Kinnerley

Kinnerley

Kinnerley village centre
Kinnerley
 Kinnerley shown within Shropshire
Population 1,108 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSJ337209
    London  173miles 
Civil parishKinnerley
Unitary authorityShropshire
Ceremonial countyShropshire
RegionWest Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Oswestry
Postcode district SY10
Dialling code 01691
Police West Mercia
Fire Shropshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK ParliamentNorth Shropshire
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire

Coordinates: 52°46′52″N 2°58′55″W / 52.781°N 2.982°W / 52.781; -2.982

Kinnerley (Welsh: Chen-ar-dinlle) is a small village in Shropshire, England.

The village was a stop on the now defunct Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway, that ran from 1866 to 1960. The village today has a primary school, a church, a cemetery, and a shop. Its pub (the Cross Keys) closed in 2014 following a fire.[2] On the 1st October 2015 the pub was purchased as a community asset to be refurbished and re-opened in the future. It is a small village separating neighbouring villages Dovaston and Pentre and the nearest town is Oswestry. To the north is the village of Knockin.

It is home to the acting society known as "The Kinnerley Players" and also has its own football team.

History

Belan Bank Motte

A mile to the south is the motte and bailey castle known as Belan Bank.

John Bridgeman, Bishop of Chester, who died in 1652, is buried in the church.[3]

Wartime role

In the Second World War the area around the village became a top-secret bomb storage depot. Kinnerley was chosen because of its central location within the UK and because it had a railway link. The line was operated by the military (until it was closed in 1960).

The huge site, which had extensive sidings and covered buildings, was created by the Royal Engineers:

More than 200 huge storage sheds, camouflaged and decked out with turfed roofs, were built around the village of Kinnerley. Each was served by a railway siding which entered each building, allowing the highly dangerous cargo to be unloaded inside. BBC

The area was heavily guarded and was not declassified till the mid 1950s.

References

  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  2. "Call for villagers to attend meeting over future of pub". Shropshire Star. 17 January 2015. p. 5.
  3.  "Bridgeman, John". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

External links

Media related to Kinnerley at Wikimedia Commons


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.