Meredith John, Bank Farm
Nichols Thomas, Esq., The Hall
Tudor Mrs., The Villa
SHELTON AND OXON,
a small township and pleasant village, with some neat villa residences, two miles west from Shrewsbury, partly in St. Chad, and partly in the parish of St. Julian, at the census of 1841 had twenty-three houses and 100 inhabitants. The principal landowners are Robert Burton, Esq.; Edward Morris, Esq.; and Sir Richard Jenkins. At this place stands the celebrated Shelton Oak, famed from the tradition that Owen Glendower, in 1403, ascended its branches to ascertain the event of the battle of Shrewsbury. The interior is hollow, and capable of holding a dozen persons. This venerable monarch of the forest, although much decayed, and many of the branches broken off, yet shows vigorous signs of life. The girth, five feet from the ground, is 34 feet 4 inches; and at the base, 44 feet 3 inches.
Directory. Those with * affixed are at Bicton Heath. Miss Ann Burton; * Samuel Cookson, shoemaker; * Stephen Davies, blacksmith and shopkeeper; William Davies, farmer; * George Evans, vict., The Grapes; Edward Evans, pig dealer; William Evans, cow keeper; * Mr. Joseph Lakelin; * Joseph Lloyd, shopkeeper; * Thomas Mansell, tailor; James Martin, butcher, Little Oxon; * Magdalene Morgan, beerhouse; John Morris, Esq., Oxon; Thomas Norton, Esq., solicitor; * John Roberts, joiner and wheelwright; * John Rowlands and Sons, iron and brass founders, engineers, millwrights, and agricultural implement makers; * Mr. William Smith, Zion Villa; * Mrs. Mary Urwick; Francis Walford, Esq.; * John Williams, shoemaker.
THE HUNDRED OF CHIRBURY
is bounded on the north by the hundred of Ford, on the south and west by Montgomeryshire, and on the east by the hundred of Ford and Purslow. It is divided into the upper and lower divisions; the former containing 1,783 inhabitants, and the latter 2,956, at the census of 1841. The upper division contains the parish of Chirbury, and part of Church Stoke; and the lower division the parishes of Shelve, Worthen, and part of Hyssington.
CHIRBURY
is an extensive parish and considerable village in the upper division of the hundred of Chirbury, comprising the several townships of Chirbury, Dudston, Hockleton, Marrington, Marton, Middleton, Priestweston, Rorrington, Stockton, Tunberth, Walcot, Wilmington, Winsbury, and Wotherton, which together embrace an area of 11,041a. 1r. 27p. of land. Gross estimated rental, £12,648. 15s. 5d. Rateable value, £11,442. 12s. 6d. Population in 1801, 1,391; 1831, 1,576; 1841, 1,593; 1851, 1,533; at the latter period there were 303 houses. The most considerable landowners are the Earl of Powis; Sir Offley Pembury Wakeman, Bart; George Pritchard, Esq.; Rev. R. H. M. Price; Edward Humphries, Esq.; William Rubbathan, Esq.; and John Davies, Esq. The former owns the whole township of Chirbury, which contains 1,125a. 1r. 16p. of land, the rateable value of which is £1,606. 10s. At the census of 1841 there were 56 houses and 278 inhabitants. The village of Chirbury is pleasantly situated in a fertile valley on the confines of Montgomeryshire, eighteen miles and a half south-west from Shrewsbury, and two miles and a half east from Montgomery. Petty Sessions are held here the first Wednesday in each month. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits. Some few, however, are employed in the lead mines and stone quarries in the immediate vicinity. The village is watered by the Camlad stream, which is noted for the excellency of its trout. It is presumed that the place was at one time of more consequence than it is at present, as it gives name to the hundred in which it is situated, and had a castle, erected in the tenth century by Ethelfleda, Queen of the Mercians, with a view to repel the incursions of the Welsh. It is said to have been a strong and stately structure, but no vestiges of it now remain. Chirbury is celebrated as having given the title of Baron to Edward, Lord Herbert. He was made Knight of the Bath at the coronation of James I., and subsequently appointed ambassador to Louis XIII., King of France, to mediate for the Protestants. On his return he was made Lord Herbert, of Castle Island, in Ireland, where he had a large estate. He greatly assisted his majesty in council and arms, and on that account was created a baron of England by the title of Baron Herbert, of Chirbury. He was author of several publications, among which is a life of Henry VIII. Chirbury Priory was of the order of St. Bennett, and founded in the time of King John. In the 9th of Edward I. the prior and convent removed to Snede, the place of their first institution and abode; for Chirbury it seems was represented as a situation not so convenient for celebrating divine mysteries: the religious were to continue the same good offices to the parishioners, and the right of burials and christenings was reserved to the church at Chirbury. This monastery had a grant of the tithes of Montgomery Wood, and of the mill there. At a subsequent period the chapel of Hyssington was given to the prior of Chirbury. On the dissolution of religious houses, King Henry VIII. granted the house, and lands on which it stood, to Edward Hopton and his heirs forever. In the 13th of Elizabeth, the rectory and parsonage of Chirbury, belonging to the late priory, was given to augment the income of the grammar school of Shrewsbury, where it remains at present.