Longden is a village and

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 ...

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. It is located southwest 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 ...

Longden village

There is a public house (the ''Tankerville Arms'') and a post office/shop, along with a church, and a primary school. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,266. It also has a village hall with a recreational field, children's play park and a private tennis club. According to mid-2007 population estimates, the parish had a population of 1,325. In the south end of the village is hexagonal brick gazebo, built about 1870, in the garden wall of Hall Farmhouse.

Church and chapel

The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

church of St Ruthen (name sometimes believed to be a corruption of

Swithun Swithun (or Swithin; ang, Swīþhūn; la, Swithunus; died 863 AD) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for post ...

) was originally built before 1569 as a chapel to the parish church at

Pontesbury Pontesbury is a village and civil parish in Shropshire and is approximately eight miles southwest of Shrewsbury. In the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,873 and the parish had a population of 3,227. The village of Minsterley is j ...

. (Longden was part of that parish until it became an ecclesiastical parish in its own right in 1935; in 1955 Longden benefice amalgamated with neighbouring Annscroft.) The nave, of mixed red and yellow sandstone rubble, has a moulded plinth believed to be of mediaeval origin, and a blocked south doorway probably early 17th century. A polygonal apse chancel was added in the 18th century, which was restored 1877 and given north and south windows in 1938, while the west porch and vestry were added in 1852-53. It contains a late 17th-century plain wooden pulpit and a marble baluster shaped font, originally made for Pontesbury parish church in 1829, brought here in 1864. The oak

lych-gate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style c ...

of the churchyard is the village's war memorial, erected after

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, ...

. The churchyard contains the

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

of two British Army soldiers of

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 ...

. There was formerly a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

chapel at the north end of the village, built in 1870, which closed in the 1990s and is now part of a private house.

Longden Common

Longden Common lies to the south of the village. It had a Congregationalist chapel, built in 1836, which closed in 1967, when some of its pews were given to Longden Methodist chapel. The hamlet's main social focal point is a public house, ''The Red Lion''.

Governance

An electoral ward of

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council is the local authority of Shropshire, in England, comprising the ceremonial county of Shropshire except Telford and Wrekin. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combi ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches north to

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

with a total ward population at the 2011 census of 3,967. Longden is represented within the Shrewsbury and Atcham parliamentary constituency.

References

External links