Bayston Hill
Encyclopedia
Bayston Hill is a large village and civil parish in central Shropshire
, England
. It is 3 miles (5 km) south of the county town Shrewsbury
and located on the main A49 road
, the Shrewsbury to Hereford road.
Occupied continuously since before the Middle Ages the village is now home to over 5,000 residents and mainly serves as a dormitory village for nearby Shrewsbury. The village has a larger than average retired population in comparison to many similar Shropshire villages, but lower than the national average. The village is well served by a range of shops and amenities, several public houses, two churches and one primary school called Oakmeadow.
The adjacent and popular Lyth Hill Country Park
stands above the village.
and there is remaining evidence of both an ancient British Iron Age
hillfort and a Roman settlement located on the village's high grounds. In the Middle Ages the heavily wooded Bayston Hill and Condover area was established as a Royal hunting forest
. A busy rope works complete with its own windmill built in 1835, existed on Lyth Hill in the 19th century; supplying the many mines, farms and barge owners across the district. A church was built alongside the village glebelands in 1843 to serve the local miners, quarrymen and railway navvies.
Standing on the south east side is the village's oldest archeological site of a mounded Iron Age
bivallate hill fort
, relatively low lying for a such a structure and oddly named with the Danish Viking
name of The Burgs, but probably was not called that until sometime between the 14th and 16th centuries.
The village was surveyed for the Domesday Book during the year 1086 and the following list of Norman
nobles and Norse descended freemen were recorded as owning lands within Bayston Hill, or Bestune as it was then called:
was built in 1638 but had fallen into dereliction by 1948. In recent years it has been rescued and renovated and remains a fine representation of a classic 17th century manor.
In 1785 the famous London architect George Steuart designed and built a classically handsome brick mansion house Lythwood Hall for the Blakeway family, which was accessed via a grandiose sweeping driveway through carefully landscaped gardens to the west of the village. Steuart went on to build Attingham Hall for the 1st Lord Berwick but sadly Steuart's earlier Lythwood Hall fell into disrepair under the squireship of the Hulton-Harrop family in the 1890s and after many years of almost dereliction was later split into multi-ownership units and, belying its fine past, now lurks rather sadly up a short track behind a new housing estate.
Bayston Hill was established as a new ecclesiastical parish with the building of Christ Church in 1843 as an amalgamation of sections from the parishes of St. Julian's Shrewsbury
, Meole Brace
and nearby Condover
. The village became a civil parish in the reoganisation of 1967.
runs straight past the village (now the Welsh Marches Line
), Bayston Hill has never had its own railway station, the nearest being situated at Condover
.
The 1920s novels House in Dormer Forest and Seven for a Secret were written at Spring Cottage, Lyth Hill by romantic novelist Mary Webb
who lived in the village on and off for ten years, alternating between Spring Cottage and her London home, until her death in 1927. The action in her most famous novel Precious Bane
took place around the nearby Bomere Pool
, that she called Sarn Mere. The oldest known ghost in Shropshire, a dead Roman soldier, is also reputed to haunt Bomere Pool, the site of a Roman army camp
and its associated civilian settlement
.
A further literary connection can be found in the Brother Cadfael
medieval detective novels of Ellis Peters with much of the action in several stories taking place within the traditional forest, lanes and footpaths in and around Bayston Hill or between the village and other surrounding medieval settlements.
The original 1843 church building at Christ Church still stands and a modern church rebuilt on a site, next to the church's Glebelands in the early 1980s
In 2001 an application to further extend the Bayston Hill quarry was turned down after a detailed survey identified six previously unknown historical sites of archaeological importance that would be destroyed by the proposed extension . These included sections of at least one or possible two AD 43 - 450 Roman roads, two 1066 -1547 medieval or mid 16th century post-medieval roads or trackways, a group of cropmarks suggesting historical earthworks or buildings, and a group of three medieval parish boundary stones.
electoral division that returns one councillor, an appointment currently filled by Ted Clarke.
, which allowed Daniel Kawczynski
of the Conservatives
to be elected as MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham with a majority of 1,808
Bayston Hill stands on an outcropping spur, of a Pre-Cambrian limestone and sandstone sedimentary rock extension of the Longmyndian range, intruding into the Shropshire plain with major appearances at Longden, Lyth Hill, Bayston Hill, and Sharpstone Hill. North of the river Severn it does not outcrop again until it appears east of Shrewsbury as Haughmond Hill. The sediments were laid down under a vast warm ocean, surrounded by many volcanoes that were ground down by later ice age
glaciers which provided the fertile soil that contributed to Bayston Hill becoming a successful farming community throughout medieval times. There are still several active geological fault lines underlying the area and on 2 April 1990 Bayston Hill experienced an earthquake, measuring 5.4 on the Richter Scale, that was centred on nearby Bishop's Castle
.
The village lies just three miles south of Shrewsbury
and is separated from the county town
by the main A5 Trunk road
. It has good road transport links with easy access to both the A49
and A5. To the south lies the pre-Cambrian Lyth Hill, with Sharpstone Hill standing to the east, the latter now mostly a major sandstone quarry with little of the hill itself now remaining after several hundred years of constant quarrying activities.
Only twenty-five percent of the village are aged 60 or over, which is significantly lower than the national average and only 466 individuals were recorded as being over the age of 75.
Of the 2,146 recorded households only 630 had dependent children. Half of the 1,905 owner-occupiers own their own homes outright with the remainder still having mortgages. Of the 2,919 residents in gainful employment, 264 work exclusively from home and of those who travel to places of work, 77 cycle, 132 walk, 170 take the bus and vast majority of 1,966 travel by motor vehicle.
A 2003 housing survey identified that ninety-six percent of village homes were owner occupied, compared to a borough and national average of only seventy-four percent. There is a current under provision of social and housing association properties, particularly in the one-bed and two-bed market for new family starter and retirement housing. It is felt that building of new housing has to be balanced against a general desire amongst residents to keep the village at close to its current size and prevent further overspill towards Shrewsbury.
library which is open all day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday morning and a large doctors surgery The Beeches Medical Practice.
There are two churches in the village, Christ Church near Oakland School is an evangelical Anglican fellowship church and Bayston Hill Methodist Church is on Lansdowne Road.
Within the village are three public houses, The Three Fishes, the Compasses Inn and The Beeches. The Beeches is the only one in the main Bayston Hill the other two are on the main road. Another pub on this road, The Fox, shut down in 2009 but may be reopened.
Unlike many modern rural villages Bayston Hill has managed to retain a compact and busy central parade of shops that include a post office and newsagents, a supermarket, a fish & chip shop, a greengrocers, a baker and a family butchers. The village is also served by a ladies hairdressers and several mobile home hairdressers.
The Village Association organises several well supported annual events, an annual Christmas carol concert at the parade and distributes a free monthly newsletter publication known as the "Villager" to every village household, which contains useful information about local events and amenities.
There is a popular local beauty spot to be found at Parrs Pool and the village is surrounded by attractive open countryside and many well used public footpaths and bridleways. The most frequented local walks and panoramic views can be found at the popular Lyth Hill Country Park.
or Church Stretton
.
There were two primary schools in Bayston Hill both with excellent reputations and good teaching standards. They were Longmeadow and Oakland Primary Schools. Falling pupil numbers led to local discussions about amalgamating the schools. The idea was supported by some and opposed by others in the community. In September 2008 the statutory notices were formally served by Shropshire County Council and the Diocese of Lichfield, stating their intent to discontinue both Oakland and Longmeadow schools as from 31 August 2009. The Diocese of Lichfield was invited to establish a new Church of England school in Bayston Hill on 1 September 2009. After a vote, the new establishment was named Oakmeadow and its uniform purple. The children of junior age are educated on the old Longmeadow site and the infants at Oakland. Planning work may start to add a level to the Longmeadow site to house the whole school, and residents have indicated a preference for the Oakland site to be used by the community
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is 3 miles (5 km) south of the county town Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
and located on the main A49 road
A49 road
The A49 is a major road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. It runs north from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire via Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, then continues through central Cheshire to Warrington and Wigan before terminating at its junction with...
, the Shrewsbury to Hereford road.
Occupied continuously since before the Middle Ages the village is now home to over 5,000 residents and mainly serves as a dormitory village for nearby Shrewsbury. The village has a larger than average retired population in comparison to many similar Shropshire villages, but lower than the national average. The village is well served by a range of shops and amenities, several public houses, two churches and one primary school called Oakmeadow.
The adjacent and popular Lyth Hill Country Park
Country park
A country park is an area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.-History:In the United Kingdom the term 'Country Park' has a special meaning. There are over 400 Country Parks in England alone . Most Country Parks were designated in the 1970s, under the...
stands above the village.
Early History
The village was recorded in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
and there is remaining evidence of both an ancient British Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
hillfort and a Roman settlement located on the village's high grounds. In the Middle Ages the heavily wooded Bayston Hill and Condover area was established as a Royal hunting forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
. A busy rope works complete with its own windmill built in 1835, existed on Lyth Hill in the 19th century; supplying the many mines, farms and barge owners across the district. A church was built alongside the village glebelands in 1843 to serve the local miners, quarrymen and railway navvies.
Standing on the south east side is the village's oldest archeological site of a mounded Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
bivallate hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
, relatively low lying for a such a structure and oddly named with the Danish Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
name of The Burgs, but probably was not called that until sometime between the 14th and 16th centuries.
The village was surveyed for the Domesday Book during the year 1086 and the following list of Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
nobles and Norse descended freemen were recorded as owning lands within Bayston Hill, or Bestune as it was then called:
- Aelfgifu; another Aelfgifu; Aisil; Algar; Almaer; Alsige; Alwig; Azur; Burrer; Countess Godgifu; Eadric; Earl Edwin; Earl Harold; Fech; Godwine; Grimkel; Helgot; Hrafnsvartr; Ingelrann; Karli; Leofwine; Ordgrim; Ordwig; Ralph de Mortimer; Richard; Roger; Sasfrid; Thorgot; Thorsten; Ulf; Walter; Walter of Lorraine, Bishop of Hereford; Wicga; William Pantulf; William de Warenne; Wulfgeat; Wulfric
Fine Buildings
Great Lyth manor houseManor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
was built in 1638 but had fallen into dereliction by 1948. In recent years it has been rescued and renovated and remains a fine representation of a classic 17th century manor.
In 1785 the famous London architect George Steuart designed and built a classically handsome brick mansion house Lythwood Hall for the Blakeway family, which was accessed via a grandiose sweeping driveway through carefully landscaped gardens to the west of the village. Steuart went on to build Attingham Hall for the 1st Lord Berwick but sadly Steuart's earlier Lythwood Hall fell into disrepair under the squireship of the Hulton-Harrop family in the 1890s and after many years of almost dereliction was later split into multi-ownership units and, belying its fine past, now lurks rather sadly up a short track behind a new housing estate.
Bayston Hill was established as a new ecclesiastical parish with the building of Christ Church in 1843 as an amalgamation of sections from the parishes of St. Julian's Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, Meole Brace
Meole Brace
Meole Brace is a suburb of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.The Rea Brook flows through the area, a tributary of the River Severn. The brook was in the past known as the "Meole Brook". The name Meole Brace comes from the old Saxon manor house, which no longer stands, owned by the Brace family...
and nearby Condover
Condover
Condover is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies 4.7 miles south of the county town of Shrewsbury, and just east of the A49. The Cound Brook flows through the village on its way from the Stretton Hills to a confluence with the River Severn...
. The village became a civil parish in the reoganisation of 1967.
Modern History
Although the Shrewsbury and Hereford RailwayShrewsbury and Hereford Railway
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an independently developed English railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire.Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies, became a joint...
runs straight past the village (now the Welsh Marches Line
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
), Bayston Hill has never had its own railway station, the nearest being situated at Condover
Condover
Condover is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies 4.7 miles south of the county town of Shrewsbury, and just east of the A49. The Cound Brook flows through the village on its way from the Stretton Hills to a confluence with the River Severn...
.
The 1920s novels House in Dormer Forest and Seven for a Secret were written at Spring Cottage, Lyth Hill by romantic novelist Mary Webb
Mary Webb
Mary Webb , was an English romantic novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people which she knew. Her novels have been successfully dramatized, most notably the film Gone to Earth in 1950 by Michael...
who lived in the village on and off for ten years, alternating between Spring Cottage and her London home, until her death in 1927. The action in her most famous novel Precious Bane
Precious Bane
Precious Bane is a novel by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize.In 1957 it was made into a six part BBC television drama series starring Patrick Troughton and Daphne Slater...
took place around the nearby Bomere Pool
Bomere Pool
Bomere Pool is a large mere lying between the villages of Bayston Hill and Condover in the county of Shropshire, England, 4.7 miles south of the county town of Shrewsbury. The pool is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest as the most oligotrophic body of water on the Shropshire -...
, that she called Sarn Mere. The oldest known ghost in Shropshire, a dead Roman soldier, is also reputed to haunt Bomere Pool, the site of a Roman army camp
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
and its associated civilian settlement
Vicus (Rome)
In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...
.
A further literary connection can be found in the Brother Cadfael
Cadfael
Brother Cadfael is the fictional main character in a series of historical murder mysteries written between 1977 and 1994 by the linguist-scholar Edith Pargeter under the name "Ellis Peters". The character of Cadfael himself is a Welsh Benedictine monk living at Shrewsbury Abbey, in western England,...
medieval detective novels of Ellis Peters with much of the action in several stories taking place within the traditional forest, lanes and footpaths in and around Bayston Hill or between the village and other surrounding medieval settlements.
The original 1843 church building at Christ Church still stands and a modern church rebuilt on a site, next to the church's Glebelands in the early 1980s
In 2001 an application to further extend the Bayston Hill quarry was turned down after a detailed survey identified six previously unknown historical sites of archaeological importance that would be destroyed by the proposed extension . These included sections of at least one or possible two AD 43 - 450 Roman roads, two 1066 -1547 medieval or mid 16th century post-medieval roads or trackways, a group of cropmarks suggesting historical earthworks or buildings, and a group of three medieval parish boundary stones.
Parish
The village has a parish council which contains 15 elected councillors currently chaired by Mrs Janet Whittall. In early 2008 the council took the radical step of appointing two young persons aged between 14 and 18 to represent the views of the village youth at council meetings.County
The village is a Shropshire CouncilShropshire Council
Shropshire Council is a unitary authority in Shropshire, United Kingdom.It replaced the former two-tier local government structure in the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire on 1 April 2009, which involved its immediate predecessor, Shropshire County Council, and five non-metropolitan districts -...
electoral division that returns one councillor, an appointment currently filled by Ted Clarke.
Westminster
The election in 2005 saw Labour lose many votes to the Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
, which allowed Daniel Kawczynski
Daniel Kawczynski
Daniel Robert Kawczynski is the Conservative Party Member for Parliament for Shrewsbury and Atcham in Shropshire, England.-Biography:...
of the Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
to be elected as MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham with a majority of 1,808
Geography
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
glaciers which provided the fertile soil that contributed to Bayston Hill becoming a successful farming community throughout medieval times. There are still several active geological fault lines underlying the area and on 2 April 1990 Bayston Hill experienced an earthquake, measuring 5.4 on the Richter Scale, that was centred on nearby Bishop's Castle
Bishop's Castle
Bishop's Castle is a small market town in Shropshire, England, and formerly its smallest borough. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,630. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of Shrewsbury. To the south is Clun...
.
The village lies just three miles south of Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
and is separated from the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
by the main A5 Trunk road
Trunk road
A trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road—usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports, and other things.—which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic...
. It has good road transport links with easy access to both the A49
A49 road
The A49 is a major road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. It runs north from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire via Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, then continues through central Cheshire to Warrington and Wigan before terminating at its junction with...
and A5. To the south lies the pre-Cambrian Lyth Hill, with Sharpstone Hill standing to the east, the latter now mostly a major sandstone quarry with little of the hill itself now remaining after several hundred years of constant quarrying activities.
Demography
According to the 2001 census, there were 2,103 households containing a population of 5,247 which makes Bayston Hill one of the most populated villages in Shropshire and larger than many English towns. It is estimated from electoral registrations that since 2001 the village population has probably grown to something over 5,500.Only twenty-five percent of the village are aged 60 or over, which is significantly lower than the national average and only 466 individuals were recorded as being over the age of 75.
Of the 2,146 recorded households only 630 had dependent children. Half of the 1,905 owner-occupiers own their own homes outright with the remainder still having mortgages. Of the 2,919 residents in gainful employment, 264 work exclusively from home and of those who travel to places of work, 77 cycle, 132 walk, 170 take the bus and vast majority of 1,966 travel by motor vehicle.
A 2003 housing survey identified that ninety-six percent of village homes were owner occupied, compared to a borough and national average of only seventy-four percent. There is a current under provision of social and housing association properties, particularly in the one-bed and two-bed market for new family starter and retirement housing. It is felt that building of new housing has to be balanced against a general desire amongst residents to keep the village at close to its current size and prevent further overspill towards Shrewsbury.
Facilities
The village facilities include a Women's Institute, the Mary WebbMary Webb
Mary Webb , was an English romantic novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people which she knew. Her novels have been successfully dramatized, most notably the film Gone to Earth in 1950 by Michael...
library which is open all day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday morning and a large doctors surgery The Beeches Medical Practice.
There are two churches in the village, Christ Church near Oakland School is an evangelical Anglican fellowship church and Bayston Hill Methodist Church is on Lansdowne Road.
Within the village are three public houses, The Three Fishes, the Compasses Inn and The Beeches. The Beeches is the only one in the main Bayston Hill the other two are on the main road. Another pub on this road, The Fox, shut down in 2009 but may be reopened.
Unlike many modern rural villages Bayston Hill has managed to retain a compact and busy central parade of shops that include a post office and newsagents, a supermarket, a fish & chip shop, a greengrocers, a baker and a family butchers. The village is also served by a ladies hairdressers and several mobile home hairdressers.
The Village Association organises several well supported annual events, an annual Christmas carol concert at the parade and distributes a free monthly newsletter publication known as the "Villager" to every village household, which contains useful information about local events and amenities.
There is a popular local beauty spot to be found at Parrs Pool and the village is surrounded by attractive open countryside and many well used public footpaths and bridleways. The most frequented local walks and panoramic views can be found at the popular Lyth Hill Country Park.
Education
There is no secondary school in the village, with children over the age of eleven being attending a range of secondary schools in the rest of ShrewsburyShrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
or Church Stretton
Church Stretton
Church Stretton is a small town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The population of the town was recorded as 2,789 in 2001, whilst the population of the wider parish was recorded as 4,186...
.
There were two primary schools in Bayston Hill both with excellent reputations and good teaching standards. They were Longmeadow and Oakland Primary Schools. Falling pupil numbers led to local discussions about amalgamating the schools. The idea was supported by some and opposed by others in the community. In September 2008 the statutory notices were formally served by Shropshire County Council and the Diocese of Lichfield, stating their intent to discontinue both Oakland and Longmeadow schools as from 31 August 2009. The Diocese of Lichfield was invited to establish a new Church of England school in Bayston Hill on 1 September 2009. After a vote, the new establishment was named Oakmeadow and its uniform purple. The children of junior age are educated on the old Longmeadow site and the infants at Oakland. Planning work may start to add a level to the Longmeadow site to house the whole school, and residents have indicated a preference for the Oakland site to be used by the community
Notable people
- Mary WebbMary WebbMary Webb , was an English romantic novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people which she knew. Her novels have been successfully dramatized, most notably the film Gone to Earth in 1950 by Michael...
- the famous author, born in nearby Leighton and lived in Bayston Hill with her husband for the latter period of her life. - Flight Lieutenant Eric LockEric LockFlight Lieutenant Eric Stanley Lock DSO, DFC & Bar was a fighter ace of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Lock became the RAF's most successful British-born pilot during the Battle of Britain, shooting down 16.5 German aircraft...
- a renowned Battle of BritainBattle of BritainThe Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
RAF pilot, who was born in the village. As one of The FewThe FewThe Few is a term used to describe the Allied airmen of the Royal Air Force who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. It comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "Never, in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few"....
, Lock, shot down sixteen and a half Luftwaffe aircraft during the brief battle and ranked as the highest scoring British born pilot for number of kills. Lock then went on to become one of the highest scoring RAF pilots in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
despite being killed after just twelve months of combat. Eric Lock Road in Bayston Hill is named after him - Christopher TimothyChristopher TimothyChristopher Timothy is a Welsh actor, television director and writer. Timothy is possibly best known today for his role as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small; more recently he has starred as Dr. Brendan 'Mac' McGuire in the British television drama Doctors...
- the TV and film actor lives in the village, famous for portraying James Herriott in the 1980s. More recently he has featured in the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap drama DoctorsDoctors (BBC Soap Opera)Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
.
