Wroxeter, Shropshire Family History Guide

Wroxeter is charmingly situated on elevated ground, near the eastern banks of the Severn, and is surrounded by a rich and beautiful country; it is a parish of the supremest interest, because of the great associations which belong to it owing to the Roman occupation of Shropshire; it lies six miles southeast from Shrewsbury, and is in the hundred of South Bradford, rural deanery of Wrockwardine, archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Lichfield.

It comprises the townships of Wroxeter, Donnington, Dryton, Eyton-on-Severn, Norton and Rushton; and it contains within its area the site of the ancient city of Uriconium, which covered about one hundred and seventy acres. Its total area is 5,953 acres, and its population in 1801 was 544, and in 1901, 499 in the ecclesiastical and 566 in the civil parish¹.

Parish church: St. Andrew

Parish registers begin: 1613

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Parish History

Wroxeter

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

WROXETER, a village and a parish in Atcham district, Salop. The village stands on Watling-street and on the river Severn, 2¾ miles SSE of Upton-Magna r. station, 3¾ W of the Wrekin, and 5¾ SE by E of Shrewsbury; was known to the ancient British as Caer-Vrauch, -to the Romans as Uriconium, to the Saxons as Wrecinceastre; has most interesting remains of a Roman town, once 3 miles in circuit, and defended by a rampart 9 feet thick; has yielded great numbers and great variety of interesting Roman relics; is believed to possess rich wealth of other Roman relics underground, and capable of recovery by excavation; was, for a considerable time, the capital of the Cornavii; suffered devastation by the Saxons and the Danes; forms the subject of many learned papers in various periodicals, and of a recent work entitled “A Guide to Uriconium;” and has a post-office under Shrewsbury. The parish includes five townships, and comprises 4,774 acres. Real property, £5,670. Pop., 616. Houses, 120. The manor belongs to the Duke of Cleveland; and much of the property to Lord Berwick. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £330. Patron, the Duke of Cleveland. The church is good; and there are an endowed grammar-school with £50 a year, and charities £7.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

WROXETER (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Atcham, Wellington division of the hundred of South Bradford, N. division of Salop, 5¾ miles (S. E. by E.) from Shrewsbury; containing 636 inhabitants. This place, which is noticed by Nennius, in his catalogue of British cities, as Caer Vrauch, is supposed to have obtained that appellation from its situation near the Wrekin mountain. It was called by the Saxons Wrekinceastre, from which its modern name is obviously derived. By most writers it is identified with the Uriconium of Antoninus, and the Viriconium of Ptolemy, an important Roman station on the north-east bank of the Severn, in the bed of which, at low water, here maybe traced some foundations of an ancient stone building, supposed to have been a bridge. The Roman Watling-street passed through the centre of the station, and crossed the river at Wroxeter Ford, from which point it branched off towards Church-Stretton. The city was inclosed with walls three yards in thickness, extending for three miles in circumference, and surrounded by a rampart and fosse. It flourished for a considerable time as the metropolis of the Cornavii, but suffered greatly during the Saxon wars, and is said to have been destroyed by the Danes. The parish is bounded on the west by the Severn, and comprises by admeasurement 5000 acres, of which the greater portion is arable. The soil is generally a rich loam, alternated with gravel; the surface is undulated, and the substratum contains coal, which is partially wrought. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £11. 8., and in the gift of the Duke of Cleveland: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £606. 6., the vicarial for £260, and the glebe comprises 26 acres. The church is an ancient structure. A free grammar school was established at Donnington, in the parish, in 1627, by Thomas Alcock, who endowed it with 20 marks per annum, which endowment was augmented in 1652 with a bequest of the same amount by Richard Stevinton. It is entitled to two exhibitions to Christ-Church College, Oxford, founded by Mr. Careswell, who instituted others in that college for scholars of Bridgnorth, Newport, Shiffnall, Shrewsbury, and Wem. The sums allowed to the exhibitioners are, £60 to each under-graduate, and £70 to each undergraduate being a commoner; £21 to each bachelor of arts if not resident, and £60 if resident; and £27 to each master of arts. Of the ancient city of Uriconium, from the ruins of which arose the present town of Shrewsbury, some portions are still remaining; and within the area have been found numerous coins and vestiges of Roman antiquity.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Donnington

Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824

Donnington. A township in the parish of Wroxeter, and in the Wellington division of Bradford, South. 4 miles north-east of Wellington.

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

Eyton upon Severn

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales Circa 1870

Eyton-upon-Severn, a township in Wroxeter parish, Salop; on the river Severn, 5 ½ miles NW by N of Much-Wenlock.

