Oldbury is a small village in

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, situated approximately south of the

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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 ...

. It is included in the Bridgnorth

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 ...

; the civil parish of Oldbury (covering 817

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s) was abolished in 1967. The village remains separated from the town however and has a distinct character. The village is linked to the town by the modern B4363 road, though the original route linking the two settlements is now cut in half by the Bridgnorth by-pass (the A458 road). However, as there is a footbridge crossing the A458 it is still possible for pedestrians and cyclists to follow the old route, which goes up Manor Farm Lane, splits to the right down the hill towards the by-pass, and continues on the Bridgnorth side down Oldbury Wells towards Hollybush Road. The

Mercian Way The Mercian Way is a long cycle path that runs from Salisbury in Wiltshire to Chester in Cheshire. Operated by Sustrans, it is part of National Cycle Route 45, but is also well used by walkers. The path is so named because it passes through wha ...

(National Cycle Route 45) follows part of this route, from Manor Farm Lane, over the bypass and then through Oldbury Wells. Oldbury also contains an old

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, which features beautiful stained-glass windows depicting

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scenes, with a west window, dedicated in 1919 as a parish

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 ...

memorial depicting

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and

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and accompanied by a wooden board listing 13 men who died serving in that war. From the church there is an old raised pathway across fields towards Bridgnorth, now rarely walked upon though still visible, known traditionally as the "Coffin Way".

Coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...

s were brought from Bridgnorth by mourners, as at one time they could be buried at St Nicholas's for free whereas there was a fee in Bridgnorth churchyards. The village lies on a notable hillside, which slopes down from Henley Lodge (at 102m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

) towards the

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, which flows to the east of the village, with the lower parts of the settlement at approximately 60m. The village is quite spread out, with a number of small

country lane A country lane is a narrow road in the countryside. In North America and Australia, the term "lane" also may refer to rear access roads which act as a secondary vehicular network in cities and towns. Some towns and cities in the United Kingdom, ...

s and

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s within the general boundaries. Between Oldbury and the River Severn is the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...

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mapping Oldbury Wells lies within the Bridgnorth by-pass and is now effectively part of the town (). It has one of the town's two secondary schools, Oldbury Wells School.

References

External links

Bridgnorth Team Ministry website
St Nicholas Church, Oldbury {{authority control Villages in Shropshire Former civil parishes in Shropshire Bridgnorth

See also

References

External links