Lydbury North, Shropshire Genealogy

Lydbury North is a large parish, with a long history, covering over 7,500 acres in the county of Shropshire, England. It is situated 20 miles (S.W.) from Shrewsbury and comprises the townships of Acton, Brockton, Choulton, Eaton, Eyton with Plowden, Lower Down, Lydbury North, Totterton and the extraparochial Dinmore.

The large Saxon parish of Lydbury was originally owned by Egwin Shakehead who gave it to the Bishop of Hereford, about 780, in gratitude for a miraculous cure for palsy at the shrine of St Ethelbert in Hereford. The Bishop built Lydbury Castle to protect his properties in the area. This site subsequently became the town of Bishops Castle which formed a separate parish about 1200.

At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, the priest was William the Clerk. The current stone church in the town of Lydbury North was built in the 12th and 13th centuries, and about 1580, the Bishop exchanged the parish with Elizabeth I for other properties.

Henry III granted a Charter to the town of Lydbury North providing for a weekly Market every Friday and an annual Fair 28-30th August.

In 1662, John Shipman bequeathed £200 towards the support of a free school. This parochial school for boys and girls was supported by an annual endowment of £16 plus voluntary contributions. It was based in the school room above the Walcot Chapel in the church until the present school was built in 1843.

The Countess of Powis established a free library for the benefit of those residing in the parish.

The parish had annual charities worth £58 in 1863.

Walcot Park was built by Lord Clive of India and still contains extensive collections of Indian curiosities. It is a brick building set in extensive grounds and was the occasional residence of the Earl of Powis.

Plowden Hall is the seat of the Roman Catholic Plowden family. It is an ancient wooden building containing a fine collection of family portraits. A Roman Catholic chapel with residence for the priest and a school was erected in 1868.

Totterton Hall is a modern brick building which was the seat of the Bright family, vicars to Lydbury North in the 19th century.

About a mile and a half from the town of Lydbury North is Bury Ditches, the well preserved remains of an Iron Age hill fort, now under the control of English Heritage.

The rivers Onny and Kemp run through the parish.

Records

 * Parish Registers (1568-1881)
 * Census Returns (1841-1901)
 * Monumental Inscriptions (1667-1949)

Directories

 * 1851 Samuel Bagshaw's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire
 * 1868 Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory and Topography of the Counties of Gloucester, Hereford, Monmouth, Shropshire and North and South Wales, and of the City of Chester
 * 1871 Edward Cassey's History, Gazetteer and Directory of Shropshire
 * 1880 Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of North and South Wales, Monmouthshire, Shropshire and the Cities of Bristol and Chester
 * 1891 Kelly's Directory of Shropshire
 * 1895 Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire