Longden is a 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 ...

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. It is located southwest of Shrewsbury.

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 State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church of St Ruthen (name sometimes believed to be a corruption of Swithun) was originally built before 1569 as a chapel to the parish church at Pontesbury. (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 It contains a late 17th-century plain wooden pulpit and a marble baluster shaped font, originally made for Pontesbury parish church in 1829, brought here in 1864.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 of the churchyard is the village's war memorial, erected after

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 ...

. The churchyard contains the war graves of two British Army soldiers of

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 ...

. There was formerly a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

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 in the same name exists. This ward stretches north to Ford 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