가장 멋진 명소 20곳

Quiet Anglican church with some gorgeous mosaics inside. Nice brown signpost on the nearest A-Road, so you won't miss the turn.

Pretty building hidden behind the church in a pretty square

Start and finish, from Alceater town hall

Great little cycling stop, a bench in the car park and places to lock your bikes.

Absolutely stunning location to visit in its own right, however, if cycling past & have the time, certainly check it out. If on route & not stopping, continue along Coughton lane to the right side of the Court & you have 2 options, pass via the ford & continue head towards Alcester (right) or Great Lane (left) otherwise, directly after the ford, turn left & follow the dirt/gravel track & come out the other side of great Alne, much nice views.

This Grade I-listed town hall in the heart of Alcester boasts stunning wooden beams inside. Constructed in 1641, the hall was first a market. These days, the hall is used as an event space and has a calendar of upcoming concerts, activities, workshops and more.

An ancient woodland with coppice and large oaks Jointly owned with Butterfly Conservation, Grafton has been at the heart of one of Worcestershire’s great conservation successes.  The wood is the centre of the only colony of brown hairstreak butterflies in the Midlands.  These elusive butterflies, on the wing in August and September, have been the subject of a long-term project to ensure their survival.  By working with local landowners and encouraging appropriate maintenance of hedgerows, volunteers from both conservation charities have helped the butterflies to increase in range and in numbers. Grafton Wood is an ancient semi-natural broad-leaved woodland and, until the 1950s was traditionally managed as coppice-with-standards that provided materials for products such as broom handles, pea sticks, hedge-laying, clothes pegs, spars for thatching and firewood.  Our management today aims to replicate this tradition and involves widening the rides through the woodland, coppicing and creating glades.  We also ensure that there are scrubby areas containing the young blackthorn bushes that are vital for brown hairstreaks to survive. The majority of the canopy at Grafton is ash and oak although we also have a small-leaved lime coppice stool that we think must have originally started as one lime tree at least a thousand years ago.  In many places there is a dense shrub layer of field maple, hawthorn and hazel.  The two compartments of conifers that were planted in the 1960s have largely been removed in 2010. It’s not just brown hairstreak butterflies that visitors to Grafton Wood should keep a look out for.  The wood is also important for other woodland butterflies including silver-washed fritillaries and white admirals.  After careful surveying of the habitat and flowering species in the wood pearl-bordered fritillaries were released into the woodland in 2011 in the hope that they would then naturally re-colonise the wood after a 30 year absence.  Notable moths include drab looper, rosy footman, Devon carpet and waved black. Many fungi have been recorded in the wood and it also supports a distinctive flora including herb-Paris, adder’s-tongue fern, violet helleborine, spurge laurel and bird’s-nest orchid.  Birds including buzzard, goldcrest, treecreeper, lesser and great spotted woodpeckers are regularly seen in the wood and the adjacent meadows and orchards are important for green woodpeckers.  Bechstein’s bats were recently discovered in the wood and the colony is thought to be the most northerly breeding roost in the UK.

The church of ST. JOHN BAPTIST consists of a chancel 26½ ft. by 15¾ ft., nave 44 ft. by 21 ft., north chapel, south porch, and west tower 11 ft. square. These measurements are all internal. The church, with the exception of the 14th-century tower, was entirely rebuilt in 1875, but the old work appears to have been very largely re-used. The modern work is already getting into a very bad state of repair. The chancel has a 15th-century east window of three lights with a segmental pointed head. In the north wall is a square-headed 14th-century window of two ogee trefoil-headed lights. In the south wall are two square-headed two-light windows and a priest's door, mostly modern. On this side is a single sedile with a cusped head, and near it a pointed piscina with the bowl missing. An internal string-course, largely modern, is carried round the chancel. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders dying into the wall; the voussoirs are small and regular and are of late 13th or early 14th-century date. In the north wall of the nave is a pointed 14thcentury arch of two chamfered orders opening into a small chapel with a single-light window on the east and west. Further west is a pointed window of the same date with two lights and a traceried head. In the south wall are two windows, each of two lights and similar to that on the north of the chancel; between them is a plain pointed door. All these features have apparently been restored and reset. The 14th-century tower is faced with ashlar and three stages high with low diagonal buttresses to the western angles of the ground stage. The tower arch is acutely pointed and of two chamfered orders. This stage rests on a deeply moulded plinth and has a pointed 15th-century west window of three cinquefoiled lights. The second stage is lighted by loops only, but the third stage has a pointed 14th-century window of two trefoiled ogee lights in each face. The parapet is embattled, with carved gargoyles at the angles of the string and panelled and crocketed pinnacles rising above them. From within it rises a low octagonal pyramid of stone capped by a truncated pinnacle set diagonally. The fittings include a 17th-century communion table with turned legs, a 15th-century semi-octagonal pulpit (on a modern base) having a moulded rail and traceried heads to the panels, and a modern font. In the north chapel is a broken marble monument to Roger Stonehall, who died in 1645. Under the tower are roughly designed paintings on boards of the evangelistic symbols with black letter labels, perhaps of the 16th century; here is also a painted achievement of the royal arms of Charles II inscribed 1687 C.R. In the tracery of the east window are some fragments of 15th-century glass tabernacle work and in the north chancel window are two shields, one with the arms of Mortimer and the other imperfect with those of Beauchamp. In the west window are fragments of white and yellow 15th-century glass in the tracery. There are five bells, all cast by John Martin in 1676: the tenor is inscribed, 'All men that here my roring sound repent before you ly in ground, M. Robert Baker 1676'; the fourth, 'We wish in heven theer souls may sing that caused us six here for to ring, Amell Doxly, Richard Haynes C.W. 1676'; the third, 'Be it known to all that doth wee see John Martin of Worcester, he made wee 1676'; the second, 'All prayse and glory be to God for ever 1676'; and the treble, 'Jesus be our good speed, God Save the King 1676.' The plate includes a cup and cover paten, London, 1571, and a plate, London, 1679, inscribed 'Grafton Flyford.' The registers are in one volume as follows: baptisms 1676 to 1813, burials 1676 to 1812, marriages 1678 to 1777.

