Stapleton () is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

Condover Condover is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is about south of the county town of Shrewsbury, and just east of the A49. The Cound Brook flows through the village on its way from the Stretton Hills to a confluence with the ...

, in the

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 ...

district, in the ceremonial county of

, England. It neighbours the villages of Exfords Green and Dorrington, and is closely bypassed by the A49. It is near the town 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 ...

and near the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In Stapleton is an 18th-century church with a cemetery and

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

war memorial site.

History

There is an embankment in the parish that has been suggested to be the remains of a Roman station. The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of St

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

is an ancient building that was re-seated in 1790. Stapleton was an ancient parish in the

division of the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Condover, and was a

until 1 April 1967, following which it became part of the present civil parish of Condover. The Stapleton parish contains the hamlets of Upper and Lower

Moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, Netley, Shady Moor, and Vinnels. 235 people lived in Stapleton in 1831 but by 1961 the population had shrunk to 191, and it is estimated that in 2011 it had grown to 245. In 1831 there were 45 houses to house the 235 people that lived in the village which means on average 5–6 people lived in each house; by 1961 there were 55 houses to house the 191 people which is an average of 3–4 people in each home. Out of the 72 people employed in 1831 in Stapleton 56 worked in agriculture including farmers and labourers who worked for them. From this we can see that farming and agriculture dominated the workforce of Stapleton. One of the places people worked is The Old Diary, which is still a working farm today.

Parish church

The church notable for the fact that on the top of the thick walls of a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

or Early

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

building a second church (on one side presently above the level of the churchyard soil) was built in the 12th century, thus creating two storeys, which were then moved into the current lofty building. The unified building was lit by 14th century windows. In the churchyard is a large

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...

supposed to be of

origin. The church organ is among the top six hundred in the country and there is a small tapestry piece in the nave said to have been worked by

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

. The church of St John the Baptist was originally a dependent chapelry of Condover, and as such paid 10 shillings annually to the

Shrewsbury Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Shrewsbury (commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey) is an ancient foundation in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England. The Abbey was founded in 1083 as a Benedictine monastery by the Norm ...

, which had taken the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

, or patronage, of the mother church. The church building, which seats 122, was restored in 1866, when the windows of the lower church were discovered. The then Rector, the Rev. Hon. C.W.A. Fielding, entered an account of the restoration, with illustrations, in the Vestry Book.melocki.org.uk
/ref> A brass plaque commemorates Fielding's son, Lieutenant Bertram Francis Percy Fielding,

Wiltshire Regiment The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. The ...

, who was killed in a mutiny at Fort Lubwas in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

in 1897. In the churchyard is a war memorial stone

Celtic cross The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses e ...

to men of the parish who died serving in

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, ...

Domesday Book

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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 records Stapleton under the name ''Hundeslit''. Stapleton was previously held as two manors by two Saxon franklins, Huning and Aelric and in 1086 it was divided between Roger Fitz Corbet and Alward the Saxon. It is likely that the mound near the Church may have been the site of one of the Saxon manor houses. The other manor house stood about a mile away, where the remains of the De Stapleton's house still exists. The place was first recorded as Stapleton in the reign of King Stephen, when Baldwin de Meisy was Lord of Stapleton and

Wistanstow Wistanstow is a village and 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 road, the A49. The large pa ...

. His descendants, who took the name of De Stapleton, held the manor till the beginning of the 15th century, when it passed to six co-heiresses, the daughters of Sir John Stapleton.

Notable people

* Hugh Owen (topographer) (1761-1827), was Rector of Stapleton from 1819.

References

External links

Condover Parish CouncilOS map link
{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Former civil parishes in Shropshire