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Strensham
Strensham
	Strensham Village Hall
	Strensham Location within Worcestershire
Area	3.07 sq mi (8.0 km2)
Population	314 (2001)
• Density	102/sq mi (39/km2)
OS grid reference	SO903393
• London	95 miles (153 km)
Civil parish	Strensham;
District	Wychavon;
Shire county	Worcestershire;
Region	West Midlands;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WORCESTER
Postcode district	WR8
Dialling code	01684
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
	List of places UK England Worcestershire 52°03′11″N 2°08′40″W / 52.052949°N 2.144583°W

Strensham^{[needs IPA]} is a village in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire. In the 2001 census, the civil parish of Strensham had a population of 314 across 127 households.^[2] Since 1991, the population has risen 28.7% from 244 residents.^[2]

History

The Church of St John the Baptist lies in Lower Strensham atop a hill overlooking the River Avon, constructed in the 14th century.^[4]

Strensham was once part of the Royal forest of Horewell. The woodlands were mostly removed around the time of the English Civil War.^[5]

Geography

The eastern edge of the parish lies on the banks of the River Avon, while the River Severn is 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west.^[3] Both rivers converge 4 miles (6.4 km) to the south in the Gloucestershire town of Tewkesbury.^[3]

Nearby villages include Twyning, Bredon, Eckington and Ripple. The town of Upton-upon-Severn lies 3 miles (4.8 km) to the north west.^[3]

Strensham services

The village gives its name to a motorway service area located just to the north of the village on the M5 motorway which opened with the motorway in 1962.^{[citation needed]} The Midlands Air Ambulance service has been operating one of its helicopters from the services site since 1991 following a deal with the then operator, Take a Break.^[6]

Strensham Court

Strensham Court was an early 19th-century country house in a landscaped park. It was built of ashlar in two storeys to a rectangular plan. A substantial portico was added later with large Ionic pillars.^[7]

The manor of Strensham belonged historically to the Russell family. The Strensham estate was purchased in 1817 from descendants of the Russell family by John Taylor, grandson of John Taylor, the wealthy Birmingham industrialist. He had a new building constructed in 1824 to replace an earlier house on the site.^[8] Taylor was High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1817 and died unmarried in 1848. The property passed to his brother James who died soon after, then to James's son James Arthur (MP, died 1889) and to the latter's son Arthur James.^[9]

The house was vacated in 1935, occupied during World War II by the Convent School from Acocks Green in Birmingham, thereafter becoming derelict, and demolished after a fire in November 1974.

Notable residents

Samuel Butler, a poet, was baptized in the village in February 1613. He was buried in St Paul's, Covent Garden and a memorial later placed in Westminster Abbey^[10]
Treadway Russell Nash, Rector in 1792, partly responsible for re-popularising Butler

References

^ "Parishes: Strensham | British History Online".
^ ^a ^b ^c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Gazetteer (how far)". GENUKI. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
^ "Church of St John the Baptist, Strensham", Heritage Gateway website, Heritage Gateway (English Heritage, Institute of Historic Building Conservation and ALGAO:England), 2006, retrieved 30 October 2010
^ * 'Parishes: Pershore, St Andrew with Defford and Wick', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 4, ed. William Page and J W Willis-Bund (London, 1924), pp. 163–177 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol4/pp163-177 [accessed 30 August 2015]
^ "Ambulance lands a new base - on the M5". Birmingham Evening Mail. 6 May 1998.
^ "Strensham Court, Strensham". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
^ "Strensham Court, England Record Id: 3163". Parks and Gardens. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
^ "A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4". British History Online. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
^ "Strensham". Worcesterbmsgh.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2009.