The Pillertons' Home Page

Other Pages ----------------- Locality Church Events Rota Home Links |  | Welcome to the unofficial Pillertons' Web site home of information on the twin villages of Pillerton Hersey & Pillerton Priors. STOP PRESS - See EVENTS 25/5/98 The Warwickshire villages of Pillerton Priors and Pillerton Hersey (The Pillertons') are situated in "Red Horse Vale" amidst the gently rolling hills of the Feldon. Pillerton Priors is 7 miles South of Stratford on Avon on the (A422) Banbury road at the Junction with the road to Kineton (B4451), on which stands Pillerton Hersey, a mile East of Priors. The two villages make up a single parish, combined around 1666 when the Church of St. Mary Magdalen in Priors was burnt down. The Church was never rebuilt but the churchyard is still consecrated ground and an "open air" service is held every year on the Sunday closest to the patronal festival - July 22nd. As the churchyard sits on high ground, that extends along the main road, it affords fine views over Red Horse Vale. Close by the Churchyard is Sandpits Farm, but within "a stones throw" the soil changes to the heavy Pillerton clay, laid down by Lake Harrison, a glacial Ice-Age lake that extended from Coventry to Morton in Marsh. As the boundaries of the Lake moved with the centuries so it deposited anything from fibrous soil, through sand, to Lias clay, but mainly clay! The road from Priors descends towards Hersey following the natural drainage. Rain that falls on the Pillertons' finds it's way to the head of the Dene Valley, flows past Walton Hall and eventually joins the Avon. The brook that passes through Hersey is often reduced to a trickle in dry periods failing to replenish the last of the (reputedly) mediaeval fish ponds. This insignificant water course turned into a raging torrent in "The Great Flood" of Easter 1998 inundating several houses previously above flood level. Viewed from the Priors road, Hersey seems to "nestle" in a shallow valley; the tower of the church, clustered round with houses, protruding from the trees. Although in reality the Church of St. Mary the Virgin is on the edge of the village. From the same viewpoint the ridge that much of Priors stands on, dominates the skyline. The main Stratford to Banbury road continues southwards along this ridge and is edged with some fine mature trees. The population of the villages must have declined in the early part of the twentieth century; (see the links page for 19th century census records). The 1998 electoral roll records 210 voters in Priors, and 138 in Hersey. In Priors there are few houses that pre date the Great War, Hersey is more generously endowed and therefore the more picturesque. Priors as befits it's one time name of Pillerton Superior, has a more modern, but still pleasant, appearance. This, however, is under threat as witness the wholly inappropriate Barratt Homes development on the main road and the recent Pettifer development in Kiblers Lane. Despite its small size Priors can boast a Post Office, a Garage and Service Station complete with shop, a Village Hall built in 1980 and a family manufacturer of Garden Sheds. Events Page - Church Services & Village Functions. Location Page - Brief notes on the locality. Links Page - Links to other relevant pages on the Web. Rota Page - Church Cleaning & Priors Churchyard mowing. Church Page - Notes on the Church. Updated 15/5/98. (site still under construction) Send e-mail to the Webmaster.