Bucknell, Shropshire

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Bucknell
Bucknell shown within Shropshire
Population	642^[1].
OS grid reference	SO354739
Parish	Bucknell
District	South Shropshire
Shire county	Shropshire
Region	West Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BUCKNELL
Postcode district	SY7
Dialling code	01547
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Shropshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
European Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Ludlow
List of places: UK • England • Shropshire

Coordinates: 52°21′35″N 2°56′59″W / 52.3598, -2.9496

Bucknell is a village and civil parish in South Shropshire, England. The village lies on the River Redlake, within 600 metres of the River Teme and close to the borders with Wales and Herefordshire. It is about six miles east of Knighton and is set within the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The village has the "P's identified by Country Life as essential to a successful village: a pub, a post office, a place of worship, a primary school and public transport.

1 History
2 Buildings
3 The School
4 Places of Worship
5 Population
6 Railway
7 External links
8 References
9 Surrounding villages

[edit] History

Bucknell from the northwest

The settlement of Bucknell was first mentioned in the Domesday Book, as 'Buckehale' or 'Buckenhill. At that time, the Shropshire and Herefordshire boundary divided the village. The Norman magnate Roger de Montgomery held the village from the King. He built many castles including Montgomery, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Clun, Hopton and Oswestry; at the time over 90% of the lordships and manors of Shropshire were held in Chief by him. His under-tenants in this area were Ralph de Mortimer, who held Bucknell (amongst his 123 manors with his chief domain in England being at Wigmore Castle), and William de Picot, (also known as Picot de Say), with his chief domain at Clun Castle.
The earth mound at The Olde Farm in Bucknell is the remains of a Norman motte castle situated on the banks of the River Redlake, close to a river crossing point and to the Parish Church. In 1554-55 an Act of Parliament was passed transferring the whole of Bucknell to the county of Shropshire. The Lords of the Manor at that time were the Sitwell family. Historically, most of the male population worked in agriculture and timber.

[edit] Buildings

Local services in the village; the Sitwell Arms is in the background

The earliest of the existing buildings date back to the 17th century. The houses were built in a haphazard fashion near the river with easy access to water. The village depended on water from the river and wells until the 1920's when water was piped into the village from a spring above Chapel Lawn.
The houses at the lower end of the village were very susceptible to flooding, and this hazard continued until the ford was walled up in the 1950's. Bucknell had four pubs: The Sitwell Arms, The Plough (just opposite), The Railway Tavern and The Bridge End. The latter three are all now private houses, though a new pub - the Baron of Beef is now open.
Bucknell also had a shop and bakery in the Square and its own corn mill which was situated at the west end of the village.
Bucknell Post office opened in the mid 19th century. The original post office was just round the corner and still goes by the name of The Old Post Office. The butcher's shop is still on its original site.
After the Great War a Memorial Hall was built in the village and still stands. One of those behind its construction was William Burgoyne.

[edit] The School

The Old School House was built in the 17th century to provide education for those who could pay for it. The school remained until the present one was built in 1865. The Old School House then became a shop and bakery before becoming a private dwelling. The land upon which the present school was built was given in 1865. The first schoolmaster appointed in 1867 to the new St Mary's National School was Mr Henry Evans, 24 years old. The school was extensively re-modelled in 1966 when additional teaching space and a kitchen was added enabling meals to be cooked on the premises. St Mary's school is a maintained Church of England primary school with 43 pupils on roll at January 2004. The age range is 4-11 years. An Independent School, Bedstone College, is also nearby^[2]..

[edit] Places of Worship

There were three places of worship:

St. Mary's Church
The Methodist Chapel in Dog Kennel Lane (now a private house); and
Coxall Baptist Chapel.

[edit] Population

Bucknell population trends

Despite more houses, the number of people living in Bucknell has dropped. The population of the village in 1811 Census was 226. At the end of the 19th century this had risen to 546. In the 1981 Census the population of the village was 494; in 1991 the population of the parish (probably including Bedstone) was 601 consisting of some 250 dwellings and in 2001 it was 642 in 294 dwellings.