Welcome

Welcome to the website of Ratley and Upton Parish Council.

This site aims to improve communications and awareness of what’s happening within the whole of our lovely, ancient, scattered parish.

Please use the navigation menus on the left or top of pages to browse topics on this site, or the search tool in the top banner.

Our Parish:

Ratley, Edgehill and Upton is the highest parish in Warwickshire, at 210m (689ft) above sea level. It is a rural parish with no major employers located in the parish. It is located atop a wooded escarpment at the northern extent of the Cotswold AONB and shares much of the charm and beauty of that area. The bedrock here is a local speciality (Hornton Stone) that was originally quarried and worked in the Parish. With a greater Iron content than the typically pale Cotswold stone, the Hornton Stone gives a honey hue to majority of the local buildings that are built from it.

After the last boundary changes, it is part of the Kenilworth and Southam Parliamentary Constituency – and at local government Stratford District Council and Warwickshire County Council.

There are certainly some historical connections with the location here. The first major battle of the English Civil war, although named after Edgehill, was actually fought on the plain below. The battle is commemorated by a folly – now the Castle Inn, Edgehill, which is actually in the parish of Radway. However, there was a castle at Ratley, built in the mid-12th century. The Manor of Upton was originally a hamlet within Ratley Parish, and is now a significant stateley home – under the care of the National Trust.

To mark the Millennium a Hornton stone Obelisk was erected in a prominent position at the junction by the Hornton Masonry Works. The inscription reads “Cradled in the Past, Poised for the Future“.

For more details, please have a look at our Resident’s Information Pack, see below.