Village history

Coming from a small settlement within North Shropshire, I am highly proud of my heritage, and my family's role in my village for the previous century. I, myself was the 5th generation in which to attend my primary school, with my mother, uncles, grandmother, great aunts/uncles, great grandparents and great great grandparents all attending previously.

History within my village is rife, with the first recordings being with the 15th century. The original site of Hampton was a high & flat hill overlooking a lowland area known as Bradenheath. The oldest known reference with the 'Welsh' prefix is 1587 which mentions two members of local families, the Kynastons and Hanmers. The Kynastons personally relating to myself, as my mother previously worked on their estate for 15 years, and I frequently spent days roaming their stately home and exquisite gardens as a child.

With my family living in the settlement for over 150 years my personal knowledge of the village is highly evolved with tales being passed down by generation. My great grandparents owned the village post office, and thus became a large hub of the village. One of the stories that my grandmother used to tell me was how her uncle used to place her within his basket as he rode around on his bike delivering newspapers. This being a fond memory for her, as he shortly died during world war two. 

 Buried in Rome, my grandmother later went onto visit his grave within the Rome war cemetery. A personal pilgrimage in which I one day hope to complete.

Although letters, postcards and photographs remain of my great great uncle, my favourite belonging and one of my most treasured items is that of a large fircone. The fircone was not a possession of his, but when my grandmother and her sister visited his grave the fircone was said to fall off the tree and hit my grandmother in the head. Playful in nature, she said that it was just like her uncle to complete such action and thus took it as a sign from him. 

Other than personal relationships with my village, other key events have occurred in which have altered the atmosphere of the village. One of the key events being that of the Cambrian railway disaster, whereby 11 children died as a result of a train overturning. It is also said that during the 18th century disaster the village came to support the those affected by the disaster, with families taking children into care for them. It is also rumoured that amputations occurred within the primary school.

Another key influential event is that of the African prince, Jeremiah Libopuoa Moshueshue, who died in in 1863 as a result of TB and is buried at St Michael and All Angels' Church. Recently the family of the prince attended a service at the church in order to remember their ancestor, a service in which I personally attended.

The church itself was developed by George Gilbert Scott, a prominent architect at the time. When visiting a talk over christmas about the church's history, it was discovered that the church itself was developed by that of the Manwarings-Kynastons. The new church was developed in order to remember the passing of the late sir Manwarings-Kynaston. The old church was knocked down, with the bricks being used to develop a set of terrace housing (whereby the old post office is situated.)

The architect George Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses. Over 800 buildings were designed or altered by him. Scott was the architect of many iconic buildings, including the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station, the Albert Memorial, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, all in London, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow, the main building of the University of Glasgow, St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh and King's College London Chapel.