Astley is a small 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England. The official 2001 census recorded 454 people living in the parish and 116 in the village itself, falling slightly to 449 at the 2011 Census. The village lies near to (and between) the A53 and A49 roads. Upper Astley is a hamlet on the A53 about half a mile to the south of the village of Astley. There is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

there - the ''Dog in the Lane''.

History

The village was featured 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 as a small settlement, with no church, but with a manor, and was called "Hesleie". Back then it was part of the Baschurch

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

. The village of Astley today is scenic and quaint, and consists of a number of old dwellings of architectural interest. For this reason a Conservation Area covers almost the entirety of the village, including all of the dwellings there. Astley Conservation Area was designated in 1988 and covers and area of 23.5

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s/57 acres. It is currently being reviewed and the boundaries may soon be altered slightly. The Conservation Area is centred on the church of St Mary's which dates back to the 12th century. During the

medieval era In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

the area was partly administered by nearby Haughmond Abbey (now a ruin). The oldest existing dwelling is Church House, built in the early 17th century. Church Farmhouse is thought to be 18th century and Firs Farmhouse is dated 1760. There are a number of substantial

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

houses too, with large, landscaped gardens and grounds. The village therefore has a great number of fine mature trees. The most impressive dwelling in Astley today is Astley House, originally a small 18th-century country house set within its own ornamental grounds. The house and its gardens were remodelled in the 19th century and the house grew in stature greatly. The main part of the building is now in the form of a Classical temple, in a

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

style. The coach house flanking the main building is also in the style of a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

temple with a portico ''in antis''. Nearby is a monument to

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten ye ...

(the famous

prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

of the time) which too is in an ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

/Greek fashion. The grounds of Astley House extend quite some distance and are similarly landscaped to a high order. Astley House, Church House, Church Farmhouse, the Firs Farmhouse and the church of St Mary the Virgin are all

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s. There are a number of other interesting old dwellings and outbuildings in a village that has grown slowly over time (despite development continuing apace nearby, notably in

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troops ...

. The village is effectively by-passed by the A53 and A49 roads, although there were plans in the 1980s to re-route the A53 closer to the village in a wider scheme of road building north of Shrewsbury. Fortunately this did not happen, instead the new A5124 "Battlefield Link Road" was built closer to Shrewsbury in the late 1990s. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin in the village has what could be the county's oldest church

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

, dating back to 1270. In 2012 this bell, now named Mary (after the church's saint), was restored and rehung in the church tower, along with a restored 18th-century bell which is now named Elizabeth (after the present Queen, because it was hung in her Jubilee year). The tower's clock, made by the firm of J.B. Joyce & Co. of

Whitchurch, Shropshire Whitchurch is a market town in the north of Shropshire, England. It lies east of the Welsh border, 2 miles south of the Cheshire border, north of the county town of Shrewsbury, south of Chester, and east of Wrexham. At the 2011 Census, the ...

, was erected by village public subscription to commemorate peace after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Transport

Bus Service

Astley is served by the 64 route, operated by

Arriva Midlands North Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bus ...

, which runs between Shrewsbury and

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and electoral ward in the north of Shropshire, England, close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is on the River Tern, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" (c. 1868) and earlier simply as "D ...

via

Shawbury Shawbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Shropshire. The village is northeast of the town of Shrewsbury, northwest of Telford and northwest of London. The village straddles the A53 between Shrewsbury and Market Dray ...

References

External links

Astley Parish Council
* {{authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire

History

Transport

Bus Service

See also

References

External links