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A History of Wombridge Parish Church |
by R E Jones BA MSc PhD
THE PARISH
The history of the parish of Wombridge begins with the foundation here of the Augustinian Priory of St. Leonard by William de Hadley, the Manorial Lord of Hadley, his wife, Seburga, and his son, Alan, in about the year 1130. The priory was established in a valley among thick wood-land to the east of Hadley, on and around the site of the present church at Wombridge. It remained a small monastic house, with usually less than half a dozen canons, and passed an uneventful history until its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1536. The only survivals from four hundred years of monastic life at Wombridge are a Commentary on the Psalms from the canons' library, now in the library of Shrewsbury School, and a cartulary, containing copies of the property deeds of the priory. now in the British Library; the name of Priorslee is a reminder of the extent of the local estate of the priory. The tomb of one of the last of the priors of Wombridge, Thomas Forster, who died in 1526, can be seen in Shifnal parish church.
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Soon after the dissolution, the lands of the priory came into the possession of the Charlton family of Apley, near Wellington, who built a house at Wombridge out of the domestic buildings of the priory. The responsibility which the canons had exercised for the religious life of the population living around the priory at Wombridge also passed into lay hands and eventually, in the first half of the 17th century, to the Charltons as well, whose successors in the Apley estate have been patrons of the benefice ever since. In this way. the exclusive religious authority of the canons of Wombridge in the area around their priory survived the Reformation and came into the hands of the Charltons, giving the small parish of Wombridge - 790 acres before the changes of the l9th century - the status of a Donative and Peculiar, outside the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lichfield until the mid 19th century. |
The canons of Wombridge had established both a coal-mine and an iron-forge on their estate in the later Middle Ages and the continued exploitation of the local minerals led in the 17th century to a substantial increase in the numbers of workers in the coal-mines and iron-works around Wombridge, particularly in the southern part of the parish at Coal-pit Bank, now Ketley Bank. The settlement along the London to Holyhead Road at Oakengates, partly inside the eastern boundary of Wombridge parish and partly in Shifnal parish, also began to grow in this period. From half a dozen families in the mid 16th century the population of the parish increased to around 80 families at the end of the 17th century. Population growth continued to gather pace in the 18th century, with the expansion of local industries, and by 1800 Wombridge church was ministering not only to nearly 2,000 people within its own parish boundaries but also to another 3,000 living in the surrounding area, including the rest of Oakengates, whose own parish churches were some distance away.
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A poorly
endowed church, Wombridge was served in the 18th century by local
clergy jointly with neighbouring parishes and after 1808 shared
a minister with the new chapel at Painslane, now St. George's parish
church. Only from the 1840s did Wombridge have its own resident
clergyman, who attained the status of Vicar in 1866 - previously
the benefice had been a Perpetual Curacy. |
THE CHURCH
Nothing now remains of the buildings of the mediaeval priory of Wombridge, except for a few fragments of carved stone and some floor tiles. A fine late 13th century monument of a knight which was originally in the priory church at Wombridge is now in the Abbey church at Shrewsbury. Parts of the walls of some of the outer buildings of the priory could still be seen in the mid 1960s, built into Wombridge Farm across the road from the church, but the farm was then demolished to make way for the present houses. Wombridge church itself stands on the western part of the-site of the mediaeval priory church, the remains of whose east end and Lady Chapel were uncovered beyond the present east end of the church in 1931, but nothing can now be seen above ground. The mediaeval church continued to be used for worship after the dissolution of the priory but it was in an increasingly ruinous condition. In the 17th century parts of the church were used to house a coach and to shelter cattle while some of the stone was taken for building work at Apley Castle. In the 1690s the tower was used as a cart-house and there was no glass in the windows of the part of the building where services were held.
Wombridge Church 1791
The last part of the priory church in use - traditionally believed to have been the Lady chapel - was finally blown down in a storm during the Spring of 1756. It was replaced by a church of brick with stone dressings, seating'a hundred and designed in the classical style, a simple rectangular building with a small west tower. This church was enlarged in 1823-4 to hold another 300 sittings by the addition of north and south transepts with galleries, as well as an eastern apse.
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The whole church was rebuilt in stone in 1869-70 and extended to include north and south aisles and a full- sized chancel. The designs, mainly in the early Decorated Gothic style of c.1300, were the work of George Bidlake, the Wolverhampton architect. The present church has retained many features from the Victorian reconstruction and refurnishing, including the font at the west end, the pulpit, the lectern, the decorative floor-tiles and the ornamentation of the east wall of the chancel. The stained glass in the east window, depicting the parable of the Good Samaritan, dates from the same period and commemorates St. John C. Charlton of Apley Castle, Patron and benefactor of the church, who died in 1873. |
Wombridge Church 1850
The only significant alteration to the building of 1869- 70 has been the conversion of the chapel south of the chancel, known as the Oliver Chapel, into a clergy vestry in 1958. Monuments to Thomas Oliver, Perpetual Curate of Wombridge, who died in 1807, and to his family remain in the clergy vestry but, at the time.of the alteration, the memorial plaque and stained glass commemorating Thomas Oliver's son, James, were removed from the chapel and placed in the north transept - the glass in the two outer lights of the transept window and the plaque below. James oliver, who died in 1867, was a substantial benefactor of Wombridge church and parish, founding the National - i.e. the Church of England - Schools in 1846, which have developed into the local primary and secondary schools of today, as well as giving £900 towards the cost of the rebuilding of the church and donating the fine set of communion plate used by the church ever since. The bible and prayer-book presented to James Oliver by the church when he left the district in 1864 were later returned to Wombridge and the prayer-book remains in regular use at church services today.
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Another 19th century benefactor, William H. Rushton, whose benefactions to the church and parish still survive, although in a modified form, is remembered by a plaque on the wall of the south aisle which sets out his gifts in detail. A long-serving I9th century vicar, William M. Sabben, is commemorated by the stained glass in the south transept window, while the churchyard gates are a memorial to Andrew Forster, a 20th century vicar. |
Wombridge church has been enriched by many memorial gifts in recent years - stained glass, furnishings, ornaments and service and hymn books - too many to be separately listed here; in most cases, details are inscribed on or near the gift. An exception must be made, though, for the wooden font and the table on which it stands near the pulpit. These are the work of a member of the church, Mr E.S. Roberts; a separate leaflet is available describing the design of the font and its significance.
The church's single bell was installed in 1899 and the present organ in 1913.
The register of baptisms and burials at Wombridge dates back to 1721, although there are some gaps in the 18th century; the marriage register only begins in 1802. The large number of marriages recorded in the first half of the lgth century confirms the parish's reputation as a local Gretna Green in that period. Together with other church records not in use, the older registers are now in the safe-keeping of the County Archivist at Shrewsbury.