Little Stretton, Shropshire

Little Stretton

The thatched All Saints church in the village
Little Stretton
Little Stretton shown within Shropshire
OS grid reference SO443917
• London 158 miles (254 km)
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CHURCH STRETTON
Postcode district SY6
Dialling code 01694
Police West Mercia
Fire Shropshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament

Little Stretton is a village in Shropshire, England.

It lies on the B5477 to the south of the town of Church Stretton (and is part of the civil parish of that town); similarly, the small village of All Stretton lies to the north of Church Stretton on the same road. A milestone in the centre of the village on the B5477, which is called Ludlow Road at this point, indicates that Ludlow is 14 miles away, to the south. The centre of Church Stretton is 1.3 miles (2.1 km) via the B5477.

The River Ashes Hollow runs through the village and it is a popular place to begin walks up the Long Mynd. The village lies between 590 and 616 feet above sea level. The Ragleth Hill lies immediately to the east of the village, on the other side of the Welsh Marches Line and A49. Little Stretton once had its own railway halt: Little Stretton Halt railway station.

To the southwest are the hamlets of Minton and Hamperley, which are part of Church Stretton parish and are included within the parish ward of Little Stretton.[1] Little Stretton was previously a civil parish itself, but the whole parish merged with that of Church Stretton and a large part of All Stretton, to form the modern day parish of Church Stretton, which is sometimes referred to as "Church Stretton and Little Stretton".[2]

Amenities and attractions

The village has a large Conservation Area.[3] There are many Listed buildings and structures in the village.[4] There isa 1bbl brewery in the village.

Church

There is a small church in the village, built in 1903 - "All Saints". It is a Church of England church and is one of three in the ecclesiastical parish of Church Stretton, along with the churches in All Stretton and Church Stretton.[5] The parish is part of the Diocese of Hereford. It is a very unusual church (for England in the present era) for its construction is timber with a thatched roof replacing the original corrugated iron roof..[6]

Pubs

As of 2012, there are approximately 110 dwellings in the village. Little Stretton today has two public houses: the Green Dragon and the Ragleth Inn (historically the "Sun Inn"), both of which serve a wide range of local real ales.[7]

Brockhurst

Half a mile to the north are the earthwork remains of the 12th century Brockhurst Castle. It is situated on private land with no public access.

Notable people

Novelist and short story writer Beatrice Harraden (1864-1936) spent summer holidays lodging at the Green Dragon, inspiring her short story, At the Green Dragon (published 1894).[8]

Oliver Sandys (1892-1964), widow of Caradoc Evans and a novelist in her own right, lived at the Ancient House, across the road from the church, from the 1950s. A later novel, Quaint Place (1952) was set in this area.[9]

The poet Peter Reading (1946–2011) lived in the village.[10]

The horologist Charles Jendon was a well-known figure in the village for many years; his knowledge of long-case clocks was well known to many specialists in the field.

The music critic Ephriam Monk, who championed the early work of Lionel Crill, who himself was a pioneer in the use of the theremin in classical music, lived in the village between 1952 and 1959. Monk was often vilified by the traditional music cognoscenti for his promotion of the avant-garde.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Church Stretton Town Council". Church Stretton Area. Archived from the original on 2010-09-19. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  2. ↑ Shropshire Council Council tax (parish precepts) 2010/11
  3. ↑ Shropshire Council Little Stretton Conservation Area: map
  4. ↑ British Listed Buildings Church Stretton parish: map
  5. ↑ Parish of Church Stretton
  6. ↑ Geograph - SO4491 : The church at Little Stretton
  7. ↑ Shropshire Pub Survey - Little Stretton
  8. ↑ Dickins, Gordon (1987). An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire. Shropshire Libraries. pp. 35, 100. ISBN 0-903802-37-6.
  9. ↑ Dickins, Gordon (1987). An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire. pp. 62, 100.
  10. ↑ 'An Interview with Peter Reading by Robert Potts' Oxford Poetry "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-12. Retrieved 2010-11-24.

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