Baschurch, Shropshire

Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.

It lies in North Shropshire, north-west of Shrewsbury. The village has a population of 2,503 as of the 2011 census. The village has strong links to Shrewsbury to the south-east, Oswestry to the north-west, and Wem to the north-east. There is a large village not far west of Baschurch called Ruyton-XI-Towns.

History

The earliest references to Baschurch are under its Welsh name ''Eglwyssau Bassa'' (Churches of Bassa), in a seven-stanza ''englyn''-poem of the same name found in the Welsh cycle of poems called ''Canu Heledd'', generally thought to date to the ninth century:

The English name ''Baschurch'' first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Bascherche'', and both names may derive from an Anglo-Saxon personal name ''Bass(a)''. Thus the name in ''Canu Heledd'' is a Brittonic version of an English name.

Local tradition holds that the Berth Pool and its ancient earthworks outside the village are the resting place of the legendary King Arthur.

In medieval times, several properties in the parish, including Adcote Mill, were owned by Haughmond Abbey near Shrewsbury.

Baschurch had a township called Boreatton, or Bratton, standing on the banks of the River Perry, with a country house called Bratton House.

The world's first orthopaedic hospital was established at Florence House in Baschurch by Sir Robert Jones and Dame Agnes Hunt in 1900 as a convalescent home for crippled children and later to treat wounded from the First World War. The hospital moved to Oswestry in 1921.

In 2000 a large stone made of local sandstone was erected in the modern centre of the village to commemorate the Millennium. Similar smaller stones were erected in neighbouring communities.

Churches

A major feature of the village is All Saints' Church (Church of England) which is one of the oldest standing structures in the village (perhaps ''the'' oldest). A timber church which burnt down is believed to have stood on the same site previously. Leading industrialist and builder Thomas Telford made numerous major alterations to the modern sandstone church.

The village also had a Methodist chapel which was built in 1873 and closed in 2014 after the congregation had "dwindled to less than a dozen". It was sold for conversion into a house in April 2015.

Twin town

Baschurch is twinned with the town of Giat in the French ''département'' of Puy-de-Dôme ''région''.

Education

The village has two schools including Baschurch Church of England Primary School, and the Corbet School formerly known as Baschurch Secondary Modern School. Just outside the village is Walford College, an agricultural and sports college which in 2002 merged with Oswestry-based North Shropshire College to form Walford and North Shropshire College.

Amenities

Baschurch has a number of amenities including a post office, a retained Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service fire station and a village hall located on Eyton Lane next to the Corbet School.

Railways

The Shrewsbury to Chester Line passes through the village, though the Victorian railway station was closed to passengers in 1960 and goods trains in 1965.

On 13 February 1961 a passenger train travelling from Shrewsbury to Chester collided with a goods train which was partially shunted into a siding in Baschurch. Three people died in th
accident
Television footage of the wreckage is available from the BBC
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