Atcham, Shropshire Family History Guide
Atcham is an Ancient Parish in the county of Shropshire.
Alternative names: Attingham
Other places in the parish include: Betton or Abbots Betton, Berwick, Chilton, Uckington, Emstrey, and Cronkhill.
Parish church: St. Eata
Parish registers begin: 1621
Nonconformists include: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
Atcham
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
ATCHAM, a township, a parish, a subdistrict, and a district in Salop. The township lies at the influx of the Tern to the Severn, 2 miles SSW of Upton-Magna r. station, 4 SE of Shrewsbury, and 6¼ W by N of the Wrekin. It also bears the name of Attingham; and has an inn. The parish includes also the townships of Berwick, Chilton, Cronkhill, Emstray, and Uckington; and has a post office under Shrewsbury. Acres, 3,762. Real property, £4,851. Pop., 406. Houses, 92. The property is divided among a few. Attingham Hall is the seat of Lord Berwick, and contains a fine gallery of paintings, chiefly by the early Italian masters, also a fine collection of Etruscan vases and other antiquities from Herculaneum. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £330. Patron, R. Burton, Esq. The church has a good Norman doorway, an old porch, a reading-desk with carved panels, and an ivy-covered square tower; but is in very bad condition. Charities, £84. Ordericus Vitalis, the historian, born in 1074, was a native. The subdistrict comprises the parishes of Atcham, Uppington, Leighton, Eaton-Constantine, and Wroxeter. Acres, 12,316. Pop., 1,699. Houses, 347. The district comprehends also the subdistrict of Battlefield, containing the parishes of Battlefield, Preston-Gubbals, Uffington,-Upton-Magna, and Withington, the extra-parochial tract of Hanghmond-Demesne, and part of the parish of St. Mary-Shrewsbury; the subdistrict of Montford, containing the parishes of Montford, Melverley, Shrawardine, and Fitz; the sub district of Alberbury, containing the parishes of Cardeston and Ford, and part of the parish of Alberbury, portions of which are electorally in Montgomery; the subdistrict of Westbury, conterminate with the parish of Westbury; the subdistrict of Pontesbury, containing the parishes of Pontesbury, Habberley, and Great Hanwood; and the subdistrict of Condover, containing the parishes of Condover, Harley, Shineton, Cound, Kenley, Hughley, Church-Preen, Acton-Burnell, Frodesley, Pitchford, Berrington, Sutton, Stapleton, and Church-Pulverbatch. Poor-rates in 1866, £8,972. Pop. in 1841, 18,842; in 1861, 19,455. Houses, 3,848. Marriages in 1866, 105; births, 538,-of which 36 were illegitimate; deaths, 344,-of which 75 were at ages under 5 years, and 27 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60. 974; births, 5,352; deaths, 3,499. The places of worship in 1851 were 43 of the Church of England, with 9,027 sittings; 9 of Independents, with 1,299 s.; 4 of Baptists, with 433 s.; 5 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 290 s.; 1 of New Connexion Methodists, with 96 s.; 16 of Primitive Methodists, with 1,219 s.; 1 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 125 s.; 1 of Latter Day Saints, with 40 s.; and 1 of Roman Catholics, with 170 s. The schools were 29 public day schools, with 1,703 scholars; 24 private day schools, with 388 s.; and 32 Sunday schools, with 1,391 s. The workhouse is in Berrington.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851
Atcham, or Attingham, a parish in the Wellington division of the hund. of South Bradford, union of Atcham, Salop; 4 miles south-east from Shrewsbury; on a bend of the Severn, and on the post-road from Shrewsbury to Shiffnall. The living is a discharged vicarage in the archd. of Salop and dio. of Lichfield; rated at £11 6s. 8d.; gross income £267. Patron, in 1835, R. Burton, Esq. Charities to the peer of this parish produce £85 per annum. In 1833 there was a daily school here, with 80 scholars. The Atcham poor-law union comprehends 43 parishes, containing a population, returned, in 1831 , at 17,819; The average annual expenditure on the poor of the district, during the three years preceding the formation of the union, was £9,768. Expenditure, in 1838, £4,943. Pop., in 1801, 430; in 1831, 463. Houses 87. Acres 3,490. A. P. £4,144. Poor rates, in 1837, £440 Attingham-hall, the seat of Lord Berwick, contains a fine gallery of paintings, chiefly by the early Italian masters, also a fine collection of Etruscan vases and other antiquities from Herculaneum.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Atcham, 7 m. W.S.W. Wellington. P. 513
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
ATCHAM, a parish, and the head of a union, in the Wellington division of the hundred of South Bradford, N. division of Salop, 4 miles (S. E. by E.) from Shrewsbury; containing 513 inhabitants. The Roman Watling-street passes through the parish, and here crosses the Severn. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £11. 6. 8.; net income, £240; patron, R. Burton, Esq.; impropriators, Lord Berwick, R. Burton, Esq., and others. A school is supported by Mr. Burton; and divers sums are distributed annually among the necessitous, the principal of which is one of about £40, arising out of an estate devised by Elizabeth Jones, in 1733. The poor-law union of Atcham comprises 43 parishes and places.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Atcham. A parish in the Wellington division of Bradford, South. A vicarage discharged, in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, the deanery of Salop, and archdeaconry of Salop. 86 houses, 489 inhabitants. 3 ½ miles southeast of Shrewsbury.
