Nox is a
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 ...
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, around a staggered junction on the B4386 road (historically a
Roman Road
Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
) between the small villages of
Cruckton
Cruckton is a small village in Shropshire, England (). Cruckton is situated approximately five miles from Shrewsbury town centre, off the B4386 road to Montgomery, Powys. The postcode begins SY5. It is within the civil parish of Pontesbury and ...
and
Yockleton, and south of
Ford.
Ordnance Survey
The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
mapping
Anciently in the parish of Pontesbury,
[Reprinted extract from ''Victoria County History of Shropshire'', Volume VIII, 1968.] Nox now lies mostly in 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Westbury; the parish boundaries of Westbury and of
Pontesbury, which contains four of its houses, run through the hamlet.
It is named after the ''Nock'' family, who owned what is now known as Nox House. It was initially recorded as an alehouse held by Richard Nock in 1653, that was later known as 'The Star and Ball' and was a regular meeting place of the
Ford manorial court
The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, primar ...
from 1674 to 1811. It was a butcher's shop in the 19th century before conversion to a private house. Nox also had a
smithy, erected by John Nock in c.1668, that was 'still in business' in 1968.
References
Hamlets in Shropshire
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