Badsey Worcestershire Family History Guide

Badsey is an Ancient Parish in the county of Worcestershire.

Alternative names: Badsey with Aldington

Other places in the parish include: Aldington.

Parish church: St. James

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1539
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1614

Nonconformists: Wesleyan Methodist

Adjacent Parishes

History

Wikipedia includes the following description of the history of Badsey:

Badsey has a long and rich history dating back to at least Roman times. In a charter of 709, the village was referred to as Baddesia (Baeddi’s Island).

The Domesday Book of 1085 states that there were 12 villagers (likely to mean households or smallholdings) with 8 ploughs, 4 slaves and one widow living in Badsey. The reference to 8 plough teams implies that arable farming was already well established. The first stone church was probably built at Badsey in the 11th century. In the Middle Ages, the main landowner was the church. Following the dissolution of Evesham Abbey, the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford, have been rectors and patrons of the parish since 1546, as well as being substantial landowners.

Agriculture has been the main occupation of the village for most of its history. At the beginning of the 19th century, the old open field system gave way to a more enclosed landscape which suited the agricultural revolution which was taking place, but changed the landscape irrevocably. The predominant occupation of the 19th century continued to be agriculture with over 70% of the working population was engaged in agriculture.

In the 1870s, the great agricultural depression began to hit the country, but for Badsey, this coincided with the advent of market gardening, introducing a new, prosperous chapter for the village. Whereas many villages at this time witnessed a drift of people away from the village to the town, the opposite was true in Badsey. Two big sales of farmland took place in 1866, which helped the spread of market gardening. The new landowners divided the land into strips which they then let to former farm labourers. These men started market gardening on their own account. By the time that three further sales of farmland took place in the early 1890s, the newly-emerging market gardeners seized the opportunity to buy an acre or two of land. A housing boom took place as many new houses were built. The former “Ag Labs” now knew a wealth they could never formerly have expected. The opening of the railway station in 1884 opened up the markets and the Littleton & Badsey Growers’ co-operative was founded in 1908 to assist market gardeners. Badsey and the Vale of Evesham became famous, particularly for the asparagus which was grown here. In a hundred years, the population of Badsey and Aldington had more than tripled as more people moved to the area to take up market gardening. By 1911, 80% of households were involved in market gardening.

The decline in market gardening began after the Second World War. In common with villages elsewhere, there have been numerous changes in the post-war period, with significant housing development.

Parish History

Badsey

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

Badsey, a village and a parish in Evesham district, Worcester. The village stands on a tributary of the river Avon, adjacent to the Great Western railway, 2 miles ESE of Evesham. The parish includes also the hamlet of Aldington Worcestershire. Post-town, Evesham. Acres, 1,770. Real property, £4,268. Pop., 546. Houses, 119. There are mineral springs, and a silk mill. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £150. Patron, Christ Church College, Oxford. Charities, £14.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A Fullerton & Co. N.d.c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

BADSEY (St. James), a parish, in the union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 2¼ miles (E. by S.) from Evesham; containing, with the hamlet of Aldington, 497 inhabitants. This place belonged to the abbey of Evesham, even before the Conquest; and in the reign of Edward III. the abbot provided a garden and buildings here, for the retirement of sick and convalescent monks from the establishment.

The parish comprises 1795 acres, and is bordered on the west by the navigable river Avon, which here receives a small brook, which in its course turns several mills, including a silk-mill. It is crossed from west to east by the road from Evesham to Chipping-Campden. The village consists of an airy street, with some substantial dwellings. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king’s books at £5. 6. 8.; net income, £150; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The church stands in an open burial-ground rising gently from the street, whence its remarkably pretty tower and ancient yew-tree are seen with good effect.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840

Badsey, a parish in the upper division of the hund. of Blackenhurst, union of Evesham, county of Worcester; 2 miles east by south from Evesham. It includes the hamlet of Aldington. Living, a perpetual curacy in the archd. and. dio. of Worcester; rated at £5 6s. 88.; gross income £156. Patrons, the dean and chapter of Christ-church, Oxford. The great and small tithes, the property of the dean and chapter of Oxford, lay-impropriators and perpetual curate, were commuted in 1812. Here is a school with a small endowment for the teaching of poor children. The annual income of all the charities connected with this parish, is £14. In 1838, there was a silk-mill in this parish, employing 35 hands. Pop., in 1801, 367; in 1831, 463. Houses 88. Acres 1,770. A. P. £3,489. Poor rates, in 1837, £132. See Aldington.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.

Worcestershire Delineated C. and J. Greenwood 1822

Badsey – a parish in the hundred of Blakenhurst, upper division, 2½ miles E. from Evesham, and 99 from London; containing 67 inhabited houses. A silk mill upon an extensive scale has lately been erected in this parish, which affords employment to a considerable number of young persons, chiefly females. It is a curacy; Rev. C. Phillott, incumbent; in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christchurch, Oxford. Population, 1801, 284 – 1811, 342 – 1821, 334.

Source: Worcestershire Delineated: Being a Topographical Description of Each Parish, Chapelry, Hamlet, &c. In the County; with the distances and bearings from their respective market towns, &c. By C. and J. Greenwood. Printed by T. Bensley, Crane Court, Fleet Street, London, 1822.

Aldington

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

Aldington, a hamlet in Badsey parish, Worcester; 2 miles E of Evesham. Pop., 141. Houses, 35.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A Fullerton & Co. N.d.c. [1870-72].

Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England 1845

Aldington, a hamlet, in the parish of Badsey, union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of Blackenhurst [sic], Pershore and E divisions of the county of Worcester, 2 miles (E) from Evesham; comprising 628 acres, and containing 102 inhabitants. On the west it is bounded by the Avon and on the north by a stream which falls into that river. The soil is of the most fertile quality.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840

Aldington, a hamlet and chapelry in the parish of Badsey, county of Worcester. Living, attached to the curacy of Badsey, in the archd. and dio. of Worcester; about 3 miles east of Evesham. The tithes of this township, the property of the dean and chapter of Christ church, Oxford, the impropriators and the curate, were commuted in 1807. Pop., in 1801, 83; in 1831, 104. Houses 22. A. P. £1,339. Poor rates, in 1837, £56.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.

Worcestershire Delineated C. and J. Greenwood 1822

Aldington – a hamlet to the parish of Badsey, in the hundred of Blakenhurst, upper division, 2 miles E. from Evesham, containing 19 inhabited houses. Population, 1801, 83 – 1811, no return – 1821, 87.

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