Editing Blockley (section)

==History==
{{see also|History of Worcestershire|History of Gloucestershire}}

===Manor===
In AD 855 King [[Burgred of Mercia]] granted a monastery at Blockley to [[Ealhhun]], [[Bishop of Worcester]] for the price of 300 [[Solidus (coin)|solidi]].<ref name=VCH>''[[Victoria County History]]'', 1913, pages 265-276</ref> In 1086 the [[Domesday Book]] recorded that the Bishop of Worcester held an estate of 38 [[Hide (unit)|hides]] at Blockley.<ref name=VCH/> The Bishops of Worcester retained the estate until 1648, during the [[English Civil War]], when the Parliamentary Trustees sold it.<ref name=VCH/> After the [[English Restoration|restoration of the English monarchy]] the estate was restored to the Bishop of Worcester, whose successors held the manor until at least 1781.<ref name=VCH/>

===Churches===
[[File:Blockley - geograph.org.uk - 47112.jpg|thumb|Blockley village including [[Church of St Peter and St Paul, Blockley|Saints' Peter and Paul Church]]]]
The [[Church of England parish church]] of [[Church of St Peter and St Paul, Blockley|St. Peter and St. Paul]] is late [[Norman architecture|Norman]],<ref name=Verey121>Verey, 1970, page 121</ref> built in about 1180.<ref name=VCH/> The ecclesiastical parish now forms part of the Vale and Cotswold Edge team of Church of England churches,<ref>{{cite web|title=Mission and Pastoral Measure Pastoral Scheme|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/media/2059230/230914%20chipping%20campden.pdf|website=Church of England|publisher=Diocese of Gloucester|access-date=9 April 2016|date=18 August 2014}}</ref> with the Team Vicar remaining responsible for Blockley and its outlying villages of Paxford, Draycott and Aston Magna, as well as the parish of [[Bourton-on-the-Hill]].<ref>[http://www.achurchnearyou.com/blockley-st-peter-st-paul/ A Church Near You: St Peter & St Paul, Blockley]</ref>

The church is used as St Mary's Roman Catholic church in the ''[[Father Brown (2013 TV series)|Father Brown]]'' television series and the vicarage as the presbytery, Father Brown's residence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cotsworld journal|url=http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/9774502.TV_series_filmed_in_Cotswolds/|access-date=17 January 2014}}</ref>

The [[Baptist]] Chapel was built in 1835.<ref>Verey, 1970, page 123-124</ref>

===Economic and social history===
In 1715 the Vicar, the Rev. Dr. [[Erasmus Saunders (priest, died 1724)|Erasmus Saunders]], had a new school built for the parish.<ref name=VCH/> Blockley still has a [[Voluntary controlled school|Church of England]] primary school.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120722014118/http://ww5.gloucestershire.gov.uk/findaschool/searchdetails.asp?SchoolSelect=30 Gloucestershire County Council: Details for: Blockley Church of England Primary School]</ref>

Much of the parish was farmed under an [[open field system]] until 1772, when an [[Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom|Act of Parliament]] provided for the enclosure of the remaining [[common land]]s.<ref name=VCH/>
[[File:Blockley railway station 1972848 1377e09f.jpg|thumb|Blockley railway station in 1962]]
The [[Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway]], built between 1845 and 1851, passes through the parish. [[Blockley railway station]] was more than {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} northeast of the village and nearer to Paxford. [[British Rail]]ways closed Blockley railway station in 1966 but the railway remains open as part of the [[Cotswold Line]]. The nearest railway station still open is {{stnlnk|Moreton-in-Marsh}}.

Blockley is home to [[Watsonian Squire]], the largest UK manufacturer of [[sidecar]]s and [[motorcycle trailer|trailers]] for [[motorcycle|motorbikes]]. It has been based in the village since 1984.<ref name=MIB>{{cite web |url=http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/watsonian.htm |work=Made in Birmingham |title=Watsonian Sidecars |access-date=20 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119045542/http://madeinbirmingham.org/watsonian.htm |archive-date=19 January 2009 |df=dmy }}</ref>