Acton-Burnell (St. Mary)
ACTON-BURNELL (St. Mary), a parish, in the unions of Atcham and Church-Stretton, hundred of Condover, S. division of Salop, 7 miles (S.) from Shrewsbury; containing, with Ruckley and Langley, 394 inhabitants. This place, which is of considerable antiquity, is on a branch of the Roman Watling-street. It takes the adjunct to its name from the family of Burnell, of whom Robert, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Lord High Chancellor in the reign of Edward I., had a castle in the parish, of which there are still some remains. In 1283, a council or parliament was held here, at which was enacted the law of "Statute merchant;" the king and his court were accommodated in the castle, the lords assembled in a great hall erected for them in the park, and the commons met in a very large barn belonging to Shrewsbury Abbey, whose gable ends have been preserved to the present time. Besides the Watling-street, a causeway passes through the parish; and there are a Roman bridge, and an early specimen of Saxon antiquity called the Moat. The parish comprises by computation 2400 acres. The living is a rectory, with the chapelry of Langley, valued in the king's books at £6. 10., and in the gift of Sir E. J. Smythe, Bart.: it has a net income of £350; the glebe consists of about 70 acres, with a good house. The church, which is cruciform, was built in 1264, and is a splendid specimen of architecture; its internal decorations are of a highly ornamental character. There is a Roman Catholic chapel. Nicholas Burnell, a distinguished warrior in the reign of Edward III., was born and buried here.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.