Pontesbury

The village is the seat of an extensive civil parish, with its own parish council grouped into five wards, representing the village and outlying areas such as the villages and hamlets of Pontesford, Plealey, Asterley, Cruckton, Cruckmeole, Arscott, Lea Cross, Malehurst etc., as well as Habberley (which was previously a civil parish in its own right until 1967).[3] It hosts an official Pontesbury Parish website.

It is represented on the unitary Shropshire Council and in parliament in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.

Several housing developments are reshaping the village, with 86 new homes named Cricketer's Meadow, being added at Hall Bank,[4] and 25 homes named Young's Piece, being built on the site of a former lead smelting area on Minsterley Road.[5] Soil samples taken at the site of Young's Piece showed lead contamination was in excess of the applicable threshold level / critical concentration [6]

The village is home of a comprehensive school, the Mary Webb School and Science College, named after the local novelist Mary Webb, which serves most of the surrounding villages for pupils age 11–16, on whose premises is the Mary Webb Sports Centre, usable by the public out of school hours.[7] There is also a primary school, on whose premises also meet a pre-school playgroup formed 1990.[8] There is also a nursery school, for children aged 3 months to 4 years, called The Ark, on Hall Bank.[9]

Pontesbury is one of the largest villages in Shropshire and so is host to a wide range of local services including independent local shops selling local produce and three public houses ('The Horseshoes', 'The Nag's Head' and 'The Plough')

The village also contains a medical practice, dental surgery, post office, police station (under F Division, West Mercia Police), public library, public hall and cemetery.

The village has a long mining history, once linked to Snailbeach and Hanwood via the Minsterley branch line and the Snailbeach District Railways, it supplied local industry with coal, lead, iron and stone. Although the railway tracks are no longer there, the route that it took can still be walked, where some stations and sidings remain. Nearby Poles Coppice, around half-a-mile south of the village, contains two former quarries and is now a countryside recreation area.

St. George's Church, Pontesbury.

In the centre of the village sits St George's Church of England parish church, the origins of which can be traced to about 1250 AD but due to the site's circular graveyard shape may indicate a much more ancient site of Anglo Saxon or even Celtic origin. The church itself however was largely restored in the 19th century, following the collapse of the mediaeval tower between 1820 and 1825.[10]

The churchyard contains the outdoor parish war memorial. The present Portland stone cross, erected 1963, replaced an earlier elaborate cross by Temple Lushington Moore and unveiled in 1921, which bore a crucifix and images of the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and St George and the Dragon but had become dilapidated and was dismantled in 1960.[11]

There are also active Baptist, Methodist and Congregationalist Churches. The Salvation Army had a barracks in Pontesbury between about 1888–1894.[12]

Earl's Hill

Nearby is Earl's Hill, which is the site of an Iron Age hillfort built around 600 B.C. and making it a Scheduled Ancient Monument and also designated an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) for its wildlife value. It was Shropshire Wildlife Trust's first nature reserve in 1964. Earl's Hill is PreCambrian in origin, being formed approximately 650 million years ago as a result of volcanic activity along the Pontesford-Linley fault.

• Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Tankerville (1436-1466) was born at Pontesbury.[13]
• Edward Corbet (born circa 1603-died 1658) an English clergyman, born at Pontesbury[14] and a member of the Westminster Assembly
• Adam Ottley (1655–1723) an English churchman, rector of Pontesbury, prebendary of Hereford Cathedral, Archdeacon of Shropshire and Bishop of St David's from 1713.
• William J. Oliver (?1774-1827) also known as Oliver the Spy, was a police informer and supposed agent provocateur at a time of social unrest, immediately after the Napoleonic Wars. He claimed to be from Pontesbury
• Dr John Joseph Esmonde (1862-1915), surgeon and later an Irish Nationalist politician, lived at Ingleside, Pontesbury [15]
• Mary Webb (1881–1927), author of Precious Bane, The Golden Arrow and Gone to Earth, she lived in Rose Cottage near Pontesbury between 1914 and 1916 when The Golden Arrow was published.[16]
• D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) visited Pontesbury and it later appeared in his novella St Mawr.[17]
• David Edwards (born 1986) Wolverhampton Wanderers and Welsh international footballer was born in and attended school in the village,[18] where he still resides.[19]

These include:

• Pontesbury Badminton Club, formed 1990.[20]
• Pontesbury Bowling Club, formed 1925, both crown green bowls (ground at Nag's Head: has 3 teams in Wem League and 5 teams in Tanners League)[21] and short mat indoor bowling (meets at Pontesbury Public Hall).[22]
• Pontesbury Cricket Club, formed 1875; has 3 teams in Shropshire County Cricket League and one in Shrewsbury Cricket League.[21]
• Pontesbury Football Club, reformed 1987 – plays in Premier Division of the Shrewsbury and District Sunday League.[22]

• Listed buildings in Pontesbury
• Snailbeach District Railways
• Snailbeach Countryside Site
• Pontesford
• Poles Coppice countryside site
• Geology of Shropshire

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pontesbury.

• Parish information
• The Official Pontesbury Parish Website
• Mary Webb
• The Pontesbury darts and domino league
• Gallery of Pontesbury pictures
• photos of Pontesbury and surrounding area on geograph
• Live weather data for Pontesbury