Suckley

Suckley
Affordable housing, Damson Way, Suckley
Suckley  Suckley shown within Worcestershire
OS grid reference	SO721516
Civil parish	Suckley
District	Malvern Hills
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WORCESTER
Postcode district	WR6
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	West Worcestershire
List of places UK England Worcestershire

Suckley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Suckley Knowl (at grid reference SO715531), Suckley Green at SO719532 and Longley Green at SO733503.

Covering 4 square miles (10 km²), Suckley is geographically one of the largest parishes in Worcestershire, but one of the least populated with only around 250 residences. Seven farms utilise the greater part of the available land, producing apples, beef, cereals, hops, milk, oil seed rape, pears and potatoes. The eastern side of the Parish is part of the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Within Suckley there are several dozen micro-businesses operating from private homes, ranging from beauty therapy to furniture restoration, from computer maintenance to interior design, from motor mechanics to plumbing. Most of the population in employment commute to Malvern, Worcester, Hereford, Cheltenham or the West Midlands.^[1][2]

The parish's population increased from 549 to 599 between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, the increase being entirely attributable to older age groups. In contrast, the population of school age reduced sharply over the decade. 2011 census data shows a population with above average levels of educational attainment, lower than average unemployment and levels of poverty.^[3] Car ownership is at a very high level (535 cars or vans for a population of 506 aged 17 or over), with only 5 households of 262 not having access to a car.^[4]

History and amenities

Suckley, Worcestershire. From a water-colour drawing by E. A. Chadwick - 1906

The parish church is dedicated to John the Baptist.^[5]

Suckley railway station was opened in 1897 on the Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway. The station lay outside the parish in the parish of Knightwick, as did the nearby stations of Knightwick and Yearsett, both of which dated from the opening of the line from Worcester to a temporary terminus at Yearsett in 1877 (closed 1888 when the line was opened throughout to Bromyard). Suckley station closed with the Worcester-Bromyard line on September 5, 1964.^[6] The replacement bus service ran until 2012 when the Suckley-Bromyard section was cancelled due to lack of ridership. Bus services continue to operate between Suckley and Worcester with a frequency varying between three and five return trips per day. There is one return journey weekly between Suckley and Malvern.^[7]

The village has a village shop and post office serving the community, plus two public houses.^[8] The village also has a small primary school for pupils between 4 and 11 years of age.^[9] It was renamed from Suckley Primary School to Suckley School after being granted Academy status in September 2011.

Suckley was in the upper division of Doddingtree Hundred. ^[10]

Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Suckley Parish ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in its parish. This responsibility was transferred to Martley Poor Law Union.^[11]

Three websites document various aspects of parish life:

• Suckley Parish Council ^[12]
• Suckley Post Office & Stores ^[13]
• The Village of Suckley ^[14]

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References

External links

Media related to Suckley at Wikimedia Commons