Read Through the Lens of Time, a photo history book by David Rayner, a resident of Haselor.
The Parish boundary stretches to the River Alne in the North, Kinwarton Dovecote in the East and skirting close to Billesley Manor in the East and Haselor Hill in the South. It incorporates the villages of Haselor and Walcote.
Forming part of a wider conservation area in the "Arden" character area of the Stratford-upon-Avon District, the parish is recognised predominantly for its agricultural roots and as an area of unspoiled countryside with many walks in the locality.
The Parish is well connected with the A46 beyond Haselor village linking the Parish with Stratford upon Avon through to Evesham and beyond. The motorway network of M40 to the East, M42 to the North and M5 to the West provides excellent road network for this rural Parish.
A local bus service links the Parish between Stratford upon Avon and Redditch. Rail networks to London from Warwick and to Birmingham from Stratford upon Avon is available for local and longer distant commuters.
The Parish offers a rural, truly idyllic country life with the benefits of a good transport infrastructure and a good range of local services for everyday living.
OUR HISTORY
Haselor since Saxon times, was divided into two manors, Haselor and Upton. Both settlements were included in the Domesday Book survey of 1086 as Haselore and Optone.
The name Haselor is derived from Haesel and Ofer (hazel bank) and Upton from Upp and Tun (town higher up). Haselor consisted of the hamlet of Walcote and those houses along Watery Lane (now Lower Haselor). Upton was all the houses adjoining the main road through the village. Nowadays Haselor means the villages of Haselor and Walcote.
Both manors had various owners but the most significant were St Mary's College, Warwick who held the manor of Haselor from 1395-1530s. They were followed by the Grevilles of Beauchamp Court and Warwick Castle. Upton was held at one time by the Throckmorton's of Coughton Court.
The church founded by Henry I (1100-1135) and dedicated to St Mary's and All Saints was also held by St Mary's Warwick from 1394 until Henry VIII when the Crown took over. One notorious incumbent was Reverend Cornelius Griffin, a one time inhabitant of the debtor's prison in Warwick, slept at the church in a coffin!
A farming parish with the usual rural crafts, the only non-rural craft in the parish was the manufacture of needles at Hoo Mill.
Recent times have seen the closure of Haselor's public House, The Crown, and also closure of the Post Office (located in the heart of Haselor today with the George VI post box) accommodating the local village shop. Haselor School opened in 1877 has been extended over the last ten years and continues to flourish.
