Dodderhill Parish Survey Project - History & Archaeology - Historical Periods - Twentieth Century Onwards

The parish at the Turn of the 21st Century

Wychbold is the parish where the M5 motorway is dissected by the A38 at Junction 5.

The surrounding countryside is gently undulating with scattered farms, many retaining their timber-framed buildings from the 17th century. A number of small industrial units are scattered across the parish.

Nationally famous is the Webbs of Wychbold garden centre which started locally as a seed nursery in 1937 and now employs more than 450 people.

The French style Chateau Impney in its grand parkland was built as a family home by John Corbett, the Salt King, and is now a hotel and conference centre employing 100 people.

The BBC masts are an obvious landmark. They were erected in 1933 to transmit long wave radio signals across the world.

The church of St Mary de Wyche was built in 1888, and interestingly has a sideways drop in its foundations of 3 feet caused by subsidence following brine extraction in the area.

There is a small state first school for children aged 4 to 9 years and an independent school for children aged 3 to 16 years.

There is a stretch of ribbon development along the A38 built in the 1930s, and in the 1950s small housing estates were built east of the A38. Two new housing estates were built at the turn of the century.

The area has changed radically since the building of the M5 motorway in the early 1960s and its later widening in the 1980s. Wychbold is now a dormitory settlement for many people working in Worcester or Birmingham, while many others inhabitants work for national companies using the motorway network as part of their employment.

These photographs were taken in 2007 and 2008.