1.
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
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The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1, 040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon – Shakespeares birthplace – in the English Midlands, the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres re-opened in November 2010 after undergoing a major renovation known as the Transformation Project. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre opened in 1932 on the adjacent to the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. The architect was Elisabeth Scott, so the theatre became the first important work erected in Britain from the designs of a woman architect and it was renamed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1961, following the establishment of the Royal Shakespeare Company the previous year. In the building designed by Scott, the theatre had a stage. Two tiers of seating were added to the side walls of the theatre. Balcony seats could only be accessed by means of a staircase to the side of the building, separate from the main foyer, the theatre has several notable Art Deco features, including the staircase and corridors at either side of the auditorium. It is a Grade II* listed building, the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres are on the western bank of the River Avon, with the adjacent Bancroft Gardens providing a scenic riverside setting. The Rooftop Restaurant and Bar overlooks both the river and the Bancroft Gardens, the Royal Shakespeare Company has renovated the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as part of a £112. The new theatre is more accessible to people with disabilities. The theatre is a theatre, which allows the actors. The stage reaches out into the audience, who are seated on three sides of it and this one-room theatre creates a more traditional Shakespearean performance area, allowing the audience to draw closer to the actors and creating a more personal theatre experience. The project reached over a total of £100 million in cost and also drew in financial support from RSC America, plans to redevelop the theatre were finalised and work commenced in 2007, with a scheduled completion date of 2010. The RSC had its own team, led by Project Director. Other members of the team included, Bennetts Associates, Buro Happold, Charcoalblue, Mace, Acoustic Dimensions, Drivers Jonas Deloitte and Gardiner. The new theatre opened in November 2010, with events and activities. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre was officially opened on 4 March 2011 by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, there is also a riverside walk which stretches from the Bancroft Gardens, past the theatre, towards Holy Trinity Church. The whole building is now accessible for the first time for visitors, performers, the Company, A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company
2.
Stratford-upon-Avon
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Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, on the River Avon,101 miles north west of London,22 miles south east of Birmingham, and 8 miles south west of Warwick. The estimated population in 2007 was 25,505, increasing to 27,445 at the 2011 Census, Stratford was originally inhabited by Anglo-Saxons and remained a village before lord of the manor, John of Coutances, set out plans to develop it into a town in 1196. In that same year, Stratford was granted a charter from King Richard I to hold a market in the town. As a result, Stratford experienced an increase in trade and commerce as well as urban expansion, the town is a popular tourist destination owing to its status as birthplace of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, and receives approximately 2.5 million visitors a year. The Royal Shakespeare Company resides in Stratfords Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the street was a Roman road which connected Icknield Street in Alcester to the Fosse Way. The ford, which has used as a crossing since Roman times. A survey of 1251-52 uses the name Stratford for the first time to identify Old Stratford, the name was used after that time to describe the area specifically surrounding the Holy Trinity Church and the street of Old Town. The settlement which became known as Stratford was first inhabited by Anglo-Saxons following their 7th century invasion of what would become known as Warwickshire. The land was owned by the church of Worcester and it remained a village until the late 12th century when it was developed into a town by lord of the manor, John of Coutances. John laid out a new plan in 1196 based on a grid system to expand Stratford. Additionally, a charter was granted to Stratford by King Richard I in 1196 which allowed a market to be held in the town. These two charters, which formed the foundations of Stratfords transformation from a village to a town, johns plans to develop Stratford into a town meant Stratford became a place of work for tradesmen and merchants. By 1252 the town had approximately 240 burgages, as well as shops, stalls, Stratfords new workers established a guild known as the Guild of the Holy Cross for their business and religious requirements. Many of the towns earliest and most important buildings are located along what is known as Stratfords Historic Spine, the route of the Historic Spine begins at Shakespeares Birthplace in Henley Street. It continues through Henley Street to the top end of Bridge Street and into High Street where many Elizabethan buildings are located, the route carries on through Chapel Street where Nashs House and New Place are sited. The Historic Spine continues along Church Street where Guild buildings are located dating back to the 15th century, the route then finishes in Old Town, which includes Halls Croft and the Holy Trinity Church. During Stratfords early expansion into a town, the access across the River Avon into and out of the town was over a wooden bridge. In 1480, a new masonry bridge was built to replace it called Clopton Bridge
3.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
4.
