Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditch, close to the Worcestershire border.
In the 2021 census, the population of the parish was 6,035, with 6,421 in the built-up area.
Etymology
The poet and antiquary John Leland wrote in his Itinerary (ca. 1538–43) that the name Alcester was derived from that of the River Alne. The suffix 'cester' is derived from the Old English word 'ceaster', which meant a Roman fort or town, and derived from the Latin 'castrum', from which the modern word 'castle' also derives.
History
Alcester was founded by the Romans in around AD 47 as a walled fort. The walled town, possibly named Alauna developed from the military camp. It was sited on Icknield Street, a Roman road that ran the length of Roman Britain from south-west England to south Yorkshire. The town was also just north of the Fosse Way, another important thoroughfare in Roman Britain. By the end of the 2nd century, Roman Alcester had developed into a bustling trading and market town: A small walled area in the centre of the town was surrounded by an extensive grid of roads serving a complex of workshops and their associated housing, which specialised in trades such as tanning, metal working and pottery manufacture. Some of the houses of Roman Alcester appear to have been well endowed, with features such as heating, painted plaster and mosaic floors. Along with most Romano-British towns, it appears to have gone into decline in the 4th century when the Romans began to leave Britain. Detailed archaeological work began in the 1920s.
In the Early Middle Ages, Alencestre had become an Anglo-Saxon market town in the Kingdom of Mercia. Alcester was also the site of Alcester Abbey, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1138 by Ralph le Boteler. Richard de Tutbury, the last abbot, resigned his office in 1467 and Alcester Abbey was absorbed into the neighbouring Evesham Abbey. By 1515 Alcester Abbey was in ruins as a result of the neglect of various abbots, and later during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII it was largely demolished. The ruins were granted to the local Greville family, who used much of the stone to rebuild their family seat of Beauchamp Court.
Alcester competed in the competition for city status as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours.
Notable buildings
Today the town features architecture from the Medieval, Tudor, Georgian, Victorian eras and the 20th century. The oldest house appears to be The Old Malthouse at the corner of Church Street and Malt Mill Lane, which probably dates from about 1500.
The clock on St Nicholas's Church, a Grade II*listed building, is in an unusual position on the south-west corner of the 14th-century tower, so as to make it visible from the High Street. The church also houses the tomb of Fulke Greville, grandfather of Fulke Greville. The church's Georgian nave with Doric columns and plastered ceiling is believed to have been designed by Francis Smith of Warwick, supervisor of its rebuild by the Woodward brothers of Chipping Campden in 1729.
Alcester Town Hall was built between 1618 and 1641, and is a grade I listed building.
Transport
Alcester was previously served by Alcester railway station belonging to the Midland Railway (later part of the LMS Railway), on the Gloucester Loop Line, branching off the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway main line at , passing through , Alcester and and rejoining the main line at , near . The loop was built to address the fact that the main line bypassed most of the towns it might otherwise have served, but it took three separate companies to complete, Alcester being on the Evesham and Redditch railway prior to absorption by the Midland.
In addition a branch line provided by the Alcester Railway Company (later part of the Great Western Railway) ran from to , thus giving access to . This line, however, was an early casualty, closing in September 1939. The Midland loop was due to close between and in June 1963 but the poor condition of the track led to all trains between and Redditch being withdrawn in October 1962 and replaced by a bus service for the final eight months. Redditch to remains open on the electrified Birmingham suburban network.
Currently, Alcester is served by one regular bus route, the hourly Stagecoach Midlands-operated X19 between Redditch and Stratford-upon-Avon. The Diamond West Midlands-operated route 247 operates irregularly through Alcester between Redditch and Evesham.