Honeybourne

Honeybourne is a village and civil parish about 5 mi east of Evesham in Worcestershire, England. Much of the parish is farmland. RAF Honeybourne just south of the village was operational from 1940 until 1947.

History
Honeybourne was two villages: Church Honeybourne and Cow Honeybourne. Honeybourne has several historic timber framed and thatched buildings. The Thatched Tavern in Cow Honeybourne has a cruck truss.

Parish churches
In Church Honeybourne the Church of England parish church of Saint Ecgwin was consecrated in 1295. Its antiquity is reflected in a local rhyme "when Evesham was bush and thorn there was a church at Honeybourne". Its nave and chancel appear to be original late 13th century structures. There was a south aisle, but it was demolished and its windows re-set in the south wall of the nave. The bell tower has a Decorated Gothic spire with three tiers of lucarnes. The south porch is a late mediaeval Perpendicular Gothic addition.

In Cow Honeybourne the parish church has a 15th-century Perpendicular Gothic west tower and formerly had an ornate Elizabethan pulpit. The church was used as almshouses from the 16th to the 19th century. Apart from the tower, the church was rebuilt in 1861-63 to designs by the Worcester Diocesan Architect W.J. Hopkins. The church has since been made redundant, deconsecrated and converted to private houses.

Amenities
Honeybourne has two public houses: the Gate Inn and the 13th century Thatched Tavern. Other amenities include the Domestic Fowl Trust, which is a conservation centre and supplier of rare breed poultry, The Ranch, and Honeybourne Pottery.

Education
Honeybourne First School teaches children between the ages of four and 10. Honeybees Nursery takes children between the ages of two and four.

Railways
First Great Western serves Honeybourne railway station on the Cotswold Line with direct train services to Worcester Shrub Hill, Oxford and London Paddington.

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was built through the parish in the 1840s and opened Honeybourne station. The Great Western Railway took over the OW&W in 1862 and enlarged Honeybourne station in the 1900s when it built the railway between Stratford-upon-Avon and Cheltenham Spa.

British Railways closed the line between Stratford and Cheltenham, reduced the OW&W line to single track and reduced Honeybourne station to one platform. BR later rebranded this part of the former OW&W Railway as the Cotswold Line.

Network Rail has recently restored parts of the Cotswold Line to double track and has now enlarged Honeybourne to two platforms with a rather large, wheelchair-accessible bridge.

There is a good business case to restore the Stratford-Cotwolds link line.