Longnor, Shropshire

Longnor CE Primary School is the village primary school, which has a pre-school attached.[2][3] In January 2011 it had 112 pupils aged between five and eleven. Its 2018 SAT results put it in the top 1 per cent of schools in England for the percentage of children reaching and exceeding expected standards in writing and mathematics. The pre-school section is called Little Owls.<[4] The nearest secondary school is in Church Stretton.[5]

Longnor Church from the rear left corner

Longnor Church from the west

St. Mary's Church is a Grade 1 Listed Building in the medieval Early English style. It has been continually and carefully conserved down the centuries. Two new stained glass windows were installed in 2000, to mark the turn of the millennium.

Originally a chapel for Condover, it became a private chapel for the Corbett family of Longnor Hall, before taking on the function of a parish church.[6]

Longnor was the birthplace of Samuel Lee (1783–1853), a linguist, Cambridge academic and Anglican cleric, whose translations from the Bible and other religious works into Arabic and other languages helped to launch the missionary activities of the Evangelical movement in the first half of the 19th century.[7]

The nearest restaurant is 1.7 miles (2.7 km) away in Leebotwood, south-east of Longnor. It is called The Pound and serves British cuisine.[8] The nearest pub is the Fox Inn, which is 1.7 miles northwards in Little Ryton and also serves meals, including vegetarian.[9]

Longnor is part of a joint parish council with the village of Leebotwood. In 2008, the electorate in the parish was 343 members, who vote on matters such as improving the quality of life of the two communities and looking after the environment. It influences and works alongside the principal authority Shropshire Council, Police, Highways Agency, PCT.[10]

The Corbet family were the builders and original inhabitants of Longnor Hall. Sir Richard Corbett's hall, begun in 1670, was finished in 1693 for his son, Uvedale Corbett.[13] The name of Corbet arrived in Shropshire in the times of the Norman Conquest, when Hugh Corbet settled in the area. The branch of the Corbett family living in Longnor dates from the 1500s. The last in this line was Jane Corbett, who married Archdeacon Joseph Plymley. However, he took on the name Corbett and it has continued, although many Corbets or Corbetts had moved away from Shropshire by the 19th century.[15]

Cound Brook is a 25-mile-long (40 km) tributary of the River Severn running from the All Stretton area through Longnor and Condover and emptying into the Severn near Cound. Longnor lies in the middle section of Cound Brook. Having rainwater runoff from the Stretton Hills join it, the brook widens, passing to the east of Leebotwood and west of Longnor and the Medieval deer park there. Continuing east of Dorrington village, it changes direction to east at Stapleton. The flow can vary from slow and sluggish in a dry summer to a torrent in winter or spring.[19]

The Cound Brook from Longnor Bridge

A medieval deer park was an enclosed area bounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden park palisade. The ditch was typically on the inside,[20] so that deer could enter the park but not leave it.

The White Lady of Longnor is said to appear clothed in a long white wedding dress, on or near the road bridge near the village, where she is thought to have thrown herself into the water below, after being deserted at the altar.[24]

A49 Near North Lodge, to the North of Longnor

The A49, is the main road that passes by Longnor just to the West of the village. It heads from South to North traversing the Welsh Marches region from Hereford to Wigan. The road provides the main routes from Longnor into the surrounding towns and villages, especially into Shrewsbury and Church Stretton, with Church Stretton being where the nearest shops are to Longnor as it is the nearest town. The A49 is also the road which has the bus links for the people of Longnor, having the number 435 bus stopping just to the North of the village on the road.[25]

Route 32/33 links the village with the National Cycle Network, which runs between Little Ryton and All Stretton as part of National Cycle Route 44.[26]

The nearest railway station to Longnor is 4.7 miles (7.6 km) away in Church Stretton on the Welsh Marches Line. The station is on the 435 bus route between Longnor and Shrewsbury. The nearest mainline station is in Shrewsbury, 7.7 miles (12.4 km) to the north.[27]

Longnor is served by bus routes numbered 435 and 540. Both start from Church Stretton, being the largest town nearby. The 435 takes in a number of different villages, including Longnor, on its way to Shrewsbury. The 540 runs to Radbrook Green, a suburb of Shrewsbury.[27]