Origins of the Village

Extracts from the Tewkesbury Hundred (Upper) Clifford Chambers

In 1086 the Parish was called simply Clifford, from the ford where the road to Stratford crosses the River Stour; the name Chambers was added by the 14th Century after the Manor had become attached to the office of chamberlain of Gloucester Abbey.

Clifford village, on the gravel beside the River Stour was probably formed by the 10th Century. The earliest settlement was perhaps concentrated at what was later the south-east end of the village around the Church and Manor House where the wide village street suggests that the houses were grouped around a green.

Several houses in that part of the village were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 18th century several cottages were taken down and extensive rebuilding took place along the street running west to meet the road to Stratford. Groups of uniform brick cottages were built at that time along the north side of the village street and in the area beside the churchyard later known as The Square. By 1777 the village had extended almost as far as the junction with the Stratford Road.