Abberley is a village and civil parish in north west Worcestershire, England. It is situated on the northern slopes of Abberley Hill, which is tall, between the River Severn and River Teme. The village had a population of 830 in 2001. Location Abberley lies halfway between Worcester and Tenbury, at the junction with the road from Worcester to Cleobury Mortimer. The parish was described in 1905 as being "about six miles in length, and nowhere more than one mile in breadth". At the 2001 census, it had the youngest population of any Worcestershire village. The village Abberley is a village of three distinct parts. The oldest part, known as The Village, clusters around the 12th century and 13th century parish church of St. Michael. To the west, and divided from the Village by farmland and the Cleobury road, is The Common, where the largest part of the population lives, new housing is being added, and there is a village shop cum post office. Between the Village and the Common, on the Cleobury road, are the Parochial VC primary school and the Village Hall. Overlooking the village is the third part of Abberley, The Hill, with scattered farms, houses and cottages across the steep slopes of Abberley Hill. On the far side of Abberley Hill from the village, to the south of the Worcester-Tenbury road, lies Abberley Hall. Abberley Hill forms part of the Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark. The Hill lies on the path of the Worcestershire Way, a long-distance hiking trail. Abberley has two churches, a primary school, a modern village hall, and nearby a country hotel and restaurant, The Elms. Abberley is home to Abberley Hall School, a preparatory school set in the grounds of Abberley Hall, which also contains the Abberley Clock Tower, the setting for the children's book by Gene Kemp, The Clock Tower Ghost. History The name Abberley probably relates to the 6th century Saxon chief Eobald, by way of Eobaldelega, then Eobaldsleigh. According to The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names, Abberley is derived from 'Eadbald's wood or clearing' (Eadbald + lēah). Abberley is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086–7 as Edboldelege, when it was held by Ralph de Tosny, and was later recorded as Albodeslega in c.1150, Abbedeslegh in 1216, Ab(b)ot(t)eley(e) in 1346-1485 and Aberley in 1480. In 1405 Abberley Hill was at the centre of a protracted stand-off between two major armies,