Aston Botterell is a village and small

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 authority ...

in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 th ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, England. The village lies south-west 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 ...

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...

and north-east of the town of

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 t ...

. The nearest main roads are the B4364 and the A4117. According to the 2001 census, the civil parish had a population of 74. The area's economy is still largely based on agriculture, though many residents travel up to to work in other sectors such as the service and manufacturing industries.

History

The name of Aston Botterell is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for "eastern settlement (''tun'')", with 'Botterell' being the name of a former local landowning family: William Botterell is recorded as holding the manor in 1203. His family came over with

William of Normandy William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...

in 1066. Before

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

times, the only evidence for human activity in the area comes from the discovery of two flint arrow heads found near what is now Bold Farm. The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 describes the manor of ''Eston'' at the time as having a population of 14 households with 2

villein A villein, otherwise known as ''cottar'' or ''crofter'', is a serf tied to the land in the feudal system. Villeins had more rights and social status than those in slavery, but were under a number of legal restrictions which differentiated them ...

s, 3 bordars, 6

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

s and 3 ''radmans''; it was held by Tochil, from Rainald, and is recorded as having been held by a landowner called Elric in the time of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

.Eyton, ''Antiquities of Shropshire, Volume 1'', 1854, p.222 During the time of the Domesday survey, the village was in a district made up of what are now known as Aston Botterell,

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada *Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

and Charlcotte; however they were split up not long after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

of 1066. By the mid-13th century, Thomas Botterell was a significant figure within Shropshire, at one point being in charge of

Clun Castle Clun Castle is a medieval ruined castle in Clun, Shropshire, England. Clun Castle was established by the Norman lord Robert de Say after the Norman invasion of England and went on to become an important Marcher lord castle in the 12th century, ...

. A new manor house, which replaced an older moated house, is attributed to his period of ownership. In 1264 the village gained a charter to hold weekly and annual fairs to fulfill Botterell's ambitions to turn Aston Botterell into a market town. The Botterell family's association with the village lasted until the 17th century, which saw the rebuilding of the main hall during the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

. By this time Aston Botterell had lost any attributes of a market town and had regressed to the series of isolated farms it once was. In the 18th century, water-powered industry created a boom within the area surrounding Aston Botterell. Richard Knight, the owner of

Bringewood Ironworks Bringewood Ironworks was a charcoal ironworks in north Herefordshire. It was powered by the river Teme, with a blast furnace, a finery forge and latterly a rolling mill for blackplate (to be tinned into tinplate). It was probably built for Robe ...

, was recorded as leasing Charlcotte

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

as early as 1712, though it may have been in existence in the 1690s. A paper mill was also constructed, though this had shut by the early 19th century. For a brief period in the 20th century the village was served by the nearby railway line, the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway, which eventually closed in 1967.

Demography

At the time of the 2001 census Aston Botterell had a population of 74. (More precise statistics for the parish of Aston Botterell are not available, as the village was paired with the parish of

Neenton Neenton is a civil parish and small village in south east Shropshire, England, which is situated on the B4364 southwest of the market town of Bridgnorth. The Rea Brook/River Rea, which was historically known as the River Neen, flows by the villa ...

). 78.6% of the population were recorded as economically active, whilst 10.7% were retired citizens. The largest age bracket of the population was recorded as between the ages of 30 and 44 (28.4%).

Economy

The economy of Aston Botterell has always been very much dependent on agriculture and to an extent is still today; it is situated on

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

, which provides good farming conditions. The 1831 census of England and Wales recorded 76% of the population of the village as being employed in agriculture declining to 33% in the 1881 census. Agriculture is still a large part of the area's economy; according to the 2001 census, 25.2% of Aston's Botterell's population are still employed within the agriculture, hunting and forestry industries. The wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles was the second highest employment sector, with 16% of the population, and manufacturing the third at 15.1%. An economic analysis performed by

Shropshire County Council Shropshire County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire in England. History The Council came into its powers under the Local Government Act 1888 on 1 April 1889 and was known as Salop County Council from for ...

in 2008 revealed that workers in the

region typically work more hours than the English average and have a lower weekly wage.

Charlcotte Furnace

The Charlcotte furnace is one of the best-preserved charcoal furnaces in England. The furnace was owned by Richard Knight, one of the chief

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

s in the 18th century

; Knight employed it to produce

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...

for his Bringewood Ironworks, located in north

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 Monmouthshire ...

. The furnace was fed by iron ore mined on the

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and Titterstone

Clee Hills The Clee Hills are a range of hills in Shropshire, England near Ludlow, consisting of Brown Clee Hill , the highest peak in Shropshire, and Titterstone Clee Hill . They are both in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geograph ...

. On average it produced 400 tonnes of iron each year; however the pattern of its output varied greatly over its lifespan. The furnace was closed in 1779 due to competition from coke-fired blast furnaces, where the problems of producing a form of pig iron suitable for conversion into wrought iron had been solved: another contributing factor was the high price of charcoal locally. In 2019 the Charlcotte furnace was subject to a comprehensive conservation project by Historic England, which involved letting in new stonework as required and repairing structural cracks in the furnace structure.

Religious sites

St. Michael and All Angels Church

St. Michael and All Angels Church is part of the Church of England under 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 ...

. It has been a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1970. According to surveys by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, the oldest part of the church is the chancel which is believed to originate from the 12th century, with the roof being updated around the 15th century. The tower was taken down and rebuilt in 1884 after a porch was added in 1639. The building features a monumental slab to John Botterell, added in 1479 and a large canopied monument to him and his wife added in 1588.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire