Shipston-on-Stour

Shipston-on-Stour
Shipston High Street
Shipston-on-Stour  Shipston-on-Stour shown within Warwickshire
Population	4,456 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SP2540
Civil parish	Shipston-on-Stour
District	Stratford-on-Avon
Shire county	Warwickshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Shipston-on-Stour
Postcode district	CV36
Dialling code	01608
Police	Warwickshire
Fire	Warwickshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Stratford-on-Avon
Website	Shipston-on-Stour Town Council
List of places UK England Warwickshire

Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish on the River Stour about 10 miles (16 km) south of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. It is in the northern part of the Cotswolds, close to the boundaries with Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

History

In the 8th century the Toponym was Scepwaeisctune,^[1] Old English for Sheep-wash-Town, as it was once an important sheep market.^{[citation needed]} The name evolved through Scepwestun in the 11th century, Sipestone, Sepwestun and Schipton in the 13th century and Sepestonon-Sture in the 14th century.^[1]

The Church of England parish church of Saint Edmund has a 15th-century tower.^[2] The Gothic Revival architect G.E. Street rebuilt the rest of the church in 1855.^[2] The tower had a ring of five bells until 1695 when they were recast and rehung as a ring of six.^[3] Since then all the bells have been recast and rehung from time to time, notably in 1754 and by John Taylor & Co. in 1979.^[3]

Shipston is on the A3400 road (formerly the A34) between Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford and was once an important staging place for stagecoaches. Many former coaching inns, such as the Coach and Horses,^[4] remain in the area of the High Street.

Following a fall in the demand for local wool, the local economy was in part sustained^{[citation needed]} by the opening in 1836 of a branch line running from the horse-drawn Stratford and Moreton Tramway, built ten years before and linking Moreton-in-Marsh with Stratford. In 1889 the line was upgraded to allow the operation of steam trains from Moreton to Shipston. Passenger services to the town were withdrawn in 1929 and the line closed completely in 1960.

Shipston was in an exclave of the Oswaldslow Hundred of Worcestershire until 1931, when it was transferred to Warwickshire. Until the 1974 local government reorganisation it was the seat of the Shipston-on-Stour Rural District.

Amenities

The Sports Club has football,^[5] cricket, bowls, tennis^[6] and angling^[7] clubs.

Shipston on Stour Rugby Football Club currently plays in the Midlands 3 West (South) league.^{[citation needed]}

Shipston has a brass band.^[8]

Notable people

Notable people born in Shipston include the actor Richard Morant and the 19th century archaeologist Francis Haverfield. The town was commemorated by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees in the song Cold be my Days on his 1970 solo album Sing Slowly Sisters. To wit "Cold be my days in Shipston-on-Stour". He stated in a BBC Radio 4 interview in May 2007 that this relates to his youthful experiences, riding horses with his brother Barry.^[9]

References

Sources

• Allen, Geoff (2000). Warwickshire: Towns and Villages. Towns & villages of Britain. Sigma Leisure. ISBN 1-85058-642-X. 
• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Wedgwood, Alexandra (1966). Warwickshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 395–396. 
• "Shipston-on-Stour". A History of the County of Worcester, Volume 3. Victoria County History. London. 1913. pp. 521–524. 

External links

• Shipston Town Council

v t e Stratford-on-Avon District towns, parishes and settlements Warwickshire County Council elections District Council elections Stratford-on-Avon Constituency Towns Alcester Henley-in-Arden Shipston-on-Stour Southam Stratford-upon-Avon Large villages Bidford-on-Avon Bishops Itchington Harbury Kineton Studley Wellesbourne Other civil parishes, villages and hamlets Admington Alderminster Ardens Grafton Arlescote Arrow Aston Cantlow Atherstone-on-Stour Avon Dassett Barton-on-the-Heath Bearley Beaudesert Billesley Binton Brailes Burmington Burton Dassett Butlers Marston Charlecote Claverdon Clifford Chambers Combrook Compton Verney Compton Wynyates Coughton Ettington Exhall Fenny Compton Gaydon Great Alne Great Wolford Halford Hampton Lucy Honington Idlicote Ilmington Kinwarton Ladbroke Lighthorne Lighthorne Heath Little Compton Long Itchington Long Marston Lower Shuckburgh Loxley Luddington Morton Bagot Moreton Morrell Napton-on-the-Hill Oldberrow Oxhill Preston Bagot Preston-on-Stour Priors Hardwick Priors Marston Quinton Radbourne Radway Salford Priors Sambourne Snitterfield Spernall Stockton Tanworth-in-Arden Temple Grafton Tredington Ullenhall Upper Shuckburgh Warmington Welford-on-Avon Weston-on-Avon Whichford Whitchurch Wilmcote Wixford Wolverton Wootton Wawen Wormleighton List of Parliamentary constituencies in Warwickshire List of places in Warwickshire List of civil parishes in Warwickshire