Changes in January 2026
We have decided to have a bit of a tidy up for the New Year and retire content that was not being used and some ideas we had that never really worked.
The idea is to reduce the site to the very basics for a while so that we can check all information and build things up again based on what the various village organisations would like to see here.
If your information is not on the website, please drop us an email to website@thelenches.org.uk
We plan to link the weekly newsletter to this site so that we can host 'additional information' here that would not fit into a newsletter.
If anyone would like to help with the production of this site, let us know (usual email address).
Parishes
The Lenches is a picturesque territory covering a section of Worcestershire. The Lenches actually falls within the jurisdiction of more than one parish due to its size and other factors.
The Parish of Church Lench
Information from Church Lench Parish Council is available on the Parish Council website. Church Lench is placed at the top of a hill and has one of the best views in Worcestershire, looking across towards the Malvern Hills. The church is also well worth visiting – descriptions and pictures can be seen elsewhere on the website. Church Lench was mentioned in the domesday book and is known to be over a thousand years old. You may like to take a look at our history pages.
The Parish of Rous Lench and Radford
The parish of Rous Lench (or Rouse Lench), comprising the village of Rous Lench and the hamlet of Radford, is a rural parish of just over 100 homes situated to the northwest of Church Lench. The manor of Rous Lench, together with land in the surrounding villages of Church Lench and Radford, was owned by the Rous family or their distant relatives the Boughton (later Rouse Boughton) family, from the late 14th century. Information about the Parish Council is available on the Parish Council website.
The Parish of Harvington
In 1086 "Herferthun cum Wiburgestoke" was listed in the Domesday Book as having a population of only 10 households, smaller than any of the Lenches settlements and only slightly larger than Abbots Morton. Today no trace of Wiburgestoke remains. The name Harvington derives from the nearby ford over the river Avon and may have started as Herverton, Hereford or Herefordtun. You can find out more about Harvington on the Arch Benefice page here.
Old and New
There is a healthy mix of both old and new in the Lenches, whether that be buildings, facilities or people. The local churches date back many centuries but the sports club and Church Lench village hall just a few years. We have residents that have lived in the villages for nearly a century and others that have just moved here or have just been born here. The local school invites our older residents to talk to the pupils about what it was like to receive evacuees in the war, and in 2013 the school railings that were removed to help the war effort were replaced with new ones (the pace of village life runs slow).