| Kinlet | |
|---|---|
 St John's Church, Kinlet | |
  Kinlet Location withinShropshire | |
| Population | 901 (2011 census).[1] |
| OS grid reference | SO716799 |
| • London | 117mi (187km) |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bewdley |
| Postcode district | DY12 |
| Dialling code | 01299 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Shropshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Kinlet is a small village andcivil parish in the south-east of the county ofShropshire, England. The parish is on the northern edge of theWyre Forest and is in theBridgnorth District of Shropshire. The parish incorporates thehamlets of Kinlet Village, Button Bridge andButton Oak.[2] Kinlet is located 18 miles (29 km) south ofTelford, the main town inShropshire and 23 miles (37 km) west ofBirmingham.
The village is located in the centre of the parish. Itsparish has a population of 680 according to the2001 census,[3] The land within theparish totals 8,164acres (3,304 ha; 12.756 sq mi).[4] increasing to 901 at the 2011 census. There is little in terms of employment in the parish, with residents travelling to nearby towns and cities.
The name Kinlet, a combination of kin (royal) and lett (district), comes from the time of QueenEdith of Wessex, wife ofEdward the confessor, who held the knoll at Kinlet.[5] The earliest known human activity was the scatter of flints near Catsley in the centre of the parish, south of Kinlet village.[6]The parish as it is today, was once two smaller parishes, Kinlet in the north and Earnwood in the south.[6]
Queen Edith had inherited Kinlet andCleobury Mortimer from the lateEdward the Confessor, at the time of theDomesday Book. Kinlet was then given toRanulph de Mortimer, who subsequently passed it down to his son,Hugh de Mortimer.[5] The Mortimers were passionate about hunting and used Earnwood as a private hunting ground.[6] The Mortimers were succeeded by Bryan de Brampton in 1176.[5] The De Bramptons gave significant gifts of land in Kinlet toWigmore Abbey and other religious institutes. This was intended to encourage woodland clearance and increase production.
Kinlet was passed through the Cornwalls, toSir John Cornwall on the death of his father, Sir Brian Cornwall in 1391. His only surviving daughter, Elizabeth, inherited Kinlet in 1414, before marrying Sir William Lichefeld. Sir William Lichefeld held Kinlet until his death in 1446, Kinlet was then passed down to Isabel, sister of Sir John Cornwall and second wife of Sir John Blount II. Sir John Blount II had a son with Isabel, also named John. John inherited Kinlet after his father's death. The estate was passed onto Humphery Blount (grandson of Sir John Blount and his marriage with Isabel) in 1453.[6][7][8]
Sir George Blount inherited Kinlet in 1531, on the death of his father,John.[9] In 1581, Sir George Blount gave Kinlet to Rowland Lacon, son of his eldest sister Agnes, married to Sir Richard Lacon, instead of his only surviving child, Dorothy.[5] At his death, Rowland Lacon was succeeded by his son, Sir Francis Lacon, who married Jane, daughter of the Viscount of Montague in 1589.
The marriage of Ann Lacon to Sir William Childe in 1640, bought the Childe family to Shropshire. Their eldest son, Sir Lacon Childe, was left the lordship at Kinlet andCleobury Mortimer, whilst their younger two sons, Thomas and William, were left the manor of Earnwood. After the death of Sir Lacon Childe, Kinlet was held by his nephew, William Lacon Childe. He rebuiltKinlet Hall in 1729.[6] The surrounding village is likely to have been cleared at this time, with the building of the village school in its current location, establishing this as the centre of the village.[6][10] He also earned substantial revenue from the Kinlet estate. This included sales of produce, bark and rent payments.[6] His daughter inherited Kinlet and married Charles Baldwyn. In 1919, much of the Kinlet estate was put up for sale.[11]
The centre of the village is located at the meeting of the roads,B4363 and B4194. In the centre of the village there is a primary school. Kinlet C of E Primary school caters for children aged between 4 and 11 years old.[12]
There is also an independent, residential school to the north-west of the village, Moffats School, which is for children aged between 4 and 13 years old and has been based inKinlet Hall since the end of theSecond World War. Older pupils travel to theLacon Childe School inCleobury Mortimer.[4]
There are twopublic houses in the parish, The Eagle and Serpent in village of Kinlet and the Button Oak Inn in the village ofButton Oak. There is also a village hall and a residential care home.
There are two churches in the parish.
St. John the Baptist church is the Anglican parish church located along the drive toKinlet Hall. The church is a stone structure built by theNormans and is Grade I listed byEnglish Heritage.[4][13][14] Within the church there are standing monuments to Sir George Blount and his wife, Constantia, dated 1581. There are also tombs for Sir Humphrey Blount and his wife, Elizabeth andSir John Blount and his wife, Catherine.[15] The church was restored in 1892 byJohn Oldrid Scott who later designed the memorial to Major Charles Baldwyn Childe (killed inBoer War 1900).[16]
St Andrew's Church inButton Oak is also an Anglican church. It was built in the 19th century as a mission church for people working in theWyre Forest.[17]
The population of Kinlet was 602 at the time of the first census in1801.[18] The population fell slowly over the next seventy years, reaching a low of 431 at the 1871 census.[18] After this, the population of Kinlet rose sharply, reaching 558 in the 1891 census.[18] The early 20th Century saw the population stabilise untilWorld War II.[18] There was no census in 1941 because ofWorld War II. The population increased from 494 in the 1951 census to 549 in the 1971 census.[18] There is very little employment in the area, with people travelling to nearby towns such asCleobury Mortimer andHighley. The last shop and post office in the village closed in the 1980s.[4] The census which was carried out in2001 showed Kinlet to have a population of 680.[3] Population data between 1801 and 1961 is from Vision of Britain and Histpop.[18][19]
|  |
The Census of 1831 showed that the majority of people were employed in the agriculture sector, surveying males aged over 20. Agricultural labourers were the most common occupation with 90, followed by retail and handicrafts with 16.[20] Little had changed by the census of 1881 with 102 males and one female employed in agriculture. Females were also surveyed, with 74 classified as having an unknown occupation.[21]
There is a bus service through the village, operated byCentral Buses. The number 125 bus service operates Mondays to Saturdays, fromBridgnorth toStourbridge.
Media related toKinlet at Wikimedia Commons