Stanton Lacy is a small village and geographically large

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 authorit ...

located in south

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 ...

, England, north of

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

. The

River Corve The River Corve is a minor river in Shropshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Teme which it joins in the town of Ludlow, and which joins the River Severn at Powick near Worcester. The valley it flows through is known as the Corvedale ( ...

flows through the parish, on its way south towards the

River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; cy, Afon Tefeidiad) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of B ...

, and passes immediately to the west of the village. The ancient

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, ...

in the village is St Peter's. The building is Grade I

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

and has pre-

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

parts dating to circa 1050.

Parish

The parish covers a wide rural area, encompassing a part of the flat and low-lying Corvedale but also an area of upland around Hayton's Bent (with the highest elevation being ). It contains a number of small settlements, including: * Stanton Lacy (the village) * Vernolds Common * The Hope * Lower Hayton * Upper Hayton * Hayton's Bent - location of Stanton Lacy Village Hall * Downton * Hoptongate The 2011 census recorded a resident population of 345. The geographic area of the parish is . The northern part of the Old Field (now occupied by

Ludlow Racecourse Ludlow Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Bromfield near Ludlow, Shropshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north ...

and the Ludlow Golf Club) is located in the parish, located about a mile (1.6 km) to the south of the village. Much of the parish, as well as the neighbouring parish of Bromfield, remains part of the

Earl of Plymouth Earl of Plymouth is a title that has been created three times: twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, one of the dozens of illegitima ...

's Oakly Park Estate.

History

Stanton Lacy has early Anglo-Saxon origins and can trace its history to before the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

of 1066, after which the large manor of Stanton was granted to

Roger de Lacy Roger de Lacy (died after 1106) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a Marcher Lord on the Welsh border. Roger was a castle builder, particularly at Ludlow Castle. Lands and titles From Walter de Lacy (died 1085) he inherited Castle Frome, Herefor ...

. Previously simply known as Stanton, this ownership gave it the name of Stanton ''Lacy'', which is in use to the present day and helps distinguish it from the many other places in England (and Shropshire) with the name 'Stanton'. The manor features 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 manus ...

of 1086 and this recorded a notably large population of the manor, indeed the greatest in the county measured by number of households, as well as the fourth-greatest monetary value. The Book also recorded the presence of a church and 2 priests. At the time Stanton came within the Saxon

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

Culvestan Culvestan was a hundred of Shropshire, England. Formed during Anglo-Saxon England, it encompassed manors in central southern Shropshire, and was amalgamated during the reign of Henry I (1100 to 1135) with the neighbouring hundred of Patton to for ...

, which was replaced during the reign of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

and the parish then came within the new Munslow hundred. 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 o ...

was larger than now, with extensive boundaries as per the original manorial holding, and extended south to the parish of Ludford and the River Teme at Dinham.

Ludlow Castle Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy after the Norman conqu ...

and the town of

were established within the parish's southern boundaries, by the manor's successive lords/tenants-in-chief, in the late 11th century/early 12th century. Ludlow Castle and an early neighbouring settlement (possibly Dinham) were just about in existence at the time of the Domesday Book survey and therefore may have contributed towards the high population count and taxable value for the manor of Stanton. The now-separate parish of Hopton Cangeford and the former parish of Cold Weston, merged into Clee St. Margaret in 1967, were once part of Stanton Lacy. Ludlow (with its church of St Laurence's) had become its own parish by 1200, carving out land largely from Stanton Lacy parish (otherwise from Ludford); Ludlow Castle also by this point constituted its own parish (with its chapel of St Mary Magdalene) - a situation that remained until 1901. What remained of Stanton Lacy's southern part was then unaffected until 1884; this southern part (south of the watercourse known as 'Hope Gutter') was entirely removed in that year with its transfer largely to Bromfield, but also Bitterley (land to the east of the

Ledwyche Brook Ledwyche Brook is a minor river in south Shropshire, England. It is sometimes referred to as the River Ledwyche and spelled variously, including "Ledwich" or "Ledwych". The brook is a tributary of the River Teme. Its sources are just south of ...

) and the new East Hamlet parish. The result of this was the ending of the historic border with Ludford. By 1879 a part in the west of the parish (the township of Wootton) had been removed to Onibury.

Decline

Whilst the parish used to be able to boast two schools, four

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

chapels, a post office, pubs and a football team, none of these now remain. The population of the parish has declined greatly since the late 19th century and it now serves as a popular retirement destination with a small farming community remaining too.

People

* Murderer Robert Foulkes served as vicar of Stanton Lacy at the time of his crime, for which he was hanged in 1679. * Rev. George William St John (4 May 1796 – ?), Rector of Stanton Lacy, married Henrietta Frances Magrath in 1830. A son of

Frederick St John (British Army officer) General Frederick St John (20 December 1765 — 19 November 1844) was an officer of the British Army and a politician.''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820'', ed. R. Thorne, 1986 He rose to the rank of general during his ca ...

and

Lady Diana Beauclerk Lady Diana Beauclerk (''née'' Lady Diana Spencer; other married name Diana St John, Viscountess Bolingbroke; 24 March 1734 – 1 August 1808) was an English noblewoman and artist. Early life Beauclerk was born into the Spencer family as the da ...

* Victorian writer Annie Molyneux, later Mrs Annie Webb and then Annie Webb-Peploe, author of ''Naomi; or, The last days of Jerusalem'' (1841), was born in Stanton Lacy in 1806. * Stanton Lacy Parish (more precisely in Ludlow)birth and baptimal cerificates was birthplace of

World War I 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 ...

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

recipient, Able Seaman William Charles Williams in 1880 (killed at Gallipoli 1915). *

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player Jonny Hill who made his debut for England against Italy in the Six Nations Championship in 2020 hails from Stanton Lacy and went to school in Ludlow.

References

External links