Hordley is a small and rural village and civil parish in North Shropshire,

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 population of this Civil Parish at the 2011 census was 292. It lies a few miles south of Ellesmere Within reach of this village are many other easily accessible towns, including

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

and

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 ...

. Towards the west, there are attractive views of many hills. The

River Perry The River Perry is a river in Shropshire, England. It rises near Oswestry and flows south to meet the River Severn above Shrewsbury. Along its length, its level drops by some 320 feet (95 m). The channel has been heavily engineered, both ...

runs through it, joining 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 ...

into Shrewsbury. It is generally a quiet, rural area.

Etymology

Hordley takes its name from the Hoord Family of whom Henry de Hoord (c.1170) is the first recorded member. "'In 1215, King John confirms to the Prior and Monks of Durham a gift which Henry de Hoord made to them.' It is thought that the name itself is of Scandinavian origin, there being a family name of Hord in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Furthermore, the arms of the Hoord family includes a

raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

, commonly associated with the Norse invaders of the time.

History

The original medieval manor is thought to have occupied the site where today stands Hordley Manor, a much later building. Some stonework in the cellar of the current building is thought to date from the original building. Sir Roger Kynaston (c.1433 - 1495), founded the Kynaston of Hordley line. The Kynastons were lords of the manor for a time, and later Kynaston graves can be seen in Hordley Church. To the south lies Baggy Moor, once a large area of peat bog, which was inclosed and drained in the late 18th century. Prior to that time Hordley would have been situated on the banks of a shallow mere, one of the largest in North Shropshire (1283 acres).Dodd, 'Salop. Agric.' 24–9, 54, 56, 128, 139–40; S.R.O. 671/1; Plymley, Agric. of Salop. 223 The

Weston Lullingfields Weston Lullingfields is a village in Shropshire, England. It is located about 15 km north west of Shrewsbury. The population as taken at the 2011 census can be found under Baschurch. Etymology The village name 'Weston' is a common one i ...

branch of the

Ellesmere Canal The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales an ...

passed around Top Hordley and through Lower Hordley until its closure in 1917.

Village

It is usually taken that the village is split into two parts, Top and Lower Hordley. This is probably because of the long distance of road separating the two halves with nothing but field either side. Within the upper part there is St. Marys Church which is still in regular use, surrounding this is a small area of grave yards. There is also a farm and some small clusters of housing. Within Lower Hordley is a larger quantity of housing and farms, and the village hall. On one day there is a post office set up in the village hall. Within the parish boundaries is another small village - Bagley.

Agriculture

Hordley is set down to mainly arable crops, with some dairy farming. Towards the Lower Hordley end of the village is the factory of ABP, an

abattoir In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat ...

which prepares, matures and packages beef.

References

External links