Northamptonshire
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Northamptonshire, archaically known as the County of Northampton, is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2011, it had a population of 629,000, the county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and seven non-metropolitan district councils. Northamptonshire is the southernmost county in the East Midlands region, apart from the county town of Northampton, other large population centres include Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden and Daventry. Northamptonshires county flower is the cowslip, there are two more possible hill-forts at Arbury Hill and Thenford. In the 1st century BC, most of what later became Northamptonshire became part of the territory of the Catuvellauni, a Belgic tribe, the Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in 43 AD. The Roman road of Watling Street passed through the county, there were other Roman settlements at Northampton, Kettering and along the Nene Valley near Raunds. A large fort was built at Longthorpe, after the Romans left, the area eventually became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and Northampton functioned as an administrative centre. The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 AD with the death of the pagan king Penda, Northamptonshire was conquered again in 940, this time by the Vikings of York, who devastated the area, only for the county to be retaken by the English in 942. Consequently, it is one of the few counties in England to have both Saxon and Danish town-names and settlements, the county was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, as Hamtunscire, the scire of Hamtun. The North was added to distinguish Northampton from the other important Hamtun further south, Rockingham Castle was built for William the Conqueror and was used as a Royal fortress until Elizabethan times. In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Northampton took place, the now-ruined Fotheringhay Castle was used to imprison Mary, Queen of Scots, before her execution. George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, was born into the Washington family who had migrated to America from Northamptonshire in 1656. George Washingtons ancestor, Lawrence Washington, was Mayor of Northampton on several occasions and it was George Washingtons great-grandfather, John Washington, who emigrated in 1656 from Northants to Virginia. Before Washingtons ancestors moved to Sulgrave, they lived in Warton, King Charles I was imprisoned at Holdenby House in 1647. In 1823 Northamptonshire was said to a pure and wholesome air because of its dryness. Its livestock were celebrated, Horned cattle, and other animals, are fed to extraordinary sizes, in summer, the county hosted a great number of wealthy families. Country seats and villas are to be seen at every step, Northamptonshire is still referred to as the county of spires and squires because of the numbers of stately homes and ancient churches. In the 18th and 19th centuries, parts of Northamptonshire and the area became industrialised
5.
Leicestershire
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Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. The border with most of Warwickshire is Watling Street, the county has a population of just under 1 million with over half the population living in Leicesters built-up area. Leicestershire was recorded in the Domesday Book in four wapentakes, Guthlaxton, Framland, Goscote and these later became hundreds, with the division of Goscote into West Goscote and East Goscote, and the addition of Sparkenhoe hundred. In 1087, the first recorded use of the name was as Laegrecastrescir, Leicestershires external boundaries have changed little since the Domesday Survey. These actions were reversed on 1 April 1997, when Rutland, Rutland became a distinct Ceremonial County once again, although it continues to be policed by Leicestershire Constabulary. The symbol of the county council, Leicestershire County Cricket Club, Leicestershire is considered to be the birthplace of fox hunting as it is known today. Hugo Meynell, who lived in Quorn, is known as the father of fox hunting, Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough have associations with fox hunting, as has neighbouring Rutland. A large part of the north-west of the county, around Coalville, the highest point of the county is Bardon Hill at 278 metres, which is also a Marilyn. The lowest point is about 24. 8m, north of Bottesford where the River Devon leaves Leicestershire, the population of Leicestershire is 609,578 people. The county covers an area of 2,084 km2 and its largest population centre is the city of Leicester, followed by the town of Loughborough. Other large towns include Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville, Hinckley, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Oadby, Wigston, some of the larger of villages are, Burbage Birstall, Broughton Astley, Castle Donington, Kibworth Beauchamp, Great Glen, Ibstock, Countesthorpe and Kegworth. One of the most rapidly expanding villages is Anstey, which has seen a large number of development schemes. The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed a resident population for Leicester of 279,921. Approximately 62,000 were aged under 16,199,000 were aged 16–74,76. 9% of Leicesters population claim they have been born in the UK, according to the 2001 UK Census. Mid-year estimates for 2006 indicate that the population of the City of Leicester stood at 289,700 making Leicester the most populous city in East Midlands, the population density is 3, 814/km2 and for every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. Of those aged 16–74 in Leicester,38. 5% had no academic qualifications,23. 0% of Leicesters residents were born outside of the United Kingdom, more than double than the English average of 9. 2%. Engineering has long been an important part of the economy of Leicestershire, John Taylor Bellfounders continues a history of bellfounding in Loughborough since the 14th century. In 1881 John Taylors cast the largest bell in Britain, Great Paul, snibston Discovery Park is built on one of three coal mines that operated in Coalville from the 1820s until 1986
6.
Warwickshire
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Warwickshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton, the county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Commonly used abbreviations for the county are Warks or Warwicks, the county is divided into five districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. The current county boundaries were set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, the historic county boundaries also included Coventry and Solihull, as well as much of Birmingham. The northern tip of the county is only 3 miles from the Derbyshire border, an average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 60 miles north to south. Equivalently it extends as far north as Shrewsbury in Shropshire and as far south as Banbury in north Oxfordshire, the majority of Warwickshires population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Nuneaton, of these, Atherstone has retained most of its original character. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering and cement production, of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby are well-known outside of Warwickshire. The south of the county is rural and sparsely populated. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour, the highest point in the county, at 261 m, is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid reference SP187426 at the countys southwest extremity. There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves, the largest towns in Warwickshire in 2011 were, Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington Spa, Bedworth, Warwick, Stratford and Kenilworth. Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull, thus the names of a number of places in the central-western part of Warwickshire end with the phrase -in-Arden, such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden. The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden – from fielden, areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, and some of Birmingham including Aston and Edgbaston. These became part of the county of West Midlands following local government re-organisation in 1974. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as an area and share a single Chamber of Commerce. Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history, in 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry. In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire, in recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this
7.
Worcestershire
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Worcestershire is a county in the West Midlands of England. Between 1974 and 1998, it was merged with the county of Herefordshire as Hereford. The cathedral city of Worcester is the largest settlement and county town, other towns in the county include Redditch, Bromsgrove, Stourport-on-Severn, Droitwich, Evesham, Kidderminster, and Malvern. The north-east of Worcestershire includes part of the industrial West Midlands, the county is divided into six administrive districts, Worcester, Redditch, Wychavon, Malvern Hills, Wyre Forest, and Bromsgrove. The county borders Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, to the west, the county is bordered by the Malvern Hills and the spa town of Malvern. The south of the county is bordered by Gloucestershire and the edge of the Cotswolds. Two major rivers flow through the county, the Severn and the Avon, Worcestershire was the heartland of the early English kingdom of the Hwicce. It was absorbed by the Kingdom of Mercia during the 7th century and it was a separate ealdormanship briefly in the 10th century before forming part of the Earldom of Mercia in the 11th century. In the years leading up to the Norman conquest, the Church, supported by the cathedral, Evesham Abbey, Pershore Abbey, Malvern Priory, and other religious houses, increasingly dominated the county. The last known Anglo-Saxon sheriff of the county was Cyneweard of Laughern, on 4 August 1265, Simon de Montfort was killed in the Battle of Evesham in Worcestershire. In 1642, the Battle of Powick Bridge was the first major skirmish of the English Civil War, during the Middle Ages, much of the countys economy was based on the wool trade. Many areas of its forests, such as Feckenham Forest, Horewell Forest. Droitwich Spa, situated on large deposits of salt, was a centre of production from Roman times. These old industries have declined, to be replaced by other. The county is home to the worlds oldest continually published newspaper. Malvern was one of the centres of the 19th century rise in English spa towns due to Malvern water being believed to be very pure, containing nothing at all. The 2011 census found the population of Worcestershire to be 566,169, while this change is in line with the nationwide trend of White British peoples share of the population shrinking, Worcestershire is still much more ethnically homogeneous than the national average. In 2011 England as a whole was 79. 8% White British, the most notable were Dudley, Evenlode, and the area around Shipston-on-Stour
8.
Gloucestershire
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Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the fertile valley of the River Severn. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud. Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. The local rural community moved to the city, and Bristols population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and it later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. The official former postal county abbreviation was Glos, rather than the frequently used but erroneous Gloucs. or Glouc. In July 2007, Gloucestershire suffered the worst flooding in recorded British history, the RAF conducted the largest peace time domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion, the county recovered rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area. This is a chart of trend of gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven schools, two are in Stroud, one in Cheltenham and four in Gloucester. There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, all but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms, each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. Most of the old market towns have parish churches, at Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone. Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve, the mansion contains a tiled floor from Hailes Abbey
9.
Rugby, Warwickshire
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Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. The town has a population of 70,628 making it the second largest town in the county, the enclosing Borough of Rugby has a population of 100,500. Rugby is 13 miles east of Coventry, on the edge of Warwickshire. The town is credited with being the birthplace of rugby football, Early Iron age settlement existed in the Rugby area, and a few miles outside what is now Rugby, existed a Roman settlement known as Tripontium. Rugby was originally a small Anglo-Saxon farming settlement, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Rocheberie, Rugby obtained a charter to hold a market in 1255, and soon developed into a small country market town. Rugby School was founded in 1567 with money left in the will of Lawrence Sheriff, a locally born grocer, Rugby School was originally intended as a school for local boys, but over time became a mostly fee-paying private school. The Lawrence Sheriff School was eventually founded in the late 19th century to carry on Sheriffs original intentions, Rugby remained a sleepy country market town until the 19th century and the coming of the railways. In 1838 the London and Birmingham Railway was constructed past it, Rugby became an important railway junction, and the proliferation of rail yards and workshops attracted workers. Rugbys population grew from just 2,500 in 1835, to over 10,000 by the 1880s, in the 1890s and 1900s heavy engineering industries began to set up in the town, and Rugby rapidly grew into a major industrial centre. Rugby expanded rapidly in the decades of the 20th century as workers moved in. By the 1940s, the population of Rugby had grown to over 40,000, in the postwar years, Rugby became well served by the motorway network, with the M1 and M6 merging close to the town. Rugby is most famous for the invention of rugby football, which is played throughout the world, the invention of the game is credited to William Webb Ellis whilst breaking the existing rules of a football match played in 1823 at Rugby School. Rugby School is one of Englands oldest and most prestigious public schools, a substantial part of the 2004 dramatisation of the novel, starring Stephen Fry, was filmed on location at Rugby School. Hughes later set up a colony in America for the sons of the English gentry. The town of Rugby, Tennessee still exists, Rugby is a birthplace of the jet engine. Much of his work was carried out at nearby Lutterworth, holography was invented in Rugby by the Hungarian inventor Dennis Gabor in 1947. In the 19th century, Rugby became famous for its once important railway junction which was the setting for Charles Dickenss story Mugby Junction, Rugby also includes the areas of New Bilton, Overslade and Hillside. The spread of Rugby has nearly reached the villages of Clifton-upon-Dunsmore, Cawston, Dunchurch, the town centre is mostly Victorian and early 20th century, however a few much older buildings survive, along with some more modern developments
10.
Warwick
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Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon,11 miles south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa, at the 2011 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 31,345. There was human activity at Warwick as early as the Neolithic period and it was a Saxon burh in the 9th century, Warwick Castle was established in 1068 as part of the Norman conquest of England. Warwick School claims to be the oldest boys school in the country, the earldom of Warwick was created in 1088 and the earls controlled the town in the medieval period and built town walls, of which Eastgate and Westgate survive. The castle developed into a fortress and then a country house and is today a popular tourist attraction. The Great Fire of Warwick in 1694 destroyed much of the medieval town, though Warwick did not become industrialised in the 19th century, it has experienced growth since 1801 when the population was 5,592. Racing Club Warwick F. C. founded in 1919, is based in the town, the town is administered by Warwick District Council and Warwickshire County Council has its headquarters in Warwick. Human activity on the site of the dates back to the Neolithic. From the 6th century onwards, Warwick has been continuously inhabited and it was one of ten burhs built to defend the kingdom of Mercia against the Danes. Warwick was chosen as the site for one of these fortifications because of its proximity to the important transport routes of the Fosse Way, in the early 10th century a new shire was founded with Warwick as its administrative centre, giving the settlement new importance. The name Warwick means dwellings by the weir, in 1050 the Danes invaded Mercia and burned down much of Warwick including the nunnery. William the Conqueror founded Warwick Castle in 1068 on his way to Yorkshire to deal with rebellion in the north, building a castle within a pre-existing settlement could require demolishing properties on the site, and in the case of Warwick four houses were pulled down. The castle was within the larger Anglo-Saxon burh and a new wall was created close to the rampart of the burh. In the medieval period Warwick remained under the control of various Earls of Warwick, mostly of the Beauchamp family, today the only remains of the town walls are the east and west gatehouses. The eastern gatehouse is now a home, but formerly served as part of the Kings High School. Warwick was not incorporated as a borough until 1545, the towns Priory was founded in 1142 on the site of the current Priory Park. During the English Civil War the town and castle were garrisoned for Parliament, the garrison, under Sir Edward Peyto, withstood a two-week siege by the Royalists. Later musters from 1644 to 1646 record a garrison of up to 350 men under the command of Colonel William Purefoy, the middle of the 17th century also saw the founding of Castle Hill Baptist Church, one of the oldest Baptist churches in the world
11.
Evesham
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Evesham is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England with a population of 23,576, according to the 2011 census. It is located equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesham, an area comprising the flood plain of the River Avon, the town centre, situated within a meander of the river, is regularly subject to flooding. The 2007 floods were the most severe in recorded history, the town was founded around an 8th-century abbey, one of the largest in Europe, which was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, with only Abbot Lichfields Bell Tower remaining. During the 13th century, one of the two battles of Englands Second Barons War took place near the town, marking the victory of Prince Edward who later became King Edward I. Evesham is derived from the Old English homme or ham, and Eof and it was originally named Homme or Haum and recorded as Eveshomme in 709 and Evesham in 1086. Some sources incorrectly cite holm as a source for the towns name, some sources incorrectly give the name of the swineherd as Eoves, but it should be Eof, as explained as long ago as 1920 by O. G. Knapp, It is impossible that Eoves should have been the Swineherds name for several reasons, but even if Eofes is older and more accurate than Eoves it cannot be the original form of the name. A moments reflection will show that if Evesham means the meadow of some person and this in modern English is nearly always denoted by s placed at the end of the word, the apostrophe showing that a vowel has dropped out of the termination. Anglo-Saxon had a selection of endings for the Genitive Case, but the one in –es belonged to what are called strong Masculine nouns. Eofes, therefore, would be the natural Genitive of a proper name. We may therefore take it as certain that the name of the Swineherd was not Eoves, Eofes, or even Eofa. And this is not a theoretical reconstruction, for Eof was actually a Saxon name. The form Eoves, though current for many centuries, is a mere blunder, the abbey was redeveloped and extended after the Norman Conquest, employing many tradesmen and significantly contributing to the growth of Evesham. Income for the abbey came from pilgrims to the abbey to celebrate the vision, as a result of Henry VIIIs dissolution of the monasteries, Evesham Abbey was dismantled in 1540 and sold as building stone, leaving little but the Lichfield Bell Tower. The abbey remains are a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and parts of the complex, Abbot Reginalds Wall. The abbeys coat of arms is used as the crest of Prince Henrys High School. It marked the victory of Prince Edward, who led the 8,000 strong army of his father Henry III, over the 6,000 men of de Montfort, and the beginning of the end of the rebellion
12.
