Martley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Martley | |
|---|---|
 The Crown | |
  Martley Location within Worcestershire | |
| OS grid reference | SO754597 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WORCESTER |
| Postcode district | WR6 |
| Dialling code | 01886 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Martley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district of the English county of Worcestershire. It is approximately nine miles north-west of Worcester. The population of the village is approximately 1,200 people. The mixed farming of the area includes arable, formerly cherry, apple, damson orchards and hopyards.
It is a popular village for retired people and professionals working in the city and surrounding towns, and has a large secondary school to which around 700 pupils are bussed daily from the surrounding area. It has a sports hall with rock climbing wall and a gym within the grounds of the school can be used by the public out of school times.
The village and its extensive parish sits astride the Malvern Line, a north–south aligned lineament originating in Precambrian times. To the east are Triassic sandstones whilst to the west are Devonian mudstones. Along the lineament itself are a complex mix of rocks of Precambrian, Cambrian and Silurian age.[1]
History
Berrow Hill, an Iron Age hillfort, is one of several in the area, which hosts a beacon.
The name Martley derives from the Old English mearðlēah meaning 'marten wood/clearing'.[2]
Martley was in the upper division of Doddingtree Hundred.[3]
Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Martley Parish ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in its parish. This responsibility was transferred to Martley Poor Law Union.[4]
A lane leads south from the village to the church which stands close to a spring known as St Peters Well, suggesting a pre-Christian origin for the site.[5] The red sandstone parish church of St Peter is Norman in origin.[6] Its peal of six bells, cast locally in 1673 by the bellfounder Richard Keene of Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, is the only complete set of original bells in the county. The bells are a Maiden Ring, a peal of bells that sounds the correct notes immediately after casting and needs no further tuning. St. Peter's was one of the first churches in Worcestershire to have as many as six bells and at the beginning of the 18th century[7] very few churches had more than three or four bells. In 1894 the bells were rehung on the original frame and no further major work has been required since.
The church also contains some medieval wall paintings and an alabaster effigy of Sir Hugh Mortimer, Lord of Kyre & Martley, killed in battle at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. In 1999 a new stained glass window was cut, leaded and installed by Patrick Costeloe for the artist Tom Denny.[8]
Notable people
- Sir Charles Hastings (1794–1866) founder of the British Medical Association was raised in Martley.
- Francis Jukes (1745–1812) engraver was born in Martley.
- Martin Stainforth (1866–1957) equine artist was born in Martley.
