Edgton | |
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Half-timbered houses in Edgton | |
Location within
Shropshire | |
OS grid reference | SO386857 |
Civil parish |
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Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CRAVEN ARMS |
Postcode district | SY7 |
Dialling code | 01588 |
Police | West Mercia |
Fire | Shropshire |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Edgton is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. [1] It is also an ecclesiastical parish and a chapelry. [1] It lies in a rather remote and very rural area, south of the River Onny. [2] The nearest market towns are Bishop's Castle, Craven Arms, Clun and Church Stretton, while the larger village of Lydbury North lies a few miles to the west. [1] It is located 4 miles west of Craven Arms and is positioned on the former stagecoach route from London to Bishop's Castle. [2]
The village of Edgton contains 3 farms and approximately 20 dwellings. [3] It has very few services as the school (built in 1872), the shop and the village public house were all closed down. [3] The school is currently used as a pottery. [3] The village is fairly compact as it is centred on the 3 farms and the church. [3]
Edgton is home to St Michael's church which was established in the early 13th century. [4] It was rebuilt in 1985-6 and is now a grade II listed building. [4] Before the church was renovated it had fallen into a state of disrepair. Reverend Jones spent £250 of his own money on the repairs and £50 was contributed from the Ecclesiastical Commission. [3] It is a small and intimate church, containing traditional carved box pews and a recently renovated chamber organ. [5]
Instead of a parish council it has a parish meeting; [6] [7] this is due to the very small population of the parish.
Edgton is believed to mean a "settlement on a hill with an edge or brow". [3]
Edgton was part of Clun registration district, Clun and Bishops Castle registration district, Lydbury registration sub-district and the Purslow hundred. [1] Edgton used to belong to the ancient monastery of Wenlock Priory. [3] The Reverend Humphrey Sandford bought Edgton in 1812 for £235, so this is when it became a state parish. [3] At the edge of the village there is the Anglo-Saxon church, which in the past allowed travellers to rest at night without disturbing the residents. [3] There is a road which runs nearby the village at Edgton Cross, which has a 19th-century milestone showing that London is 154 miles away and that Bishop's Castle is 5 miles away. [3] There are many milestones along this road, which suggests that it was an important access route in the past. [3]
On 16 December 1993, the central part of Edgton was designated a conservation area. [3] Edgton is located within the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. [3] The area is made up of a large amount of woodland and arable and pasture land. [3] The natural features of the village such as the mature trees, hedges, stone walls and historic boundaries are very important and need to be preserved. [3]
The following buildings and landmarks are regarded as monuments in the Edgton Conservation Area: [3]
Almost all of these places are Grade II listed to help to protect them. [3]
This pie chart shows the occupational structure of Edgton in 1831. It clearly shows that over half of the population at this time worked as agricultural labourers. [8] 24% of the population worked in retail and handicrafts. [8] 15% of the population worked as farmers and the other 7% worked in labour. [8] There were no Professionals or Capitalists in the parish at this time. [8]
This graph shows that in 1801, Edgton had a population of 188. [9] This gradually increased each year until 1831, when the population reached its highest with 232 people. [9] The population then begins to decrease, however, there is an increase in people from 1851 to 1881 from 191 people to 223 people. [9] There is a large decrease in the population between 1891 and 1901. [9] The population drops from 185 to 134, which is a loss of 51 people. [9] From 1911, the population of Edgton continues to decrease until there are only 86 people in 1961. [9] Overall, the population has decreased significantly from 1801 to 1961. [9] This indicates that many people wanted to move away from the rural village. [9]
Media related to Edgton at Wikimedia Commons