Ardens Grafton is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 or small village in the Stratford on Avon district of Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, situated about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Alcester

Alcester

Alcester is an old market town of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in Warwickshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 8 miles south of Redditch, close to the Worcestershire border...

 and 14 miles (23 km) west of the county town of Warwick

Warwick

Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...

. It has a street of houses mostly of local stone with tiled roofs, but one house, 'Manor Cottage', setting back from the road, on the south side, has timber-framed walls and a thatched roof. Two other buildings retain fragments of ancient framing. During the reign of Edward III

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

 in 1347 the village was recorded as Grafton Inferior while neighbouring Temple Grafton

Temple Grafton

Temple Grafton is a village and civil parish in the Stratford district of Warwickshire, England, situated about east of Alcester and West of the county town of Warwick. The place name is misleading, the Knights Templar never having any association with the place but owing to a naming error made...

, 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) to the East, was named Superior Other designations used during the Middle Ages were Nether Grafton, Grafton Inferior or Grafton Minor whilst the larger village of Temple Grafton was distinguished as Over Grafton, Grafton Superior, Church Grafton, or Grafton Major. A reference to 'Temple Grafton alias Ardens Grafton' occurs in 1650.

History

Grafton Minor occurs in a grant to Evesham Abbey

Evesham Abbey

Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin at Evesham in England between 700 and 710 A.D. following a vision of the Virgin Mary by Eof.According to the monastic history, Evesham came through the Norman Conquest unusually well, because of a quick approach by Abbot Æthelwig to William the Conqueror...

 by Ufa, Sheriff of Warwickshire, dated 973. As it is included among Ethelwig, Abbot of Evesham's

Æthelwig

Æthelwig was an Abbot of Evesham before and during the Norman Conquest of England. Born sometime around 1010 or 1015, he was elected abbot in 1058. Known for his legal expertise, he administered estates for Ealdred, the Bishop of Worcester prior to his election as abbot...

 acquisitions ('Alia Graftun') it may in the meantime have been lost by the monastery, and with Temple Grafton seized by the Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, quasi lupus rapax, (like a ravaging wolf) after Ethelwig's death. It is most probably to be identified with the 3 hides and 1 virgate in 'Graston' which Domesday

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 records among the possessions of William Fitz-Corbucion; Leuric and Eileua held it of him and before the Conquest they had held it freely. "Leofric and Aelfeva hold 3 hides and 1 virgate in Graston (Ardens Grafton). Land for 2 ploughs. In lordship 1; 2 slaves; 1 villager and 3 smallholders with 1 plough. Meadow 4 acres. The value was 40s; now 30s. They also held it themselves freely."

Governance

Ardens Grafton is part of the Bardon ward of Stratford on Avon District Council and represented by Councillor Valerie Hobbs, Conservative. http://democracy.stratford.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1 Nationally it is part of Stratford-on-Avon (UK Parliament constituency)

Stratford-on-Avon (UK Parliament constituency)

-By-elections:-Notes and references:...

, whose current Member of Parliament is Nadhim Zahawi

Nadhim Zahawi

Nadhim Zahawi is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010, after the retirement of previous MP John Maples....

 of the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. It is included in the West Midlands

West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)

West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect...

 electoral region of the European Parliament and the six members are; Mike Nattrass

Mike Nattrass

Mike Nattrass is an English politician and Member of the European Parliament, representing the West Midlands constituency for the UK Independence Party , elected for the first time in June 2004 and re-elected in June 2009....

 (UK Independence), Liz Lynne

Liz Lynne

Elizabeth Lynne, known as Liz Lynne, is a British politician, and has been a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands for the Liberal Democrats since her election at the 1999 European election...

,(Liberal Democrat), Malcolm Harbour

Malcolm Harbour

Malcolm Harbour is a British politician. He is a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands. He is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group and the Chairman of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection.-Motor industry:Malcolm Harbour was...

 (Conservative), Michael Cashman

Michael Cashman

Michael Maurice Cashman is a British former actor, now a Labour politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands constituency since 1999.- Acting :...

 (Labour), Philip Bradbourn

Philip Bradbourn

Philip Bradbourn OBE MEP is a British politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands, for the Conservative Party...

 OBE (Conservative) and Nicole Sinclaire

Nikki Sinclaire

Nicole Sinclaire is a European politician from the United Kingdom and is a current MEP.Educated at the University of Canterbury graduating with a Bachelor of Laws qualification. Sinclaire has worked for Lloyds as a 'problem troubleshooter' was employed as a Gateway store manager and worked in...

 (UK Independence).

Geography

The land rises to an altitude of over 300 ft. in the northern part of the parish and slopes down to about 180 ft. by the river-bank at Hillborough, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south. The hamlet stands on the edge of the hill, commanding views across the valley to Bredon Hill

Bredon Hill

Bredon Hill is a hill in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Evesham in the Vale of Evesham. The summit of the hill is in the parish of Kemerton and it extends over parts of eight other parishes...

 and the Cotswolds

Cotswolds

The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...

.

Education

The nearest Primary School is Temple Grafton Church of England Primary School having 102 pupils on its roll.

School	Compulsory education stage	School website	Ofsted Office for Standards in Education The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....  details
Temple Grafton Church of England Primary School	Primary Primary education A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...	Temple Grafton Church of England School

The nearest secondary schools are located in Alcester 4 miles (6.4 km) or Stratford-upon-Avon 6 miles (9.7 km).