Shrawardine

Human settlement in England

Montford
Alberbury with Cardeston

Unitary authority

Shropshire

Shropshire

Region

West Midlands

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townSHREWSBURYPostcode districtSY3Dialling code01743PoliceWest MerciaFire Shropshire Ambulance West Midlands UK Parliament

Shrewsbury and Atcham

List of places: UK; England; Shropshire

52°43′55″N 2°53′24″W / 52.732°N 2.89°W / 52.732; -2.89

Shrawardine is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Montford, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is 5.9 miles (9.5 km) outside Shrewsbury.^[1] In 1931 the parish had a population of 176.^[2] On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Montford.^[3]

Etymology

Its name is locally pronounced Shray-den, and was often spelt "Shraydon" in old documents;^[4] it is otherwise pronounced Shray-war-dine. The placename originates from Old English worðign "enclosed settlement" combined with either scraef "cave" or screawa "shrew", the latter used as a byname for an individual.^[5]

Landmarks

The village's landmarks include Shrawardine Castle and St Mary's Church. The castle, known as Castell Isabella by the Anglo-Normans, was built in the reign of Henry I of England, and dismantled during the English Civil War in 1645.^[1] It had been held since 1644 by the Royalist commander Sir William Vaughan, whose aggressive tactics earned him the nickname "the Devil of Shrawardine".^[6]

Little Shrawardine

The River Severn passes to the west of the village. On the other side of the river is a hamlet called Little Shrawardine. It lies within the civil parish of Alberbury with Cardeston.

Notable residents

Rev Dr Nevil Maskelyne FRS FRSE , the fifth Astronomer Royal, was Rector of the parish 1775 to 1782.^[7]
Jane Gray (stained glass artist) has had a workshop in Shrawardine since 1992.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b Raven, M. A Guide to Shropshire, 2005, p.178
^ "Population statistics Shrawardine AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
^ "Relationships and changes Shrawardine AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
^ Vale, Edmund (1949) Shropshire, London: Robert Hale, p.73
^ Gelling, M. (2006) The Place-names of Shropshire, Part Five: The hundreds of Pimhill and Bradford North, EPNS, p.112
^ Mangianello, S. The concise encyclopedia of the revolutions and wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660, Scarecrow, 2004, p.491
^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
^ "Collection of stained glass up for auction". Shropshire Star. 25 March 2022. p. 31.Report on forthcoming auction of some of Gray's work.