Tewkesbury
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Tewkesbury is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon and it gives its name to the Borough of Tewkesbury, of which the town is the second largest settlement. The name Tewkesbury comes from Theoc, the name of a Saxon who founded a hermitage there in the 7th century, an erroneous derivation from Theotokos enjoyed currency in the monastic period of the towns history. The Battle of Tewkesbury, which place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. If the neighbouring parishes of Wheatpieces, Northway and Ashchurch Rural are added, the Tewkesbury urban area is divided in two by the north-south running M5 motorway, opened in February 1971. However, the town is considered as the built-up area to the immediate east and west of the M5 at junction 9, with the town centre, abbey. The close proximity of large areas of land that are prone to flooding, as evidenced by the floods that struck the region in July 2007. Most of the buildings, as well as the vineyards, were destroyed during this time. The Abbey Mill however still remains, resting upon the Mill Avon and this channel represents one of the biggest projects in Tewkesburys history, though the present weir dates only from the 1990s, replacing two sluice gates installed in the 1930s. The Abbey Mill is also known as Abel Fletchers Mill. The abbey is thought to be the site of the place where the hermit Theoc once lived, the great Romanesque arch on the west front is particularly striking, and the stained glass window at that end has been restored. The monastery was founded by the Despensers as a mausoleum. The tower is believed to be the largest Norman tower still in existence, the height to the top of the pinnacles is 148 feet. The abbey is thought to be the third largest church in Britain that is not a cathedral, from end to end it measures 331 feet, though prior to the destruction of the original Lady Chapel, the total length was 375 feet. The abbey is a church, still used for daily services. Tewkesbury claims Gloucestershires oldest public house, the Black Bear, dating from 1308, the Abbey Cottages, adjacent to Tewkesbury Abbey, were built between 1410 and 1412. They were restored 1967 to 1972 by the Abbey Lawn Trust and they house the John Moore Museum, residential homes and commercial offices. The John Moore Museum was established in 1980 in memory of the writer and naturalist, John Moore
13.
River Severn
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The River Severn is the longest river in the United Kingdom, at about 220 miles. It rises at an altitude of 2,001 feet on Plynlimon, close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes and it then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, with the county towns of Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester on its banks. With an average discharge of 107 m3/s at Apperley, Gloucestershire, the river is usually considered to become the Severn Estuary after the Second Severn Crossing between Severn Beach, South Gloucestershire and Sudbrook, Monmouthshire. The river then discharges into the Bristol Channel which in turn discharges into the Celtic Sea, the Severns drainage basin area is 4,409 square miles, excluding the River Wye and Bristol Avon which flow into the Severn Estuary. The major tributaries to the Severn are the Vyrnwy, Clywedog, Teme, Avon, the name Severn is thought to derive from a Celtic original name *sabrinnā, of uncertain meaning. That name then developed in different languages to become Sabrina to the Romans, Hafren in Welsh, a folk etymology later developed, deriving the name from a mythical story of a nymph, Sabrina, who drowned in the river. Sabrina is also the goddess of the River Severn in Celtic mythology, the story of Sabrina is featured in Miltons Comus. There is a statue of Sabrina in the Dingle Gardens at the Quarry, Shrewsbury, as the Severn becomes tidal the associated deity changed to Nodens, who was represented mounted on a seahorse, riding on the crest of the Severn bore. The River Stour rises in the north of Worcestershire in the Clent Hills and it flows north into the adjacent West Midlands at Halesowen. It then flows westwards through Cradley Heath and Stourbridge where it leaves the Black Country and it is joined by the Smestow Brook at Prestwood before it winds around southwards to Kinver, and then flows back into Worcestershire. It then passes through Wolverley, Kidderminster and Wilden to its confluence with the Severn at Stourport-on-Severn, the River Vyrnwy, which begins at Lake Vyrnwy, flows eastwards through Powys before forming part of the border between England and Wales, joining the Severn near Melverley, Shropshire. The Rea Brook flows north from its source in the Stiperstones, the River Tern, after flowing south from Market Drayton and being joined by the River Meese and the River Roden, meets the Severn at Attingham Park. The River Worfe joins the Severn, just above Bridgnorth, the River Stour rising on the Clent Hills and flowing through Halesowen, Stourbridge, and Kidderminster, joins the Severn at Stourport. On the opposite bank, the tributaries are only brooks, Borle Brook, Dowles Brook draining the Wyre Forest, Dick Brook, shit Brook near Much Wenlock was culverted to flow into the Severn. One of the rivers named Avon, in this case the Warwickshire Avon, flows west through Rugby, Warwick. It is then joined by its tributary the River Arrow, before joining the Severn at Tewkesbury. The port of Bristol is on the Severn Estuary, where another River Avon flows into it through the Avon Gorge, the River Wye, from its source in Plynlimon, Wales, flows generally south east through the Welsh towns of Rhayader and Builth Wells. It flows into the Severn near the town of Chepstow, slightly upstream of the Bristol Avon on the opposite bank, the River Usk flows into the Severn Estuary just south of Newport
