Sheriffhales

Sheriffhales is a scattered village in Shropshire,[1] England, 4.3 miles (7 km) north-east of Telford, 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Shifnal and 4.3 miles (7 km) south of Newport.[2] The name derives from Halh (Anglican) and scīr-rēfa (Old English) which is a combination of Hales (a nook of land, small valley) and Sheriff (a king's executive). At the time of the Domesday Book, it was held by Roger de Balliol the Sheriff of Shropshire.[3]

Sheriffhales
Pool at Sheriffhales, and lodge of Sherriffhales Manor
Sheriffhales is located in Shropshire
Sheriffhales
Sheriffhales
Location within Shropshire
Population722 (2011)
OS grid referenceSJ759123
Civil parish
  • Sheriffhales
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSHIFNAL
Postcode districtTF11
Dialling code01952
PoliceWest Mercia
FireShropshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

As well as Sheriffhales itself, the modern civil parish of Sheriffhales includes the smaller settlements of Lilyhurst, Burlington, Heath Hill, Weston Heath, Redhill and Chadwell.[4] The parish has a population of about 700 people, however it reached 1019 people in 1850, when the Duke of Sutherland owned most of it.[5] The village was in Staffordshire until 1895 when the border between Staffordshire and Shropshire was moved.[6] The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 722.[7]

Despite being a small village of around 100 people, there is a primary school,[8] a Church of England church (St Mary's)[9] and a local post office, as well as a playing field with football goals and a children's playground.[10] The church is a Grade II listed building that dates back to the 12th century.[11]

Between 1663 and 1697, when its founder moved to London, Sheriffhales was home to a dissenting academy run by nonconformist minister John Woodhouse.[12][13]

Sheriffhales was the site of the World War II PoW Camp 71,[14] located along the drive to Lilleshall Hall. The camp was intended for Italian Prisoners of War and housed up to 2,000 until Italy surrendered in 1943; thereafter it was used to house German PoW's until 1948 when most were repatriated.[15]

The 2007 Tour of Britain bike race passed through the village on the first of September as part of the Wolverhampton to Birmingham stage.

The main farm within the village, Meadow Farm, was a predominantly dairy farm, but has been subsequently converted into an arable farm. It is also the centre for a point to point yard.

Sheriffhales is mentioned (under the name "Hales") in the Ellis Peters novel The Confession of Brother Haluin.

Hope Vere Anderson is Lord of the Manor of Sheriffhales and descends from the senior branch of the Hope Vere's of Lesmahagow, Scotland. The Hope Vere's trace their ancestry to Roger De Vere who was Lord of the Manor of Hales and when he became Sheriff of Shropshire in the 16th century he changed the name of his Manor from that of Hales to Sheriffhales to reflect his importance in being appointed to this additional role.

St Mary's Church

See also

References
  1. "Genuki: Sheriff Hales, Staffordshire". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  2. "127" (Map). Stafford & Telford. 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 9780319262252.
  3. Mills, A.D. (2003). A dictionary of British place-names ([Rev. and expanded ed.] ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 417. ISBN 9780198527589.
  4. "Sheriffhales Parish Council". sheriffhalesparishcouncil.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  5. "Shereford - Shifford". www.british-history.ac.uk. British History Online. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  6. Watts, William Whitehead (1919). Shropshire, the geography of the county. Shrewsbury: Wilding and Sons. p. 234. OCLC 12983600.
  7. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  8. "Sheriffhales Primary School – Where learning and achieving are fun". www.sheriffhalesprimary.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  9. "Sheriffhales S.Mary the Virgin, Sheriffhales". A Church Near You. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  10. "Sheriffhales Conservation Area Map" (PDF). shropshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  11. Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade II) (1053645)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  12. Parker, Irene (1914–2009). Dissenting academies in England. Cambridge University Press. pp. 69–72. ISBN 978-0-521-74864-3.
  13. Surman Index: Sheriffhales Academy Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Rogers, Simon (8 November 2010). "Every prisoner of war camp in the UK mapped and listed". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  15. "Shropshire Prisoner of War Camps". shropshirehistory.com. Retrieved 12 February 2017.

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