Woore(/wʊər/w-oor)[citation needed]is a village andcivil parishin the north east ofShropshire,England. The population of the village as recorded in the 2011 census is 633,[1]and for the civil parish is 1,069.[2]The civil parish extends to about 3,950 acres (1,600 hectares).
| Woore | |
|---|---|
 St Leonard's Church, built c. 1830-31 | |
  Woore Location withinShropshire | |
| Population | 633 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SJ730422 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CREWE |
| Postcode district | CW3 |
| Dialling code | 01630 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Shropshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Parish Council |
Etymology
editThe name means "boundary" inancient Celticor Anglo-Saxon ( "Oure" ), and this fits nicely with the fact that it is on the boundary with both the counties ofCheshireandStaffordshire.The parish is the most northerly in Shropshire.
Location
editThe nearest significant towns to Woore areMarket Drayton,Whitchurch,Newcastle-under-Lyme,NantwichandCrewe.TheA51andA525 roadsrun through the village, the A51 being the old London - Chester post road. (Changes of horses used to be available at the former Swan Inn, now flats, in the centre of Woore itself.) The only road links between Woore and the rest of Shropshire pass through adjoining counties. The village is also the farthest place in Shropshire from the centre of the county nearCantlop.
History
editTheDomesday Book(1086) entry for Woore ( “Waure” ) shows that the manor was held not fromEarl Roger of Shrewsbury,but as a tenant-in-chief from the King, by William Malbedeng (William Malbank), and contained a large hall within the moated site at what is now Syllenhurst Farm. Lying in the Hundred of Hodnet, there were 5 households in Woore itself, the value of which to the Lord was assessed for tax at 5 shillings, with woodland for 60 pigs. William Malbank also held land at Dorrington (2 households with land for 3 ploughlands, woodland for 100 pigs, valued at 4 shillings), Gravenhunger (2 households with land for 4 ploughlands, valued at 6 shillings) and Onneley (no households, valued at less than 2 shillings). He had succeeded a pre-Conquest Saxon Lord, Edric. In later medieval times the most notable family of Woore was the de Bulkeleys.
Racecourse
editThe village had aNational Hunt racecourseuntil 1963, served byPipe Gate railway stationin the south of the parish, which was closed under theBeeching "Axe".[3]
Modern day
editThe village today is mostly residential with a number of small shops, centred on the Post Office andgeneral storeson the village square. Two public houses service the village, along with one modern red brick primary school and two churches, the smaller of which is aMethodistchurch, popularly known as "the Chapel on the corner", and the larger of which is St. Leonard'sChurch of Englandparish church.
WooreCricketClub play at the Falcon Field in the village, which slopes downwards dramatically from the Pavilion and Falcon Inn sides.[4]
BridgemereGarden World is to the north of Woore, just over the border in Cheshire.
St Leonard's Church
editSt. Leonard's church was constructed in about 1830–31, to serve what were then five townships of the Shropshire portion of the ancient parish ofMucklestonein Staffordshire, and is of an unconventional white plasterItalianatedesign. AGrade II listedbuilding, it was repainted in 2011.[5]Designed by George Hamilton ofStone,the bell tower is anEdwardianaddition by Chapman and Snape ofNewcastle-under-Lyme.The tower has not been safe to regularly ring in since the late 1980s, with the bells now replaced by a timed recording. The churchyard contains awar graveof a British soldier ofWorld War I.[6]
Transport
editWoore no longer has bus services. It was previously served by a bus connecting the village withHanleyandNantwich,however the service ceased in 2015. Now the nearby village ofBuertonhas bus links toNantwich,Whitchurch (Shropshire)andAudlem.The other is the village ofMadeley (Staffordshire)which provides links toNewcastle-Under-Lyme,CreweandStoke-on-Trent.
There is no railway station in Woore but there was astationin the village ofPipe Gatewhich was on the now-closedStoke-Market Drayton Line.The station closed in 1957 along with the section to Market Drayton but the line from Silverdale to Pipe Gate remained open to serve both a creamery and as a loop back to the mainline atMadeley Chorduntil 1998 when the entire line closed after closure ofSilverdale Colliery.The line has been mothballed and the bridge demolished. The station master's house survives as a private residence but the station site is now a timber yard. Part of the embankment is still present but the section towards Market Drayton is built on by a new housing development. This does not however hinder possible future proposals for reopening of the line.
Notable residents
edit- William Bridges Adams(1797 in Woore – 1872) author, locomotive engineer and inventor of theAdams axle
- Albert Lightfoot(born 1936 in Woore) a cricketer forNorthamptonshire
- John Lawton(1936 in Woore – 2017) footballer, played 9 games forStoke City F.C
- Nick Hancock(born 1962) TV personality owned a £1.1m mansion near Woore[7]
Civil parish
editThe civil parish includes several other hamlets and villages including Gravenhunger,Dorrington,Pipe Gate,Bearstone,part ofOnneley(the remainder being in the neighbouring Staffordshire Parish ofMadeley) andIreland's Cross.
Theparish councilhas 10 elected members, and normally meets monthly, on the first Monday of the month.
Woore is within Market Drayton East ward for elections to Shropshire Council.[8]
See also
editNotes and references
edit- ^UK Census(2011)."Local Area Report – Woore built up area (E34003704)".Nomis.Office for National Statistics.Retrieved10 March2024.
- ^UK Census(2011)."Local Area Report – Woore Parish (E04011395)".Nomis.Office for National Statistics.Retrieved10 March2024.
- ^Christiansen, Rex; Miller, R. W. (1971).The North Staffordshire Railway.Newton Abbot: David & Charles.ISBN0-7153-5121-4.
- ^Woore Cricket Club
- ^"Church of Saint Leonard - Woore - Shropshire - England".British Listed Buildings.Retrieved21 September2014.
- ^[1]CWGC Casualty record. Accessed 26 January 2013.
- ^"Don't ban me from the roads.. I'm on TV, Nick Hancock tells Scottish court".Daily Record.13 November 2008.Retrieved5 June2019.
- ^"Market Drayton East ward"(PDF).Shropshire Council.2017.Retrieved10 March2024.
External links
edit
Media related toWooreat Wikimedia Commons