About Our Village, Local Features and History
Hillhampton is a small rural hamlet in the county of Worcestershire, England. It's about 8 miles from the county town of Worcester in a north easterly direction, located in between the two villages of Great Witley and Little Witley (note no "h" in Witley, the locals get upset about that!.
It lies under the lee of Abberley Hill (283 meters above sea level) and Woodbury Hill (276 meters). Our village is around 95 meters above sea level, depending upon where you are in the village.
At the north east side of our boundary are the villages of Shrawley and Astley, beyond which is our closest town of Stourport on Severn. A small (population 21 000) canal town about 6 miles away (home to our closest takeaways!).
Going clockise from the north west we have Little Witley, Ockeridge, Martley, Shelsey Beauchamp, Shelsey Walsh (home of the famous hill climb), Stanford Bridge and back to Great Witley in the north west.
In a matter of precision we are located at a latitude of 52.28' north and a longitude of -2.33' West.
In the 2021 Census we had a population of128, 142 in 1802 and 78 (?) in 1980, the population has morphed over the years from a primariliy agriculture commumity to a mainly commuter community.
Also from the 2021 Census, the mean average age of residents in Hillhampton is 47.3 years, slightly above the broader county- wide average for Worcestershire, which has a median age of approximately 44 to 45 year.
In Great Wtley we have a post office/convience store and a petrol station with a mini (Asda) supermarket attached.
Also in Great Witley is our local doctors surgery (which covers a large area and has 7397 registered parients), a primary school (90 pupils), a village hall and the Quarter Green (named after one of the two local families, the Quatermans and the Pains, who donated the monies to purchase the land) Sports facillity.
We also have and excellent Village Hall in Little Witley, this enjoys some excellent views back towards Great Witley.
In between Great Witley and Little Witley is also another local atraction, Wiley Court and Gardens, A mansion that was destroyed fire by 1937, now managed by English Heritage. the gardens feature some huge fountains that have been restored to working condition and are "fired" regularly. Its a very special place and is key to our identity.
Attached to the, above mentioned Court is the local parish church, St Michaels and All Angels, which is very special. Often quoted as Britains finest baroque church, I'm not going to argue. If you ever get the chance to pop in plesae ignore the austre exterior and hold your breath for the interior. It is fantastic. We'll try to educate you on this on a seperate page.
If you do get the chance to visit either (or both) the court or church, make time to pop into the the local tearoom (The Secret Garden), for meal or quick coffee break, it's well worth it.
Keep an eye on this page for notes on local history, surrounding countryside walks, historical details, landmark photos, local news updates etc.