| Whitchurch | |
|---|---|
| Market Town | |
 St Alkmund's Church and Black Bear public house | |
  Whitchurch Location withinShropshire | |
| Population | 10,142 (Whitchurch Urban parish, 2021)[1] 9,855 (Built up area, 2021)[2] |
| OS grid reference | SJ541415 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Whitchurch |
| Postcode district | SY13 |
| Dialling code | 01948 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Shropshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Whitchurch is amarket town in thecivil parish of Whitchurch Urban, in north ofShropshire, England. It lies 2 miles (3 km) east of theWelsh border, 2 miles south of theCheshire border, 20 miles (30 km) north of the county town ofShrewsbury, 20 miles (30 km) south ofChester, and 15 miles (24 km) east ofWrexham. At the2021 census, the population of the Whitchurch Urban parish was 10,141, and the population of the Whitchurch built up area was 9,855. Whitchurch is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Shropshire.[3] Notable people who have lived in Whitchurch include the composerSirEdward German, and illustratorRandolph Caldecott.
There is evidence from various discovered artefacts that people lived in this area about 3,000 BC. Flakes of flint from the Neolithic era were found in nearby Dearnford Farm.[4]
Originally a settlement founded by theRomans about AD 52–70 calledMediolanum (lit. "Midfield" or "Middle of the Plain"), it stood on a majorRoman road betweenChester andWroxeter. It was listed on theAntonine Itinerary but is not the Mediolanum ofPtolemy'sGeography, which was in central Wales. Local Roman artefacts can be seen at the Whitchurch Heritage Centre.[5]
In 2016, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Roman wooden trackway, a number of structural timbers, a large amount of Roman pottery and fifteen leather shoes during work on a culvert in Whitchurch.[6] In 2018, a collection of 37 small Roman coins was unearthed at Hollyhurst near Whitchurch. The small denomination, brass or copper alloy coins, known as Dupondii and Asses, were from the reign of the EmperorTrajan, AD 98–117. Some dated back to between AD 69–79 from the time of EmperorVespasian.[7]
Certain sources suggest thatSt. Alkmund, the son ofAlhred, King of Northumbria (d. c. 800) was first buried in Whitchurch;[8] he was certainly first buried in Shropshire.[9]
It has been suggested that Whitchurch isWeardbyrig, which is the site of aSaxonBurh ofÆthelflæd, daughter ofAlfred the Great Lady of the Mercians which would have been operational in the early 900s CE.[10]
In 1066, Whitchurch was called Westune ('west farmstead'), probably for its location on the western edge ofShropshire, bordering the northWelsh Marches. Before theNorman conquest of England, the area had been held byHarold Godwinson. After the conquest, Whitchurch's location on the marches would require the Lords of Whitchurch to engage in military activity.[11]
By the time it was recorded in theDomesday Book (1086), Whitchurch was held byWilliam de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey,[11] andRoger de Montgomery.[12] It was part of thehundred ofHodnet.[13] There was a castle at Whitchurch, possibly built by the same Earl of Surrey,[14] which would predate the birth of Ralph. The Domesday Book estimates that the property was worth £10 annually, having been worth £8 in the reign ofEdward the Confessor (1042–1066).
The surrounding hamlets became townships and Dodtune ('the settlement of Dodda's people') is now fully integrated into Whitchurch as Dodington. The first church was built on the hill in AD 912. After the Norman Conquest a motte and bailey castle and a new white Grinshill stone church were built. Westune became Album Monasterium ('White Church'). The name Whitchurch is from the Middle English for "White Church", referring to a church constructed of white stone in theNorman period. The area was also known as Album Monasterium and Blancminster,[11] and the Warennes of Whitchurch were often surnamed de Albo Monasterio in contemporary writings.[15] It is supposed that the church was built by William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey.[16]
During the reign ofHenry I in the 12th century, Whitchurch was in the North Division of Bradford Hundred which by the 1820s was referred to as North Bradford Hundred.[17] William fitz Ranulf is the earliest individual of the Warenne family recorded as the Lord of Whitchurch, Shropshire, first appearing in the Shropshire Pipe Roll of 1176.[11] In 1859,Robert Eyton considered it likely that Ralph, son ofWilliam de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, was the father of William and that he first held that title.[18] However, other theories have been put forward.[19]
In 1377 the Whitchurch estates passed to the Talbot family. It was sold by the Talbots to Thomas Egerton, from whom it passed to the earls of Bridgwater and eventually toEarl Brownlow.[20]
After theBattle of Shrewsbury, the body ofHotspur was taken byThomas Neville, 5th Baron Furnivall, to Whitchurch for burial. However, when rumours circulated that Percy was still alive, the king "had the corpse exhumed and displayed it, propped upright between two millstones, in the market place at Shrewsbury".[21]
The town was granted market status in the 14th century.
