Cheswardine
| Cheswardine, Shropshire | |
|---|---|
 Cheswardine, High Street |
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 Cheswardine, Shropshire
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| Cheswardine, Shropshire shown within Shropshire | |
| Population | 1,076 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SJ720299 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MARKET DRAYTON |
| Postcode district | TF9 |
| Dialling code | 01630 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Shropshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Cheswardine is a rural village and civil parish in north east Shropshire, England. The village lies close to the border with Staffordshire and is about 8 miles north of Newport and 5 miles south east of Market Drayton. At the 2001 Census, the parish (which also includes the villages of Chipnall and Soudley as well as several small hamlets such as Goldstone and Ellerton), had a population of 991 people, increasing to 1,076 at the 2011 Census.
The name Cheswardine, recorded in 1086 as Ciseworde, in 1189 as Chesewordin and about 1650 as Cheswardyne, is probably derived from the Old English for "cheese-producing settlement".
Cheswardine was mentioned in the Domesday book, when the manor was held by Robert of Stafford, but is probably a much older settlement, with the church likely being built on an ancient fortified site.
Land 130 metres (430 ft) north of the church was granted to Hamon le Strange in 1155 and a manor house surrounded by a moat built soon after. The manor were rebuilt as a small castle between 1250 and 1350. Ownership passed to the Earl of Arundel and Surrey in 1376. The moat, earthworks and some buried ruins remain and Cheswardine Castle was scheduled as a historical monument in 1976.
The parish church, dedicated to St Swithun, overlooks Cheswardine from the hill at the top of the village. This is at least the third church on this site, and was rebuilt in 1887 - 1889 under the direction of the esteemed architect John Loughborough Pearson, who died before the work was completed. The work was completed with the assistance of funding by the then squire of the Cheswardine Estate, Charles Donaldson-Hudson, who evidently provided half of the estimated cost of £8,500.
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Wikipedia