Donington, Shropshire
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Donington is a hamlet 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
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. It shares a parish council with the neighbouring parish of Boscobel, due to the latter's small population.


Geography

The hamlet is situated on the northern outskirts of the large village of Albrighton. Albrighton Moat, a
scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
dating from the 13th century, is situated within the hamlet. The parish is geographically large, however, and includes Cosford and DSAE Cosford, as well as encompassing a small part of the village of Albrighton (close to the railway station). The
M54 motorway The M54 is a east-west motorway in the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire, England. It is also referred to as the Telford motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the town of Telford. It cost £65 million to construc ...
passes through the parish, as does the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line; Albrighton railway station is on the border of the parishes of Donington and Albrighton, as is the Donington and Albrighton Nature Reserve. Wigmore Wood lies within the parish. Donington is located 9.9 miles away from
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
and 10.6 miles away from
Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...
To the east of the parish is
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
.


St. Cuthbert's Church

St. Cuthbert's Church in Donington is over 900 years old. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery. The old church tower had collapsed on 25 March 1879, and was rebuilt in 1880. Different parts of the church are from different eras. For example, the lower part of the tower was built in the 12th Century, whereas other parts of the building were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. This Church is a grade II listed building and has been since 26 September 1984. Many air force personnel from
RAF Cosford Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station near to the village of Cosford, Shropshire, England just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton. It is a training station, home to ...
are buried in the churchyard. 23 of them are in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Commonwealth service war graves, which are marked and cared for by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
(CWGC). Also buried from the same war are four Polish airmen.
CWGC Cemetery Report, details obtained from casualty record. Note CWGC spell the village 'Donnington'.
The dead include former British Olympic fencing, fencer Group Captain Frederick Sherriff.
CWGC Casualty Record.
The CWGC also register the graves of two
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
officers of
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 ...
. Edward Bradley, later a writer who was better known under his pen-name Cuthbert Bede, held his first incumbency here as vicar of Donington in 1857-59.


Population trends

In 1801, the recorded population for the parish of Donington was 289 people. The population has steadily increased over the years except for some decades such as the 1850s. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the population for this parish had risen from a pre-war figure of 329 to over 3000 in the 1950s. According to census records from the 1800s into the 1930s, the ratio of males to females living within Donington was roughly the same, until after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
when the parish saw a large increase in the male population in the area. This is because of the location of
RAF Cosford Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station near to the village of Cosford, Shropshire, England just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton. It is a training station, home to ...
, which is included within the Donington parish. The 2001 census also shows the number of people in different age groups. The census shows us that for the Donington area the most populated age group was 16–24. This could be because the RAF base at Cosford is included in these data statistics. In general, however, the 2001 census shows that there are more people living in the parish under the age of 44, than there are over that age.


Employment

According to the 1881 census the main sources of employment within Donington were either in agriculture or in domestic services. The same census also shows that these jobs were mainly dominated by men, and most women living in Donington at the time had no employment. In comparison, the 2001 census shows that the employment structure has changed compared to that of 1881. The 2001 census shows that now over 2600 people now work in the service sector, and around 100 people now work in agriculture and manufacturing. There could be many reasons as to why there has been such a dramatic switch in terms of employment over the last 120 years, but it does follow the national trend for local parishes in terms of employment.


Housing

Shackerley Hall is a small country house incorporating the remains of an 18th-century house; it is a listed building. The first UK census which included people's housing situation was in 1891. In the 1891 census questions were focused on the number of rooms in your house and the number of people who lived there as well, however from the 1951 census questions focused more on the facilities within a house. In 1891 there were 87 houses within the parish and Donington and that number in the 2001 census has risen to 587. In March 2012, according to Zoopla.com the average house price for the postcode WV7, which Donington and the rest of the parish fall under, was £215,074


See also

* Listed buildings in Donington, Shropshire


References

{{shropshire Hamlets in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire