Alveley is a village in the Severn Valley in southeast

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, about south-southeast of

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

. It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of Alveley and Romsley. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 2,098. It is served by bus service 297 (

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it h ...

) operated by

Arriva Midlands 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 bu ...

. It is most famously known as being the hometown of Jack Jones, a local magician. The Black Death is said to have killed 60% of the village population in 1349. A stone cross, the Buttercross, outside the village dates from the time of the Black Death when it was a place for food to be left for the village when it was quarantined.

Churches

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

is 12th-century with a 14th-century south chapel. In the chapel is a very faded 14th-century

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

that is thought to represent the

Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

. The upper part of the tower was rebuilt in about 1779. The building was heavily restored in 1878–79 under the direction of Sir

Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

. It is a

Grade II* 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 Ire ...

. Alveley has also a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

chapel, which was built in 1862.

Coal mining and country park

From 1937 to 1969 the village had a

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

in conjunction with the neighbouring village of Highley across the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_ ...

. The first shaft at Alveley Colliery was sunk in 1935. Production began in 1938 and reached full output in 1944. Coal was transferred to sidings on the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and ...

on the opposite bank of the river, to be taken away by rail. Declining coal quality at a time of national over-supply led to the colliery closing in January 1969 leaving high unemployment and a ravaged landscape. An industrial estate was built after the mine closure along with a landscape reclamation scheme in 1986 and the disused

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

and

spoil tip A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. These waste materials are typically composed of shale, as well as smaller quan ...

s were converted into the Severn Valley Country Park. The landscape includes meadows, woods, ponds and wetlands with waymarked trails of short and longer lengths to encourage locals and visitors to explore the village's heritage fully. Every year a Miner's Memories Day is held at the Country Park Visitor Centre which permanently houses mine memorabilia and has a café and indoor viewpoint over the valley. The display includes miners' picks, spikes, crowbars, breathing equipment used in mine rescue, photos (many donated by local residents), and a certificate awarded to a local Alveley miner on achieving "56 years service to the mine and his country". In 2006 a new footbridge linking Alveley and Highley was opened in the Country Park. This replaced a 1930s bridge that had become unsafe. The bridge provides access from Alveley to the

Country Park Halt Country Park Halt is an unstaffed request stop on the Severn Valley Railway heritage line in Shropshire, situated near the west bank of the River Severn, about 300 yards north of the footbridge between Highley and Alveley in the Severn Valley. ...

on the

, which is on the Highley side of the river on the site of the former coal washing plant and colliery sidings. The riverbank is popular with anglers, along with a number of local private pools. In 2017, the community le
Alveley Mining Heritage Group
was formed to preserve and present memories of mining in the village for the benefit of future generations. The Squirrel - geograph

Village

Alveley has several historic pubs including the Three Horseshoes, parts of which may be 17th-century. The others are The Squirrel and The Royal Oak. There is also the Mill Hotel and a

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class m ...

. The village has a primary school, small supermarket and newsagent and a few other small shops and eateries, in addition to its 'Parish Memorial Hall' and attached recreation ground which was opened in 1947 as a memorial to local dead of both World Wars.

Cricket club

Alveley Cricket Club was founded in 1908 and played at Coton Hall on the outskirts of the village, at the former home of general

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

's ancestors. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it moved to play on the Recreation Ground in the centre of Alveley. The club has invested heavily in its facilities. Its pavilion was built in 1981 and extended in 2007. The club has a potential player base of 100 people who regularly play for the club. The club has always had a strong commitment to youth cricket and the continued growth in its junior section. Off the field the club has an active social calendar and regularly hold family social events. Events include a six-a-side competition, barbecues, charity events and screening live sport in the Pavilion. Until the mid-1970s friendly cricket was played before joining the Kidderminster League in 1989. The club now plays in the Worcestershire County League (Saturday) with friendlies played on a Sunday. As well as the two Saturday sides we run a midweek team who play in the Kidderminster League, the club also runs a successful junior section for children aged between 4 and 17 years.

Countryside

A small hamlet to the southwest of the village, Little London, is one of more than 25 settlements which share the capital city's name. The parish contains two other manors, besides the manor of Alveley,

Kingsnordley Kingsnordley is a manor in the northern part of the parish of Alveley. This part of the parish has no nucleated village, but there is a Church of England chapel of ease at Tuckhill. See also *Listed buildings in Alveley