Great Ryton is a small village in

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, to the south of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

. It is located less than to the northeast of the village of Dorrington and the A49 road there. Together with the neighbouring

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

of Little Ryton and Ryton Grove, the combined community is often referred to as simply "Ryton". (Not to be confused however with the village and parish of

Ryton Ryton may refer to: Places in England * Ryton, Gloucestershire, a location *Ryton, North Yorkshire *Ryton, Shropshire *Ryton, Tyne and Wear *Ryton, Warwickshire (in Bulkington) *Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire *Great Ryton, Shropshire People ...

, which also is in Shropshire but in

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 ...

district.) Ryton lies at around 106m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

. The population was estimated as being 142 in 2008.

Parish

Ryton lies within 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 ...

Condover Condover is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is about south of the county town of Shrewsbury, and just east of the A49. The Cound Brook flows through the village on its way from the Stretton Hills to a confluence with the ...

, a village to the north. The parish is subdivided into a number of wards, one of which is Ryton, which sends one councillor to the parish council.

Amenities and features

In Little Ryton 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 ...

called "The Fox". In Great Ryton is a small red-brick "Ryton Mission Church", the size of a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...

, which forms part of the Condover

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

and is dedicated to Saint Thomas. In Little Ryton is the Ryton

Village Hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

Transport

Minsterley Motors route 435 (Shrewsbury-

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which ...

and ''vice versa'') runs through the area and calls at Great Ryton. The service runs Mondays-Saturdays. Regional Cycle Route 32/33 passes through Great Ryton and Little Ryton, on its way from Condover to Longnor.

Notable residents

Josiah Oldfield, the lawyer, physician and advocate of fruitarian diet, was born at Great Ryton in 1863. Two unrelated

Admirals Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

who each became

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. Between 1845 and 1896, this offic ...

, had their homes in Great Ryton after retirement. Sir Cecil Thursby, a distinguished commander in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, lived at The Styche until his death in 1936,Obituary. while

World War II 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 ...

veteran Sir Richard Onslow lived at Ryton Grove until his death in 1975.

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Peter de la Billiere (born 1934), who ultimately commanded the British contingent in the

First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, lived at Ryton at time he enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

.Report by Toby Neal on laying up of Shropshire branch standard of the British Korea Veterans Association, which de la Billiere attended.

References

Villages in Shropshire Shrewsbury and Atcham {{Shropshire-geo-stub

Parish

Amenities and features

Transport

Notable residents

See also

References