Abdon is an upland village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of Abdon and Heath, in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England. In 2011 the parish had a population of 199. It is in the

Clee Hills The Clee Hills are a range of hills in Shropshire, England near Ludlow, consisting of Brown Clee Hill , the highest peak in Shropshire, and Titterstone Clee Hill . They are both in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geogra ...

History

The name Abdon derives from 'Ab(b)a's estate' (Old English personal name ''Ab(b)a'' + ''tūn''). It was called ''Abetune'' 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, when it comprised nine households, and was recorded as ''Ab(b)eton'' from about 1200 to 1504, ''Abbedon'' in 1301 and ''Abdon'' from 1503. The village had at least 11 households in 1642, 20 that paid hearth tax in 1662 and in 1793, there were 30 houses in the parish.A P Baggs, G C Baugh, D C Cox, Jessie McFall and P A Stamper
'Abdon'
in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 10, Munslow Hundred (Part), the Liberty and Borough of Wenlock'', ed. G C Baugh (London, 1998), pp. 120-127. ''

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universit ...

''. Accessed 13 August 2020. The population of the parish grew from 137 to 170 between 1811 and 1831 but declined to 70 in 1971 and rose slightly to 85 in 1981.

1969 air incident

BAC Jet Provost The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and l ...

'XM360' hit Abdon Burf, partly in Cleobury North, on Friday 21 January 1969, with two crew killed, 31 year old Flt Lt John Sims Watson, born in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

, an instructor and 21 year old Pilot Officer Ian Scott Primrose, from

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

, Scotland.

Clee Hills

Abdon is a remote

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

on the slopes of the

Brown Clee Hill Brown Clee Hill is the highest hill in the rural England, English county of Shropshire, at above sea level. It is one of the Clee Hills, and is in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geography Brown Clee Hill lies five ...

. The population currently stands at approx. 28 dwellings. The hamlet includes a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

(St Margaret's), a

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

and the remains of a

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conve ...

. The hamlet is very close to the remains of an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

now known as Nordy Bank, situated on the southern end of the Brown Clee. Abdon has a lively community, with regular events at the village hall. The Abdon parish registers begin in the 1560s but are only complete from 1614 on, with a gap from 1641 to 1649.

Civil parish

The civil parish was large and included other settlements, including Tugford and Holdgate which were transferred into the parish in the late 20th century. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2017 and merged with

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

to form Abdon and Heath.

References

'Abdon' in ''A History of the County of Shropshire''. Volume 10: Munslow Hundred, The Liberty and Borough of Wenlock (1998), pp. 120–127. Available a
British History Online: Abdon

External links