Village History:
The parish of Pebworth lies in the north-eastern corner of Worcestershire, bordering on the counties of Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, about seven miles east of Evesham. From the time of Pebba, the Anglo-Saxon owner who gave the village its name, it has grown to the present community of over 600.
The focal point of the village is St Peter's church, which dominates the ridge on which Pebworth is set. The 13th century church has many items of interest - a Jacobean pulpit, a 15th century font, boxed pews and a particularly bitter epitaph to the scalded child of a previous vicar. Our villagers have raised enough money to restore a full peal of bells that now ring out over Pebworth. in 2016 it came 4th in Worcestershire Best kept Churchyard, thanks to volunteers who spent hours making it look wonderful!
Descending the hill from the churchyard is Front Street. When snow lies on the ground Front Street becomes a paradise for children with their sledges.
Further down is Back Lane where the village school is, this was built at the turn of the century. The original bell still summons children whose grandparents were once pupils here.
Manor Farm adjoins the school field. This Georgian farmhouse was once the home of the Shekell family who owned most of the village in the 19th century and includes amongst its farm buildings a listed dovecote. The last member of this family to die in Pebworth was Rev Bonner Shekell who is buried in a spinney on the outskirts of the village. There are many tales explaining his final resting place - a long family feud, a dislike of the churchyard or did he just want a 'tomb with a view'?
Friday Street is reputed to have been the haunt of William Shakespeare and certainly many of the thatched and timbered cottages date from his time. Was it here that he is supposed to have written the rhyme about local villages?
'Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston
Haunted Hillborough, Hungry Grafton
Dodging Exhall, Papist Wixford
Beggarly Broom and Drunken Bidford'
The village extends eastwards from Friday Street to Broad Marston, a past winner of the Best Kept Hamlet award.
Horticulture has always played a major part in the economy of Pebworth and nowhere is this more obvious than along Broad Marston Road where there remains evidence of market gardens. Today there are only a handful of families earning their living this way. As market gardens revert back to farmland it is good to see, however, that one of England's leading Pelargonium specialists is benefiting the village through local employment and tourism.
At the centre of the village both geographically and socially are the local public house and the village hall. The Masons Arms provides a meeting place for villagers and supports teams for darts, dominoes and other traditional pub games.
Pebworth is fortunate to have a large village green known as the Close. More than thirty years ago the Parish Council acquired this land from the Shekell estate, thus saving it from development and preserving it for the future. Today's children can now enjoy the delights of a playground built near the site of the old cider mill.
NB
The village information above is taken from The Worcestershire Village Book, written by members of the Worcestershire Federation of Women's Institutes and published by Countryside Books. (edited)
The focal point of the village is St Peter's church, which dominates the ridge on which Pebworth is set. The 13th century church has many items of interest - a Jacobean pulpit, a 15th century font, boxed pews and a particularly bitter epitaph to the scalded child of a previous vicar. Our villagers have raised enough money to restore a full peal of bells that now ring out over Pebworth. in 2016 it came 4th in Worcestershire Best kept Churchyard, thanks to volunteers who spent hours making it look wonderful!
Descending the hill from the churchyard is Front Street. When snow lies on the ground Front Street becomes a paradise for children with their sledges.
Further down is Back Lane where the village school is, this was built at the turn of the century. The original bell still summons children whose grandparents were once pupils here.
Manor Farm adjoins the school field. This Georgian farmhouse was once the home of the Shekell family who owned most of the village in the 19th century and includes amongst its farm buildings a listed dovecote. The last member of this family to die in Pebworth was Rev Bonner Shekell who is buried in a spinney on the outskirts of the village. There are many tales explaining his final resting place - a long family feud, a dislike of the churchyard or did he just want a 'tomb with a view'?
Friday Street is reputed to have been the haunt of William Shakespeare and certainly many of the thatched and timbered cottages date from his time. Was it here that he is supposed to have written the rhyme about local villages?
'Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston
Haunted Hillborough, Hungry Grafton
Dodging Exhall, Papist Wixford
Beggarly Broom and Drunken Bidford'
The village extends eastwards from Friday Street to Broad Marston, a past winner of the Best Kept Hamlet award.
Horticulture has always played a major part in the economy of Pebworth and nowhere is this more obvious than along Broad Marston Road where there remains evidence of market gardens. Today there are only a handful of families earning their living this way. As market gardens revert back to farmland it is good to see, however, that one of England's leading Pelargonium specialists is benefiting the village through local employment and tourism.
At the centre of the village both geographically and socially are the local public house and the village hall. The Masons Arms provides a meeting place for villagers and supports teams for darts, dominoes and other traditional pub games.
Pebworth is fortunate to have a large village green known as the Close. More than thirty years ago the Parish Council acquired this land from the Shekell estate, thus saving it from development and preserving it for the future. Today's children can now enjoy the delights of a playground built near the site of the old cider mill.
NB
The village information above is taken from The Worcestershire Village Book, written by members of the Worcestershire Federation of Women's Institutes and published by Countryside Books. (edited)