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River Leam
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The River Leam is a river which rises at Hellidon Hill in Northamptonshire then flows through rural Warwickshire, including the town of Leamington Spa. It flows into the Warwickshire Avon, a left tributary of the Severn. River Leame is given as a spelling in Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary. Its major tributaries are Rains Brook, River Itchen, River Stowe and Radford Brook
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River Isbourne
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The River Isbourne is 14 mile long tributary of the River Avon which flows through Gloucestershire and Worcestershire in the Midlands of England. The source of the river is a series of springs that occur on the flank of Cleeve Hill. These springs occur where the permeable Jurassic limestone, meets the impermeable Upper Lias mudstone, the river flows from Cleeve Hill in a steep valley in a northerly direction through the hamlet of Postlip, before reaching the town of Winchcombe which it passes along its eastern side. Beyond the town, it continues northwards to Toddington, through the grounds of Toddington Manor, the river then crosses into Worcestershire and is joined by the Laverton brook, before it reaches the village of Sedgeberrow. The Isbourne catchment covers an area of 125 square kilometres and lies between the Badsey Brook to the east, the Merry Brook and Carrant Brook to the west with the Cotswolds to the south. It has an annual rainfall of 704 millimetres, which is somewhat drier than the average for England at 828 millimetres. In terms of geology, apart from the headwaters which are underlain by the Cotswold limestone and this impermeable clay means that Isbourne can become responsive in terms of runoff to heavy rainfall events. The Isbourne has a history of flooding along its course, especially in Sedgeberrow, the most recent occasion being in summer 2007
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River Swift
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The source of the river is a stream that rises near to Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire, on the watershed division between the Avon and Soar catchments. The Swift passes the village of Walton and then Kimcote, where it meets a number of streams that drain the headwaters of the catchment. The river passes to the south of the town, where it is crossed by the Rugby road, after passing beneath the Lutterworth bypass, the Swift continues south-west until it reaches the Bransford Bridge crossing of the A5. This road follows the course of Watling Street, the Roman road that linked London to Wroxeter, downstream of the bridge the river passes the site of the deserted medieval village of Cestersover, and then the modern village of Churchover. At this point a canal feeder takes water from the river to supply the nearby canal, after passing beneath the M6 motorway, the river then flows directly south through the Swift Valley nature reserve, passes Brownsover Hall and then through the Swift industrial park. It is crossed by the Oxford canal in an aqueduct, and then passes through a park to join the River Avon. The Swift catchment lies between that of the Avon and Welland to the east, the River Sowe to the west, in terms of geology of the catchment is underlain primarily by Lias Clay and mudstones, with an overlying layer of glacially deposited till, sands and gravels. This impermeable clay means that the Swift can become responsive in terms of runoff to heavy rainfall events, the Swift has a minor history of flooding along its course, especially in Lutterworth, flood events being recorded in 1875,1931 and most recently in 2008. A flood warning and alert service exists for the catchment, in conjunction with that for the Upper Avon, list of rivers of England Media related to River Swift at Wikimedia Commons
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River Arrow, Worcestershire
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The River Arrow is a tributary of the River Avon, which flows through Worcestershire and Warwickshire in the English Midlands. The Arrow rises on Beacon Hill in the Lickey Hills Country Park in the Lickey Hills in the north of Worcestershire, the river flows through Cofton Hackett, it then feeds Lower Bittell Reservoir and flows through Alvechurch before reaching the Arrow Valley Country Park in Redditch. The Arrow then flows through the market town of Alcester and is joined by its largest tributary the River Alne. The river continues south through the village of Arrow where it drives the waterwheel at the converted Arrow Mill. The river joins the River Avon at Marriage Hill, near Salford Priors, in 1998 the river flooded for the first time since 1956, spilling over its defences and flooding a large part of Alcesters face. The river burst its banks again during the night of 20/21 July 2007 and it breached the defences by Gunnings Bridge in Alcester and a large torrent of water flowed through the town and ponded about one foot deep at the bottom of the High Street and Stratford Road. River Arrow, Wales River Arrow Nature Reserve Rivers of the United Kingdom
