Hopesay Explained

Country:England
Static Image Name:St Mary, Hopesay - geograph.org.uk - 161638.jpg
Static Image Caption:St Mary's Church, Hopesay
Coordinates:52.445°N -2.898°W
Official Name:Hopesay
Population:561
Population Ref:(2011)
Civil Parish:Hopesay
Unitary England:Shropshire
Lieutenancy England:Shropshire
Region:West Midlands
Constituency Westminster:Ludlow
Post Town:CRAVEN ARMS
Postcode District:SY7
Postcode Area:SY
Dial Code:01588
Os Grid Reference:SO389834

Hopesay is a small village, and civil parish, in south Shropshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 561.[1]

The name 'Hopesay' derives from "Hope de Say", the valley of Picot de Say, a Norman baron who held the manor of neighbouring Sibdon Carwood and whose power base was the nearby Clun Castle. Though most of the Norman influence has been lost, the church tower does date back to Norman times.

The 13th-century church of St Mary, restored c.1880, is a Grade I listed building.[2]

The village has an active community though in recent decades has suffered from depopulation, leading to the closure of both the village shop and Post office, and the school (closed in 1989).

Within the parish lies the larger village of Aston on Clun, and the village of Broome which has a railway station on the Heart of Wales Line. The hamlet of Basford, in the north of the parish, straddles the boundary with Edgton parish.

The writer and adventurer Vivienne de Watteville (Vivienne Goschen) is buried at Hopesay.[3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Community population 2011. 21 November 2015.
  2. Web site: Church of St Mary, Hopesay. British Listed Buildings. 27 January 2014.
  3. Perrin, Jim, Shipton and Tilman (London, 2013), p.115