Asterley

Human settlement in England

Asterley

Asterley windmill

Asterley

Location within Shropshire

OS grid reference| SJ373070
Civil parish|

* Pontesbury

Unitary authority|

* Shropshire

Ceremonial county|

* Shropshire

Region|

* West Midlands

Country| England
Sovereign state| United Kingdom
Post town| SHREWSBURY
Postcode district| SY5
Dialling code| 01743
Police| West Mercia
Fire| Shropshire
Ambulance| West Midlands
UK Parliament|

* Shrewsbury and Atcham

List of places

England
Shropshire

52°39′25″N 2°55′34″W﻿ / ﻿52.657°N 2.926°W﻿ / 52.657; -2.926

Asterley is a village in Shropshire, England. Its name, derived from Old English, means "the eastern clearing in the forest".[1]

It was historically a township of the large parish of Pontesbury,[2] and is still part of the civil parish of Pontesbury. It consists of some 50 houses, including some timber- and cruck-framed dwellings.[3]

There are four farms operating within the village and an equestrian estate.

There is a brick former Church of England mission church in the village, built in 1869 but a private house since about 1990,.[4] Its churchyard contains the graves of two World War II soldiers who both died in 1940, which are registered and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[5]

There is a functioning Methodist chapel which is part of the Shropshire and Marches Methodist Circuit. Eight of the Methodist churches in the area voted on 15 July 2019 to become an amalgamation of chapels to be called Rea Valley Methodist Churches keeping each chapel operational as a cooperative. In this new Methodist Society, Asterley will become a Celebration Chapel and offer special worship services four to five times a year. The chapel was built in 1834.[1] A stone World War I memorial tablet is next to its entrance door outside and indoors is a framed Roll of Honour to local men who died in World War II.[6] The village had a small and possibly shortlived Latter Day Saints congregation in 1851.[7]

The village has had two pubs, The Royal Oak and The Windmill Inn, a shop and a school house which are all now private houses.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the village was the centre of a small-scale coal mining and brick-making industry.[3] It has a long established connection with farming with many established farmhouses being present in the village an immediate surroundings.

In 1944, a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter crashed in what was a deep pond which was originally a marl pit. The pilot survived by jumping by parachute from the stricken aircraft. The aircraft remains buried in the now dried out and filled in pond.[8]

Outside the village is a rare survival, a windmill built in 1809.[9] It was restored in the 1980s.

## See also

[edit]

* Listed buildings in Pontesbury

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Raven, M. A Guide to Shropshire, 2005, p.16
2. ^ Pontesbury Archived March 23, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, GENUKI
3. ^ a b Martinali (compiler), Richard. Pontesbury Parish 2012, Celebrating life in our parish in Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Year. Pontesbury 2012 Guide Committee. p. 9.
4. ^ Whiteside, John (2006). The Churches and Chapels of Pontesbury Parish. funded by Local Heritage initiative. p. 71.
5. ^ [1] CWGC Cemetery Report. Dates obtained from casualty record. Date accessed 19 September 2012.
6. ^ Francis, Peter (2013). Shropshire War Memorials, Sites of Remembrance. YouCaxton Publications. p. 97\. ISBN 978-1-909644-11-3.
7. ^ Gaydon & Lawson, A.T & J.B. (1982). A History of Pontesbury. Shropshire Libraries. p. 292\. ISBN 0-903802-23-6.Reprinted extract from Victoria History of Shropshire, Volume VIII, published 1968.
8. ^ Thorne, Thomas (2013). Pancakes and Prangs, Twentieth-Century Military Aircraft Accidents in Shropshire. Bridge Books, Wrexham. pp. 232–233\. ISBN 978-1-84494-087-5.
9. ^ Asterley, National Mills Weekend

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Asterley at Wikimedia Commons

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Ceremonial county of Shropshire

Unitary authorities|

* Shropshire
* Telford and Wrekin

Major settlements
(cities in italics)|

* Bishop's Castle
* Bridgnorth
* Broseley
* Church Stretton
* Cleobury Mortimer
* Clun
* Craven Arms
* Ellesmere
* Ludlow
* Market Drayton
* Much Wenlock
* Newport
* Oswestry
* Shifnal
* Shrewsbury
* Telford (Dawley
* Madeley
* Oakengates
* Wellington)
* Wem
* Whitchurch
See also: List of civil parishes in Shropshire

Rivers|

* Camlad
* Clun
* Corve
* Ledwyche
* Onny
* Perry
* Rea
* Rea Brook
* Redlake
* Roden
* Severn
* Teme
* Tern
* Unk
* Vyrnwy
* Worfe

Canals|

* Llangollen Canal
* Montgomery Canal
* Shrewsbury Canal
* Shropshire Union Canal

Topics|

* Flag
* Geology
* Shrewsbury floods
* Settlements
* History (Civil War)
* Museums
* Schools
* Parliamentary constituencies
* SSSIs
* Country houses
* Grade I listed buildings
* Grade II* listed buildings
* Lord Lieutenants
* High Sheriffs
* Rail transport
* Windmills

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