# North Piddle > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/North_Piddle > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/North_Piddle.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Piddle > Source revision: 1289480078 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **North Piddle** is a small [civil parish](/source/Civil_parish) in the [Wychavon](/source/Wychavon) district of [Worcestershire](/source/Worcestershire), England. It is located within a loop of [Piddle Brook](/source/Piddle_Brook). North Piddle is a historic parish and a few of the parish's structures have been designated as [listed buildings](/source/Listed_buildings) by [English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage), because they are [structures of special architectural and historic interest](/source/Listed_buildings_in_England).[1] In 1924 797 acres (3.23 km2) of land were designated to North Piddle – 422 acres (171 ha) were [grassland](/source/Grassland), and the rest was [arable land](/source/Arable_land).[2] The field names that are mentioned in the document dating back to the 16th century include *Frarye Acre*, *Husband Acre*, *Monck Acre*, *Le Home*, *Le Deane* and *Gostell Field*.[2] At the [1821 census](/source/List_of_United_Kingdom_censuses) there were 133 inhabitants living in the parish,[3] and in 1851 slightly more, at 149.[4] As of 2011, there are 80 people living in North Piddle.[5] ## Origin of the name William Henry Dugan, in his book *Worcestershire Place Names*, states that although the word "Piddle" is not listed in any Anglo-Saxon dictionary, it is found in a few places in [Anglo-Saxon charters](/source/Anglo-Saxon_charters). Dugan believes that the word "Piddle" is an [old English](/source/Old_English) word for a small stream. North Piddle was named after Piddle Brook, on which it stands.[6] It has frequently been noted on lists of [unusual place names](/source/Place_names_considered_unusual).[7] ## History See also: [History of Worcestershire](/source/History_of_Worcestershire) *[Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book)'*s records of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales, completed in 1086, mentions two estates in North Piddle, both of which were held for the [abbey of Westminster](/source/Westminster_Abbey) by [Urse d'Abetot](/source/Urse_d'Abetot).[2] Through the ages North Piddle [manor](/source/Lord_of_the_Manor) was connected to many notable and colourful figures, including the [Dukes of Norfolk](/source/Duke_of_Norfolk). [Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk](/source/Thomas_de_Mowbray,_1st_Duke_of_Norfolk), was banished from England and died of the "[pestilence](/source/Bubonic_plague)" (bubonic plague) in [Venice](/source/Venice) in 1399. His son and heir [Thomas de Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk](/source/Thomas_de_Mowbray,_4th_Earl_of_Norfolk) was [beheaded](/source/Decapitation) in 1405, and the manor was taken into family ownership and granted for life to Edward Beauchamp.[2] A few years later the manor was once again owned by the Dukes of Norfolk, but the direct line was broken when [Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk](/source/Anne_de_Mowbray,_8th_Countess_of_Norfolk), who was married when she was 5 years old to [Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York](/source/Richard_of_Shrewsbury,_1st_Duke_of_York), died three years after her marriage. Her husband was murdered in the [Tower of London](/source/Tower_of_London) soon after.[2] In 1868 the parish was divided into small farms and by 1924 the manorial rights had lapsed.[2] The Greenwood brothers' *Worcestershire Delineated* (1822) says of the parish: North-Piddle – a parish in the hundred of Pershore, upper division, 6 miles E. from [Worcester](/source/Worcester,_England), and 116 from [London](/source/City_of_London); containing 28 inhabited houses. Here is a miserable damp church, much out of repair, and by no means fit for public worship. The living is a [rectory](/source/Rectory); Rev. Sam. Oldnall, incumbent; instituted 1794; patron [Lord Somers](/source/John_Cocks,_1st_Earl_Somers). Population, 1801, 103 – 1811, 125 – 1821, 133.[3] *The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland* (1868) says: NORTH PIDDLE, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Pershore, county Worcester, 7 miles E. of Worcester, its post town, 5 N. by E. of [Pershore](/source/Pershore), and 3 from [Spetchley](/source/Spetchley_Park) railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Piddle and the road from Worcester to [Alcester](/source/Alcester). The inhabitants are wholly agricultural. The above-mentioned river rises beyond [Inkberrow](/source/Inkberrow), and flows 12 miles E. and S. to the [river Avon](/source/River_Avon_(Warwickshire)), below [Wyre Piddle](/source/Wyre_Piddle). Land was assigned in 1813 in lieu of tithes. The living is a rectory in the [diocese of Worcester](/source/Anglican_Diocese_of_Worcester), value £140. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient edifice with a wooden lantern.[8] St Michael's, the parish church of North Piddle, was originally built in 1289 but almost nothing survives of the old building; the church was rebuilt in 1876.[2][5] On 17 December 1896 there was an [earthquake](/source/Earthquake) in the region that "exceeded in violence any [previous instance of seismic energy](/source/List_of_earthquakes_in_the_United_Kingdom) there within the present century." The earthquake was preceded by a loud roar "as of thunder" or "a rushing mighty wind", and residents whose windows were facing north saw a "great light", which some attributed to a large [meteor](/source/Meteor).[9][10] This was probably an [earthquake light](/source/Earthquake_light). ## References 1. ["Listed Buildings in North Piddle, Worcestershire, England"](http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/worcestershire/north+piddle). Listed Buildings in England. 1. ["'Parishes: North Piddle', in *A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4* (1924), pp. 177-180."](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42875). [British History Online](/source/British_History_Online) 1. C. and J. Greenwood, *Worcestershire Delineated: Being a Topographical Description of Each Parish, Chapelry, Hamlet, &c. In the County; with the distances and bearings from their respective market towns, &c.* (1822) 1. ["North Piddle Billings Directory 1855"](http://www.parishmouse.com/worcs/2009/5/9/north-piddle-billings-directory-1855.html). 9 May 2009. 1. ["St Michael's – North Piddle"](http://www.theflyfordsfamily.org/churches/stmichaels.php) 1. William Henry Dugan (1905). [*Worcestershire Place Names*](https://books.google.com/books?id=lmYjAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22north+piddle%22+origin+of+the+name&pg=PA128). [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). p. 128. 1. Lyall, Sarah (22 January 2009). ["No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else"](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/europe/23crapstone.html?_r=0). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved 13 July 2014. 1. [North Piddle](http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WOR/NorthPiddle/index.html) at genuki.org.uk, accessed 16 April 2011 1. J. Lloyd Bozward (24 December 1986). ["The Earthquake of December 17"](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v55/n1417/abs/055178b0.html). *Nature*. **55** (1417): 178–179. [doi:10.1038/055178b0](https://doi.org/10.1038/055178b0) 1. *The Times*, Friday 18 December 1896; pg. 9; Issue 35077; col E --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [North Piddle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Piddle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Piddle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.