Beckjay Explained

Country:England
Static Image Name:Cottages at Beckjay - geograph.org.uk - 591367.jpg
Static Image Caption:Cottages in the hamlet of Beckjay
Coordinates:52.392°N -2.894°W
Official Name:Beckjay
Label Position:top
Civil Parish:Clungunford
Unitary England:Shropshire
Lieutenancy England:Shropshire
Region:West Midlands
Constituency Westminster:Ludlow
Post Town:CRAVEN ARMS
Postcode District:SY7
Postcode Area:SY
Dial Code:01547
Os Grid Reference:SO392775

Beckjay is a hamlet in the south of the English county of Shropshire.

Its name, and that of the nearby hamlet of Jay (about NaNmiles south), is probably a reference to the family of Elias de Jay, who held the local manor of Bedston until 1349.[1] A relative of this family, Brian de Jay, was the last recorded master of the English Knights Templar.

Forming part of the civil parish of Clungunford, Beckjay is close to the border with Herefordshire on the west bank of the River Clun. It was a medieval township.[2] Nearby are the hamlets of Hopton Heath, which has a railway station on the Heart of Wales Line, and Broadward with its 18th-century hall.

There is a Royal Mail post box in the hamlet.[3] The settlement also features a house with a thatched-roof. A duck pond exists just to the south of the settlement, downhill from it.

The former Beckjay Mill (situated to the northeast of the hamlet, on the Clun) was the subject of several paintings by David Cox.[4]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, VI, 1894, p.317
  2. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SAL/Clungunford/index.html GENUKI
  3. http://dracos.co.uk/made/locating-postboxes/?pc1=SY7 dracos.co.uk
  4. Cox, P. Welsh border country, Batsford, 1946, p.82