Ashford Bowdler is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in south

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England, near the county border with

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

Geography

The parish lies south of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

. The Parish is bisected West to East by the A49. The village of Ashford Bowdler lies 2.5 miles (4.0 km) South of Ludlow on the western side of the

River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; cy, Afon Tefeidiad) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of B ...

, facing the larger Ashford Carbonell, at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of between and above sea level. The

A49 road The A49 is an A road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. It runs north from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire via Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, then continues through central Cheshire to Warrin ...

passes just to the west of the village. The River Teme acts as the boundary between the parishes of Ashford Bowdler and Ashford Carbonel. The river is crossed locally by Ashford Bridge, which takes the Caynham Road East from the A49 towards

Caynham Caynham is a village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England. The parish lies on the River Teme. It can be accessed via the A4117 or the A49 roads and is located 2½ miles (4 km) southeast of the market town of Ludlow. The civil par ...

. The northern parish boundary is at Ashford Hall lying to the West of the A49 at the junction with the Overton Road (the old A49), The west parish boundary commences at the Oakery, Wheatcommon Lane and heads South towards Featherknowle. It borders

Richard's Castle Richard's Castle is a village, castle and two civil parishes on the border of the counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire in England. The Herefordshire section of the parish had a population of 250 at the 2011 Census. The Shropshire section ...

Parish boundary along the western edge.

Parish

The civil parish had an estimated population of 64 in 2010; the parish includes the farm and cottage at Feather Knowle and the country house, Ashford Hall Grade 2*. Further Grade 2 Listed Buildings can be found within this settlement on Wheatcommon Lane. The Rhyse, a former stableblock to Ashford Hall and The Rhyse Farm. To the West of Ashford Hall lying on the parish boundary with Richard's Castle, there is a small 10 pitch gypsy and travellers site dating back to 2008. Instead of a parish council, there is a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

Level crossing

The Shrewsbury to Newport railway line passes through the village and there is a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

for vehicles and pedestrians. In 2014

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

proposed closing this crossing, as part of improvements to signalling and safety on the line, but potentially effectively dividing the village community. In 2015 it was however announced that, following a public consultation, the level crossing would be upgraded (with full barriers replacing the existing "half" barriers) instead of being closed.

History

Ashford Bowdler was historically connected with Bromfield Priory. It formed part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

Culvestan Culvestan was a hundred of Shropshire, England. Formed during Anglo-Saxon England, it encompassed manors in central southern Shropshire, and was amalgamated during the reign of Henry I (1100 to 1135) with the neighbouring hundred of Patton to for ...

, which in the 12th century became

Munslow Munslow is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is situated on the B4368, northeast of the small town of Craven Arms, in the Corvedale, at around above sea level. The village formed part of and gave its name to the hun ...

. Ashford Bowdler railway station was located on the Shrewsbury to Hereford line to the north of the village, on the Caynham Road, near Ashford Bridge. Opened to passengers in the early 1850s, it closed in the early 1960s.

Church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, in the

Diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...

, is situated by the River Teme

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

mapping and was constructed about 1211;AshfordBowdler.co.uk
it is dedicated to Saint Andrew. The river has gradually eroded towards the church. In 1906, whilst undergoing repairs, the chancel collapsed into the river and had to be replaced by a smaller construction. At the beginning of the 21st century major engineering works had to be undertaken to defend the church from the river, which now flows right alongside part of the building's foundations. The church contains a brass plaque as war memorial to parishioners who died serving in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as well as a Roll of Honour of all who served. The churchyard contains a Commonwealth war grave of a World War I

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

officer.
CWGC Casualty record, B M Liddell.

References

External links

Village website
{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire