Old Woods is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

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, located to the north-west 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 ...

. It is alternatively known and spelt as Oldwood, Oldwoods and Old Wood.

Situation

It is situated on a lane between the small villages of Merrington (to the east) and Walford (to the west) and is in 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 ...

Pimhill Pimhill is a geographically large civil parish in Shropshire, England, to the north of Shrewsbury. It is named after a hill, which rises to 163m, sometimes spelt Pim Hill. In recent times the parish is more well known as "Bomere Heath and Distri ...

, though borders the parish of

Baschurch 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-e ...

, which is one of the nearest substantial villages. Another large nearby village is

Bomere Heath Bomere Heath is a village in Shropshire, England, which lies north of the county town of Shrewsbury and between Baschurch and Harlescott. It is situated between the A528 road and Berwick Road. The village has a primary school. It is the main ...

. The B5067, Shrewsbury to Baschurch road, runs to the west of the settlement. The centre of the hamlet lies at 89m 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 ...

, with the ground rising towards the northwest (towards

Merrington Green Merrington is a small village in Shropshire, England. It is situated to the north of the larger village of Bomere Heath and lies in the parish of Pimhill. Nearby, to the west, is the hamlet of Old Woods. History and attractions The village can ...

) and in this direction lie two sizeable

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s: Old Wood and Oldwood Coppice. The

dialling code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone number A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or ...

for here is 01939 and the

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

is SY4 3xx.

Amenities

A frequent Monday-Saturday bus service (presently the 576) connects Old Woods with

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

, Baschurch, Bomere Heath and Shrewsbury. There is also a letter box in the hamlet.

History

There was once a small brick and pipe works, with its own

clay pit A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits. A brickyard or brickworks is of ...

, in the hamlet, as well as associated railway sidings. The

Shrewsbury to Chester Line 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 ...

runs through the hamlet and was constructed in 1846. In 1933 a halt was established here on the railway line - Oldwoods Halt - which closed to passengers in 1960 and for goods in 1964. This former industrial/railway activity took place to the north of the railway bridge and little remains to be seen today. The nearest railway stations currently are Yorton and

References

Villages in Shropshire Shrewsbury and Atcham {{Shropshire-geo-stub