, Collett's Green, and Deblins Green.

Powick lies on the A449 and has two bridges across the River Teme, one ancient and one modern. The village contains a primary school.

Powick Hospital

Collett's Green - the former hospital

Main article: Powick Hospital

A mile from the village towards Malvern was the site of the Victorian complex of the county psychiatric hospital, generally referred to as Powick Hospital. The hospital was notorious for its use of LSD in therapy and mistreatment of patients. Built in 1852, the hospital finally closed in 1989 and was mostly demolished shortly thereafter. The name Powick entered the local colloquialisms and became synonymous for mental disorder in many informal expressions relating to madness or stupidity.

Before he became England's most famous composer, in 1879 at the age of 22 Edward Elgar was appointed bandmaster of the asylum until about 1886, and wrote compositions for the asylum's band.

English Civil War

Old Powick Bridge over the River Teme

The old bridge across the Teme at Powick was the scene of one of the very first skirmishes between Royalist and Parliamentarian soldiers in the English Civil War in 1642 in what became known as the Battle of Powick Bridge. It was a short, sharp, but decisive cavalry engagement that resulted in a victory for the Royalists and showed the Parliamentarian cavalry their shortcomings, setting the tone for the early stages of the conflict. A long ballad gives a surprisingly detailed account of the battle.^[1]

The more famous Battle of Worcester later on in the war, in 1651, was fought in part in much the same locality close to the River Teme. The church in Powick village was used by the Royalists as a lookout point as it commanded elevated views over the surrounding countryside and the bridge and its approaches. Its tower has a lot of pockmarks from small bore cannon balls which were fired by Parliamentarian gunners to deter the Scottish Royalist forces using the tower. They extend up the south face of the tower from as low as head height up to the top.

Victorian power station

Powick Mill

A former water mill, next to Powick Bridge, was converted in 1894 to become the world's first combined steam/hydro electric power station. Electricity from this provided about half the city of Worcester's needs. The Powick site continued generating until the 1950s. When it closed, it was converted into a laundry and has since been converted into residential apartments.

The site was chosen as a mill site from at least the 11th century, and very probably earlier than that. The mill leat was dug in 1291. A succession of water mills replaced each other throughout the Middle Ages and into the 16th century and later.

References

↑ Ballad of Powick Bridge Rump Songs (1662).

External links

Media related to Powick at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Settlements in Malvern Hills District

Towns	Malvern Tenbury Wells Upton-upon-Severn

Villages	Abberley Alfrick Pound Alfrick Astley Bank Street Barnards Green Baughton Bayton Berrow Green Berrow Birts Street Birtsmorton Bockleton Bowling Green Bransford Broadheath Broadwas Brockleton Bushley Callow End Castlemorton Clevelode Clifton-upon-Teme Clifton Cotheridge Croome D'Abitot Crowcroft Doddenham Draycott Dunley Dunstall Common Eardiston Earls Croome Eastham Eldersfield Frith Common Frog Pool Great Witley Grimley Guarlford Hallow Hanley Castle Hanley Child Hanley Swan Hanley William Harpley High Green Hill Croome Hillhampton Holdfast Hollybush Holt Fleet Holt Heath Horsham Kempsey Kenswick Kerswell Green Knighton-upon-Teme Knightwick Kyre Leigh Sinton Leigh Lindridge Little Malvern Little Witley Longdon Lower Sapey Lulsley Madresfield Malvern Wells Mamble Martley Newland Newnham Bridge Noutard's Green Oldwood Pendock Pensax Poolbrook Powick Queenhill Ripple Rochford Rushwick Ryall Rye Cross Sankyns Green Severn Stoke Shelsley Walsh Shelsleys Shrawley Stanford-on-Teme Stockton-on-Teme Stoke Bliss Suckley Upper Broadheath Upper Welland Welland West Malvern Wichenford

Civil parishes	Civil parishes in the Malvern Hills district

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