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

Eyton-upon-Severn, a hamlet and chapelry in the parish of Wroxeter, county of Salop; 5½ miles north-west by north of Much-Wenlock. Living, a curacy to the vicarage of Wroxeter. Returns with the parish

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.

Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England 1845

Eyton-Upon-Severn, a chapelry, in the parish of Wroxeter, union of Atcham, Wellington division of the hundred of South Bradford, N. division of Salop, 6¾ miles (N. W. by N.) from Much Wenlock. The chapel is dedicated to All Saints.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.

Eyton and Dryton

Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824

Eyton and Dryton. A township in the parish of Wroxeter, and in the Wellington division of the hundred of Bradford, South. 7 miles south-west 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.

Norton

Shropshire Gazetteer 1824

Norton. A township in the parish of Wroxeter, and in the Wellington division of the hundred of Bradford, South. 5 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

Wroxeter Parish Registers

Wroxeter Parish Registers 1613-1812

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Shropshire Parish Registers Diocese of Lichfield Vol. 11 (1911)

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Parish Records

FamilySearch

FamilySearch – Birth Marriage & Death Census Migration & Naturalization Military Probate & Court

Church records

Bishop’s transcripts for Wroxeter, 1631-1867

Parish chest records, 1683-1921

Parish poor law records, 1658-1851

Parish registers for Wroxeter, 1618-1900

Registers of Wroxeter

Church records – Indexes

Computer printout of Wroxeter, Shrops., Eng

Cemeteries

Monumental inscriptions of St. Andrew’s Church, Wroxeter, Shropshire, 1702-1969

Census

Census returns for Wroxeter, 1841-1891

Poorhouses, poor law, etc.

Parish chest records, 1683-1921

Parish poor law records, 1658-1851

Schools

School records for Wroxeter and Uppington, 1876-1967

Shropshire Historical Directories

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The Post Office Directory of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and the City of Bristol 1863

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Directory Transcriptions

Wroxeter Cassey Shropshire Directory 1875

Wroxeter is a village and parish, with the townships of Donnington, Dryton, Eyton-on-Severn, Norton, and Rushton, about six miles from Shrewsbury, in the Northern division of the county, Wellington division of South Bradford hundred, Atcham union, and diocese of Lichfield. The church of St. Andrew is a very ancient stone edifice. There is a monument to the memory of Lord Chief Justice Bromley, who was left executor to King Henry VIII. A short time ago an Eastern sepulchre was discovered in the chancel wall. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £330, with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Cleveland. Wroxeter was the Roman station Uriconium. During the last few years considerable explorations have been undertaken on its site, in the course of which very interesting discoveries have been made in connection with the Roman town. Extensive portions of the walls of buildings, and hypocausts, which stood therein, have been laid open, affording, by examination, an insight into the condition of the inhabitants of Roman Britain. In the course of the excavations two new classes of Roman pottery, both evidently made in Shropshire, have been turned up, as well as some curious glass and metal vessels, numerous specimens of personal ornaments, many of which are hairpins, made of bone and bronze, fibulae, finger rings, bracelets, glass beads, combs, and bone needles, as well as a great variety of other objects of a miscellaneous character, with quantities of Roman coins. The Roman cemetery, which appears to have commenced about 150 yards from the north gate, and to have extended easterly along the side of the road, has also been explored to some extent, when a great number of interments were found, but hitherto no traces of the burial of the dead but by burning. Many urns were discovered, which appear to have been deposited in small pits, or rows. Beslow, about one and a half mile from the church, is a genteel residence, in the occupation of George Juckes, Esq. Eyton-on-Severn, now the residence of T. L. Meire, Esq., was formerly the seat of the Newport and the Bradford families. The house is pleasantly situated on rising ground, and commands pleasing views of the windings of the Severn and the Welsh mountains. On one of the octagon towers is carved on a stone the following inscription :- “This coppice adjoining was raised by acrons [sic] sowed at Michaelmas, 1663.” Near the river are two caves hewn out of the sandstone rocks. At Donnington is a free school, with a house for the master, who is appointed by the Duke of Cleveland. The Duke of Cleveland and Lord Berwick are the principal landowners. There are charities of about £10 yearly value. The soil is light loam; subsoil, gravel and clay. The population in 1861 was 616, with the townships of Donnington, Dryton, Eyton, Norton, and Rushton. The entire area is 4,774 acres; gross estimated rental, £6,746; rateable value, £6,296.

Assistant overseer, vestry clerk, postmaster, coal and salt merchant, and registrar of births and deaths for the Atcham district, Henry Weatherby.

Letters through Shrewsbury, at 7 30 a.m.; box closes at 4 50; dispatched at 5 p.m.