Weobley
| Weobley | |
 Sargeants Bros bus in Weobley |
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  Weobley |
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| Population | 1,255 (2011)[1] |
|---|---|
| Civil parish | Weobley |
| Unitary authority | Herefordshire |
| Ceremonial county | Herefordshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HEREFORD |
| Postcode district | HR4 |
| Dialling code | 01544 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | North Herefordshire |
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Coordinates: 52°09′32″N 2°52′23″W / 52.159°N 2.873°W
Weobley (/ˈwɛbli/ WEB-lee) is a large village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, it is today one of the county's black and white villages.
The name possibly derives from 'Wibba's Ley', a ley being a woodland glade and Wibba being a local Saxon landowner. In the Domesday Book the village name was transcribed as Wibelai. It is still pronounced as "Web-ley" (the spelling being similar to nearby Leominster which also does not pronounce the letter 'o' in its name).
It is known that brewing and glove-making were carried out in the village during the Saxon period.
The village has an historic church, the Church of St Peter and St Paul, with a Norman south doorway, a 13th-century chancel and 14th-century tower and a spire that is the second-tallest in the county; castle ruins; a high school (Weobley High School) and a primary school with a pioneering system of heating.
In the village is 'the Throne', a large 400-year-old building - King Charles I spent the night here on 5 September 1645, after the Battle of Naseby during the English Civil War.
It was once incorporated as a borough, sending two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons until the Reform Act 1832, (see Weobley (UK Parliament constituency)) and once had a borough corporation.
In 2001 the artist Walenty Pytel completed a sculpture of a magpie for the village (a magpie is the village's emblem). The sculpture was commissioned after the village won the Calor Gas/Daily Telegraph Great Britain Village of the Year in 1999.[2]
On 3 August 2016, the BBC's The One Show was broadcast entirely from Weobley.
Governance
Weobley is part of the electoral ward called Golden Cross and Weobley. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 2,985.[3]
References
- ↑ "Civil parish population 2011". Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ↑ Palmer, Mike (10 February 2001). "Taking pride of place". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ↑ "Golden Cross and Weobley ward population 2011". Retrieved 30 October 2015.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Weobley. |
- Official Website for Weobley, Herefordshire
- Photos of Weobley and surrounding area on geograph
- Remains of castle
- St Peter and St Paul church, Weobley