CHILD'S ERCALL, SHROPSHIRE

Grid Ref: SJ 665 251
19 Sep 2005

St. Michael's spacer Tower
St. Michael's   The tower
The Porch   Sun dial
The Porch   Sun dial

 

Child's Ercall is about 6 miles south of Market Drayton in the Bradford Hundred.   It is mentioned in the Domesday Survey as belonging to Rainald, the Sheriff of Shropshire.  At that time it had a priest indicating a church or chapel, probably of Saxon origin.  The churchyard is roughly circular, which often indicates an ancient even pagan origin for a site. The current church of St. Michael has clearly been through many phases of building.  As seen in the photograph at the top left, the early 16th century tower stands at the west end of what is now the south chapel.  The chancel and north aisle date from 1879.  A 12th century doorway was reset in the chancel as shown in the picture bottom right. The south aisle was widened in early 14th century. The church was not open when we visited.

A wall constructed of stout ashlar blocks near the church shows that a fine house once stood nearby.  The wall has been much patched with stone and brick.  However, Child's Ercall Hall was a farmhouse even in 1868.

Sources:

The Old Parish Churches of Shropshire, by Mike Salter, Folly Publications, 2001, ISBN 1-871731-47-X
A description of Child's Ercall in 1868 is given on the Genuki Page.
The Victoria County History has a page on the Bradford Hundred, which includes Child's Ercall.

index button

Celebrating England
© Craig Thornber, Cheshire, England, UK. Main Site Address: https://www.thornber.net/

W3C HTML Strict W3C CSS