Whittington 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 north west

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, lying east and north-east of

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 ...

. The parish had a population of 2,592 at the 2011 census. The village of Whittington is in the centre of the parish, and three smaller villages,

Park Hall Park Hall is an area near to the south-eastern edge of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is considered that the area near to the local Park Hall Primary and Infant schools and the Gillity Village shops are classed as Park Hall. Park ...

to its west, Hindford to the north-east and Babbinswood to the south, are also within the parish.

History

Whittington appears to have inhabited since prehistoric times and may have been a

Dark Age The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages (–10th centuries), or occasionally the entire Middle Ages (–15th centuries), in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which characterises it as marked by economic, int ...

fortress of some eminence, with an extensive settlement recorded 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. Whittington has been identified with ''Trefwen'' (white-town), the famous stronghold of

Cynddylan Cynddylan (Modern Welsh pronunciation: /kən'ðəlan/), or Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn was a seventh-century Prince of Powys associated with Pengwern. Cynddylan is attested only in literary sources: unlike many kings from Brittonic post-Roman Britain, h ...

king of

Pengwern Pengwern was a Brythonic settlement of sub-Roman Britain situated in what is now the English county of Shropshire, adjoining the modern Welsh border. It is regarded as possibly being the early seat of the kings of Powys before its establish ...

. Whittington was granted to William Peverel probably in the summer of 1114 when King

Henry I of England Henry I ( – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henr ...

invaded

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

. William probably founded Whittington Castle which was taken from his descendants by the Welsh under

Madog ap Maredudd Madog ap Maredudd (, ; died 1160) was the last prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales. He held for a time, the FitzAlan Lordship of Oswestry, family of the Earl of Arundel, Earls of Arundel, of Arundel Castle. His daughter married Lord Rhys ...

and later granted to Roger Powys by King Henry II. It remained in the Powys family until King John granted it to the FitzWarin family, namely

Fulk III FitzWarin Fulk FitzWarin ( – c. 1258), variant spellings (List of Latinised names, Latinized ''Fulco filius Garini'', Welsh ''Syr ffwg ap Gwarin''), the third (Fulk III), was a prominent representative of a marcher lord, marcher family associated espe ...

(d.1258) whose life is recorded in a medieval romance. In 1221, Henry III gave grudging permission for the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

to be re-built in stone after it had fallen to

Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...

. It was recaptured by Llywelyn in 1223 but was handed back the same year. It remained in the hands of the FitzWarins until 1420. The castle ruins still exist today and were recently renovated. They are open to the public. A small silver decorative brooch dating back to between 1115 and 1400 AD was discovered in a field outside Whittington in 2019. The redbrick church of St Michael dates from 1894, and is on the site of a much older church.

Governance

Whittington Parish Council is the first tier of local government, while most administrative functions are carried out by

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council, known between 1980 and 2009 as Shropshire County Council and prior to 1980 as Salop County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire (district), Shropshire in t ...

, a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. Elections to both bodies are ordinarily held on the same day, every four years. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

and an electoral division of the same name exists.
The ward stretches south to

West Felton West Felton is a village and civil parish near Oswestry in Shropshire, England. At the 2001 census the parish, which also includes the settlements of Rednal, Grimpo and Haughton, had a population of 1,380,

with a total population taken at the 2011 census of 4,067. The electoral division includes both Whittington parish and

parish.

Railways

Two railway stations once served Whittington. The

Shrewsbury to Chester Line 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 ...

(via

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

), of the former

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, is still an operating route, but station on this line closed on 12 September 1960 although there have been numerous campaigns over the years to have it reopened. station was on the main line of the

Cambrian Railways The Cambrian Railways owned of Railway track, track over a large area of mid Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two larger railways with c ...

. However, the section from Whitchurch to

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

(Buttington Junction), via Ellesmere, Whittington,

and

Llanymynech Llanymynech is a village and former civil parish straddling the Wales-England border, border between Powys, Wales, and Shropshire, England, about north of the Welsh town of Welshpool. The name is Welsh language, Welsh for "Llan (placename), L ...

, closed on 18 January 1965 in favour of the more viable alternative route via

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 ...

, although Whittington (High Level) station itself had closed earlier, on 4 January 1960.

Present day

Whittington parish includes

. This was previously an army training camp, but now is residential and farming land. There is a small amount of light industry based mainly on the Whittington Business Park on the road to Oswestry. A further group of businesses operate from premises off North Drive, Park Hall. Industry and warehousing is also located at the edge of the parish, close to the main

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa * A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Bulawayo ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

. The largest employer within the parish is BT (previously British Telecom) which has its National Network Management Centre on the Whittington Road, home of the UK's Speaking Clock.

Notable people

Robert Powell Robert Thomas Powell ( ; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in '' Mahler'' (1974) and '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) ...

(died 1683), later

Archdeacon of Salop The Archdeacon of Salop is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield. History Shropshire was historically split between the diocese of Hereford (under the Archdeacon of Shropshire) and the diocese of Coventry ...

, was Rector of Whittington 1666-1681. * Robert Montgomery (1807-1855), poet, was parish curate at Whittington 1835-1836. *

Walsham How William Walsham How (13 December 182310 August 1897) was an English Anglican bishop. Known as Walsham How, he was the son of a Shrewsbury solicitor; How was educated at Shrewsbury School, Wadham College, Oxford and University College, Durham. H ...

(1823–1897), later first

Bishop of Wakefield The Bishop of Wakefield is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a diocesan bishop in 1888, but it was dissolved in 2014. The Bishop of Wakefield is ...

and hymn writer, was Rector of Whittington 1851–1879.

References

* P. Brown, P. King, and P. Remfry, 'Whittington Castle: The marcher fortress of the Fitz Warin family', ''Shropshire Archaeology and History'' LXXIX (2004), 106–127. * Remfry, P.M., ''Whittington Castle and the families of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Peverel, Maminot, Powys and Fitz Warin'' ()

External links

Whittington Parish CouncilBBC Shropshire feature on the castle restoration
{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire