Leighton And Eaton Constantine
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Leighton and Eaton Constantine is a
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 consists of the village of Leighton, together with the smaller villages or
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of
Eaton Constantine Eaton Constantine is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Leighton and Eaton Constantine, in Shropshire, England. It is located just off the B4380 road, between Atcham and Buildwas, near The Wrekin hill. In 1931 the p ...
, Upper Longwood and Garmston. The parish, which had a population of 420 at the 2001 census,Leighton and Eaton Constantine CP
ONS
467 at the 2011 Census, rising from just 206 in 1911,
/ref> is around six miles southwest of
Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...
and 26 miles from
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
.


Leighton

The village is situated along 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 ...
, on the
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 ...
and
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
turnpike road near the
Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a standard gauge, standard-gauge heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The single-track line runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, calling at four intermediate stations and three request stop ...
, and comprises .Vision of Britain, Leighton
/ref> The village itself is small, and comprises just a few houses, a church, a pub (the Kynnersley Arms) and Hall. There are several black and white buildings which line the Shrewsbury to
Ironbridge Ironbridge is a riverside village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. Located on the bank of the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, it lies in the civil parish of The Gorge. Ironbridge developed beside, ...
road which runs through the village, and provides the main transport link for the villagers. There is also a good deal of vegetation, such as trees and shrubbery lining the roads, some of the which also form part of the Leighton Hall estate, which is a red-brick building built in around 1778. Standing at the entrance to the hall is Leighton Lodge, which is significant as it is the birthplace of
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 ...
author
Mary Webb Mary Gladys Webb (25 March 1881 – 8 October 1927) was an English romance novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people whom she knew. Her ...
who wrote ''
Precious Bane ''Precious Bane'' is an historical romance by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize in 1926. Webb wrote it while living in Hampstead Grove in London. Synopsis The story is set in rural Shropshire during ...
'' and various other stories about Shropshire. The village church, St Mary's Church, is also within the Parkland although it does predate its neighbour by around 60 years.Shropshire Tourism, Leighton
/ref> The village has a public house, ''The Kynnersley Arms'', a Grade II Listed Building which featured on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's ''
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...
'' programme in 2002, revealing a furnace in its cellar used in the local iron industry; its site has origins dating back 1,000 years including a corn mill dating back to 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 ...
period. In 2021 it was leased as a community enterprise in name of The Leighton Pub Company.


St Mary's Church

The church has been key feature in Leighton since being restored in around 1716, after being rebuilt on the site of a Norman church. The two iron tombstones in the Nave, dated 1677 and 1696 were cast in the village where iron was smelted from at least 1650. On the south of the chancel arch is an heraldic device which were common around the 1800s, and this particular one was a memorial of the head of the manorial family. The church registers begin in 1661, and in the Church porch, there are records of the various benefactions for the poor of the parish.A church near you, Leighton under Wrekin
/ref> Inside the church are many memorials to the Leighton family including an effigy possibly dating from the 13th century. It depicts a knight in chain mail. Other effigies are dedicated to the Kynnersley family. A wooden plaque in the porch forms the parish's
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 ...
memorial. The writer
Mary Webb Mary Gladys Webb (25 March 1881 – 8 October 1927) was an English romance novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people whom she knew. Her ...
was christened there.


Housing

This table shows how the number of houses in Leighton has changed and increased since 1831.Vision of Britain, housing data
/ref> In 2012, the average house value in Leighton was £360,967,Zoopla, House values in Leighton
/ref> compared to the UK average house price of £228,385.BBC, UK house prices
/ref> Amongst the local houses there are 37
listed buildings 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 ...
in the village, including the post office and Leighton Hall as well as some private residential houses. Leighton Hall is a large Grade II listed
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 ...
overlooking 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 ...
and the Welsh hills from its south-facing gardens.Historic houses association
/ref>


Notable people

Antiquary Edward Williams (1762-1833) was baptised at Leighton in 1762. Cricketer William Wingfield was vicar of Leighton from 1863 to 1901.
Mary Webb Mary Gladys Webb (25 March 1881 – 8 October 1927) was an English romance novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people whom she knew. Her ...
, born at Leighton Lodge in 1881 and lived there before moving to
Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in Shropshire, England; it is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the north-east, is the Ironbridge Gorge and Telford. The civil parish incl ...
at age one, was an English romantic novelist and poet of the early 20th century, who set all six of her novels in
South Shropshire South Shropshire was a local government district in Shropshire, England, from 1974 to 2009. Its council was based in the town of Ludlow; the other towns in the district were Church Stretton, Cleobury Mortimer, Clun, Bishop's Castle and Crave ...
. The 1950
Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...
and
Emeric Pressburger Emeric Pressburger (born Imre József Pressburger; 5 December 19025 February 1988) was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a collaborat ...
production of Webb's '' Gone to Earth'' was filmed in the area.Shropshire Tourism, Mary Webb
/ref> Admiral Sir Richard Onslow was born at Garmston in 1904.


See also

* Listed buildings in Leighton and Eaton Constantine


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton And Eaton Constantine Civil parishes in Shropshire