Source: The Shropshire Gazetteer, with an Appendix, including a Survey of the County and Valuable Miscellaneous Information, with Plates. Printed and Published by T. Gregory, Wem, 1824
Betton or Abbots Betton
Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Betton; or Abbots Betton. A township in the parish of Atcham, and in the hundred of Condover. 3 south-east of Shrewsbury.
Source: The Shropshire Gazetteer, with an Appendix, including a Survey of the County and Valuable Miscellaneous Information, with Plates. Printed and Published by T. Gregory, Wem, 1824.
Chilton
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales Circa 1870
Chilton, a hamlet in Atcham parish, Salop; 3 ¼ miles SE of Shrewsbury.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Chilton or Chelton. A township in the parish of Atcham, and in the hundred of Condover. 3 ½ miles south-east of Shrewsbury
Source: The Shropshire Gazetteer, with an Appendix, including a Survey of the County and Valuable Miscellaneous Information, with Plates. Printed and Published by T. Gregory, Wem, 1824
Cronkhill
Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Cronkhill. A township in the parish of Atcham, and in the hundred of Condover. 4 miles south-east of Shrewsbury.
Source: The Shropshire Gazetteer, with an Appendix, including a Survey of the County and Valuable Miscellaneous Information, with Plates. Printed and Published by T. Gregory, Wem, 1824
Emstrey
Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Eamstry. A township in the parish of Atcham, and in the hundred of Condover. 2 miles south-east of Shrewsbury.
Source: The Shropshire Gazetteer, with an Appendix, including a Survey of the County and Valuable Miscellaneous Information, with Plates. Printed and Published by T. Gregory, Wem, 1824
Longner
Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Longner. A township in the parish of Atcham, and in the liberties of Shrewsbury.
It is the seat of the ancient family of the Burtons, and is distant three and a half miles S.E. from Shrewsbury, to the left of the London road. The house, which has been wholly rebuilt and decorated by its present owner, is delightfully situated on an eminence, commanding a beautiful view of the surrounding county, and of the Severn, which rolls immediately beneath it. Nature seems to have been extremely favourable to this spots and art, where it was deemed necessary, has contributed to its embellishment; the views up and down the river, and over the adjoining highly cultivated and well wooded country, are peculiarly picturesque and beautiful, affording a great variety of fine landscape scenery.
In the garden is a tomb placed over the body of Edward Burton, Esq., who was buried here in consequence of the refusal of the Roman Catholic Curate of St. Chad’s, Shrewsbury, to permit his interment in the common receptacle of the dead of that parish. He was a zealous protestant; and died suddenly, in a transport of joy, at Longner, in 1558, on hearing of the death of Queen Mary, and the release of the kingdom from the persecutions of the clergy. The following is the epitaph placed on the tomb, written by Sir Andrew Corbet, Bart., in 1614:-
‘Was’t for denying Christ, or some notorious fact,
That this man’s body christian burial lack’d ?
O no! his faithful true profession
Was the chief cause, which then was held transgression
When Pop’ry here did reign, the See of Rome,
Would not admit to any such a tomb
Within their Idol Temple walls :- but he,
Truly professing Christianity,
Was, like Christ Jesus, in a garden laid
Where he shall rest in peace, till it be said
Come faithful servant, come, receive with me,
A just reward for they integrity. – 1614.’
The family of the Burtons have ever been esteemed for those virtues which adorn and dignify human nature, and for that unassuming piety which marks the Christian. Nor has this character lost any thing in the person of the present possessor of the Longner estate – Robert Burton, Esq.; this gentleman, together with his amiable lady, being continually employed in distributing the bounties of providence in a judicious and benevolent manner.
In the hall at Longner are the following beautiful paintings: – Rome, Florence, Venice with the Rialto, the Bay of Naples, and a view in Italy, by Marlow, – A Storm, by Van Eest – the Custom house at Venice, by Carnaletti, – A Spanish Bull Hunt, by Schneider, – Portraits of Mrs. Burton, and her sister, by Pickersgill, and of Judge Burton’s lady, by Sir Godfrey Kneller. There is also a variety of beautiful prints, among which, are the busts of two Zealand Youths, Tooi, and Teeterrie, who were on a visit some time at Longner.
Source: The Shropshire Gazetteer, with an Appendix, including a Survey of the County and Valuable Miscellaneous Information, with Plates. Printed and Published by T. Gregory, Wem, 1824
Atcham Parish Registers
Atcham Parish Registers 1619-1812, Marriages to 1837
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Shropshire Historical Directories
Administration
- County: Shropshire
- Civil Registration District: Atcham
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Hereford (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Lichfield
- Rural Deanery: Shrewsbury
- Poor Law Union: Atcham
- Hundred: South Bradford
- Province: Canterbury