Bearley (pronounced /ˈbɪərlɪ/)[1] is a village and civil parish in the Stratford district of Warwickshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 758. The village is about five miles north of Stratford-upon-Avon.
The name is first recorded as Burlei in 1086 and is from Old English burh + leah 'woodland clearing near a fortified place.'[2]
Bearley railway station is a halt on the Leamington to Stratford Line, and the Stratford to Marylebone Line.
There is limited local employment: light industry, retail, a nursing home, agriculture and livestock farming. Most of the working population has jobs further afield in Stratford-upon-Avon, and in the conurbations of Redditch, Birmingham and Coventry. Like many other rural villages that are within commuting distance of large cities, Bearley has become a dormitory village for these workers.
The village shop and post office closed in 2001. The nearest facilities are in Wilmcote
An active WI, a thriving Garden Club (Bearley Gardeners), an energetic Indoor Short Mat Bowls Club (Snipes) and the popularity of the village cricket and football teams centred around the sports club are perhaps the only groups doing something positive to try and reverse this trend.
A film show entitled 'Bygone Bearley' showing images both old and new of Bearley Village life is held annually in the Village Hall, to raise funds for the restoration and upkeep of the church of St.Mary the Virgin.
The longest aqueduct in England, the Edstone Aqueduct, is just outside Bearley on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.
Snitterfield bushes, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) managed by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, lies 2km east of Bearley.
References
- ^ G.M. Miller, BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 12.
- ^ A.D. Mills, Dictionary of English Place-Names (Oxford UP, 2nd ed., 1998), p. 30.
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