Hodnet, Shropshire

Historical Description

Hodnet, a village, a township, and a parish in Salop. The village is 5½ miles SSW of Market Drayton, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Market Drayton, and a station on the G.W.R. The township comprises 9950 acres of land and 75 of water; population, 1587; of ecclesiastical parish, 1859. The parish contains also the townships of Little Bolas, Hawkstone, Hopton, Kenstone, Losford, Marchamley, Peplow, and Wollerton, and the chapelry of Weston and Wixhill. The manor was known at Domesday as Oclenett, was held by Roger Montgomery, and passed to the Vernons and the Hebers. Hodnet Hall was the seat of Eichard Heber, the "Atticus" of Dibdin's "Bibliomania," and had in his time a great library which was sold off at his death. It is now the seat of the Heber-Percy family. The living is a rectory, with the donative of Weston annexed, in the diocese of Lichfield; net value,, £1200 with residence. The church is Decorated English, has some painted windows and a fine octagonal tower, and contains tombs of the Vernons and the Hills, and a beautiful monument to Bishop Heber, who was rector upwards of fifteen years. There is a chapel of ease at Peplow, a Wesleyan chapel at Hodnet, a Congregational chapel at Wollerton, and a Primitive Methodist chapel at Kenstone.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

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

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Hodnet from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hodnet (St. Peter and St. Paul))

Land and Property

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

Maps

Online maps of Hodnet 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.