Chirbury, Shropshire
Historical Description
Chirbury, a village and a parish in Salop. The village stands in a fine vale, near the Welsh boundary and Offa's Dyke, 3 miles NE of Montgomery, and 6½ SE of Welshpool, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.) It is the Cyricbyrig of the Saxons; has remains of an Augustinian abbey founded in the time of Henry III. by Robert de Boulers, and gave the title of Chirbury to the famous Lord Herbert. It is the head of a petty sessional division. The parish contains also the townships of Dudston, Hockleton, Marton, Middleton, Priestweston, Rorrington, Stockton, Timberth, Walcot, Wilmington, Winsbury, and Wotherton. Acreage, 11,317; population of the civil parish, 1311; of the ecclesiastical, 583. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Hereford; net value, £203 with residence. The church belonged to the abbey, and was restored in 1872. The vicarages of Middleton and Marton are separate benefices.
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 | Chirbury St. Michael | |
Hundred | Chirbury | |
Registration district | Montgomery | 1837 - 1870 |
Registration district | Forden | 1870 - 1935 |
Registration district | Clun | 1935 - 2005 |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Findmypast, in association with the Shropshire Archives have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Chirbury
The register dates from the year 1629.
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael (parish church)
The church of St. Michael, once forming a portion of the conventual church of Chirbury Priory, is an ancient edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel with aisles, nave of five bays, aisles, and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells: the pulpit is of oak, enriched with carved panels and shafts of black oak and mahogany: there is a piscina in the south aisle: there is a mural monument to Richard Lloyd, a former owner of the Yarrington estate, ob. 1589: in 1873 a stained east memorial window was inserted, the gift of Cosmo Gordon Forbes esq. and the Rev. William Coghlan: north and south chancel windows were added in 1890, and one in the south aisle was given by Mrs. Mostyn Pryce in memory of her mother: the brass eagle lectern was presented in 1878: the mosaic reredos, designed by the late Sir A. W. Blomfield A.R.A. architect, was erected, at a cost of £200, to John Davies esq. of Marrington Hall, d. Sept. 28, 1877: in 1872 the church was restored and reseated at a cost of £2,000: the organ was erected to the memory of Lewis R. Price: an oaken lych gate was erected by the vicar in 1894.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Chirbury from 1837 to 1870 you should search for the Montgomery Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Chirbury from 1870 to 1935 you should search for the Forden Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Chirbury from 1935 to 2005 you should search for the Clun Registration District.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Chirbury from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chirbury (St. Michael))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Shropshire (Salop) is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Chirbury are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
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.