The Werps, Jackfield, Shropshire

The lost village of Werps was one of a group of small settlements which later became collectively known as Jackfield in the Broseley Parish in Shropshire. The Werps lay on the south side of the river Severn, opposite the Old Coalport China Works (now Coalport YHA) and records indicate either three or four public houses, although it is unclear as to whether any of their names are renames of the same building or whether re-built on the same site. According to Colin Evans, Telford writing in the Shropshire Star, people, some of whom he went to school with, were still living at the Werps in the 1950s.

The boundaries of The Werps are not well defined but for the purposes of limiting information in this Encyclopedia entry, the River Severn will be considered as its northern boundary, The Tuckies where Werpsfield met the land on which The Duke of Wellington once stood as its western boundary, Preens Eddy its eastern boundary and what was the GWR railway line (now The Severn Way footpath), its southern boundary.

The General Gordon was the last of the pubs in Werps and located quite far back from the river bank. Thomas Beard was its landlord, as well as a bargeowner, until his death in 1902, aged 84. During Beard's time there, the pub was known to have a Quoits Alley thought to be popular with the English quoits champion (see "sport" section). The next landlord was to be Thomas Beard's grandson, George Stephan, whose 4yr old daughter, met with tragedy at the General Gordon Inn one Monday morning in November 1904. During the momentary absence of the mother, the child’s clothing caught fire, and she died from the effects of the burns and shock. This was a case of history repeating itself as George's twin brother Eustace died, at the same age of 4yrs, in the same circumstances back in 1870. The 1911 census shows that George Stephan had retired and the resident Licensed Victualler was then 28yr old Emily Hammond, living there with her husband William and two children. The OS maps of The Werps still marks it as an inn in 1927. Tragedy was to strike the General Gordon again though. In 1937 Charles Herbert Morris, a County Council roadman, aged 52, was killed in a road accident in Madeley. In an extract from the Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News, 1937, his address was stated as the "General Gordon (formerly a licensed house), Werps Road", indicating that The General Gordon had ceased to be a pub before this 1937 accident.

...
Wikipedia