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Village History
The ancient parish of Mickleton is situated in the county of Gloucestershire and is one of the Cotswolds most northerly villages. It has been called ‘the Gateway to the Cotswolds’. The site of an Iron Age fort on Meon Hill testifies to the area’s long history of settlement. Parish registers began in 1590.
Meon Hill, scene of the so-called ‘witchcraft‘ murder of Charles Walton in 1945, lies to the north of the village. Meon Hill is said to have provided inspiration for Tolkien’s ‘Weathertop‘ from The Lord of the Rings. According to legend, Meon Hill was formed by the Devil. He intended to throw a clod of earth at Evesham Abbey, but missed, and the earth formed the hill.
The Church of St Lawrence is an Anglican parish church. It contains a memorial to Utrecia Smith, the daughter of a curate of Mickleton whose father was also a schoolmaster. Utrecia had been the fiancée of the writer Richard Graves (who broke off their engagement); she died in 1744 aged 30.
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries the manor was leased from the crown to the Porter family who established a charity that still provides support for the church and the school. The Poor Land’s Charity of 1612 provided land for the parish that is well used and cared for by allotment holders. Located throughout the village are several wells, which nowadays are planted with flowers and looked after by individual villagers. Water came to the village in 1898.
Sited on a green in front of the hotel is a memorial fountain by the Victorian architect William Burges. William Burges ARA (2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was among the greatest of the Victorian English art-architects.
Both the Anglican and Methodist churches house a war memorial in the form of a scroll of honour naming all the dead of the First and Second World Wars. The Anglican churchyard has the grave of a Belgian soldier who died of wounds inflicted in the 1914-18 War. Belgian soldiers were evacuated by sea after the Battle of Yser. Norton Hall in Mickleton was turned into a hospital and housed many of the evacuees. A tree in Baker’s Wood has a carving of a Belgian soldier dated 1914. This was discovered about fourteen years ago and has been nurtured ever since.
Burnt Norton to the south of the parish was visited by T.S. Eliot and provided him with inspiration for the famous Four Quartets, one of which is named Burnt Norton.
Mickleton Today
The oldest part of the village lies within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The rest is located in the Vale of Evesham – an area long noted for its market gardening. Mickleton is close to Hidcote Manor Garden, one of the National Trust’s best loved properties, and the attractive Kiftsgate Court Gardens. The Heart of England Way runs through the village and is popular with ramblers and walkers.
There are attractive buildings, and it is surrounded by beautiful countryside. Mickleton is not a typical Cotswold village but a mixture of architectural styles from red brick buildings, Cotswold stone, old black and white timber and modern housing. It has the appearance of a working village making it unlike many of its picturesque and well-ordered neighbours.
Mickleton offers facilities that many other villages have lost. It has a Morrisons daily shop, long-established butcher, tea rooms and garden centre, community allotments, local branch of the WI, primary school, Four Seasons Care Home and church.
There is a thriving village community of over 2,000 residents. At the heart of village activities is King George’s Hall, located at the centre of the village and home to the many clubs and societies that thrive in the village.
Mickleton has two old pubs, The King’s Arms and The Butcher’s Arms, and a hotel, Three Ways House Hotel. The hotel is home to the world-famous Pudding Club, an event where dessert lovers from far and wide come to enjoy this traditional, eccentric institution.