Bolas Magna or Great Bolas, Shropshire
Historical Description
Bolas Magna or Great Bolas, a village and a parish in Salop. The village lies on the river Tern, 2½ miles NNE of Crudgington station on the G.W.R., and 6½ WNW of Newport, and has a post office of the name of Great Bolas, under Wellington; money order office, High Ercall; telegraph office, Crudgington railway station. The parish includes also the township of Meeson. Acreage, 1897; population, 269. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lichfield; net value, £245 with residence. The church is a red brick Perpendicular edifice, except the chancel, which is of stone and much older, with a lofty tower, and is remarkable for a romance in real life, the marriage of a late Earl of Exeter under an assumed name to Sarah Hoggins, a village maiden.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Salop | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Bolas St. John the Baptist | |
Hundred | South Bradford | |
Poor Law union | Wellington |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1582.
Churches
Church of England
St. John the Baptist (parish church)
The church of St. John the Baptist is a building of red brick in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave and a western tower, containing 2 bells.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bolas Magna or Great Bolas from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bolas, Great (St. John the Baptist))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Shropshire (Salop) is available to browse.
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Shropshire newspapers online:
- Shrewsbury Chronicle
- Wellington Journal
- Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales
- Ludlow Advertiser
- Salopian Journal
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Shropshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.