Rochford, Worcestershire
| Rochford | |
|---|---|
 St Michael |
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 Rochford
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| Rochford shown within Worcestershire | |
| Population | 228 |
| OS grid reference | SO629684 |
| • London | 144mi |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | TENBURY WELLS |
| Postcode district | WR15 |
| Dialling code | 01299 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Rochford consists of two hamlets, Lower and Upper Rochford. A civil parish in the Malvern Hills District near Tenbury Wells, in the county of Worcestershire, England, Rochford is 18 miles (29 km) NW of Worcester. The River Teme, which rises in Wales, flows past Lower Rochford and joins the River Severn in Worcester. The chapelry of Rochford was an exclave of Herefordshire, part of the hundred of Wolphy. It was transferred by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 to Worcestershire.
In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Rochford as follows:
ROCHFORD, a parish, with a village, in Tenbury district, Worcester; on the river Teme, 2¾ miles E of Tenbury r. station. It has a post-office under Tenbury. Acres, 1, 379. Real property, £2, 150. Pop., 315. Houses, 66. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £400. Patron, J. P. Jones, Esq. The church is Norman, and was restored and enlarged in 1865. There are a national school, and charities £8.
'An old English name, Rochford means Hunting-dog ford. The elements of the name are ræcc A hunting dog and ford A ford'.
The Domsday Book (1086) entry for Rochford shows it was part of the Wolfhay Hundred 'It had a population of 19 households (population likely to be 5 times greater), and a total tax assessed of 2.8 geld units'.The value of Lord Leofnoth in 1066 was £'2,' however his value reduced to '£1.5 in 1086.' Villagers paid rent to the lord, amongst other costs.
Rochford has a small population which fluctuates between 201 and 319 people. Population data from the first UK census (1801) showed that the population was 258; and it peaked at 319 in 1881. The lowest population recorded by the census was in 1961, when the population had fallen to 201; the census data also shows that between the last two censuses, 2001 and 2011 the population is reducing. Records show that between the years 1831 and 1901, the number of vacant houses in Rochford went from zero to six, and between 1841 and 1851 a house was under construction.
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