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Naseby
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Naseby is a village in the District of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 687. The village is 14 mi north of Northampton,13.3 mi northeast of Daventry and it is 2.4 mi from Junction 2 of the A14 road, giving it access to the national road system. For rail travel, the Midland Main Line can be accessed at the station in Market Harborough. There is a bus service between Market Harborough and Northampton that stops in Naseby, but it is very infrequent, the village sits in a commanding position on one of the highest parts of the Northamptonshire Uplands, close to the county border with Leicestershire. The original settlement probably owes its existence to its geography, the lay in a strong defensive position. In the 6th century an Saxon named Hnaef established the settlement with the name of Hnaefes-Burgh, evidence for these origins came in the form of a 19th-century discovery of an Anglo-Saxon trefoil-headed brooch which is now in the collection of the British Museum. In 1086 Naseby appeared in the Domesday Book, by which time Hnaefes-Burgh had evolved into Navesberie, in later records the village had been known as Navesby and Nathesby, eventually becoming Naseby. It is interesting to note that it was believed that the derived from the Old English naefela, meaning navel. In 1203, King John granted Naseby its market charter and the became a flourishing market town for many years. During this period the village grew, in 1349, the Black Death, which wiped out a third of the population of England, attacked the village and the population greatly reduced, with parts becoming abandoned altogether. Extensive earthworks in the adjacent to parts of the village show the outlines of lost lanes. The Battle of Naseby took place on 14 June 1645, during the English Civil War, the battle resulted in a decisive Royalist defeat. A naval warship during the Commonwealth period was named the Naseby in honour of the battle, one of the most significant buildings is Naseby House, built in 1818 for the Fitzgeralds, Lords of the Manor. In the 20th century the hall hosted the Duke of York, later King George VI, with the Duchess of York, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and a very young future Queen Elizabeth. Naseby Hall, altered by E F Law in 1859 was badly damaged by fire in 1948, rev John Mastin was vicar of Naseby from 1783 until his death in 1829. He was the author of “The History and Antiquities of Naseby, in the County of Northampton” and he also left a manuscript account of his life. The texts of both works are included in a relatively recent publication by the Northamptonshire Record Society
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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
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Bredon
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Bredon is a village and civil parish in Wychavon District at the southern edge of Worcestershire in England. It lies on the banks of the River Avon on the slopes of Bredon Hill. As Brensham Village, it has made famous by the writer John Moore. Bredon is located 3 miles north of the Gloucestershire town of Tewkesbury on the B4080 road, the River Avon forms the western boundary of the parish, and two of its tributaries, the Carrant Brook and Squitter Brook form the southern boundary. The parish extends from the Avon valley floor at an elevation of 32 feet in the south-west to the slopes of Bredon Hill at an elevation of 820 feet in the north-east. The northern third of the parish falls within the Cotswolds AONB, at its greatest extent the parish measures approximately 4.8 miles long by 2.2 miles wide, and covers around 4,119 acres. Bredon parish includes the hamlets of Bredons Hardwick, Kinsham and Westmancote, at the 2011 census the parish had a population of 2,542. The parish is now combined with that of Bredons Norton, which had a population of 247 at the 2011 census, Bredons history of farming and settlement goes back at least four thousand years. Archaeological remains establish that parts of the parish were settled early in the Bronze Age, there are numerous Iron Age remains, some of which would have related to Kemerton Camp, a large univallate hillfort at the summit of Bredon Hill. The parish is rich in remains from the Roman Period, revealing a continuing history of settlement. Modern Bredon has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon period, when c.716 Æthelbald, King of Mercia, for some time, the manor of Bredon continued under an abbot of its own, but by 844, it had become the property of the Bishop of Worcester. It remained part of the Worcester Monastic Estate until the Reformation, Bredons name evolved during the Saxon period, deriving from bree and don. From the Norman Conquest to the end of the Late Medieval Period, following the Reformation in the 16th century, the manor passed to the Crown. In 1718, wealthy resident William Hancock founded Bredon Hancocks Endowed Church of England First School. Bredons Act of Inclosure was passed in 1811, and among those gaining large consolidated holdings were the lord of the manor, Rev. Richard Darke, and the rector, Rev. John Keysall. The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, one of the worlds oldest main line railways, was constructed during the 1830s and 1840s through the village and this remained in operation until 1965, when it was closed under the Beeching Axe. The station is closed on the Cross Country Route. In February 1971, a new section of the M5 motorway was opened, the 1970s and 1980s saw a very rapid growth in the residential population of the village, with the addition of approximately 600 new homes located on former orchards, allotments and farmland