According to the Domesday Book there was a church in Inkberrow in Saxon times, and a minster is believed to have existed as early as 700 AD. No traces of either the Saxon church or the minster remain. However, the current church is believed to have been built on the site of the minster, and also perhaps a twelfth century wood and earthwork castle destroyed by Henry III in 1233. The current church probably dates from the 13th century, and was not built on the site of the Saxon church. The earliest remaining architectural feature in the church is the north doorway, which dates from the 13th century. When the north aisle was added to the church around 1480, the old doorway was moved outward and re-used. The north aisle contains several wall monuments, and was originally shorter than its current length. A fellowship centre has been created, restoring the north aisle to the purpose for which it was originally built. The north chapel, also called St Catherine's or the Lady Chapel, is part of the original church structure. It used to be fully enclosed, and was originally the vestry. The east wall contains remnants of a 15th century stained glass window. To the left of this window, beneath an 18th century wall monument, is a shallow recess for a figure.  The chapel contains a Tudor altar table, and the church's remembrance book.Early in the 16th century the north aisle was extended over the vestry and a wide archway opened into the chancel. The chancel was rebuilt in 1390. In 1887, the east and south walls were again rebuilt. The south wall was moved outward a few inches, the chancel arch was reconstructed using the old stones, and the roof was renewed. The stained glass windows of St. Peter and St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi and St Anne, date from 1899 and 1920 respectively. Mr. Sneyd-Kynnersley was a churchwarden and trustee of the church charity, and the Hunt family were benefactors of the church.   The south transept may have been added as a chantry chapel shortly after 1357 to pray daily for the souls of members of the Colman family. It may have been the original St. Catherine's chapel. Alternatively, it may have been built around 1390 by the Savage family of Dormston. Whatever its origins, only the original arch remains. The Chapel was rebuilt, and probably extended to its current size in 1784.   The altar tomb of painted white marble is to the memory of John Savage who in 1609 bought the manor of Edgioke just outside Inkberrow village but within the parish bounds. He died on the 22nd December 1631. On the base is his effigy in full armour. The hands and feet are missing, believed to have been vandalised by Cromwell's troops. On the sides of the base were the kneeling figures of his ten children, some of which have been removed. On top of the arched canopy are three small figures representing 'Time', 'Hope' and 'Faith', together with the Savage coat of arms.   The nave was part of the original structure, but was altered sometime between 1390 and 1420. The windows in the south wall are 15th century. The one nearest to the tower contains some stained glass of that period. In 1839, new box pews were installed bringing the seating capacity of the church to 504. By 1887, the church had become so damp that a complete restoration was required. The rotten wood of the floor was renewed, and several 17th and 18th century headstones were laid in the floor. The font dates from around 1200 AD, and being square is typical of a late Norman font. In 1839, it was cleaned and placed under the arch linking the chancel to the south transept, near the pulpit. It was moved to its current position opposite the south door of the nave in 1887. The tower is three storeys high and was built shortly after 1420 by the Dyson family. The west window which cannot be seen from inside the church, and the west doorway are 15th century. The organ is housed on a raised platform on the ground floor, with the clock and bell ringers' chamber on the second floor, and the church's six bells on the third. The tower was restored in 2000. In 1887, the internal gallery was removed and the archway opened out to reveal the original 15th century west window. It was enclosed again in 1940 when the early 19th century organ was installed. The gallery was re-instated at the same time. Legend refers to 'Intebors ting-tangs' (small bells) suggesting that the Saxon church had bells. The earliest mention of bells in the current church is in 1544, when Margaret Hunt bequeathed money for the casting of bells. The six bells were recast and made heavier in 1868, at a cost of £ 170. In 1658 20 shillings was provided for a person to ring the bells every Lord's day. This was equivalent to a labourer's wages for six weeks. In 1768, three shillings was spent to provide ale for the bell ringers, equivalent to around 125 pints. A wooden board lists the parish vicars since 1268. Seven vicars of Inkberrow died during the years 1349, 1361, 1362 and 1369, the times that the Black Death ravaged England. Due to their vocation of visiting the sick, administering the last rites and burying the dead, many priests died during times of plague. In the diocese of Worcester, 80 clergymen died of plague between March and September 1349. The original 13th century vestry was located where the current St. Catherine's chapel is. It was moved to its present position in 1968, and screened off using 17th century oak panelling. On the south side of the screen, Charles I is depicted in armour before the battle of Edgehill. It is interesting to note that Charles' head is severed from his body.   The stained glass in the window in the west wall of the vestry is 15thcentury, and depicts St. Catherine and another saint, crowned and holding a staff. Such fragments are rare. In 1547, following the Reformation, King Edward VI ordered that no images of saints should remain in churches, even in glass. Due to the cost of the wholesale removal of all stained glass windows of saints, they were only replaced once they had decayed. Outside the main body of the church, the north porch was added during the 15th century. It contains a memorial stone to Thomas Dyson dated 1651. A wooden plaque to the right of the door commemorates the 1887 restoration.   The arch over the outer entrance has carved stops depicting human heads. The left hand gargoyle is holding a leather bottle typical of the period. The rest of the porch was re-built using the original stones in 1887. On the outer wall of the vestry, a straight line can be seen in the stone work (14) where the north aisle was added to the church in 1480. It has been estimated that in excess of 20,000 bodies have been laid to rest in Inkberrow churchyard. Despite Kington and Dormston having their own ancient churches, where baptisms and marriages were performed, the dead from these parishes were buried at Inkberrow until 1837. In addition, the churchyard of St. Peter's served as the burial ground to St. Paul's, Cookhill, until the consecration of its burial ground in 1932. St. Peter's burialground was extended to the south-west in 1857 and to the north-east in 1945. To the rear of the church, on the outer wall of the south transept, there is a "mass clock" (15). This is a semi-circular sun dial scratched on the wall. This was used to indicate the times of services in the days before mechanical clocks. Its position close to ground level suggests that it belongs to an earlier structure, which was re-used when the south transept was re-built in 1784. The engraved GH above the mass clock is the remnant of an inscription GH 1814, the significance of which is not known. When the north aisle was extended over the original vestry around 1480, the vestry was rebuilt askew from the original foundations. This can be seen in the lower courses in the outside of the east wall of the north chapel (16).   To the front of the church, the lych-gate was erected in 1919 as a war memorial. It contains two plaques to the Inkberrow men who died in the first and second World Wars. The sundial close by is believed to be the one bought in 1705 to replace the previous sundial which had been stolen from the churchyard.  On 10th May 1645, King Charles I slept in the vicarage on a tour through Worcestershire. He left behind one of his map books, which is now in the custody of the vicar and stored in the County Record Office. His soldiers' wages were lost, buried somewhere in or near the village. In retribution for housing Charles, Cromwell is reputed to have burned the vicarage down.

