Woolhope

Woolhope is a village and civil parish in the English county of Herefordshire. The population of the civil parish was 486 at the 2011 census.^[1] The civil parish includes the hamlet of Broadmoor Common to the west of the village and the nature reserve of the same name.

Location

Woolhope is located about 7 miles east of Hereford, sat atop the 'Woolhope Dome', a region of particular geological interest; and near Haugh Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its varied flora and fauna.

Coordinates: 52°01′N 2°34′W / 52.017°N 2.567°W / 52.017; -2.567

History

The manor of Woolhope in Herefordshire, along with three others, was given to the cathedral at Hereford before the Norman Conquest by the benefactresses Wulviva and (Lady) Godiva, local Anglo-Saxon landowners before the Norman takeover of the region. The church has a 20th-century stained-glass window showing them.^[2]

Origin of the name

The name of the village comes from Wulviva's Hope (Wulviva's Valley).

Amenities

Woolhope is served by two traditional village pubs, The Butcher's Arms and The Crown Inn . Both have a local reputation for serving quality food. The village boasts a community hall, which was rebuilt at its present site at the turn of the millennium. The hall now stands at the North end of the playing field (which includes a cricket pitch in summer and football pitch in winter). Called 'Berryfield', the playing field was originally part of the churchyard, and takes its name from 'Bury Field'. The village also has an extremely small green, a patch of tended lawn and flowerbed of no more than 400 ft².

Clubs and Societies

Woolhope has a football team called Woolhope Allstars FC. Having had a season out of the league, they now have now reformed and are due to start in Herefordshire Sunday League 2 in September 2011. There has been a change in the management team with Jamie Lawson stepping into the player-manager role, supported by his assistant managers Tom Cutler and Hereford United Stalwart and lead scorer for the 2010/2011 season Stuart Fleetwood. They play at the Berryfield, which is the smallest pitch in the league.

Woolhope is also home to Woolhope Amateur Dramatics Society, or 'WADS', a popular theatre group which stages, on average, two shows per year, typically a pantomime in the winter, and an adult comedy in summer.

Famous Inhabitants

The area was a retreat of late TV writer John Sullivan, whose works included Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass, and of musician Roger Whittaker, who previously inhabited one half of the Wessington Court estate house.

See also

• List of Herefordshire Parish Churches

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Woolhope.

• Genuki info on Woolhope with links
• The Woolhope Dome Wildlife Trust project
• Woolhope - Marcle Ridge loop walk