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Bristol Channel
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The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city of Bristol, and is over 30 miles across at its widest point. Until Tudor times the Bristol Channel was known as the Severn Sea, the International Hydrographic Organisation defines the western limit of the Bristol Channel as a line joining Hartland Point in Devon to St. Govans Head in Pembrokeshire. The upper limit of the Channel is between Sand Point, Somerset and Lavernock Point, East of this line is the Severn Estuary. The Severn Estuary and most of the embayments around the channel are less than 10 m in depth. Within the channel, however, there is an E-W trending valley 20 to 30 m in depth that is considered to have formed by fluvial run-off during Pleistocene phases of lower sea level. The Bristol Channel is an important area for wildlife, in particular waders, at low tide large parts of the channel become mud flats due to the tidal range of 43 feet, second only to the Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada. Development schemes have been proposed along the channel, including an airport and a barrier for electricity generation. The largest islands in the Bristol Channel are Lundy, Steep Holm, the islands and headlands provide some shelter for the upper reaches of the channel from storms. These islands are uninhabited and protected as nature reserves, and are home to some unique wild flower species. In 1971 a proposal was made by the Lundy Field Society to establish a marine reserve, on the Gower Peninsula, at its western extremity is the Worms Head, a headland of carboniferous limestone which is approachable on foot at low tide only. The beaches of Gower and North Devon, such as Croyde and Woolacombe, win awards for their quality and setting. In 2004, The Times Travel magazine selected Barafundle Bay in Pembrokeshire as one of the twelve best beaches in the world, in 2007, Oxwich Bay made the same magazines Top 12 best beaches in the world list, and was also selected as Britains best beach for 2007. The city of Swansea is the largest settlement on the Welsh coast of the Bristol Channel, other major built-up areas include Barry, Port Talbot and Llanelli. Smaller resort towns include Porthcawl, Mumbles, Saundersfoot and Tenby, the cities of Cardiff and Newport adjoin the Severn estuary, but lie upstream of the Bristol Channel itself. On the English side, the towns of Weston-super-Mare, Burnham-on-Sea, Watchet, Minehead. Barnstaple and Bideford are sited on estuaries opening onto Bideford Bay and it gives its name to the Channel, which forms its seaward approach
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Celtic Sea
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The southern and western boundaries are delimited by the continental shelf, which drops away sharply. The Isles of Scilly are an archipelago of islands in the sea. The Celtic Sea takes its name from the Celtic heritage of the lands to the north. The name was first proposed by E. W. L, Holt at a 1921 meeting in Dublin of fisheries experts from England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and France. The northern portion of this sea had previously considered as part of Saint Georges Channel. The need for a name came to be felt because of the common marine biology, geology and hydrology. It was adopted in France before being common in the English-speaking countries, in 1957 Édouard Le Danois wrote and it was adopted by marine biologists and oceanographers, and later by petroleum exploration firms. There are no features to divide the Celtic Sea from the open Atlantic Ocean to the south. For these limits, Holt suggested the 200 fathom marine contour, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Celtic Sea as follows, On the North. The Southern limit of the Irish Sea, the South coast of Ireland, a line from the position 51°0′N 11°30′W South to 49°N, thence to latitude 46°30N on the Western limit of the Bay of Biscay, thence along that line to Penmarch Point. The Western limit of the English Channel and the Western limit of the Bristol Channel, the seabed under the Celtic Sea is called the Celtic Shelf, part of the continental shelf of Europe. The northeast portion has a depth of between 90m and 100m, increasing towards Saint Georges Channel, in the opposite direction, sand ridges pointing southwest have a similar height, separated by troughs approximately 50m deeper. These ridges were formed by tidal effects when the sea level was lower, South of 50° the topography is more irregular. Oil and gas exploration in the Celtic Sea has had limited commercial success, the Kinsale Head gas field supplied much of the Republic of Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s. The Celtic Sea has a rich fishery with total annual catches of 1.8 million tonnes as of 2007, four cetacean species occur frequently in the area, minke whale, bottlenose dolphin, short-beaked common dolphin and harbor porpoise. Formerly it held an abundance of marine mammals, Irish Conservation Box Coccoliths in the Celtic Sea, a bloom of phytoplankton in the Celtic Sea, visible from outer space in an MISR image,4 June 2001
