Middle, Shropshire

Historical Description

Middle or Myddle, a township and a parish in Salop. The township lies 3¼ miles E by N of Baschurch station on the G.W.R., and 8 N by W of Shrewsbury, and has a post and money order office under Shrewsbury; telegraph office, Baschurch. The parish contains also the townships of Balderton, Marton, and Newton. Acreage, 4691; population of the civil parish, 690; of the ecclesiastical, which includes Alderton and Shotton, 741. The parish council, under the Local Government Act 1894, consists of nine members. The manor belongs to Earl Brownlow. Kuins exist of a castle which belonged to the L'Estranges and to "Wild" Kynaston, who when outlawed took refuge in a cave in Nescliffe rock. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lichfield; net value, £580 with residence. Patron, Earl Brownlow. The church is ancient, was partially restored in 1855 and 1877, and has some stained windows and an old brass. There are Primitive and Calvinistic Methodist chapels.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

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	Middle St. Peter
Hundred	Pimhill
Poor Law union	Ellesmere

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1541.

Churches

Church of England

St. Peter (parish church)

The church of St. Peter is a building of stone in the Norman style, rebuilt in 1744, and consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, south aisle, north porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 3 bells: the stained east window is a memorial to the Rev. Thomas Egerton, rector, who died in 1847: and within the communion rails is a brass with effigies to Arthur Chambre, of Petton, and sometime patron of this living, ob. 19 Aug. 1504, his wife and two children; below the principal figures are small effigies of a son and daughter, on a single plate, and above is an impaled shield of arms: there are also brass inscriptions to Ralph Kinaston M.A. 33 years rector here and chaplain to James I. ob. 8 Nov. 1629, aet. 69, and to Sarah, wife of Joshua Richardson, of Broughton, gent.; she died 11 May, 1651, aet. 60; in 1868 a memorial window was placed in the church to John William Spencer, second Earl Brownlow, who died at Mentone, 20th February, 1867; in 1877 the chancel was renovated, the north window filled with stained glass, an organ chamber constructed and a new organ placed therein, all as a memorial of Mary, Lady Marjoribanks, wife of the Rev. G. H. Egerton M.A. rector 1847-1905; she died 16th July, 1876: memorial windows were placed, in 1897, to Philip B. Egerton esq. and Capt. F. Atcherley, of Marton Hall: the church was completely restored in 1857-8, when the roof was entirely renewed, the windows filled with Decorated tracery, the gallery was removed and the interior refitted in oak, and the basement of the tower arranged as a baptistry: in 1898 a lych gate, of oak, was erected.

St. Peter, Myddle	St. Peter, Myddle
Baptistry and Font

Congregational

Congregational Chapel, Harmer Hill

There is a Congregational chapel at Harmer Hill, erected in 1827, with 100 sittings.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Middle from the following:

Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Middle (St. Peter))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Shropshire (Salop) is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Middle 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:

Parochial History

In the year 1856 the chapelry of Hadnall, which had previously formed part of the parish of Myddle, was separated and formed into a distinct parish for ecclesiastical purposes.

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Shropshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.