In 1618 the Lord of the Manor of Alcester, Sir Fulke Greville III, provided the sum of £300 for the building of a market hall. Prior to that traders and customers would have gathered at a well and market cross which are likely to have occupied the same site. Simon Whyte was appointed master mason. The limestone for the columns of the colonnade and the cornice carne from his own quarry at Chipping Campden; the remainder of the stone was Arden Sandstone, probably from Little Alne. Originally the whole building was to have been constructed in stone but this was found to be too expensive. The timber-framed upper floor, with its magnificent roof, was constructed at the later date of 1641. Look for the date carved on one of the roof beams to the west side of the hall; it has recently been confirmed by tree-ring dating of the timbers. The arches of the ground level were open, and all kinds of produce would have been traded using the space between the pillars, particularly those which needed shelter from the sun like cheese, or expensive goods such as silk which had to be kept out of the rain. Sir Fulke’s manorial court, the Court Leet, checked the produce, charged traders and fined them if goods were not up to scratch. Upstairs, boards display the names of High and Low Bailiffs of the manor from 1299 to the present day. They also jailed offenders in the basement prison known as The Hole, which still exists today. Its massive oak door with iron bars is now on display in the main ground floor room. The cell was still in use as the town lock-up until about 1850 when a new police station opened in Henley Street. ln 1765, following a petition from townspeople, the Lord of the Manor Francis Greville, lst Earl of Warwick, revoked all market tolls payable to him on condition that the people of Alcester kept the hall in good repair. In the mid-19th century it housed the town’s fire engine.  In 1870 the roof was modified into the “hammerbeam” form seen today, although for a time it was concealed by a false ceiling. By this time the old market had ceased, so in 1873 the Marquess of Hertford (whose family had become Lords of the Manor in 1813) enclosed and converted the ground floor for use as the town’s magistrate’s court. The town stocks were stored here and are on display on the ground floor. They are of unusual design with four iron wheels, ready to be pushed outside through the streets of Alcester when required. Also on the ground floor, in a box attached to the ceiling, is a splendid hand-coloured Ordnance Survey map of 1887 showing the ancient manor of Alcester and surrounding parishes. Please view with great care when on display. During the Great War the hall was used as a hospital and in 1919 the town of Alcester raised £640 by public subscription to purchase the freehold of the hall from the 7th Marquess of Hertford. It was renamed The Alcester War Memorial Town Hall in memory of those who had given their lives for their country. A trust was set up naming the High and Low Bailiff of the manor during their term of office. They are still elected annually by male members of the community who are residents, leaseholders or freeholders in the manor. The ground floor was intended to be an institute and reading room, but this never happened. In 1938 the hall received a gift of the coat of arms of the 2nd Marquess of Hertford, which now hangs above the upstairs fireplace. He married the Honourable Isabella Anne Ingram Sheppard in 1776 and the plaque shows how both family names were combined heraldically. In the same year, the false ceiling was removed exposing the timbers of the roof. The present fireplace and main stairs, in period style, were installed in 1939. During the Second World War, the people of Alcester and surrounding nearby parishes raised £139,000 to commission the corvette, HMS Monkshood. You will find a model of the ship and ensign in the upper room. During the 1950s, a long series of improvements and repairs began, including a new oak floor upstairs. Major restorations have been carried out on the outside walls. In 1978 a charitable trust and management committee was established and Mr. J Adams was appointed as the first chairman, a post he held until 2006. During this period an immense amount of work has been undertaken to preserve and improve the hall, including major alterations to the ground floor in 1985-6. In 1999 the committee welcomed the 9th Marquess of Hertford who succeeded his father as Patron and Lord of the Manor.

