Upton Magna 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. (''Magna'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, meaning "great". Therefore, the translation of Upton Magna is "Great Upton".) Nearby are the villages of Uffington, Rodington and Withington, as well as the wooded Haughmond Hill. The nearest town to Upton Magna is

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 ...

, just to the west. Upton Magna is situated on the National Cycle Route 81 between

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and Shrewsbury.

Buildings

Upton Magna is notable for containing the oldest still-standing cottage in Europe – Cruck Cottage, a thatch-roofed, timber-framed cottage located near the church. The entry for this Grade II listed building on the

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

website suggests that it dates from the 15th or 16th century. However, although the building appears to have been remodelled in the 15th century, dendrochronological tests on the crucks in the cottage have dated the timber to 1269. Upton Magna Church

Key features of the village include a primary school, a

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, ...

parish church (dedicated to St Lucia), a village hall, a pub ("The Haughmond", formerly "The Corbet Arms"), and a small business park.

Upton Forge

Near the village is the site of Upton Forge. (The location is ; .) The

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

was in operation by 1675, and during the 18th century it was one of the largest forges in the country, with an output of 200 tons per year. It was leased by William Hazledine from 1800, and further developed; the works extended over about of the valley. The chains of the Menai Suspension Bridge and the Conwy Suspension Bridge were made here. The works closed after Hazledine's death in 1840.Shropshire Ironmaking Sites
Shropshire History. Retrieved 9 April 2018.

Notable people

* Samuel Fisher (died 1681), puritan clergyman and writer, was Rector of Upton Magna 1635-42 * Upton Magna is identifiably the "Upton-under-Amon near Shrewsbury" where John Plimmer (1812–1905) was reportedly born, "Amon" being Haughmond Hill. Educated at the village school, he later emigrated to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, where he became known as "the father of

". He was registered as having been baptised, with the parental names given as Isaac and Mary, on 19 July 1812 at the parish church. * Civil engineer Sir Henry Maybury (1864-1943) was educated at Upton Magna village school. * Russian-born novelist, biographer and children's writer, E. M. Almedingen (1898-1971) lived at house ''Frogmore'' on the road to Atcham lifelong after

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 ...

. * Sir Derrick Capper (1912–1977), ultimately Chief Constable West Midlands Police, was son of a farmer at Downton, Upton Magna.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire

Buildings

Upton Forge

Notable people

See also

References

External links