Maesbrook is a village in

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.

Maesbury Maesbury is a small scattered community in Shropshire, England, south of the town of Oswestry, falling within the Oswestry Rural parish. The name is derived from ''maes'', meaning ''field'' or ''plain'' in Brythonic Welsh, and '' burh'' ...

and Maesbury Marsh are about a mile north of Maesbrook.

Pant Pant may refer to: Clothing * Pants or trousers, an article of outer clothing worn on the lower half of the body, it comes in a variety of shapes like narrow, slim fit, baggy pants and many others. * Underpants, an item of underwear Places * ...

is also nearby, just north of Llanymynech. It lies between the villages of

Llanymynech Llanymynech is a village and former civil parish straddling the Wales-England border, border between Powys, Wales, and Shropshire, England, about north of the Welsh town of Welshpool. The name is Welsh language, Welsh for "Llan (placename), L ...

and

Knockin Knockin is a village and civil parish in north-west Shropshire, England. It is located on the B4396 road, around south-east of the town of Oswestry, and from the county town of Shrewsbury. History The former name of Knockin was Cnukyn. Th ...

, south of the town of

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 ...

. The

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa * A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Bulawayo ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

is nearby, as is the border with

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

History

Railway

Maesbrook railway station was on the defunct

Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway The Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway was a railway running from Shrewsbury, England to Llanymynech, Wales, with a branch to Criggion. It was promoted by H. F. Stephens, Holman Fred Stephens, better known as Colonel Stephens, propriet ...

. A

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

running from

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It opened in 1911, becoming one of the Colonel Stephens Railways. In 1933 passenger services were suspended. The railway was taken over by the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

at the outbreak 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 ...

when a top-secret armaments storage centre was built at

Kinnerley Kinnerley (historic Welsh name: ''Generdinlle'') is a small village in Shropshire, England. It lies between the neighbouring villages of Dovaston and Pentre and the nearest town is Oswestry. To the north is the village of Knockin. History A ...

. The line remained in military ownership until it was closed in 1960
Notes on wartime role

Osbaston House killings

In August 2008 the village came to national prominence after multi-millionaire businessman Christopher Foster shot dead his family before killing himself in a fire at their £1.2 million home. A two-day inquest held in April 2009 heard that Foster had given no indication of what he was going to do. His 15-year-old daughter Kirstie had chatted with friends via

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

until around midnight before she said her father had told her to go to bed. At some point, Foster used his legally-owned rifle to kill his wife, Jill, and daughter.

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

footage captured him outside shooting the family's horses and dogs, as well as the tyres on his vehicles; he blocked the entrance to his property with a horse transporter. Foster then set alight the house, garage and stables with

heating oil Heating oil is any petroleum product or other oil used for heating; it is a fuel oil. Most commonly, it refers to low viscosity grades of fuel oil used for furnaces or boilers for home heating and in other buildings. Home heating oil is often ...

. He returned to his wife's body in an apparent act of

self-immolation Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for its disturbing and violent nature. Etymology The English word ' ...

. Earlier that evening, the family had attended a friend's barbecue party. Guests told police that there was nothing suspicious in Foster's manner or behaviour to suggest what he planned. An expert witness believed Foster killed his family because his businesses were in severe financial trouble and he wanted to "protect" them from poverty.

References

External links

Villages in Shropshire {{Shropshire-geo-stub