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Bidford, Warwickshire

Historical Description

Bidford, a village and a parish in Warwickshire. The village stands on the river Avon, 4 miles SSE of Alcester, and 7 WSW of Stratford-on-Avon. It has a station on the East and West Junction and Stratford-on-Avon, Towcester, and Midland Junction railway, which is connected at Broom Junction (also within the parish) with the M.R., and a post and money order office under Stratford-on-Avon; telegraph office, Broom Junction railway station. It was once a market-town, and it consists chiefly of one long street. There is a bridge of eight arches over the Avon. One of the houses in it is the old Falcon Inn (now partly occupied by the Bidford Institute), traditionally said to have been a haunt of Shakspeare for drinking ale and playing at shovel-board. An absurd story is current that the poet and some of his companions engaged here in a drinking contest with a party of the natives; that he and his companions lay down after it under a crab-tree in the neighbourhood, and slept there from Saturday evening till Monday morning, and that, on being urged on awakening to go back and renew the contest, he exclaimed, " No, I have had enough; I have drinked with "' Piping Pebworth, dancing Marston, Haunted Hlllbro', hungry Grafton, Dudging Exhall, paplsh Wicksford, Beggarly Broom, and drunken Bidford.' "

The parish includes also the hamlets of Barton, Broom, and Marlcliff. Acreage, 3339; population, 1461. The manor was held by William the Conqueror; was given by the Empress Maud to the monks of Bardsley, and passed to the Clarkes, the Danets, and the Skipwiths. Bidford Grange House was a picturesque old edifice, with unequal gables. The scenery, over much of the surface, is richly beautiful, and has fine spots on "the smooth-flowing Avon." The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £250 with residence. The church is of Norman date, but was almost entirely rebuilt in 1835; the chancel, which contains a piscina, is Early English, and was restored in 1886. There is a Wesleyan Chapel.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyWarwickshire 
Ecclesiastical parishBidford St. Lawrence 
HundredBarlichway 
Poor Law unionAlcester 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Bidford on Avon:

BaptismsMarriagesBurials
1664-19521664-19791664-1949

Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk

The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Bourton on Dunsmore:

BaptismsMarriagesBurials
1560-18931560-19951560-1977

Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Bidford from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Warwickshire papers online:


Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.