# Upper Rissington

Upper Rissington is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is located about two-and-a-half miles east of Bourton-on-the-Water and is one of the highest villages in the Cotswolds at an elevation of 275 m.
It is a recent settlement, with much of its original housing built after 1945 as officers' quarters for the adjacent RAF Little Rissington, an active airfield. The housing was sold off by the Ministry of Defence in 1996, with further housing built since then. Several buildings of architectural interest, including the Station Headquarters and the Officers' Mess, have been retained and converted into housing.
According to the Gloucestershire Mid-2004 Ward and Parish Population Estimates it had a population of 994. According to the Local Insight Profile it had a population of 1,040 in 2014 but this has since grown rapidly due to the new housing. The village is one of the youngest and most dynamic communities in the Cotswolds with 30% of the population under 18. Once known for its social life when it housed hundreds of young trainee pilots, the new village has well established community events such as firework displays.

## Local amenities

A mini shopping mall has been constructed as part of the new development, which includes a Co-operative Society shop, Pharmacy, gym and a Barnado's charity shop. In 2019 the original Co-operative shop re-opened as a vets. There is also a village hall, a primary school, tennis courts, football pitches and many green spaces around the village. The village is within the catchment of the Cotswold School, "the Comprehensive School of the Year 2015/16" according to the Sunday Times.

## Governance

The village has its own Parish Council. The village is the most populous area of the 'Rissingtons' district council electoral ward. This ward starts in the south at Great Rissington and stretches north to Icomb. The total population taken at the 2011 census was 2,103. The village is in the Stow-on-the-Wold county council electoral division and is one of the three largest population centres, along with Stow and Moreton-in-Marsh.

## Climate

Climate data for Little Rissington, Elevation: 210 m (689 ft), 1991–2020 normals :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) | 7.1 (44.8) | 9.7 (49.5) | 12.8 (55.0) | 15.9 (60.6) | 19.0 (66.2) | 21.4 (70.5) | 20.7 (69.3) | 17.9 (64.2) | 13.6 (56.5) | 9.5 (49.1) | 6.8 (44.2) | 13.4 (56.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.8 (38.8) | 4.1 (39.4) | 6.0 (42.8) | 8.4 (47.1) | 11.4 (52.5) | 14.3 (57.7) | 16.5 (61.7) | 16.2 (61.2) | 13.8 (56.8) | 10.3 (50.5) | 6.6 (43.9) | 4.2 (39.6) | 9.6 (49.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.1 (34.0) | 1.1 (34.0) | 2.3 (36.1) | 4.0 (39.2) | 6.8 (44.2) | 9.7 (49.5) | 11.7 (53.1) | 11.8 (53.2) | 9.7 (49.5) | 7.0 (44.6) | 3.8 (38.8) | 1.5 (34.7) | 5.9 (42.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 78.5 (3.09) | 54.8 (2.16) | 53.5 (2.11) | 55.6 (2.19) | 66.5 (2.62) | 57.3 (2.26) | 62.5 (2.46) | 64.9 (2.56) | 63.8 (2.51) | 84.2 (3.31) | 85.4 (3.36) | 82.9 (3.26) | 809.9 (31.89) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 13.1 | 10.9 | 10.6 | 10.3 | 10.0 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 10.4 | 9.7 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 13.1 | 132.6 |
| Source: Met Office ||||||||||||||