Pitchford is a small village in the English county of

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 ...

. It is located between Cantlop and

Acton Burnell Acton Burnell is a village and parish in the English county of Shropshire. Home to Concord College, it is also famous for an early meeting of Parliament where the Statute merchant was passed in 1283. The population at the 2011 census was 544. ...

and stands on an affluent of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

. Pitchford takes its name from a bituminous spring/pitch in the village, located near The Row Brook. It is also home to one of the most notable Elizabethan houses in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Pitchford Hall Pitchford Hall is a large Grade I listed Tudor country house in the village of Pitchford, Shropshire, 6 miles south east of Shrewsbury. It was built c.1560 on the site of a medieval building and has been modified several times since, particula ...

. The Church of St Michael and All Angels stands near to the house which contains a carved oak 13th century effigy of Sir John de Pitchford. It is also the name for the

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 ...

History

Employment

In the Census of 1831 a detailed categorisation of employment was recorded, showing that Agricultural Labourers made up the largest sector (over 50%) of employment of Males aged 20 and over in 9 occupational categories. The second largest category consisted of those employed in the Retail and Handicrafts industry. Of the 76 Pitchford population aged between 16 and 74, 59 people were economically active/ employed whereas none were unemployed. The majority (39 people) of these were employed in Service Industries.

Population

Census data during the years 1881– 1961 shows that Pitchford's population decreased while the total population of England and Wales increased conversely. Housing information recorded through the years of 1831–1961 shows the number of houses in the area fluctuated between 35 and 43 houses during this time. Statistics from the 2001 census show that the number of households with residents was 44. In 2001, its total population was 110.

Social Class

Social class was also noted in the 1831 census, showing the majority (over 55%) of the Pitchford population was made up of those described as "Labourers and Servants". The second largest social class was recorded as "muddling sorts".

Pitchford Estate

is Grade I listed building and the estate is first referred to in historical records 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 ...

(1081–86) as follows: “Edric, and Leofric and Wulfric held it as thress manors; they were free. 3 hides which pay tax. Land for 5 ploughs. In lordship 3; 3 slaves; 3 ploughmen; 1 village; 3 smallholders, a smith and rider with 2 ploughs. Woodland for fattening 100 pigs. Value before 1066, 8s later 16s; now 40s.” Records suggest a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

manor house existed somewhere on the site from at least 1284 to 1431. The 40-room mansion as it exists today however is said to have been built between 1560 and 1570 for Adam Ottley, a wool merchant from Shrewsbury. The half-timbered mansion stands next to the Church of St Michael and All Angels, and is widely considered to be one of the finest Tudor houses in Britain. The Pitchford estate would remain in the Ottley family until the death of Adam Ottley in 1807, when it passed to Hon. Charles C. C. Jenkinson, second son of the 1st Earl of Liverpool and later to his son-in-law John Cotes. Princess Victoria – better known as the queen of the same name – visited the hall in 1832, five years before ascending the throne, and wrote in her diary the hall was "A curious looking but very comfortable house. It is striped black and white, and in the shape of a cottage".

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

(

The Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was D ...

at the time) and Duchess of York (The Queen Mother post-1952) also stayed in the hall during 1935. In 1940, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Pitchford Hall was also one of the three houses selected for the King and Queen as a safe refuge. The hall, unlike some similar properties in Britain has remained in private ownership for many generations. The hall was sold in 1993 however, ending a 500-year family link to the estate. The Pitchford Hall and estate are now separately owned.

Church of St Michael and All Angels

The Church of St Michael and All Angels was founded and built by Ralph de Pitchford in 1220 AD. The Pitchford Estate website describes the church as a “

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 ...

Church with interesting contents". The most notable of which is a solid

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

carved tomb effigy (one of only 3 in the country) of a crusader called Sir John De Pitchford. The church contains separate war memorial plaques, listing two men who died in

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 ...

and three in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, as well as a list of nine men and six women of the parish who served in the latter war.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire