Battlefield, Shropshire Family History Guide
Battlefield is an Ancient Parish in the county of Shropshire.
Other places in the parish include: Huffley.
Parish church: St. Mary Magdalene
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1665
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1630
Nonconformists include:
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BATTLEFIELD, a parish and a subdistrict in the district of Atcham, Salop. The parish lies adjacent to the Crewe and Shrewsbury railway, 1½ mile S by E of Hadnall station, and 3 NNE of Shrewsbury. Post Town, Hadnall under Shrewsbury. Acres, 850. Rated property, £939. Pop., 81. Houses, 17. The property is divided among a few. Here was fought the battle in 403, in which Harry Hotspur was slain, and Douglas captured. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £233. Patron,-A. W. Corbet, Esq The church was erected by Henry IV. to commemorate his victory over Hotspur; is chiefly perpendicular English; and was restored in 1861. A fair is held on 2 Aug. The subdistrict comprises five parishes, two chapelries, and an extra-parochial tract. Acres, 11,554. Pop., 1,881. Houses, 395.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Battlesfield, 3 m. N.N.E. Shrewsbury. P. 64
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
BATTLEFIELD (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Atcham, liberties of Shrewsbury, N. division of Salop, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from Shrewsbury; containing 64 inhabitants. This place derives its name from a sanguinary battle fought here on the 22nd of July, 1403, between Henry IV. and the rebels under Percy, Earl of Northumberland; in which nearly 2300 gentlemen (among whom was Lord Henry Percy, the valiant Hotspur), and about 600 private soldiers, were slain. The king, in grateful commemoration of the victory, immediately founded on the spot a college for Secular clerks, the revenue of which, at the Dissolution, was £54. 10. 4. The parish comprises by computation 700 acres, and is situated on the road from Shrewsbury to Whitchurch and Drayton. A fair for horned-cattle and sheep is held on the 2nd of August. The living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £240, derived from land; it is in the patronage of Mrs. Corbet, to whom also the impropriation belongs. The church, built upon the spot on which the battle of Shrewsbury was fought, suffered much in the time of the commonwealth, but would, if restored, be a beautiful specimen of the perpendicular style.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Gregory Shropshire Gazetteer 1824
Battlefield. A parish in the liberties of Shrewsbury, a curacy, in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, the deanery of Salop, and archdeaconry of Salop. 13 houses, 64 inhabitants. 3 miles north-east by north of Shrewsbury. Fair, August 2, for horned cattle and sheep. See appendix.
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
The History and Topography of Shropshire 1820
Q. What is Battlefield?
A. Battlefield, about four miles north of Shrewsbury, is the scene of the great battle between Henry IV. and Henry Percy, son to the Earl of Northumberland. Victory declaring for the King, in consequence of the death of Percy, he erected a church on the spot in testimony of his gratitude, but it is now in a ruinous condition. Under a tumulus near the churchyard, the slain in that memorable engagement lie buried.
Q. Describe Haughmond Abbey.
A. Haughmond Abbey is a picturesque ruin, a little to the east of Battlefield. It was formerly a religious house for regular canons of St. Augustine, founded in the year 1100, by William Fitz-Alan. Situated on a rising ground, and backed by an extensive forest, these ruins form an interesting object. The south door of the nave of the abbey church, the chapter house, the refectory, and a spacious hall, are the only parts of the edifice that are not wholly decayed.
Source: The History and Topography of Shropshire; William Pinnock Jolibois; 1820.
Battlefield Parish Registers
The Registers of Battlefield, Shropshire 1665-1812
Transcriptions
Battlefield Parish Registers 1805 to 1812
Battlefield Parish Registers 1800 to 1804
Battlefield Parish Registers 1795 to 1799
Battlefield Parish Registers 1790 to 1794
Battlefield Parish Registers 1780 to 1789
Battlefield Parish Registers 1770 to 1779
Battlefield Marriages 1754 to 1774
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Shropshire Historical Directories
Directory Transcriptions
Battlefield – Cassey Directory of Shropshire 1871
Battlefield is a village and parish, 3 miles from Shrewsbury, and 2 from Hadnal, in the Northern division of the county, Albrighton division, Atcham union, and diocese of Lichfield. The church of St. Mary Magdalen was restored, mainly through the munificence of the late Lady Brinckman, of Sandorne Castle. The living is a vicarage, annual value £234, in the gift of the Rev. John D. Corbet. The principal landowners are the Rev. John D. Corbet and Wm. Sparrow, Esq. The charities amount to £1 13s. 6d. The soil is strong loam and clay; subsoil, clay and sand. The area is 1,000 acres, and the population in 1861 was 81; gross estimated rental, £1,348; rateable value, £1,278.
Letters arrive at 7 30 a.m.
Davies Mrs. Battlefield house
Pigott Rev. Arthur J., B.A.
Mansell Rev. William Surman
Winnall Richard, esq. Mount house
Colley Henry, farmer, Huffley
Lloyd Thomas, farmer, Albright Hussey
Walters John, Lion inn
Wright William, farm bailiff
Source: Edward Cassey & Co’s, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire 1871
Bagshaw History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire 1851
BATTLEFIELD is a small parish, pleasantly situated three and a quarter miles N.N.E. from Shrewsbury, which contains 1,008a. 0r. 3p. of land, the whole of which is the property of Andrew William Corbet, Esq., of Sundorne Castle. In 1801 there was a population of 83 souls; in 1831, 70; and in 1841 there were 14 houses and 64 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,008. 6s. 8d. The name is derived from the battle fought here on the 21st of July, 1403, between Henry IV. and the forces under Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and generally denominated the battle of Shrewsbury, which will be found noticed in a preceding page. The king afterwards built a collegiate church for secular canons, upon the spot where the battle was fought, and “endowed it with a piece of ground, with all the buildings on it, within the lordship of Albrighton Husee, in the field called Battlefield, which piece of ground was ditched in, and contained in length and breadth two acres of land, together with two inlets and outlets along the lands of Richard Husee, one twenty feet wide and the other fifteen feet wide.” No doubt appropriate buildings for the residence of the canons and servants of the establishment were erected on the land inside this ditch: these probably were demolished at the period of the dissolution of monasteries, but no remains of them are now to be seen.
The Church, a venerable fabric dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, consists of nave, chancel, and embattled tower ornamented with pinnacles; the nave, however, has long been roofless, the windows are destroyed, and the tower is in a dilapidated state. Divine worship is now performed in the chancel, which has been neatly fitted up, and a new font recently added. The fine east window was formerly richly adorned with stained glass. In a recess on the south side of the altar is a mutilated carving of the Virgin Mary, with a small figure of the dead Saviour on her lap. A beautiful monument of the white Grinshill freestone, enriched with Gothic tracery, remembers John Corbet, Esq., Emma Elizabeth, his wife, and John Kynaston Corbet, their son. About half a century ago, when the vault was made in which rest the remains of Mr. Corbet, the workmen discovered an ancient stirrup and bridle bit, which had lain among the ashes of the slain since the period of the battle which gave origin to the church. Near the chancel wall, surrounded by pallisades, is the tomb of the Rev. Edward Williams, incumbent of this parish and Uffington, who died on January 3, 1833, aged 70 years. The living is a perpetual curacy, returned at £233, in the patronage of A. W. Corbet, Esq.; incumbent, Rev. J. O. Hopkins, who is also the perpetual curate of Uffington.
Albright Hussey, an ancient moated residence, situated about half a mile from Battlefield church, was formerly the seat of the Husseys, a family of consequence in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The mansion, in the reign of Charles I., became the seat of the Corbets, who resided there for more than one hundred years. One of the rooms has a fine oak chimney piece, most elaborately carved. Near to the mansion formerly stood a chapel, the remains of which, and the old font, are still to be seen. Roger Roe, rector of the chapel of St. John the Baptist, at Albrighton Husee, by his will, dated 1444, ordered his body to be buried near the high altar of Battlefield church, and bequeathed to the five chaplains in the college three silver chalices, one paxbrede of silver gilt, two silver cruets, three brass bells hanging in the belfry, two cases after the manner of Sarum, otherwise called lyggers, three gilt copper crosses, two new missals, two new graduals, three old missals covered with old leather, one old case, one processional, one executor of the office, one book of collects, four placebo and dirage, one pair of vestments of red velvet, one red velvet cope, two velvet dalmatics, one pair of vestments of white silk, one white silk cope, and four pair of other vestments. Mrs. Margaret Jones, in 1773, left £50, and directed the interest to be given to the poor of the parish on Easter Sunday.
Directory.—Henry Colley, farmer, Huffley; Edward Moreton, farmer, Allbright Hussey; Martha Winnall, farmer, Battlefield farm
Source: History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire by Samuel Bagshaw 1851
Administration
- County: Shropshire
- Civil Registration District: Atcham
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Lichfield
- Rural Deanery: Shrewsbury
- Poor Law Union: Atcham
- Hundred: Albrighton Division
- Province: Canterbury