Coughton Court is a wonderfull place to visit in its own right and has some lovely walks in its grounds. Make sure it is open though!! The house has a long crenelated façade directly facing the main road, at the centre of which is the Tudor Gatehouse, dating from 1530; this has hexagonal turrets and oriel windows in the English Renaissance style. The gatehouse is the oldest part of the house and is flanked by later wings, in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style, popularised by Horace Walpole. The Coughton estate has been owned by the Throckmorton family since 1409. The estate was acquired through marriage to the De Spinney family.Coughton was rebuilt by Sir George Throckmorton, the first son of Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton Court by Catherine Marrow, daughter of William Marrow of London. The great gatehouse at Coughton was dedicated to King Henry VIII by Throckmorton, a favourite of the King. Throckmorton would become notorious due to his almost fatal involvement in the divorce between King Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.Throckmorton favoured the queen and was against the Reformation. Throckmorton spent most of his life rebuilding Coughton. In 1549, when he was planning the windows in the great hall, he asked his son Nicholas to obtain from the heralds the correct tricking (colour abbreviations) of the arms of his ancestors' wives and his own cousin and niece by marriage Queen Catherine Parr (see gallery drawing). The costly recusancy (refusal to attend Anglican Church services) of Robert Throckmorton and his heirs restricted later rebuilding, so that much of the house still stands largely as he left it. After Throckmorton's death in 1552, Coughton passed to his eldest son, Robert. Robert Throckmorton and his family were practicing Catholics therefore the house at one time contained a priest hole, a hiding place for priests during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I of England. The Hall also holds a place in English history for its roles in both the Throckmorton Plot of 1583 to murder Queen Elizabeth, and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, although the Throckmorton family were themselves only indirectly implicated in the latter, when some of the Gunpowder conspirators rode directly there after its discovery. The house has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1946. The family, however, hold a 300-year lease and previously managed the property on behalf of the Trust. In 2007, however, the house reverted to management by the National Trust. The management of the property is renewed every 10 years. The family tenant until recently was Clare McLaren-Throckmorton, known professionally as Clare Tritton QC, until she died on 31 October 2017. The house, which is open to the public all year round, is set in extensive grounds including a walled formal garden, a river and a lake.