Harley 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 ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

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 ...

. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 163.

Location

The village lies at the foot of Wenlock Edge about 9.5 miles to the south-east 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 ...

. The A458 road Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth road goes around the village on a bypass. The village is about above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

on the southern slope of an extensive bed of sand and gravel, which creates an undulating landscape to the north-east of the parish. Harley Brook runs north-east across the centre of the village. To the south east of the village is 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 ...

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villag ...

. Nearby villages include

Kenley Kenley is an area within the London Borough of Croydon. Prior to its incorporation into Greater London in 1965 it was in the historic county of Surrey. It is situated south of Purley, east of Coulsdon, north of Caterham and Whyteleafe and we ...

Cressage Cressage is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the junction of the A458 and B4380 roads and the River Severn flows around its northern boundary. The Royal Mail postcode begins SY5. The parish council is combined wit ...

and

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

History

There is evidence of

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

human activity around Harley, as stone implements and a settlement have been found in the area, and the site of a Roman villa has also been found nearby. Harley was recorded 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 ...

in 1086 as a

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

with enough wood for 100 swine, and before 1066 the parish consisted of 4 manors: Harley, Domas, Rowley and Blakeway. St Mary's

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, ...

is first recorded in 1291, the medieval church consisting of 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 ...

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 ...

, north aisle and western tower. The small 13th-century tower was rebuilt in the early 16th century in Perpendicular style. This is the only part of the pre-Reformation church remaining, as it was mostly rebuilt in 1845-6 by a local architect

Samuel Pountney Smith Samuel Pountney Smith JP (2 November 1812Obituary. Date stated to be his birthday. – 5 November 1883) was an English architect who practised in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Smith was a native of Munslow, where he was baptised on 17 De ...

. Until the 18th century the houses in the village were along the roads to

Wigwig Homer is a small village in Shropshire, England, north of the town of Much Wenlock. The name first appears in the 14th century as "Honemor".Gelling and Foxall, ''The place-names of Shropshire, part 3: Telford New Town, the northern part of Munsl ...

and Domas and between the church and the Mill on Harley Brook on the west side of the Wenlock road. The Old Rectory, to the west of the church, may be oldest surviving house, although it has been altered and enlarged over time. The oldest of the existing farmhouses appears to be Harley Forge Farm, to the west of the Domas road. It is a brick-cased

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 ...

house, probably built in the early 17th century. The timber-framed house opposite the church is one of several timber-framed houses on the Wenlock road, but is unlikely to have been built before the 17th century. In the 18th century the houses became more widely spaced and several were then rebuilt in stone, for example the Mill, the cottages on the church lands and Harley House. The farms became larger and less numerous. A crenellated brick tower built by John Corfield in 1791 gave its name to Castle Hill House, built in 1840 near Forge Farm on the Domas road. A stone bridge over the brook was built by Thomas Carline in 1843. The parish of Harley was amalgamated with neighbouring Kenley in 1939.

Thankful Village

Harley is one of the '' Thankful Villages'' – those few villages which saw no men lost in the

First World War 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 ...

. The church contains a brass plaque honouring 20 men from Harley parish who 'by the grace of God' all returned after that war. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

one man from the parish, Leading Aircraftsman John Colin Preece, died, as a prisoner of war in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

in 1945; in his memory the church has a brass plaque and a new heating system was installed in the building.The book misprints them as "Kenley" men (latter being a neighbouring village).

Notable people

Silas Taylor Silas Taylor (16 July 1624–4 November 1678) was an English army officer of the Parliamentarian forces, known also as an antiquary and musical composer. Life The son of Silvanus Taylor, a parliamentary committee-man for Herefordshire and support ...

(1624-1678) the antiquary and music composer was born at Harley. * Frances Pitt (1888-1964) the naturalist and pioneer

wildlife photographer Wildlife photography is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat. As well as requiring photography skills, wildlife photographers may need field craft, field craft skills. For example ...

, lived at Castle House, Harley, from 1958.

References

External links