Sibdon Carwood is a hamlet and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

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. To the east is the town of

Craven Arms Craven Arms is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is sited on the A49 road and the Welsh Marches Line, Welsh Marches railway line, which link it north and south to the larger towns of Shrewsbur ...

Etymology and history

The place is occasionally written simply with the first part of the name, which has been spelt variously over the centuries. Originally "Sibton" (in 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 ...

of 1086 it was recorded as "Sibetune"), from

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

origin meaning "Sibba's

farmstead A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...

". The second part of the full name, Carwood, means "the wood where the rocks are found". The name Carwood is also given to a wooded slope, north of Wart Hill in the north of Hopesay parish, and to three cottages there. The Norman barons who locally had their power base at

Clun Castle Clun Castle is a medieval ruined castle in Clun, Shropshire, England. Clun Castle was established by the Norman lord Robert de Say after the Norman invasion of England and went on to become an important Marcher lord castle in the 12th century, ...

, the ''de Say'' (or "Sai") family, held the manor after the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. During the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

, the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...

was an area of instability and conflict, ruled by the

Marcher lord A marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...

s. The Domesday Book records Sibdon as having 6 households, making it quite a small manor population-wise.Open Domesday
Sibdon Carwood The fortified manor at Sibdon Carwood, the predecessor to the 17th-century Sibdon Castle country house, is given the name "Shepeton Corbet" by a number of historical documents, including that of John Leland (c. 1535–43), who also gives the suffix to Hopton Castle and Moreton Corbet castle. This is an indication that the Corbet family owned these fortified manors around the time, of which Moreton Corbet's castle retains the suffix to this day. About a mile to the north, in the neighbouring hamlet of

Cheney Longville Cheney Longville ( ) is a small village in Shropshire, England. It lies in the parish of Wistanstow, near the small market town of Craven Arms. It was simply called "Langfeld" in 1087, when it was owned by Shrewsbury Abbey. Roger de Cheney ga ...

, was

Cheney Longville Castle Cheney Longville Castle was in the village of Cheney Longville to the north of Craven Arms, Shropshire (). It is a much restored 14th century fortified manor house. The house is quadrangular in shape, 30.48 x 36.58m, and has the remains of its ...

. A description of the parish published in 1848 records that 59 people lived in the parish, which was wholly owned by the Sibdon Castle estate. It also noted a

perpetual curacy Perpetual curate was a class of resident Parish (Church of England)#Parish priest, parish priest or Incumbent (ecclesiastical), incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England an ...

, with a net income of £50. Originally the manor of Sibdon was part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Rinlau, as recorded in the Domesday Book, however in the 12th century the hundreds of Shropshire were greatly reformed and the parish from then on came within the hundred of Purslow. In 1894 it became part of

Ludlow Rural District Ludlow was a rural district in Shropshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 from the Ludlow rural sanitary district. It was enlarged in 1934 under a County Review Order by taking in the disbanded Bu ...

and then in 1974 the

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

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 ...

. In 2009 there was another re-organisation of local administration, with the creation of a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

covering most of Shropshire. The nearby town of Craven Arms is a relatively recent development in the area – it was established only in the mid-19th century, being at the junction of a number of newly-laid railway lines. With much of its recent growth towards the west of the town, its urban area has reached Watling Street and its outskirts fringe into Sibdon Carwood parish.

The hamlet

The community is quite dispersed, though there is a core

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

at the heart of the Sibdon Castle estate. Once the location of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

fortification or

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 ...

, the present Sibdon Castle is not a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

but an early/mid-17th century stone

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

, built by the Corbet family. It was modernised in the 18th century and made castellated with

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

s added around 1800. To the rear of the house is a courtyard with a stone stable block. It is a Grade II*

Listed building 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, Hi ...

Also within the main hamlet is St Michael's Church, which was rebuilt in 1741; there has been a church here since about 1180. A west tower was added around 1800 and the church was restored, extended and made Gothic, with tower battlements, in 1871–2. The church and a lodge near Sibdon Castle are both Grade II listed. Otherwise the hamlet consists of a farm with its own

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...

, a small number of cottages and numerous outbuildings. Just to the northeast lies Sibdon Pool, a historic 1.3 hectare fishing pool. A private tree-lined

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

drive connects the main hamlet with the

Clun Clun is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills AONB, Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 United Kingdom census, census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populations for the t ...

Road (the B4368). A number of public right of ways converge on the hamlet, giving the public access to the church, one of which is part of the " Shropshire Way" and "Wart Hill Wanderer".

The parish

The population of the whole parish was recorded as 82 persons, in 34 households, by the 2001 Census. Instead of a parish council it has a

parish meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...

; this is due to the very small population of the parish. There is a parish noticeboard on Watling Street. The parish forms part of the

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

and Craven Arms

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council, known between 1980 and 2009 as Shropshire County Council and prior to 1980 as Salop County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire (district), Shropshire in t ...

, the local council. The eastern border of the parish is

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

, a

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

– the other side of this lane is Craven Arms parish. The northern border is Long Lane, with the parish of

Wistanstow Wistanstow is a village and Civil parishes in England, parish in Shropshire, England. Wistanstow is located about south of Church Stretton and north of Ludlow. It is about north of Craven Arms. It is just off the main Shrewsbury-Hereford roa ...

to the north, whilst to the west is

Hopesay Hopesay is a small village, and civil parishes in England, civil parish, in south Shropshire, England. The population of the parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 561. The name 'Hopesay' derives from "Hope de Say", the vall ...

Hill and

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

. The parish lies on the eastern slope of the hill, between the summit and the town of Craven Arms (where the

River Onny The River Onny is a river in Shropshire, England. It is a major tributary of the River Teme. Etymology The river's name derives from Welsh and means the river on which ash trees (Welsh: ''onnau'') grew. Course The river has its sources in th ...

flows through); Sibdon Castle itself is at 187 metres above sea level. The western half of the parish, including the main hamlet, lies within the

Shropshire Hills The Shropshire Hills are a dissected Highland, upland area and one of the natural regions of England. They lie wholly within the county of Shropshire and encompass several distinctive and well-known landmarks, such as the Long Mynd, Wenlock Edge ...

AONB, with the lane running through the parish forming the boundary. This western half of the parish is on a steeper gradient and is more

wooded A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

, with Sibdon Wood and Oldfield Wood, as well as parkland style trees. The parish also includes half of the hamlet of Long Meadowend, which is situated in the southwestern corner of the parish, at the junction of the B4367, B4368 and the main lane through the parish, which runs north to Long Lane. (However the junction at Long Meadowend lies in Hopesay parish.) The B4368 road (running from Craven Arms to Clun) and the Heart of Wales Line run through the southern part of the parish, with the nearest railway stations at Broome and

. A small number of

holiday cottage A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...

s now exist in the parish, on Long Lane and Watling Street. Also on Watling Street a farm has diversified since 2004 into an activities centre for children and groups, which has in recent years created large (temporary) outdoor

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

s in nearby fields, including corn mazes. Long Lane is part of the " Six Castles Cycleway" and the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

route 44.Shropshire Council
Six Castle Cycleway

Nearby settlements

References and external links

Geograph
– photos of Sibdon Carwood (including inside St Michael's Church)
Flickr
– photo of Sibdon Castle

External links