Pontesford 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. It is located on the A488 outside the large village of

Pontesbury Pontesbury is a village and civil parish in Shropshire and is approximately eight miles southwest of Shrewsbury. In the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,873 and the parish had a population of 3,227. The village of Minsterley is ju ...

, southwest 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 population as taken at the 2011 census can be found under Pontesbury. It approximates to the northern extremity of the Pontesford-Linley geological fault, which trends approximately 11 miles to Linley near

Bishops Castle Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of ...

. On 2 April 1990, the Pontesford- Linley Fault - registered an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

with a magnitude of 5.1 on the

Richter scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

, known as the Bishop's Castle earthquake. Coal was mined there in the 19th century.

Pontesford Hill

To its south is Pontesford Hill, which adjoins the foot of Earls Hill, the latter property of the

Shropshire Wildlife Trust The Shropshire Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the geographic county of Shropshire, England. Nature reserves The trust cares for, or is associated with, 42 nature reserves (plus its headquarters in Shrewsbury – see next section) ...

. Pontesford Hill was property of the Forestry Commission until it was sold to a private owner, Simon Hutchen, in 2010. Hutchen challenged a claim for two footpaths to be added to the definitive map as public rights of way, arguing that they were 'permissive' and not 'as of right'. The claim was referred to the Secretary of State and the subject of a Public Inquiry. Hutchen also applied for planning permission from

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council is the local authority of Shropshire (district), Shropshire, in England, comprising the ceremonial county of Shropshire except Telford and Wrekin. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, having the powers ...

to build a replica Iron Age fort round house and

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

and create a green burial ground. Both were voluntarily withdrawn by Hutchen and he agreed to sell the hill to a local campaign group. He sold the hill, which was bought in 2015 by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust with the help of more than £250,000 raised by the group called the Friends of Pontesford Hill to purchase the hill for public use.Report by Lucy Todman.

References

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Villages in Shropshire {{Shropshire-geo-stub

Pontesford Hill

See also

References

External links