Whixall is, by land area, the third largest inland village in England and a

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 ...

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 documented 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 manusc ...

as having been in existence in 1086. The nearest towns are Whitchurch, to the north, and Wem, to the south. The parish lies on the border with the

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Its close proximity to Wales is shown by a hamlet called

Welsh End Welsh End is a small rural hamlet in the civil parish of Whixall, Shropshire, England. The hamlet is adjacent to the border with the Welsh county of Clwyd, and is traversed by the Llangollen canal. The main place of worship within the hamlet ...

. Within the parish boundaries (encompassing seven square miles) are various

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 ...

s including Abbey Green, Hollinwood,

, Stanley Green, Dobson's Bridge, Far End and Waterloo. Whixall village contains a

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 ...

village church, and primary school. The village's outdoor war memorial, a square-section obelisk, stands in fenced area on the roadside by the school. In July 2021 a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

stone artwork that became known as the "Whixall Monolith" or Whixall Stone, was discovered in the creation of a drive at a house in the village. Adorned with cup and ring carvings, the Permio-Triassic red sandstone block is apparently the first such monolith to be found in Shropshire. The

Llangollen Canal The Llangollen Canal ( cy, Camlas Llangollen) is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshi ...

of the

Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales. The canal lies in ...

and the short

Prees Prees () is a village and civil parish in north Shropshire, near the border between England and Wales. Its name is Celtic and means "brushwood". Prees civil parish The civil parish includes many other villages and hamlets as well as the namesa ...

Branch of the

Ellesmere Canal The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales an ...

run through the parish. Prees was the intended destination of the Prees Branch, however the arm was only completed as far as

Quina Brook Quina Brook is a hamlet in north Shropshire, near the border between England and Wales. Population details for the 2011 census are found under Wem Rural. Quina Brook was the final destination of an arm of the Ellesmere Canal. This arm was ori ...

. The arm is now known as the

Prees Branch The Llangollen Canal ( cy, Camlas Llangollen) is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shrops ...

of the

, and is navigable for about a mile to Whixall

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

. The remaining 3/4 mile is still followable on the towpath as it passes through

Prees Branch Canal Nature Reserve Prees Branch Canal Nature Reserve is a Shropshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve in the civil parish of Whixall, Shropshire, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the presence of rare pondweeds (Potamogeton), and also is the ho ...

. The canal is crossed by Dobson's Bridge, a fixed

humpback bridge A humpback bridge (or hump bridge) is a name for a type of bridge, specifically an arch bridge, where the span is higher than the ramps on either side, forming a hump-like arrangement. Examples include Chinese and Japanese moon bridge A moon b ...

, which was classified in 1987 as a Grade Il

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It is also crossed by the listed Stark's Bridge, currently undergoing restoration. Adjacent to Whixall is

Whixall Moss Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve (United Kingdom), national nature reserve (NNR) which straddles the border between England and Wales, near Whixall and Ellesmere, Shropshire, Ellesmere in ...

, part of

Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve (NNR) which straddles the border between England and Wales, near Whixall and Ellesmere in Shropshire, England and Bettisfield in Wrexham County Borough ...

, the third largest

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of ...

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation ( ombro ...

in Britain, a rare habitat and the home of a number of rare species. Blind bend on NCR 45 - geograph

The

Shropshire Way The Shropshire Way Main Route is a waymarked long distance footpath running through the English county of Shropshire. It runs around the interior of the county in two loops centred on Shrewsbury, with an additional spur to Whitchurch. The Ma ...

long distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

runs through Whixall.

References

External links

Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire {{Shropshire-geo-stub

See also

References

External links