Abbots Morton
| Abbots Morton | |
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 Abbots Morton village |
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 Abbots Morton
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| Abbots Morton shown within Worcestershire | |
| Population | 153 |
| OS grid reference | SP027551 |
| • London | 93 miles (150 km) |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WORCESTER |
| Postcode district | WR7 |
| Dialling code | 01386 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
Abbots Morton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Worcestershire. It consists of approximately 70 dwellings and 250 people. It retains 4 mixed working farms within the village boundaries. The village was the country retreat for the Abbots of Evesham Abbey and the moat that surrounded their house is still visible. The village church is dedicated to St Peter and is over 1000 years old.
The hamlet of Morton Spirt lies east of the village.
Abbots Morton was listed as Mortune in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The most northerly of the four parishes in the benefice, the parish of Abbots Morton incorporates the hamlets of Morton Spirt, The Low and Gooms Hill as well as the village of Abbots Morton itself.
The parish contains approximately 70 homes. Many of the houses in the village are half-timbered black and white buildings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries; three have 15th century origins.
The Domesday Book of 1086 lists Abbots Morton as "Mortune", assessed at 5 hides and belonging to Evesham Abbey, but the settlement is believed to have been established several hundred years earlier.
Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, Abbots Morton used to be a country retreat for the abbots of Evesham; the remains of their moated manor house can still be seen near the church. The site of the manor house was acquired by Evesham Abbey in the 8th century, and a building existed on the site before the Norman conquest.
Abbots Morton (Morton Abbatis) was one of the parishes entangled in the dispute between Evesham Abbey and the Bishops of Worcester: both parties claimed control over the churches in the Vale of Evesham and the surrounding area. After 200 years, the dispute was settled in the middle of the 13th century when the abbey was given jurisdiction over all the churches within the Vale apart from one: Abbots Morton.
After the Dissolution, Abbots Morton passed into the hands of the Hoby [Hobby] family, who acquired many of the properties originally belonging to Evesham Abbey. In 1600 ownership of the manor appears to have been disputed: documents held at the Worcestershire Records Office include "Letters Patent of Elizabeth I being a licence for alienation from Richard Hobby [Hoby], esquire, to Richard Mottershed, gent., and Ralph Hodges of the manors of Badsey and Abbots Morton" while the Records of the Kings Remembrancer in the National Archives show "Philip Kighley of Broadway, gentleman to Thomas Edgeok of Broadway, gentleman: Demise, indented, for 3 years, of the manors of Badsey and Abbots Morton,".
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Wikipedia