Atcham is a village,

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

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 ...

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 lies on the B4380 (once the A5), 5 miles south-east of

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 ...

. The

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

flows round the village. To the south is the village of

Cross Houses Cross Houses is a village in Shropshire, England, the largest village in the Parish of Berrington. It is located on the A458 road and is 4 miles south east of Shrewsbury. Cross Houses is also the name of a hamlet south-west of Bridgnorth. Tra ...

and to the north-west the hamlet of

Emstrey Emstrey is a dispersed hamlet on the outskirts of Shrewsbury, in the English county of Shropshire. The hamlet is located south-east of the town, on the B4380 road to Atcham. At the west end of the hamlet, on London Road, is the Emstrey Cremator ...

Local governance

Atcham once belonged and gave its name to Atcham Rural District, before the village merged into the Borough of Shrewsbury in 1974 and came under

Shrewsbury and Atcham Shrewsbury and Atcham was a local government district with borough status in Shropshire, England, between 1974 and 2009. Shrewsbury was the only town in the borough; Atcham, although itself only a village, was included in the name as a refle ...

Borough Council. From 2009, Shrewsbury and Atcham joined the other districts of non-metropolitan Shropshire under

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 ...

. The

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

covering the borough remained as

until under constituency boundary changes in 2024 it was redesignated as

, dropping the Atcham name. In population (243 in 2001), Atcham was the smallest village to be named in a UK Parliamentary constituency.

History

The village has the only church in England dedicated to Saint Eata, Bishop of

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

. The reason for the dedication is unclear, as there is no written record of Eata coming so far south. However, there is a crop photograph from the 1970s of a field in

Attingham Park Attingham Park is an English country house and estate in Shropshire. Located near the village of Atcham, on the B4380 Shrewsbury to Wellington road. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building. Attingham Park was buil ...

showing the site of a Saxon palace identical to one excavated near Hexham. "Atcham" is a contraction of "Attingham", meaning "the home of Eata's people". The

church building A church, church building, church house, or chapel is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. ''Church'' is also ...

dates from the 11th century. The local

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

RAF Atcham, now returned to agriculture and light industry, was held by an American training unit for much of

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 ...

. It used

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s and later

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

s for operational training of fighter pilots posted in from the United States. Almost 50 pilots were lost in accidents flying from there. The A5

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

–

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

road once crossed the village, but now runs to the north on a dual-carriageway.

Notable people

In order of birth: *

Ordericus Vitalis Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...

(1075 – c. 1142), chronicler and

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monk, was baptised in the village. * Sir Rowland Hill of

Soulton Soulton Hall is a Tudor architecture, Tudor country house near Wem, England. It was a 16th century architectural project of Rowland Hill (MP), Sir Rowland Hill, publisher of the Geneva Bible. Hill was a statesman, polymath and philanthropist, ...

, convenor of the Geneva Bible translation, possible inspiration for the character Old Sir Rowland in

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play ''As You Like'' built the first stone bridge over the river here as part of his wider civic projects across London and Shropshire. *

Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick (16 April 1745 – 6 January 1789), was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1784 when he was raised to the peerage. Early life Hill was the youngest and only surviving ...

(1745–1789), politician and landowner, builder of Attingham Park, was buried at the village church. *

Anna Kingsford Anna Kingsford (; 16 September 1846 – 22 February 1888) was an English anti-vivisectionist, Theosophist, a proponent of vegetarianism and a women's rights campaigner. She was one of the first English women to obtain a degree in medicine, aft ...

(1846–1888), first female English medical graduate and vegetarian, was buried at the village church. *

Marjorie Chibnall Marjorie McCallum Chibnall (27 September 1915 – 23 June 2012) was an English historian, medievalist and Latin translator. She edited the ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' by Orderic Vitalis, with whom she shared the same birthplace of Atcham in S ...

(1915-2012), eminent medieval historian and editor of Orderic Vitalis' ''Historia Ecclesiastica''. *

Digby Tatham-Warter Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter, (21 May 1917 – 21 March 1993), also known as Digby Tatham-Warter or just Digby, was a British Army officer who fought in the Second World War and was famed for wearing a bowler hat and carrying an umbrella i ...

(1917–1993),

Second World War 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 ...

British Army officer famed for carrying an umbrella. * Dick Sale (1919–1987), first-class cricketer and school headmaster, was born in the village.

Features

Landmarks at Atcham include

, seat of the Berwick barons until the title became extinct in 1953. The hall at Attingham Park is now the regional headquarters of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. Also on the estate is the Shropshire office of

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

. Adjacent to Attingham Park is Home Farm, Attingham. Now separate from the hall that it traditionally supplied, it is a family-run organic farm and tearoom open to the public. The older of the two bridges at Atcham, built in 1769–1771 by John Gwynn, is commonly known as Atcham Bridge. It is both

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

and 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 ...

. Its replacement, opened in 1929, carries the old A5 (B4380) road over the

. The village has a public house, the ''Mytton & Mermaid'', owned at one time by

Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Military Cross, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate architecture, Italianate village of Portmeirion in North ...

as a staging post to his iconic Italianate village of

Portmeirion Portmeirion (; ) is a folly* * * tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in the community (Wales), community of Penrhyndeudraeth, from Porthmadog and from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion was d ...

. The school closed half a century ago. The post office and petrol station, located adjacent to the old school, have also closed. The old school buildings and adjacent house were sold to Mr and Mrs Caswell in 1982, who have since run a small car sales and repair business. Atcham has a timber-framed village hall, the Malthouse, built in the 17th century as such, but after disuse converted in the 19th century into a carpenter's shop for the Attingham estate. It was opened after restoration in 1925 as the village hall and dedicated to the memory of the men of Atcham who had died in

First World War 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 ...

. It has a

sprung floor A sprung floor is a floor that absorbs shocks, giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best kind for dance and indoor sports and physical education, and can enhance performance and greatly reduce injuries. Modern sprung floors are ...

bought from a dance hall in Shrewsbury. Outside the parish to the east, is the village of

Wroxeter Wroxeter ( ) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. In 1961 the ...

, formerly a

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

town and currently the site of one of Shropshire's commercial

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s. Also there is the Atcham Business Park/Industrial Estate on the site of the old airfield. Despite its name, it lies in the neighbouring civil parish of

Wroxeter and Uppington Wroxeter and Uppington is a civil parish in the English county of Shropshire. The population of the Civil Parish at the 2011 census was 382. It lies mainly between the River Severn and the old A5 (now the B5061) and stretches from Atcham to ...

, although after the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

made some boundary changes, it is now in the ecclesiastical parish of Atcham.

References

External links