In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Whitchurch like this:
WHITCHURCH, a town in Salop, a parish partly also in Cheshire, a district partly likewise in Flint, but all registrationally in Salop, and a division electorally in Salop. The town stands at the terminus of a short branch of the Ellesmere canal, and at the junction of the railways from Shrewsbury and Oswestry to Crewe, 19 miles N by E of Shrewsbury; was anciently called Blancminster; had an hospital before the time of Henry II., and an ancient castle; is a seat of petty-sessions and county-courts, and a polling place; occupies a gentle eminence, amid pleasant environs; was recently improved by the formation of sewage-works; carries on brewing, malting, iron-founding, and machine-making; and has a head post-office,‡ r. ...
stations with telegraph, two banking-offices, three chief inns, a police station, a town hall, a newsroom, a church rebuilt in 1713, four dissenting chapels, an endowed grammar-school with £459 a year, another endowed school with £50, a working men's club, a young men's institute, alms houses with £216, a workhouse, general charities £209, a weekly market on Friday, and 4 annual fairs. Pop. in 1861, 3,704. Houses, 793. The parish includes 12 townships in Salop, and one in Cheshire; and comprises 15,416 acres. Real property, £34,477; of which £225 are in gasworks. Pop., 6,093. Houses, 1,280. The manor belongs to Earl Brownlow. The living is a rectory, united with Marbury, in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £1,458.* Patron, Earl Brownlow. A chapel of ease is at Dodington; and the p. curacies of Ash and Tilstock are separate benefices.—The district contains three entire parishes, and a large portion of Malpas parish; is divided into the sub-districts of Whitchurch and Malpas; and was formerly a part of Wem district. Acres, 39,076. Poor rates in 1863, £5,044. Pop., 11,272. Houses, 2,337. Marriages in 1863, 95; births, 384,-of which 64 were illegitimate; deaths, 253,-of which 87 were at ages under 5 years, and 7 at ages above 85.-The division contains four parishes and a part; and is part of North Bradford hundred. Acres, 30,474. Pop. in 1851, 9,519. Houses, 1,941.
Whitchurch through time
Whitchurch is now part of North Shropshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how North Shropshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Whitchurch itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Whitchurch in North Shropshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/940
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Whitchurch".
