LITTLE WENLOCK
Little Wenlock village lies 4½ km. south of Wellington and 3½ km. west of Dawley. (fn. 88) The civil parish, lying immediately west of Dawley (later
Telford) new town, was greatly extended in 1966;
until then it had formed part of the borough of
Wenlock and its boundaries had remained those of
the ancient parish, the area here treated.
The ancient boundaries rarely followed watercourses or roads, for in early times Little Wenlock
was separated from its neighbours by woodlands
in which boundaries seem to have been defined in
the 13th century by man-made clearings. (fn. 89) At the
southernmost tip the boundary followed Birches
brook and a tributary. Except for a narrow arm of
territory extending northwards from the northeast corner, the ancient parish was compact in
shape. It covered 2,764 a. (fn. 90) (1,119 ha.). The
parish's western edge lies on the flank of the
Wrekin, at a height of c. 245 metres above O.D. A
small valley along the base of the slope separates
the Wrekin from an eastern outlier, called Darrow
Hill in 1839, (fn. 91) which occupies the north-west
quarter of the parish and rises to 258 metres above
O.D., the parish's highest point. The ground
descends gradually from it southwards and eastwards to the parish boundaries. The ancient
parish's northern edge lay along an east-west
watershed at c. 235 metres above O.D., a long
eastern spur of Maddock's Hill (in Wellington
parish). Streams from the sides of Darrow Hill
and the spur, flowing through valleys southwards
and eastwards, drain almost all the parish, several
of them converging on Lyde brook. The undulating landscape was always predominantly agricultural, but before the 19th century the eastern
half was marked by many small coalpits and in
1980 by post-war opencast workings. The high
terrain, well wooded in parts and without main
roads or large settlements, gave most of the parish
a character of quiet seclusion in the late 20th
century, especially by contrast with its neighbour
Telford.
The presence of early man is suggested by two
hoards of Bronze Age weapons found in the
parish's north-west corner, at Willowmoor, c.
1790 and in 1834. (fn. 92) A nearby group of mounds,
however, may be of natural origin. (fn. 93) A burial place
below the Wrekin was noted in 975, (fn. 94) apparently
where Little Wenlock and Wroxeter parishes met
Aston township. (fn. 95) The parish probably took the
Celtic main component of its name from Much
Wenlock, (fn. 96) a few kilometres away, and the presence of Celtic speakers at Little Wenlock cannot
be inferred from it.
In 1727 there were three principal roads out of
the parish, beginning at Little Wenlock or Huntington; the short Huntington Lane (fn. 97) linked the
two places. (fn. 98) Of the three the only one still used as
a highway in 1980, Spout Lane, ran west from
Little Wenlock to Shrewsbury; it formed the
parish boundary south of Wrekin wood and was
mentioned in 1232. (fn. 99) By the 1320S another of the
three ran south from Little Wenlock to Buildwas
bridge (fn. 1) and thence to Much Wenlock; known as
Buildwas Lane in 1980, it was then only a track.
The third road ran north-west from Huntington
to Wellington, by way of the Hatch. It was
superseded in the 19th century (fn. 2) by the road from
Little Wenlock to Wellington, which in 1727 had
been only a cartway as it left the parish.
Another cartway, from Huntington to Arleston, had been a highway (alta via) in 1301 (fn. 3) and
formed the western boundary of the parish's
northern arm. The growth of a mining settlement
later revived its importance, as New Works Lane.
Cartways from Little Wenlock to Coalbrookdale
and Horsehay assumed importance only in the
later 18th century as settlements there developed;
minerals were usually taken by waggonway. (fn. 4)
The Wellington-Coalbrookdale turnpike road
authorized in 1817 (fn. 5) crossed the parish's northern
extremity and its eastern edge. It was the parish's
only classified road in 1980. The principal unclassified roads were those from Little Wenlock to
Wellington and Horsehay. (fn. 6)
There were six alesellers in the late 1780s, (fn. 7) and
in the earlier 19th century many public houses. In
1839 Little Wenlock had five, Coalmoor three,
Horsehay two, and Huntington and Smalleyhill
one each. (fn. 8) By 1881 (fn. 9) there remained only the Swan
(closed by 1901) (fn. 10) and the Spread Eagles (closed
1958) (fn. 11) at Little Wenlock, and the All Labour in
Vain, Horsehay (still open in 1980). The Huntsman opened in Little Wenlock c. 1964. (fn. 12)
In 1803 there were six friendly societies, with
246 members. (fn. 13) By 1812-13 membership had
fallen to 140, but it rose to 162 in 1814-15. (fn. 14) The
societies included one formed at Little Wenlock in
1791, another formed at Coalmoor in 1801, and a
Union Society formed in 1812, which met at
Smalleyhill. A Beneficial Society, formed in 1845,
met at the Spread Eagles. (fn. 15)
There was a church room belonging to Lord
Forester (fn. 16) opposite the church by 1895. The
vestry (fn. 17) and the parochial church council (fn. 18) met
there, and in 1898 it was open for recreation on
Saturdays. (fn. 19) Social gatherings were held in the
school until 1934 when a new village hall opened
south-east of the village. (fn. 20) A local committee
raised the money (fn. 21) and Lord Forester contributed
the proceeds from the sale of the church room. (fn. 22)
The National Coal Board provided a large hall
near the village centre in 1963 and demolished the
old one in advance of opencast working. (fn. 23) A youth
club formed in 1942 (fn. 24) later lapsed; in 1980 it had
recently been revived, the number of young people having increased. (fn. 25)