Church Stretton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Church Stretton | |
  Church Stretton shown within Shropshire |
|
| Population | 4,186 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | South Shropshire |
| Shire county | Shropshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHURCH STRETTON |
| Postcode district | SY6 |
| Dialling code | 01694 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Shropshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Ludlow |
| List of places: UK • England • Shropshire | |
Church Stretton is a small town in Shropshire, England, famous for its spring water and stunning views over the Shropshire Hills AONB. It is the only town, other than the district capital Ludlow, with a population over 3000 in the South Shropshire district. The town has a station on the Heart of Wales Line, which runs through the valley north-south. Trains can be caught to, inter alia, Shrewsbury, Hereford, Manchester and Cardiff[1]. A notable feature of the town is the large number of different churches[2] [3].
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[edit] History
People have lived in the Stretton gap for thousands of years; an Iron Age hillfort on Caer Caradoc[4] still overlooks the town. The name "Stretton" is derived from the Old English words stræt meaning "Roman Road" and tun meaning "settlement"; a Roman Road, Watling Street(now the A49)runs through it
The town was granted a market charter by King John in 1214 which is still held every Thursday. Much of the town centre was destroyed by fire in 1593 and many of the present half timbered buildings in the town centre date from the time of the rebuilding[5].
Historically, the town was noted for its textiles, but the carding mill closed at the beginning of the 20th century, leaving only the name of the valley that the mill was in (
Carding Mill Valley, now the town's popular tourist area).
Church Stretton was nicknamed Little Switzerland during its growth in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, both because of its mountainous terrain, and because the town is said to have been run like clockwork.
[edit] Geology
The local geology is complex; the area lies astride the Church Stretton Fault and atop some of the oldest rocks in the British Isles - over 560 million mya. On 2 April 1990, another nearby fault - the Pontesford-Linley Fault - registered an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter scale, known as the Bishop's Castle earthquake[6].
The area also plays a part in the history of geology: the three major subdivsions of the Lower Paleozoic are named for local celtic tribes - Cambrian, Ordovician & Silurian. Also, Comley quarry is about 4km from the town and the first site in the British Isles where trilobites were recorded.
The town is dominated by the huge Long Mynd massif, which provides the town with both its views, and the water that the town's economy is based around. The water comes from an underground glacial lake, and is extracted from boreholes at various places on the Long Mynd.
[edit] Sport
Church Stretton is a major centre for the sport of archery[7], and there is also a notable gliding club atop the Longmynd.
[edit] Education
Church Stretton also has two schools: a secondary school with 750 pupils [8] and a primary school with 250 pupils[9]
[edit] Economy
The water bottling plant is a large, local employer[10]. Other employers include Polymer Laboratories on the east side of the town[11], and tourism which is a growth industry in the area.
[edit] Nearby towns and villages
- Little Stretton - to the south
- All Stretton - to the north
- Craven Arms - town to the south
- Wall under Heywood
- Rushbury
- Longville in the Dale
- Ticklerton
- Ratlinghope
[edit] Famous and former residents
- The actor Pete Postlethwaite lives near Little Stretton
- The 'White House' nursing home on Sandford Avenue was destroyed in 2006 to make way for a housing development. It was previously the family home of Charles Silvester Horne a congregationalist minister, Liberal MP for Ipswich, and father of the BBC broadcaster Kenneth Horne.
- The novelist Henry Kingsley (1830-1876) wrote Stretton based around this area.
- E. M. Almedingen (1898-1971), the biographer and children's writer, lived here in the 1930s[12].
- The writer Kenneth Bird (1916-1993) moved to Church Stretton upon retirement.
- Oliver Sandys (1892-1964) lived nearby in Little Stretton and set her novel Quaint Place (1952) in Church Stretton[13].
- Hesba Stretton (1832-1911) came here often before moving away from Shropshire when she became an established author. There is a plaque to her memory in St. Lawrence's Church together with a window depicting the figure of Jessica from her immensely popular story Jessica's First Prayer (1866)[14].
- Mary Webb (1881-1927) called the town Shepwardine in her novels, particularly in The Golden Arrow (1916).
- Olympic bronze-medal archer, Alison Williamson (1971 - ) lives in All Stretton[15].
[edit] External links
- Church Stretton - Official Town Council website
- Church Stretton - links
- Church Stretton Photos
- Photographs of Church Stretton on Shropshire Gallery
- Annual Arts Festival
- Annual Food Fair
- Extract from A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 10 (1998)
[edit] References
- ^ Heart of Wales line. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ Methodist Church site. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ sheela na gig in St Lawrence Church. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ Megalithic site. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ Been there done that site. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ Official Town site. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ Shrewsbury Council. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ School site. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ OFSTED Report BBC School reports. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ Food Agency. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ Polymer Labs. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ County Council. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ County Council. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ County Council. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
- ^ BBC Sport. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2007.
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