Ratlinghope ( ) is a hamlet 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
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. The population of the civil parish at the
2011 census was 138. It is situated four miles (6 km) west of
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. and twelve miles (19 km) 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 ...
.
Historically it was located in the
hundred of
Purslow. In the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
it is in the
rural deanery
In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...
of
Bishop's Castle,
archdeaconry of
Ludlow, and
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
of
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
.
The village is scattered around a valley in the hills of the
Long Mynd and
Stiperstones
The Stiperstones ( cy, Carneddau Teon) is a distinctive hill in the county of Shropshire, England. The quartzite rock of the ridge formed some 480 million years ago. During the last Ice Age Stiperstones lay on the eastern margin of the Welsh i ...
, an
AONB
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 ...
(area of outstanding natural beauty).
Nearby is the hamlet of Bridges, which falls within Ratlinghope civil parish, and where there is a
youth hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ba ...
and a
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 ...
.
Castle Ring, the earthwork of Ratlinghope Hill, is the fort described by
Mary Webb in her novel ''Golden Arrow''.
History
The area of the parish is , of which, at the start of the 20th century, 3,756 acres were arable and pasture, 200 acres woodland, and about 1,500 acres
common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
. The population in 1901 was 197. The land is hilly, and the soil is sand and clay, on a rocky subsoil. An old
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
, the Portway, runs between Ratlinghope and Church Stretton, and is continued along the crest of the Long Mynd in a north-easterly direction. In the neighbourhood are some British camps (Iron Age hillforts) and
tumuli
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...
.
Ratlinghope, in
Domesday
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 ...
''Rotelingehope'', means the hope or valley of the people of Rotel, ''Rotel'' being the
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
name from which the County of
Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
's name was derived. At the time of the Domesday survey, Rotelingehope was a manor of two
hides, which were waste, and was held by Robert fitz Corbet of
Earl Roger de Montgomery. In
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
's reign, Seuuard had held it. Robert fitz Corbet was a younger brother of Roger, the builder of
Caus Castle; he left two daughters, his heirs, Sibil (or Adela), and Alice. Sibil, who had been one of
Henry I's mistresses, married Herbert fitz Herbert, whilst Alice became the wife of William Botterell. Before 1209 Ratlinghope was acquired by Walter Corbet, an Augustine Canon, and a relative of Prince
Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, who gave him a letter of protection. Walter Corbet founded here a small cell or priory of Augustinian Canons of St Victor, in connection with
Wigmore. Nothing is known of its history, but at the
dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
there was a Prior and 29 Canons; and the possessions of the Priory, valued at £5 11s 1½d per annum, were sold in May 1546 to Robert Longe, a member of the
Mercers Guild of the City of London.
In 1845 the manor and
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 Ratlinghope were purchased by
Robert Scott, of Great Barr,
MP for
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
, and at his death in 1856 they passed to his son John Charles Addyes Scott, who died in 1888. On the death of his widow in 1907, their son, James Robert Scott, became lord of the manor and patron of Ratlinghope.
Stitt and Gatten, two miles (3 km) north-west, were members of the Domesday manor of Ratlinghope. Between 1204 and 1210, William de Botterell confirmed a
moiety
Moiety may refer to:
Chemistry
* Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule
** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species
Anthropology
* Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...
of Stitt on
Haughmond Abbey
Haughmond Abbey ( ) is a ruined, medieval, Augustinians, Augustinian monastery a few miles from Shrewsbury, England. It was probably founded in the early 12th century and was closely associated with the FitzAlan family, who became Earls of Arund ...
. Robert Corbet, of Caus, also gave to the Canons of Haughmond his culture of Gateden, and an
assart
Assarting is the act of clearing forested lands for use in agriculture or other purposes. In English land law, it was illegal to assart any part of a royal forest without permission. This was the greatest trespass that could be committed in a ...
near their culture of Gatteden. There was a church at Stitt in the reign of
Henry II, but after the dissolution of Haughmond Abbey nothing more is heard of it, and its district with Gatten was annexed to the parish of Ratlinghope. At the start of the 20th century, W. E. M. Hulton-Harrop was lord of the manor of Gatten, which he inherited in 1866 from his maternal grandfather, Jonah Harrop
On 29 January 1865, the Rector of
Woolstaston
Woolstaston is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of the nearest town, Church Stretton.
It is located in the northern foothills of the Long Mynd and is situated near Leebotwood, Smethcott and ...
, the Rev. Edmund Donald Carr, was walking from Ratlinghope to a second Sunday evening service at another church when he was caught in a blizzard, lost for 22 hours, snow-blinded and almost died. He emerged in the
Cardingmill Valley
Church Stretton is a market town in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671. and must have crossed Wild Moor and Hiddon Hill, some of the wildest country, in his struggle to survive. His account of the ordeal, ''A Night in the Snow'', has become well known in Shropshire.
In 1906, the last known
sin-eater
A sin-eater is a person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. The food was believed to absorb the sins of a recently dead person, thus absolving the soul of the person. Sin-eaters, as a conse ...
in England was buried in Ratlinghope.
Last 'sin-eater' to be celebrated with church service
BBC News, 19 September 2010
Filming location and music festival
Ratlinghope appears in an episode of Dalziel and Pascoe.
In 2005, the village acquired a further degree of fame when it became the main filming location for the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
sitcom Green Green Grass.
It also featured on the Paul Heaton Pedals & Pumps Tour of 2010 when he came by bicycle and played the Horseshoe Inn/Bridges.
The village has an annual music festival nearby, usually held in August by a local farmer. Farmer Phil's Festival is run by the family who allow camping before and after the festival ends.
It also has a smaller more eclectic festival that takes place around the Midsummers Soltice (Litha) called the Sin eater although it does not appear to be an annual event – this is a more low key event with Drum workshops and more local bands and is a more laid back affair than Farmer Phil's
See also
* Listed buildings in Ratlinghope
References
*''This article incorporates text from "The Register of Ratlinghope", a publication in the public domain.
External links
The Register of Ratlinghope, by W. G. D. Fletcher
from Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
, giving details from the parish registers from 1755 to 1813
{{authority control
Civil parishes in Shropshire
Villages in Shropshire