Bucknell, Shropshire
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Bucknell is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in south
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. The village lies on the River Redlake, within of the
River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; ) 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 Bucknell and continu ...
and close to the border of
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
. It is about east of Knighton and is set within the
Shropshire Hills The Shropshire Hills are a dissected Highland, upland area and one of the natural regions of England. They lie wholly within the county of Shropshire and encompass several distinctive and well-known landmarks, such as the Long Mynd, Wenlock Edge ...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
. The name is derived from
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
and means 'Bucca's hill' or 'he-goats' hill'. The village has the "P"s identified by ''Country Life'' as essential to a successful village: a pub, a post office, a place of worship, a primary school and public transport.


History

The settlement of Bucknell was first mentioned 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, as ''Buckehale'' or ''Buckenhill''. At the time of the Domesday survey, the
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 ...
and
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
boundary divided the village. The
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 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...
magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
Roger de Montgomery Roger de Montgomery (died 1094), also known as Roger the Great, was the first Earl of Shrewsbury, and Earl of Arundel, in Sussex. His father was Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery, a member of the House of Montgomery, and was probab ...
held the village from the King. He built many castles including Montgomery,
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
,
Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...
,
Clun Clun is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills AONB, Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 United Kingdom census, census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populations for the t ...
, Hopton and
Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...
; at the time over 90 per cent of the lordships and manors of Shropshire were held in Chief by him. His under-tenants in this area were Ralph de
Mortimer Mortimer is an English surname. Norman origins The surname Mortimer has a Norman origin, deriving from the village of Mortemer, Seine-Maritime, Normandy. A Norman castle existed at Mortemer from an early point; one 11th century figure associ ...
, who held Bucknell (amongst his 123 manors with his chief domain in England being at
Wigmore Castle Wigmore Castle is a ruined castle about from the village of Wigmore, Herefordshire, Wigmore in the northwest region of Herefordshire, England. History Wigmore Castle was founded after the Norman conquest of England, Norman Conquest, probably c ...
), and William de
Picot A picot is a loop of thread created for functional or ornamental purposes along the edge of lace or ribbon, or crocheted, knitted or tatted fabric. The loops vary in size according to their function and artistic intention. 'Picot', pronounced ...
(also known as Picot de Say), with his chief domain at
Clun Castle Clun Castle is a medieval ruined castle in Clun, Shropshire, England. Clun Castle was established by the Norman lord Robert de Say after the Norman invasion of England and went on to become an important Marcher lord castle in the 12th century, ...
. The earth mound at The Olde Farm in Bucknell is the remains of a Norman
motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...
castle situated on the banks of the River Redlake, close to a river crossing point and to the
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 ...
. In 1554–55 an Act of Parliament was passed transferring the whole of Bucknell to the county of Shropshire. The
Lords of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
at that time were the Sitwell family. Historically, most of the male population worked in agriculture and timber.


Buildings

The earliest of the existing buildings date back to the 17th century. The houses were built in a haphazard fashion near the river with easy access to water. The village depended on water from the river and wells until the 1920s when water was piped into the village from a spring above Chapel Lawn. The houses at the lower end of the village were very susceptible to flooding, and this hazard continued until the ford was walled up in the 1950s. Bucknell had four
pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
: The Sitwell Arms, The Plough (just opposite), The Railway Tavern and The Bridge End. The latter three are all now private houses, though a new pub, the Baron of Beef, is now open. Bucknell also had a shop and bakery in the Square and its own corn mill which was at the west end of the village. Bucknell Post office opened in the mid-19th century. The original post office was just round the corner and still goes by the name of The Old Post Office. The butcher's shop is still on its original site. After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
a Memorial Hall was built in the village, originally from a mess hut removed from a
Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...
camp, and still stands. It contains plaques in memory of men from the parish who died serving in the World Wars. One of those behind its construction was William Burgoyne.


Services

Today the village boasts an impressive number of businesses and public services for its size: two public houses, a post office, a butcher, a petrol forecourt and shop, a general store open every day, a railway station, a primary school and numerous companies providing services to local agricultural and forestry enterprises.


The school

The Old School House was built in the 16th century, this part being the part of the building next to the river to provide education for those who could pay for it. The school remained until the present one was built in 1865. The Old School House then became a shop and bakers before becoming a private dwelling. The front part of the building pre-dates the rear by around 200 years making it 13th/14th century and whilst being restored was found to have once existed as a ground floor-only property and evidence of an open fire pit and an opening in the roof to allow the smoke to escape; this pre-dates the inglenook fireplace to the rear and was believed to have been a medieval great hall. Restoration was completed in 1999. The land upon which the present school was built was given in 1865. The first schoolmaster appointed in 1867 to the new St Mary's National School was Mr Henry Evans, 24 years old. The school was extensively re-modelled in 1966 when additional teaching space and a kitchen was added enabling meals to be cooked on the premises. St Mary's school is a maintained
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
primary school with 43 pupils on roll at January 2004. The age range is 4–11 years. An independent school,
Bedstone College Bedstone is a small village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire. The village is approximately from the railway stations at Hopton Heath and Bucknell and is situated just off the B4367 road. ...
, is also nearby.


Places of worship

*St Mary's Church (
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
) *The
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
Chapel in Dog Kennel Lane (now a private house) * Coxall Chapel (
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
) on the road to Bedstone (now a private house)


Population

Despite more houses, the number of people living in Bucknell has dropped. The population of the village in 1811
Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
was 226. At the end of the 19th century this had risen to 546. In the 1981
Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
the population of the village was 494; in 1991 the population of the parish (probably including Bedstone) was 601 consisting of some 250 dwellings and in 2001 it was 642 in 294 dwellings.


Transport

The village has a
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
on the Heart of Wales Line. There are nine trains a day on weekdays and eight on Saturdays, five/four to
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
and four to
Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
(plus two each way on Sundays). There is also a bus service to Knighton and
Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...
.


Bucknell F.C.

An association football club exists in the village called Bucknell F.C. who previously played in the
Mid Wales South League The Mid Wales South League was an association football league, from Mid Wales but some from just over the border in England. It was last called the ''Watson Financial Mid Wales League (South)'' for sponsorship reasons. The league last operated in ...
(despite being based in England they currently play in the
Welsh football league system The Welsh football league system (or League system, pyramid) is a series of association football, football leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them. It consists of four main tiers, as well as lower local leagues. While most W ...
).Mid Wales South League
official website They played in the
Herefordshire Football League The Herefordshire Football League, known for sponsorship purposes as Zzoomm Herefordshire Football League, is an association football competition based in Herefordshire, England. It also features some clubs from surrounding counties, including ...
in the 2010–11 season (and before that in the Mid Wales South League as now). Bucknell play at the Daffodil Lane Recreation Ground. Another Shropshire village, also in the southwest of Shropshire, have a team playing in the same league:
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
. Bucknell bridge (1293724).jpg, Bucknell bridge; 1900s Bucknell church "spring" (1293368).jpg, Church; 1900s Bucknell post office (1294371).jpg, Post Office; 1900s Bucknell school (1293428).jpg, School; 1900s Bucknell station the sqs sic (1293568).jpg, Railway station; 1900s


See also

* Listed buildings in Bucknell, Shropshire


References


External links


Village website also includes nearby Bedstone
{{Authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire