Cradley, Herefordshire

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Cradley
Herefordshire

Cradley Church
Location
Grid reference: SO735471
Location: 52°7’19"N, 2°23’16"W
Data
Population: 1,667  (2011)
Post town: Malvern
Postcode: WR13
Local Government
Council: Herefordshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
North Herefordshire

Cradley is a village in Herefordshire, just west of the Malvern Hills, and very close to the border of Worcestershire to the south. The nearest towns are Ledbury and Bromyard, nine miles to the south and north-west respectively, and Malvern in Worcestershire four miles to the south-east on the other side of the Malvern Hills. With neighbouring Storridge and Ridgeway Cross, the civil parish had a population in 2011 of 1,667.


Parish church

The parish church is St James. The chancel was added by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1868.[1] Pevsner also mentions a mediæval lychgate, a font dated 1722 and the remains of a previous carved font incorporated into a doorway in the tower.

Carved stones in the fabric of the church have been identified as dating from the Anglo-Saxon period.[2]

About the village

Cradley has a butcher/general store and a doctors' surgery.

Cradley Village Hall is a 16th-century timbered building, which was renovated and restored after a serious fire destroyed a large part of the roof. It has 21st-century additions of meeting rooms, Heritage and village resource centre. The heritage archives and local group are available for those researching local history or genealogy. The resource centre has up to date computer and printing and copying services for village use.

Since the closure of the village shop/Post Office, a Post Office counter is manned in the village hall, two days a week, Monday morning and Thursday afternoon. All the usual Post office services are available.

Festival

2011 saw Cradley as the centre of the "Three Villages Festival", along with neighbours Storridge and Mathon. This event celebrated Village life in rural Herefordshire and in 2011 the theme was "Masquerade", an exploration of mask making and wearing.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Cradley, Herefordshire)

References

  1. Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, 1963; 2012 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-12575-7page 106
  2. "Cradley and Storridge Village Design Statement" (pdf). Herefordshire Council. https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/5789132/Cradley_and_Storridge_Village_Design_Statement.pdf.