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The hamlet of Bevere is in a fine pleasant country. The air and soil are remarkably dry and healthy, the prospects agreeable, and the river Severn, which flows near it, both pleasant and advantageous. It has many neat mansions, among which is a handsome seat of the Rev. T. Nash, D. D. The opposite island is remarkable for having afforded a retreat to the inhabitants of Worcester, in the reign of Hardicanute. It was again an asylum to many distressed inhabitants in the year 1637, when a pestilence broke out in the city.
A Brief History of Worcester; or ‘Worcester Guide’ Improved… (printed by James Belcher, Birmingham 2nd edition, 1802)
Bevere is situate on the north side of, and distant only two miles from Worcester; the roads equal to any in England; the neighbourhood perfectly genteel, abounding in Gentlemen’s Seats; the air and soil dry and healthy; the prospects, particularly those from the Terrace [of Bevere House], bold, commanding and beautiful, embracing the Malvern, Abberley and Clent Hills, and a country rich in wood and water, the river Severn flowing at the foot of the Terrace.
Newspaper advertisement for the sale of Dr. Nash’s house, [Bevere House], 26 February 1811
A mile to the south is BEVEREYE, another delightful hamlet, where the late Dr. Nash, the historiographer of the county resided, in a house that is now about to be formed into a Catholic Nunnery. The air here is considered very salubrious, and there are many retired walks, and pleasing views, while pellucid rills glide through shady groves to the river below.
Ambrose Florence The Stranger’s Guide to the City and cathedral of Worcester… (1828)
BEVERE.- There is a hamlet of this name situated on the bank of the Severn, a short distance above Worcester. It has several neat residences and mansions, but is chiefly memorable as containing the seat of Dr. Nash, the author of our county history, and other works. – Bevere is also the name of a small island contiguous to this hamlet, worthy of notice as having proved an asylum for the inhabitants, when their city was plundered by the Danes, in 1041 (see p.17,) and again during the plague year in 1637, (see p.33). The island is said to have been anciently remarkable for the number of beavers which inhabited it, and hence its name is supposed have originated.
A Concise History and Description of the City and Cathedral of Worcester… published by T. Eaton (1829)
BEVERE – a hamlet not far distant from Worcester, on the side of the Severn; it contains some neat dwellings, and is memorable as containing the seat of Dr. Nash, author of the history of this county and several other works. The name of Bevere was originally derived from the number of beavers which formerly inhabited a small island adjoining the hamlet, which island afforded a shelter to the distressed inhabitants when the Danes plundered the city in 1041, and also during the plague in 1637.
A Guide to the City and Suburbs of Worcester… (published by T. Stratfor, The Cross, Worcester, 1836)
CLAINES (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Droitwich, Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Worcester and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 21⁄2 miles (N.) from Worcester; containing, with Whistones tything, 6395 inhabitants. This parish, a considerable part of which lies within the borough of Worcester, is situated on the river Severn; the Worcester and Birmingham canal passes through it, and the Droitwich canal near its northern boundary. It is intersected by the Worcester and Shrewsbury and the Worcester and Birmingham roads, and comprises by measurement 4532 acres, of which 2000 are arable, and nearly all the rest pasture. The soil is fertile, the land well wooded, and there are many handsome seats and villas. In the parish is the island of Bevere, formed by the rivulet Beverhern, and memorable as having twice afforded refuge to the inhabitants of Worcester; first in 1041, from the fury of King Hardicanute on account of their refusing to pay the Danegelt, and next in 1637, from a dreadful pestilence then raging in the city. Owing to the improvement of the Severn, an iron suspension-bridge has been erected over this rivulet, which has now become a wide stream. The Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton railway runs through the parish.
The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £175; patron and impropriator, Sir Offley Penbury Wakeman, Bart.: the glebe consists of 21 acres in the parish of Hanbury, purchased by a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty. The tithes have been commuted for about £1000 per annum. The church has been recently renovated and repaired, the galleries enlarged, and the porch rebuilt. A chapel, dedicated to St. George, was erected in 1830, at a cost of £3345, in the early English style, with a tower; and from the want of sufficient accommodation for the increasing population, it is expected that another chapel will be shortly built at Fernall Heath. Some schools are supported; and a fund of about £35 per annum, arising from bequests, is applied to the purchase of clothing, bread, &c., for the poor. On Elbury Hill is the site of a Roman camp, which completely overlooked and would defend the city of Worcester: this camp appears to have been first described by Mr. Allies in his Antiquities of Worcester. A remarkable relic of Roman-British antiquity, supposed to have been used as a torque or ornament worn round the neck, was lately found at Perdiswell, the seat of Sir O. P. Wakeman; and other relics have been discovered in the parish.
Samuel Lewis ed. A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848)
[Claines] The soil is fertile, the land well wooded, and there are many handsome seats and villas. In the parish is the island of Bevere, formed by the river Severn, and memorable as having twice afforded refuge to the inhabitants of Worcester; first in 1041, from the fury of King Hardicanute on account of their refusing to pay the Danegelt, and next in 1637, from a dreadful pestilence then raging in the city. Owing to the improvement of the Severn, an iron suspension-bridge has been erected over this rivulet, which has now become a wide stream.
Samuel Lewis ed. A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848)
BEVERÉ - The island of this name in the Severn is about two miles above the city… In the hamlet adjoining are several villa residences, prettily situated on the bank of the river.
A Guide to the City and Cathedral of Worcester… (printed and published by Deighton & Son, High Street, Worcester, 1874)
To the west of the village is the hamlet of Bevere. It contains Bevere House, the seat of Mr. F. Curtler, formerly the residence of the historian Treadway Nash. A picture of it is given in the frontispiece of the first volume of his history. Bevere Island in the Severn afforded shelter to the inhabitants of Worcester in 1041, when their city was attacked by Hardicanute, (fn. 7) and again in 1637, when the city was visited by plague. (fn. 8) To the north of the village is Hawford House, the residence of Mrs. Castle.
Victoria County History A History of the County of Worcester vol.3 (1913)
7 Roger de Hoveden, Chron. (Rolls Ser.), i, 92.
8 Prattinton Coll. (Soc. Antiq.); Quart. Sess. R. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.), 639.