Atcham, Shropshire
Historical Description
Atcham, a village and a parish in Salop. The village lies at the influx of the Tern to the Severn, on the Shrewsbury and Wellington road, 1 mile N of Berrington station on the G.W.R., and 4 SE of Shrewsbury. It has a post office under Shrewsbury, which is the money order and telegraph office. The parish includes also the townships of Berwick, Chilton, Cronkhill, Emstrey, Duncot, and Wheathill. Acreage, 2988; population, 357. Attingham Hall, the seat of Lord Berwick, the lord of the manor, is situated in a park of 600 acres; it contains a fine gallery of paintings, chiefly by the early Italian masters. Longner Hall, the seat of the Burton family, is 1½ mile N. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield; net value, £'24:7. The church is a very ancient picturesque edifice, with traces of Norman work; it has a beautiful screen and some old stained glass. Ordericus Vitalis, the historian, born in 1074, was a native.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Salop | |
County Court district | Shrewsbury | |
Diocese | Lichfield | |
Hundred | South Bradford | |
Petty-Sessional Division | Condover | |
Registration district | Atcham | 1837 - 1935 |
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 Atcham
The register of baptisms dates from the year 1621, and of marriages and burials from 1619.
Churches
Church of England
St. Eata (parish church)
The church of St. Eata, standing on the banks of the Severn, and formerly belonging to the abbey of Lilleshall, is a building of red stone, chiefly in the Early English style, the materials of which are supposed to have been brought from Wroxeter, the ancient Uriconium: it consists of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower, containing a clock and 6 bells: the chancel and nave are separated by a traceried screen, brought from the church of Worfield near Bridgnorth: on the south wall of the chancel is an incised monument to Jocosa Burton, ob. 1524, brought from the ruins of old St. Chad's church, Shrewsbury: the east window is stained, and exhibits, three figures, in two colours only, brown and yellow: on the oak reading desk are some fine specimens of carving, illustrating the parable of the Prodigal Son: on each side of the chancel is a low-side window: the church was restored in 1887, at a cost of over £1,000, and affords 250 sittings.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Atcham from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Shropshire (Salop) is available to browse.
Attingham Park is a mansion of stone in the Classic style, beautifully situated in an extensive park of 600 acres, well stocked with deer: the picture gallery contains a fine collection of paintings chiefly of the Italian Schools, the most important being a "Holy Family" by Carpaccio.
Longner Hall is a mile and a half north; the house is in the parish of St. Chad, Shrewsbury, but the grounds are in Atcham parish: the dining-room was redecorated at considerable expense in May, 1884, under the direction of Mr. E. Swinfen Harris, architect, of London: in the garden of this mansion is the tomb of Robert Burton, who was buried here in 1558, having been refused burial by the Roman Catholics on the accession of Queen Elizabeth; there is also a very fine picture of Queen Elizabeth in the library, presented to the family by herself.
Maps
Online maps of Atcham 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
Poor Law
Atcham was the head of a Poor Law Union, which was formed in 1836. It originally contained the following parishes: Acton Burnell, Alberbury, Albrighton, Astley, Atcham, Battlefield, Bauseley (Montgomeryshire), Berrington, Bicton, Cardiston, Church Preen, Church Pulverbatch, Condover, Cound, Cressage, Criggion (Montgomeryshire), Eaton Constantine, Fitz, Ford, Frodesley, Habberley, Great Hanwood, Harley, Hughley, Kenley, Leighton, Melverley, Meole Brace, Minsterley, Montford, Pitchford, Pontesbury, Preston Gubbals, Ruckley, Sheinton, Shrawardine, Stapleton, Sutton, Uffington, Uppington, Upton Magna, Westbury, Withington, Wollaston and Wroxeter.
The Shrewsbury parishes (Holy Cross & St. Giles, St. Alkmund, St. Chad, St. Julian & St. Mary) were added to the union in 1871.
For further detailed history of the Atcham Union see Peter Higginbotham's excellent resource: Atcham Poor Law Union and Workhouse.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Shropshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.
Workhouse
The Workhouse, at Cross Houses, Berrington, is an edifice of brick, erected under the provisions of an Act passed in 1792; it was purchased by the Atcham union in 1836 and enlarged about 1871 and in 1904, and would accommodate 500+ inmates.