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| Prestbury | |
|---|---|
 The Burgage (road), Prestbury | |
  Prestbury Location withinGloucestershire | |
| Population | 6,981 |
| OS grid reference | SO971239 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHELTENHAM |
| Postcode district | GL52 |
| Dialling code | 01242 |
| Police | Gloucestershire |
| Fire | Gloucestershire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| |
Prestbury is a village andcivil parish in the borough ofCheltenham inGloucestershire, England. Located on the outskirts ofCheltenham and part of theTewkesbury parliamentary constituency.
The parish of Prestbury had a population of 6,981 according to the 2011 census.[1]
The name of the village means "Priests’ fortified place", fromAnglo-Saxonpreost andburh, possibly from a fortified manor house belonging to theBishop of Hereford in the 13th century. The settlement is mentioned asPreosdabyrig in 899-904. Prestbury is listed in theDomesday Book of 1086 as "Presteberie", part of the property of the church ofHereford, with 18villagers, five smallholders, a priest, a riding man and 11 slaves. By the 13th century it had becomePresbery. In 1249 theBishop of Hereford was granted permission to hold a weekly market along with a three-day annual fair in August.[2]
The village became eclipsed by Cheltenham following the end of the medieval period. The market started to decline in the 15th century and had lapsed completely by the start of the 18th century. In the middle of the 18th century amineral spring was discovered in the parish, and by 1751 a local landowner,Lord Craven, had a business providing bathing and lodging. However it did not last past the end of the century.[2]
The PrestburyWar Memorial is aCotswold stoneGothic Revival column with six engraved panels commemorating the villagers who died in the First World War (1914–1918).[3] The memorial was severely damaged in October 2011 in an act ofvandalism when the column was toppled to the ground and smashed.[4] A replacement column, using stone from the original quarry,[5] was rededicated on 14 April 2012.[6]
There are claims that Prestbury is the mosthaunted village in England,[7] and one of the most haunted in Britain.[8]
The village shops include two stores and petrol station with store. There is a public library, three hairdressers, a pharmacy, and a butcher. A brasserie and pub, the King's Arms, was the village's mainpublic house, and it was here that the 19th-century jockeyFred Archer grew up, his father being the landlord of the pub. There are three further village pubs: the Plough, the Beehive and the Royal Oak.
The village is home to Prestbury Park, theCheltenham Racecourse, which holds theGold Cup race each March.Racehorse trainers Frenchy Nicholson and his sonDavid Nicholson had stables in Prestbury. Notable Nicholson apprentices includePat Eddery,Walter Swinburn, andMouse Morris the 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup winning trainer with the horse War of Attrition.
Prestbury civil parish has been in the Borough of Cheltenham since 1991; it was in Cheltenham Rural District from 1894 to 1974, and the Borough of Tewkesbury from 1974 to 1991.
The parish is presently split between four wards of the Borough of Cheltenham: Swindon Village, Prestbury, Pittville (a very small part) and Oakley; three electoral divisions of the county of Gloucestershire: St Paul's and Swindon, Pittville and Prestbury, and All Saints and Oakley; and two parliamentary constituencies: Tewkesbury and Cheltenham.
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