In the 18th Century many of the earlier timber-framed buildings were refaced in the more fashionable brick. New elegant Georgian houses were built at the southern end of the High Street and in Dodington.
The replacement third church collapsed in July 1711 and the present Queen Anneparish church of St Alkmund was immediately constructed to take its place. It was consecrated in 1713.
As dairy farming became more profitable Whitchurch developed as a centre forCheshire cheese production. Cheese fairs were held on every third Wednesday when farm cheeses were brought into town for sale. Cheese and other goods could be easily transported to wider markets when the Whitchurch Arm ofThomas Telford's Llangollen Canal was opened in 1811. Therailway station was opened in 1858 on the first railway line in North Shropshire, running fromCrewe to Shrewsbury.
During theSecond World War a secretY station for enemy signals interception operated in Whitchurch at the Old Rectory in Claypit Street, run by theForeign Office.[22]
On 23 November 1981,an F1/T2 tornado passed through Whitchurch as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.[23] The Whitchurch tornado was the longest-lived tornado of the entire outbreak, having first touched down 35 miles away in the south Shropshire village ofNorbury. After passing through Whitchurch, the tornado dissipated.
There are two tiers of local government covering Whitchurch, at parish (town) andunitary authority level: Whitchurch Town Council andShropshire Council. Since 2024, the town council has been based at a temporary town hall and community hub in the former police station at 2 Station Road, after structural problems were identified atWhitchurch Civic Centre.[24][25][26]
The town is located within theNorth Shropshire parliamentary constituency.[27]
Whitchurch was anancient parish, which straddled theNorth Bradford hundred of Shropshire and theNantwich hundred ofCheshire.[28] The parish was subdivided into fourteentownships, beingAlkington, Ash Magna, Ash Parva, Black Park,Broughall, Dodington, Edgeley, Hinton, Hollyhurst and Chinnel, New Woodhouse, Old Woodhouse, Tilstock,Wirswall, and a Whitchurch township covering the town itself. The Wirswall township was in Cheshire; the rest of the parish was in Shropshire.[a][31] From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under thepoor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, the civil functions were exercised by subdivisions of the parish rather than the parish as a whole. In the case of Whitchurch, the parish was split into two parts for administering the poor laws: the Cheshire township of Wirswall, and the rest of the parish in Shropshire. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Wirswall and Whitchurch became separatecivil parishes.[32]
In 1860, alocal government district called Whitchurch and Dodington was created covering those two townships, administered by an elected local board.[33] Under theLocal Government Act 1894, such districts were reconstituted asurban districts. Shortly afterwards, in January 1895, the name of the urban district was changed from Whitchurch and Dodington to Whitchurch.[34] The 1894 act also directed that civil parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries, and so the parish of Whitchurch was split into a Whitchurch Urban parish matching the urban district and aWhitchurch Rural parish outside the urban district.[35][36] At the 1891 census (the last one before the parish was split into urban and rural parishes) the civil parish had a population of 6,647.[37]
Whitchurch Urban District was abolished in 1967, when its area was redesignated as arural parish (but retaining the name 'Whitchurch Urban') and placed in the newNorth Shropshire Rural District.[38] The rural district was replaced by the largerNorth Shropshire district in 1974.[39] That district was in turn abolished in 2009. Shropshire County Council then took over district-level functions, making it a unitary authority, and was renamed Shropshire Council.[40] The civil parish covering the town is still officially called Whitchurch Urban,[27] but its parish council omits the 'urban' from its name, calling itself Whitchurch Town Council.[25]
There are currently over 100 listed buildings in Whitchurch, including the churches detailed in the religion section lower down.[41]
St Alkmund's Church (rebuilt 1712–13) is a prominent landmark in the town and a Grade I listed building. Other notable landmarks include the former almhouses founded by Samuel Higginson (1697) and the former girls' school founded by Jane Higginson (1708) and the old Whitchurch Grammar School which was founded in 1548. The grammar school building dates from 1708 (Grade II listed) and was latterly used as an infants' school. Further buildings were added in 1848 and 1926. All have now been converted into flats.[42]
Two of the oldest buildings in Whitchurch include the Old Eagles pub built in the 16th century and 17, 19 and 21 Watergate Street, otherwise known as Raven Yard Antiques. The properties 17, 19 and 21 Watergate were first built in 1625 and were called the Raven's Inn. Over the last four centuries, the Raven's Inn has seen a great deal of alteration but more recently has seen a significant part of the property restored to its original half timbered facade. 17-19 Watergate exists as a private property and 21 Watergate is now called Raven Yard Antiques, a family owned antiques business with a speciality in Victorian military uniforms.[43]
The street names in the town centre reflect the changing history of the town.
The areas of Whitchurch have interesting names. These include:
Whitchurch is aprimary destination on the British road network, signed from as far away asWarrington on theA49, andWolverhampton on theA41. The bypass around the town shared by both roads opened in 1992. Whitchurch also has roads toWrexham,Nantwich,Chester,Shrewsbury andNewcastle-under-Lyme. There are bus services from Whitchurch to surrounding settlements including Chester, Nantwich, Wrexham and Shrewsbury.[47]
Whitchurch railway station is on the formerLondon and North Western (later part of theLMS) line fromCrewe down the English side of the Welsh border (theWelsh Marches Line) towardCardiff.
Whitchurch was once the junction for the main line of theCambrian Railways, but the section from Whitchurch toWelshpool (Buttington Junction), viaEllesmere,Whittington,Oswestry andLlanymynech, was closed on 18 January 1965 in favour of the more viable alternative route via Shrewsbury. Whitchurch was also the junction for theWhitchurch and Tattenhall Railway or Chester to Whitchurch branch line, another part of the London and North Western, running viaMalpas. The line was closed to regular services on 16 September 1957, but use by diverted passenger trains continued until 8 December 1963.
Whitchurch has its own short arm of theLlangollen Canal and the town centre can be reached by a walk of approximately a mile along theWhitchurch Waterways Country Park, the last stage of theSandstone Trail. TheWhitchurch Arm is managed by a charity group of local volunteers.[48]
In December 2025, the canal emptied following a collapse of the bank, leaving several boats stranded.[49]
Historically the town has been the centre of cheese-making. Today Belton Cheese continues to be a major employer. It has been in existence since 1922.[50]
The major employer in the town now is Grocontinental, a logistics provider to the food industry, which employs over 350 people.[51] This family firm which was established in 1941 was taken over by the Dutch multinational AGRO Merchants in 2017,[52] which was then subsequently sold toAmericold in December 2020, for a reported $1.74 billion.[53]
The town also provides a range of services for the surrounding countryside of the North Shropshire Plain. The majority of retail stores in Whitchurch are small to medium-sized businesses concentrated in the High Street, Watergate street and Green End. There is aTesco supermarket in the town centre (White Lion Meadow), a smallerLidl store and a largerSainsbury's supermarket in London Road. AnAldi store opened on the edge of town in 2020.[54]
The town was the home of theJ. B. Joycetower clocks company, established in 1690, the earliest tower clock-making company in the world,[55] which earned Whitchurch a reputation as the home of tower clocks. Joyce's timepieces can be found as far afield asSingapore,Kabul andCape Town (see right). The firm also helped to buildBig Ben in London. However, J. B. Joyce have now left and an auction house has moved into the building.[56] Whitchurch also has a local chamber of commerce recently retitled as the Whitchurch Business Group, an organisation setup with the aim of improving the town's business environment.[57]
By rail Whitchurch is within commuting distance ofLiverpool andManchester (both about one hour north) andShrewsbury (30 minutes south).
There are a wide range of arts and culture activities, festivals and facilities and societies in Whitchurch.
www.poetrywhitchurch.com
The periodic televised Sir Edward German Music Festival, hosted by St Alkmund's and St John's churches, also usesSir John Talbot's Technology College as a venue. The first festival was held in 2006 and the second in April 2009. Participants have included local choirs and primary schools, including Prees, Lower Heath and White House, as well as internationally known musicians and orchestras.
On 19 January 1963The Beatles played in the old Town Hall Ballroom (now the location of the town Civic Centre). That night a recording of the group appeared on the television showThank Your Lucky Stars, an appearance which changed their fortunes."Please Please Me" had just been released as a single.[65]
Whitchurch Rugby Club[66] currently competes in the Midlands 1 West league, the sixth tier of English rugby. Founded in 1936, the club plays at Edgeley Park and has a full complement ofmini rugby and junior teams as well as under-19s (Colts), a ladies team and four senior teams. In 1998–99, it was promoted toNational Division Three North, a position it maintained until the 2002–03 season.
The localfootball club,Whitchurch Alport F.C., was founded in 1946. It is named after Alport Farm in Alport Road, which was the home of local footballer, Coley Maddocks, killed in theSecond World War.[67] They were founder members of theCheshire Football League and played in that league until 2012, before a spell in theMercian Regional Football League. In 2015 Alport were promoted to theNorth West Counties Football League,[68] before being transferred to theMidland League Premier Division in 2021.[69]
The Chester Road Bowling Club has been in existence since 1888. It was originally a bowling and tennis club. It has over 160 members and fields 23 teams (mostly men and women) in six different leagues.[70] Another bowling club, the Whitchurch and District, was founded in 1924.
Whitchurch Leisure Centre is located at the Sir John Talbot School on the edge of town. It offers a range of exercise facilities and classes.[71]
The Whitchurch Walkers is an active group of residents interested in walking and the protection of footpaths. It organises a range of events, including an annual walking festival.[72] TheSandstone Trail starts/end at the Whitchurch arm of the canal. It forms part of theShropshire Way.[73]
On the northern edge of the town is the Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, which has a fitness centre, a swimming pool and two golf courses.[74]
Since August 2019, Alderford Lake, just to the south of the town, has hosted aparkrun, which is a free, weekly timed 5 km run/walk, every Saturday morning at 9am.
Regional local news and television programmes are provided byBBC West Midlands andITV Central. Television signals are received from theWrekin TV transmitter.[75]
Local radio stations areBBC Radio Shropshire on 96.0 FM,Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire on 103.1 FM,Capital North West & Wales on 103.4 FM andGreatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire on 107.1 FM.
The Whitchurch Herald andShropshire Star are the town's local newspapers.[76][77]
Whitchurch has a long history of schools. Whitchurch Grammar School was established in 1548 by Rev Sir John Talbot, the Rector of Whitchurch in the 1540s. The school opened in 1550 making it one of the oldest schools in England. It was restricted to boys. Next door to it a school for girls was established. They both closed in 1936 and became part of the newSir John Talbot’s School[citation needed] which is located on the edge of the town. It has about 500 students aged 11–18. This school is now part of the Marches Academy Trust.[78]
The main primary school in the town is Whitchurch CE Junior School, which has about 300 pupils aged 7–11.[79] Younger children attend Whitchurch CE Infant and Nursery School.[80]
There is an active branch of theUniversity of the Third Age with over 350 members.[81]
The town's most prominent place of worship isSt Alkmund'sChurch of England parish church, built in 1712 of red sandstone on the site of aNorman church. It is a Grade Ilisted building. St Catherine's in Dodington was built in 1836 as achapel of ease for St Alkmund's, which at that time was over-crowded. It is Grade II listed,[82] but ceased to be used for worship in the 1970s. It featured in the 1995 BBCOne Foot in the Past programme,[83] when it was being used as a builder's store. It has now been converted into apartments.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, preached in Whitchurch on 18 April 1781.[84] St John's Methodist Church, built in 1879, stands on the corner of St John's Street and Brownlow Street.[84] It is Grade II listed.[85] TheWesleyan Chapel in St Mary's Street, which opened in 1810, closed shortly after St John's opened and is now the Whitchurch Heritage Centre. ThePrimitive Methodist Chapel in Castle Hill opened in 1866 and closed in the 1970s.
The DodingtonUnited Reformed (formerlyCongregational) Church (built in 1815 and Grade II listed[86]) is now closed, as is the DodingtonPresbyterian Chapel (built in 1707). ABaptist chapel was built in Green End in 1820 but closed in 1939; it is now an antique showroom.[87]
St George's Catholic Church has been located in Claypit Street since 1878.[88]
Whitchurch Cemetery includes 91Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burials: 24 from theFirst World War, in scattered plots, and 67 from theSecond World War, mostly grouped in a CWGC section; 52 of the latter arePolish orCzechoslovak, as No. 4 Polish General Hospital was atIscoyd Park just over the border in Wales.[89] The ashes of locally born composer SirEdward German are also buried at the cemetery.[90]
Whitchurch istwinned withNeufchâtel-en-Bray, France.
William de Warren, better known as William fitz Ranulf. His relation to the elder line has never been ascertained or surmised. William, second Earl Warren, who died in 1135, is said to have had three sons: William, Reginald, and Ralph. William is well known as his father's successor and the last of the elder male line. Reginald became notorious as Lord of Wirmgay by marriage with its heiress. Of Ralph little has been recorded except his dates. It is consistent to suppose him to be the father of William fitz Ranulf.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
