Cheswardine ( ) is a rural 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 east

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. The village lies close to the border with

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

and is about 8 miles north of Newport and 5 miles south east of

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the banks of the River Tern in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is located between the towns of Whitchurch, Shropshire, Wh ...

. At the 2001 census, the parish (which also includes the villages of Chipnall and Soudley as well as several small hamlets such as Goldstone and Ellerton), had a population of 991 people, increasing to 1,076 at the 2011 Census.

History and architecture

The name ''Cheswardine'', recorded in 1086 as ''Ciseworde'', in 1189 as ''Chesewordin'' and about 1650 as ''Cheswardyne'', is probably derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for "cheese-producing settlement".Gelling and Foxall, ''The place-names of Shropshire, Volume 1'', EPNS, 1990, p.78 Cheswardine was mentioned 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, when the manor was held by Robert of Stafford, but is probably a much older settlement, with the church likely being built on an ancient fortified site.Raven, M. ''A Guide to Shropshire'', 2005, p.46 Land north of the church was granted to Hamon le Strange in 1155 and a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

surrounded by a moat built soon after. The manor was rebuilt as a small castle between 1250 and 1350. Ownership passed to the Earl of Arundel and Surrey in 1376. The moat, earthworks and some buried ruins remain, and Cheswardine Castle was scheduled as a historical monument in 1976. The parish church, dedicated to St Swithun, overlooks Cheswardine from the hill at the top of the village. This is at least the third church on this site, and was rebuilt in 1887-1889 under the direction of the architect

John Loughborough Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficie ...

, who died before the work was completed. The work was completed with the assistance of funding by the then squire of the Cheswardine Estate, Charles Donaldson-Hudson, who provided half of the estimated cost of £8,500. File:Church of St Swithun, Cheswardine - geograph.org.uk - 23144.jpg, Church of St. Swithun File:The Old School and School House, Cheswardine - geograph.org.uk - 628779.jpg, The Old School and School House File:The Red Lion, Cheswardine - geograph.org.uk - 628775.jpg, The Red Lion public house

Governance

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 ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches north and south with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,240.

Local amenities

Local amenities include a primary school, St Swithun's Church, as well as two village pubs, the Red Lion, and the Fox and Hounds, which serves food. There is also a Parish hall, bowling green and playing fields. However, the local post office was closed down in 2006 and turned into a residential building. A new community village shop (believed to be the smallest shop in Britain) opened in its place in 2010.

People and awards

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP and former minister Sir Peter Bottomley was baptised at St Swithun's Church, where his parents had married, his mother being a member of the Vardon family of Goldstone Hall. The ashes of his father ( Sir James Bottomley), mother, brother and grandparents are buried in the churchyard. Cheswardine was also home to the late MBE award winner, charity fund-raiser Winnie Goodwin. The village has been runner-up in Britain in Bloom several times.

References

External links