Cardington is a 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 authority ...

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 ...

, England. It is situated south of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, near Caer Caradoc Hill, and the nearest town is

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

. The parish also contains the villages of Enchmarsh and Plaish, and most of the parish is in the

Shropshire Hills AONB The Shropshire Hills area, in the English county of Shropshire, is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ( AONB). It is located in the south of the county, extending to its border with Wales. Designated in 1958, the area encompass ...

(

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

History

In 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 ...

the village is referred to as “Cardintine under the Fief of Rainwald Vicecomes” and it is mentioned that there were 11 leagues of woodland. Soon after that date the area had associations with the Fitzalans (ancestors of the

Earls of Arundel Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used (along with the Earl of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. The ...

), who gave Cardington and Lydley Hayes (or deer park) to the military order of the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in 1167. The order was suppressed in 1308 and the lands involved reverted to the original donors. Subsequent history is largely based on several important families that lived within the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, some of whom started charities for the education of the young or for the provision of food for the poor. One example is the Old Free School which still stands next to the churchyard and was provided from a bequest in the will of William Hall in 1740 for the building of a schoolhouse and the maintenance of the schoolmaster.Conservation Area Appraisal of Cardington, Shropshire – November 2004 Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council.

Listed buildings

Cardington is a small rural village whose form, layout and overall size was already well established by the 14th century and which remains largely unchanged. There are several buildings that date from before 1600 including "The Barracks", the Maltster's Tap (of c. 1600) and its associated

Longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

. Several other buildings belong to the early 17th century including Manor Farm, Grove Farm, the Royal Oak

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and also the

timber framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

barns that are common throughout the village. The old Free School is an early example of a brick building in this part of rural Shropshire. The remaining listed buildings and most of the unlisted cottages date from between the early 18th and 19th centuries, the most ambitious of which is the old

Vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

on the western fringe of the village. The latter was built c. 1814–15 and is an accomplished piece of domestic design from the

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

period.

St James's Church

The most important building in the village is the Church of St James (a grade I listed building), the nave of which dates from the

Norman period 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 ...

. In plan it is typical of the simplest of churches from the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

period, consisting of a short rectangular

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with a squat west tower. A

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

was added in c. 1300 in the form of a simple continuation of the nave. The linear character of the building is carried into the strong west tower, which rises in three stages and is crowned by an embattled parapet. The top or belfry stage was added in the 14th century. The fine timber porch was added in 1639.

Notable people

*Sir William Leighton (c.1565-c.1622), politician and Jacobean composer, was son of Chief Justice William Leighton of Plaish Hall in this parish. *Sir

Frederick Corfield Sir Frederick Vernon Corfield (1 June 1915 – 25 August 2005) was a British Conservative politician and minister. Early life Corfield was the son of Brigadier Frederick Alleyne Corfield of the British Indian Army and Mary Graham Vernon, daugh ...

(1915-2005),

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician, owned and lived on the Chatwall estate in this parish from 1939 until he sold it in 1951. He retained the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...

of Cardington church and some land in the parish whose rents he donated to the church.

References

External links