We hope this summary will help understand the area. Perhaps the most romantic to many was the droving routes off The Portway, with the most important going through Woolstaston to Leebotwood. The Pound Inn was a well known over night stop, before Shrewsbury, the Midlands and on to London. Shrewsbury was a market town and collecting point for the cattle. With the introduction of the railways an easier route was through Picklescott and Smethcott, particularly as there were streams and common land for watering and grazing the animals.
Smethcott Parish
The name Smethcotte means ‘habitation of the Smith’ and its origins are pre Norman, The Smithy was an important person as for centuries he was able to work iron which was the constitute of most tools, rims of wheels, etc. The origin of the village can not be dated but its nucleus was probably by the stream, west of the church, in the Bran mills area. The Doomsday Survey 1086, (commissioned for taxation purposes) mentions 3 habitations. The landlord was the Anglo Saxon Aldred in the domain of the Marcher Lord, Roger de Montgomery.
Motte & Bailey
To the west of Smethcott Church is the mound of a motte and bailey castle, obviously designed to command the road in the valley below. The original village probably lay along this road, northeastward from Bran Mill. There are traces of a heart shaped bailey, with the mount on the north and one third within its circuit. The mount is circular with a table top and has no fosse. The bailey has a scarp or steep slope 8 feet in height but there is no sign of either a rampart or a ditch.
The castle ceased to be the residence of the lords of the manor after about 1272 when it passed to the Burnells of Acton Burnell and by 1315 no manorial buildings remained. The top of the motte was removed in about 1764 when the gravel was used for road repairs. Excavations on the site between 1956-8 produced early 13th century pottery and the foundations of a horseshoe shaped stone structure.
Smethcott Church
The church is small and unassuming but is all the more peaceful for that. It’s situation can not be bettered for views and peace. It was built soon after the castle, but by the mid 1800’s it was in disrepair, it was almost completely rebuilt in the 1850’s, probably overseen by a local craftsman William Hill.
Very little is known of him except he was in charge of and did much of the work for the roof supports and alter rails himself. He was highly thought of for his intelligence and talented carpentry, being involved in Netley Hall, Rushbury church and Woolstaston among others. Very little is known about him except he lived in a cottage with a few fields on Smethcott common. He played the base Viol accompanying the choir in the 1860’s, the choir received £1 per annum, His daughter carved a wooden box for York Minster and many of the family are talented craftsmen and artists. There is a story that the original font dumped in the church yard and used as a drinking trough being replaced by a Victorian off the peg font. A visiting bishop recognised the trough for a font and order its reinstallation.
For more information and history of Smethcott Church please click here.
One of the big changes in agriculture was the assimilation of the commons into farms, from 1681 to 1798. The straight wide road out of Picklescott to just above New Farm is an enclosure road. Straight with wide verges. The ‘Rabbit borough’ on the north side indicates that there was a farmed rabbit warren, documented for 1600, on the sandy soil, only in recent centuries that rabbits have dug their own burrows, they originally lived in depressions, thus were easy prey for animals and birds. It is only post WW2 that they are not part of our regular diet.
Picklescott Parish
The first found record for Picklescott is in 1255 when Howel of Picklescott ‘gave a noke’ to Haughmond Abbey. Some say Pickle derives from the name of the owner of the land, Pic can mean the end of a hill. Cott is habitation, house.
Haughmond Abbey owned much of the Long Mynd, with horses and sheep being grazed there. Horses were very important up to the 1stWW but the keeping and breeding of them are rarely documented because they were such a part of life.
Although Picklescott is situated on a stream it was unable to sustain a mill because it is so near to its source on the Long Mynd and so has a variable flow of water. There is little known history pre 1600 when a tailor, glover, shoemaker and baker are listed. A century later spinners and weavers, lived on the common east of the village. The majority of the buildings are post 1700’s, closer examination indicates that some were in existence before that date.
In 1773 a Smithy was erected at Always Cottage by John Partridge, continuing until 1922. A second Blacksmith was working between 1851 and 1870 as was the Wheelwright at Brookhouse and the opposite dwelling until 1922.
The Gatehouse has quite a history, first licensed pub and later a village shop
Today the village is known for The Bottle and Glass, licensed in 1837. Perhaps the most notorious publicans was the Chidleys an old farming family who owned much of the land pre 1900. During the second world war the pub was the meeting place of traders from Birmingham and local residents when rabbits were sold for the cities restaurants.
Woolstaston Parish
Woolstaston is an attractive hamlet, largely set around a green, in 1929 the Parish was amalgamated with Smethcott.
The area is probably named after a person called Wulfston, tune indicates a collection of buildings. A Motte and Bailey was constructed in the late 1000’s. The buildings we see today, date from the end of the 1600’s, The Bowdler’s house and barn are earlier, the barn has a cruck construction and so it may have been a Medieval dwelling. The present Hall dates back to 1671, but it is probably on the site of an older building, William Hill believed its foundations to be built from stones from the old castle. 52 rooms were demolished in 1784 on the instructions of William Whitemore, (the family home was Appley Park, Bridgnorth), the furnishings were distributed/sold among local people, Rev. Carr certainly had furnishings which were originally from the hall.
Perhaps its most famous inhabitant was Reverend Donald Edmund Carr, of ‘The Night in the Snow’ fame. He was also the minister for Rattlinghope church, on the west side of The Long Mynd. On 29thJanuary 1865 he walked to Ratlinghope, over the Long Mynd, to take a service after which he insisted on walking home in the dark and blizzards. He lost his way and spent the night out on The Mynd, drifts of up to 4.5metres and temperatures of 15degrees Centigrade were recorded. The whole country had these severe conditions, resulting in malnutrition and starving animals.
Betchcott Parish
Betchcott, meaning habitation by the stream, is a small hamlet just half a mile south of Picklescott.
Before the dissolution of the Monastries Betchcott had a chaplry which was occupied by a hermitt for a few years. The actual site had not been identified. There is a well by the road behind the post box, and this road has a long history being called a ‘Portway’ and was an important route to Shippen Fields and Pulverbatch, both important local government sites in Medieval times.
Max Wenner was living at Batchcott Hall in 1934, when he bought the manor of Church Stretton. A keen sportsman and naturalist and had a third share in The Long Mynd. He improved the hall, adding a bird sanctuary, fishing lake and ponds. His death was mysterious leading to sensational newspaper accounts that he was a spy and assinated. Rare Earth gives a reasoned account of his life and death although his death is still not fully explained.
Please follow this link for more information on Batchcott Hall.