Illustrated map of Blockley, Gloucestershire

BLOCKLEY

Where can you find the makers of Hagrid’s sidecar and the UK’s first vodka produced from sheeps’ whey? The charming Cotswold village of Blockley, that’s where

Points of interest on Katie B Morgan’s map:

Bag on compass: In AD 855 The Bishop of Worcester bought Blockley from King Burgred for 300 shillings in silver.
Threads on border: In 1884 there were six silk mills, employing 600 people.
Light bulb: Blockley Church was the first in the country to have electric light.
Bell: The churchyard used to go as far as the pub, where a gravestone was used as a doorstop. Human bones were found under the former Bell Inn.
St Peter and St Paul Church of England: Was used as St Mary’s Catholic Church in the TV series Father Brown.
Motorbike and sidecar: Blockley-based Watsonian Squire is the largest UK manufacturer of motorbike sidecars, and were featured in the film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2010.
Pink circle on wall: Plaque in memory of the 1924 Blockley Bus Accident, unveiled June 2022.
Fish: In the mid 1800s, a Mrs Keyte had a tame trout in a pond near Russell Spring that used to feed from her hand. She had a gravestone made when it died in 1855.
The Crown Hotel: 16th-century Cotswold stone coaching inn.
The Great Western Arms: A – ‘Hooky’ (Hook Norton Brewery) – pub.
Blockley Sports and Social Club: A ‘friendly club’ set on Station Road.
Mill Dene Gardens: Established in 1965 and open to the public.
Policeman: Colebrook Cottage is a former police station.
Book: Michael Drayton, a contemporary of Shakespeare’s, mentioned Blockley’s springs in his narrative poem Poly-Olbion.
Northwick Terrace: Built to house workers from Coventry to help with silk throwing.
Milton Court: The site of an old workhouse and village stocks.
Pear and Oak Leaf: Old Blockley pubs which are no longer here – The Old Royal Oak, The Red Lion Inn, The Pear Tree, and The Railway Inn.
Vial of red powder: In March 1583, alchemist and occultist – and spirit medium to court astronomer John Dee – Edward Kelley returned from Blockley with a vial of red powder, a scroll and a book, telling Dee he found them below the ground on Northwick Hill. The story became known as the Danish Treasure Hoax.
Pottery: In 1880, William de Morgan – an artist-potter friend of William Morris – went to Blockley looking for a commercial workshop.
Sheep: The Shepherd’s Song (trad.) – an old folk song remembered by Thomas Coldicote, a shepherd from Ebrington – mentions Blockley.
Hearts: Heart of England Way and Monarch’s Way run through Blockley.
Donkey: Donkeys were used to transport hides to a house where they washed and tanned the leather. The route is now called Donkey Lane.
Rip Van Winkle: Fred Storey (1861-1917) was an actor, dancer and scene painter who used his then home The Old Silk Mill, Blockley, to film Washington Iving’s silent film. The mill – which was later nicknamed Sleepy Hollow – was also the home of Evans’ Piano Factory.
Tiger: Sleepy Hollow Park Farm once homed big cats. The owner, Tim Spittle, now produces Blacklion Vodka – a rare sheeps’ milk vodka – in the village with his wife Tanya.
Blockley WI: Formed in 1924.