Cleeve Prior

Human settlement in England

Wychavon

Worcestershire

Region

West Midlands

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townEveshamPostcode districtWR11PoliceWest MerciaFire Hereford and Worcester Ambulance West Midlands UK Parliament

Mid Worcestershire

List of places: UK; England; Worcestershire

52°08′32″N 1°52′31″W / 52.14236°N 1.875174°W / 52.14236; -1.875174

Cleeve Prior is a village in the Vale of Evesham Worcestershire, England. It is situated five miles north-east of Evesham. There are many picturesque houses made from the local lias stone, including the Kings Arms public house and the 150-year-old school. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew, and has 6 bells which are rung for the parish service each Sunday.

History

The name Cleeve, attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Clyve, comes from the dative singular form of the Old English word clif ('cliff, bank, steep hill'), referring in this case to the rising ground above the River Avon on which the village is situated. The estate was the property of the Priors of Worcester from early times (recorded in their Latin records as Clyve Prioris) accounting for the Prior element of the name, distinguishing it from nearby Bishop's Cleeve.^[1]^[2]

References

^ A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of English Place Names (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.v. Cleeve.
^ Mawer, A; Stenton, F M (1969). The Place-Names of Worcestershire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 314.