WHITBOURNE is an extensive parish and pleasant village situated on the main road leading from Worcester to Bromyard, and on the river Teme, which bounds the parish on the east, and here divides the counties of Hereford and Worcester. The village is within 2 miles of Knightwick station on the Worcester and Bromyard railway; is distant 10 miles N.W. of Worcester, 5 E.N.E. of Bromyard, 17 E. of Leominster, 19 N.E. of Hereford, and 12 S.E. of Tenbury; is in Broxash hundred, Bromyard union, petty sessional division, and county court district, and High Lane (Tedstone Wafer) polling district. The population in 1861 was 891; in 1871, 856; inhabited houses, 187; families or separate occupiers, 189; area of parish, 2,760a. 2r. 11p.; annual rateable value, £5,718 10s. The Lord Bishop of Hereford is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are Edward Bickerton Evans, Esq., of Whitbourne hall, Rev. Arthur Childe, of Edvin Ralph rectory, Joseph Lamburne Smith, Esq., of Ledbury, Rev. George P. Griffiths, of Cheltenham, and John Habington Barneby Lutley, Esq., of Brockhampton, Bromyard.

The soil is clayey; subsoil, gravel and sandstone; chief produce, wheat, beans, hops, fruit, &c. The scenery in this neighbourhood is very fine, the Teme running most fantastically between the finely-wooded heights, which lend so great an attraction to this spot. In the vicinity were formerly two entrenchments, the one Roman, the other of British origin; they were situated on the opposite sides of a valley, but the traces of both are now almost obliterated. Whitbourne is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of North Froome; living, a rectory; value, £542, with residence and 35 acres of glebe; patron, the Lord Bishop of Hereford; rector, Rev. George Bellett, M.A., of Trinity College, Dublin, who was instituted in 1870, and is also rural dean of Bridgnorth, and a surrogate for the diocese of Hereford.

The church of St. John the Baptist is chiefly in the Norman style of architecture, and consists of nave, chancel, and aisle, with a Perpendicular tower containing six bells. It was restored in 1865 at a cost of £1,455, under the superintendence of the late Mr. Perkins, architect, of Worcester. At the entrance to the churchyard is a lych-gate. The earliest register is dated 1597. The national school has been recently enlarged to meet the requirements of the Elementary Education Act. The children from Knightwick attend this school. Accommodation is provided for about 130; average attendance, 85. There is also a small school in the upper part of the parish, supported by Mrs. Bickerton Evans. The Primitive Methodists have a chapel on Bringsty common.

There are some handsome residences in this parish. Whitbourne Hall is the seat of Edward Bickerton Evans, Esq., J.P. (for Worcestershire and Herefordshire) and D.L. (for Herefordshire.) It is an elegant mansion with a stone colonnade on the south side, and surrounded by extensive ornamental grounds. Whitbourne Court is adjacent to the church, and is nearly surrounded by a beautiful moat. It was formerly the residence of the Bishops of Hereford, and is now the seat of Richard Harington, Esq., M.A., B.C.L., judge of county courts (circuit 22), vice-chairman of quarter sessions for Worcestershire, and J.P. for Herefordshire. Gaines, the property of the Rev. Arthur Childe, M.A., of Edvin Ralph rectory, is at present occupied by Mrs. Bagot and Colonel Bagot. It is situated in a park, and has a frontage to the south, commanding a beautiful view of the Malvern hills and surrounding scenery.