Hope Bowdler 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in Shropshire, England. It is situated on the B4371, east of the market town of

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

. The village is at above sea level. There is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the village, dedicated to St Andrew. The parish is rural and hilly; other settlements within the parish are the hamlets of Ragdon and Chelmick.

Hope Bowdler Hill

Hope Bowdler Hill rises to the north of the village, with a number of summits including Gaer Stone (or Gaerstones), the three tallest of which are , 410m and 393m. It can be reached via a 3.5-mile circular walk from Hope Bowdler, traversing Gaerstone and Wilstone hills, and continuing towards

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

, before returning to the village.

History

The History of Hope Bowdler reaches back to the

Roman invasion of Britain The Roman conquest of Britain was the Roman Empire's conquest of most of the island of Britain, which was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half o ...

in 43AD. On the summit of

Caer Caradoc Caer Caradoc (, the fort of Caradog) is a hill in the English county of Shropshire. It overlooks the town of Church Stretton and the village of All Stretton and offers panoramic views to the north towards the Wrekin, east to Wenlock Edge, a ...

there are remains of a fort where it is alleged that

Caractacus Caratacus was a 1st-century AD British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who resisted the Roman conquest of Britain. Before the Roman invasion, Caratacus is associated with the expansion of his tribe's territory. His apparent success led ...

made his last stand against the Romans as described by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

. A millennium later another famous rebel, Edric Silvaticus also known as 'Edric the Wild', was a Saxon that fought against the Normans in the area of Hope Bowdler after the Conquest of 1066. Twenty years later Hope Bowdler is 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. In the Domesday Book Hope Bowdler is known as Fordritishope. In 1201 the name was changed to Hop and then later in 1273 the name was changed again to Hopebulers. It is now called Hope Bowdler because of its association with the Bowdler family. There are a couple reasons why Hope Bowdler's name used to be Fordritishope. This name comes from the Saxon era. The manor in the area was called Hope of Forthred. Another reason why it got its name is because Fordritshope means hope or valley.

St. Andrews Church

The

has existed in Hope Bowdler since the 12th century. It is believed that it was founded by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

The current church was rebuilt in 1862 using materials from the old church and the nearby Soudley

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

. The current incumbent is the Reverend Jill Groves. She is also in charge of three other parish churches in Cardington,

Eaton-under-Heywood Eaton-under-Heywood is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 171. It is named after the small village of Eaton, which lies under ...

and Rushbury. The church registers of birth, baptisms and burials begins 1564 and the chalice of 1571 still exists.

1800s

In the 1800s changes were made St. Andrew's church. In George Benson purchased the Manor and became a Patron of the church. The capacity of the church in 1851 was 90 people. On 15 September 1863 the new church was opened to the public, the ''Wellington Journal'' reported that'','the site of the new church is the same as that which occupied the old church, which having become dilapidated and unfit for the purpose of public worship was pulled down and re-built on a much larger scale and in a more convenient style. The oldest windows in the church are from the 1800s. They are situated behind the altar and they have been there since 1852. In 1863 the

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

was built that leads into the church graveyard. The graveyard is mainly occupied with old tombstones with faded engravings. It is the only lychgate in Shropshire with a coffin stone.

The Parish War Dead

There is a War memorial at St. Andrew's church. It displays 11 names on it for the soldiers that died in

World War I 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 ...

. No memorial exists for the

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 ...

soldiers because all seven of them returned safely. Outside the church on the north wall is an inlaid stone cross, with metal plaque below, in memory of Thomas Brooke Benson,

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Ma ...

, who was killed in the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge an ...

, France, in 1915. The churchyard contains two Commonwealth war graves, a

Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, and the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. It had many diffe ...

soldier of World War I who died nine days after the Armistice in 1918, and a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer of World War II.

Education

In Hope Bowdler there are no schools open today. There used to be schools in Hope Bowdler between the period 1819–1948. In 1819 there were three private schools open with a total of 20 pupils. By 1833 all three schools were closed. A National school was opened in 1857 with 40 places available. The students had to pay weekly fees, books and coal. Attendance at the school averaged 30 between 1885 and 1913. Attendance started to drop because of pupils leaving to attend schools in Church Stretton. By managers' request the school was closed in 1948. The closest school is Rushbury Primary school near Church Stretton.

Population

The population in Hope Bowdler rose and fell between the years of 1801 and 1961. This pattern is similar to the rest of Britain but with greater fluctuation. It is more dramatic because the area has a smaller population so if people come and go it will more obvious in recorded statistics. In 1801 Hope Bowdler had a population of 130 and 160 years later the population and only risen to 181. Over time the population had risen higher than the population in 1961. Over those 160 years the highest the population got to was 202 in 1831. The population also decreased over time. It fell to 121 in 1921. This population decrease is because of the 11 soldiers that died in World War 1.

Industry

The 1881 census provided details of Hope Bowdler industry and what was the main type of occupation in the area. There were many different types of occupation that was recorded in the census: agriculture, professionals, food and lodging and domestic services. These are just a few that are in the census. Agriculture employed most of the male population, 35 men were employed compared to only 1 male being employed in a professional career. The number of women that were employed was significantly lower than the male population of the area. Only 12 woman were employed. The occupation that woman worked the most in was domestic service. They outnumbered the men 8 to 1. The children in the area also worked. Even though this was not recorded in the census the children, especially young males worked on the farms. Agriculture was the main occupation so it was common for young boys to become apprentices for farmers.

Farming

The agriculture industry in Hope Bowdler had many different aspects to it. They farmed livestock and crops. Most of the land was kept as grassland. In 1867 70% of the land was grassland and this rose to 92% in 1938. It did fall in 1965 to 79%. It was mainly grassland because they mainly farmed sheep. Between the period 1867 and 1965 the percentage of cattle that was sheep never fell below 80%. The other cattle that they farmed was pigs. The crops they farmed were barley, oats, mixed corn and rye. Over the same period of time barley was the main crop farmed apart from in 1938 when oats was the main crop, 66% of the crops was oats in that year and barley only accounted for 3%. A very small percentage of the land was used for root vegetables. It never reached above 10% of what they farmed.

References

{{Authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire