{{Short description|Village in Shropshire, England}} {{More citations needed|date=February 2017}} {{use British English|date=February 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{infobox UK place | country = England | static_image_name = Pool at Sheriffhales, and the Manor Lodge cottage - geograph.org.uk - 1640665.jpg | static_image_caption = Pool at Sheriffhales, and lodge of Sherriffhales Manor | coordinates = {{coord|52.708|-2.356|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Sheriffhales | population = 722 | population_ref = (2011) | civil_parish = Sheriffhales | unitary_england = Shropshire | lieutenancy_england = Shropshire | region = West Midlands | constituency_westminster = The Wrekin | post_town = SHIFNAL | postcode_district = TF11 | postcode_area = TF | dial_code = 01952 | os_grid_reference = SJ759123 }}
'''Sheriffhales''' is a scattered village in Shropshire,<ref>{{cite web|title=Genuki: Sheriff Hales, Staffordshire|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/STS/SheriffHales|website=www.genuki.org.uk|access-date=12 February 2017|language=en}}</ref> England, {{convert|4|mi}} north-east of Telford, {{convert|3|mi}} north of Shifnal and {{convert|4|mi}} south of Newport.<ref>{{cite map|title =Stafford & Telford|map =127|year =2016|scale =1:50,000 |series =Landranger |publisher =Ordnance Survey|isbn =9780319262252}}</ref> The name derives from Halh (Anglican) and scīr-rēfa (Old English) which is a combination of Hales (a nook of land, small valley) and Sheriff (a king's executive). At the time of the Domesday Book, it was held by Roger de Balliol the Sheriff of Shropshire.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mills|first1=A.D.|title=A dictionary of British place-names|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780198527589|page=417|edition=[Rev. and expanded ed.]}}</ref>
As well as Sheriffhales itself, the modern civil parish of Sheriffhales includes the smaller settlements of '''Lilyhurst''', '''Burlington''', '''Heath Hill''', '''Weston Heath''', '''Redhill''' and '''Chadwell'''.<ref name="sheriffhalesparishcouncil">{{cite web|url=https://sheriffhalesparishcouncil.uk/|website=sheriffhalesparishcouncil.uk|title=Sheriffhales Parish Council|access-date=15 January 2022}}</ref> The parish has a population of about 700 people, however it reached 1019 people in 1850, when the Duke of Sutherland owned most of it.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shereford - Shifford|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp74-80#h3-0005|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|publisher=British History Online|access-date=12 February 2017|language=en}}</ref> The village was in Staffordshire until 1895 when the border between Staffordshire and Shropshire was moved.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Watts|first1=William Whitehead|title=Shropshire, the geography of the county|url=https://archive.org/details/shropshiregeogra00wattiala|date=1919|publisher=Wilding and Sons|location=Shrewsbury|page=[https://archive.org/details/shropshiregeogra00wattiala/page/234 234]|oclc=12983600}}</ref> The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 722.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11128416&c=TF10+9BG&d=16&e=62&g=6460339&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1448363553669&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=24 November 2015}}</ref>
Despite being a small village of around 100 people, there is a primary school,<ref>{{cite web|title=Sheriffhales Primary School – Where learning and achieving are fun|url=http://www.sheriffhalesprimary.co.uk/|website=www.sheriffhalesprimary.co.uk|access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref> St Mary's Church, Sheriffhales, a Church of England place of worship<ref>{{cite web|title=St Mary's, Sheriffhales|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/sheriffhales-st-mary/|website=A Church Near You|access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref> and a local post office, as well as a playing field with football goals and a children's playground.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sheriffhales Conservation Area Map|url=http://new.shropshire.gov.uk/media/1711/sheriffhales.pdf|website=shropshire.gov.uk|access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref> The church is a Grade II listed building that dates back to the 12th century.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1053645 |desc=Church of St Mary |grade=II |access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref>
Between 1663 and 1697, when its founder moved to London, Sheriffhales was home to a dissenting academy run by nonconformist minister John Woodhouse.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Parker |first1= Irene |title= Dissenting academies in England |url= https://archive.org/details/dissentingacadem00parkiala |year=1914–2009|publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-74864-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dissentingacadem00parkiala/page/69 69]–72 }}</ref><ref>[http://surman.english.qmul.ac.uk/academyDisplay.php?masterid=726 Surman Index: Sheriffhales Academy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716194309/http://surman.english.qmul.ac.uk/academyDisplay.php?masterid=726 |date=16 July 2011 }}</ref>
Sheriffhales was the site of the World War II PoW Camp 71,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rogers|first1=Simon|title=Every prisoner of war camp in the UK mapped and listed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/nov/08/prisoner-of-war-camps-uk|website=The Guardian|access-date=12 February 2017|date=8 November 2010}}</ref> located along the drive to Lilleshall Hall. The camp was intended for Italian Prisoners of War and housed up to 2,000 until Italy surrendered in 1943; thereafter it was used to house German PoW's until 1948 when most were repatriated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shropshire Prisoner of War Camps|url=http://shropshirehistory.com/military/prisoner.htm|website=shropshirehistory.com|access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref>
The 2007 Tour of Britain bike race passed through the village on the first of September as part of the Wolverhampton to Birmingham stage.
The main farm within the village, Manor Farm, was a predominantly dairy farm, but has been subsequently converted into an arable farm. It is also the centre for a point to point yard.
Sheriffhales is mentioned (under the name "Hales") in the Ellis Peters novel ''The Confession of Brother Haluin''.
Hope Vere Anderson is Lord of the Manor of Sheriffhales and descends from the senior branch of the Hope Vere's of Lesmahagow, Scotland. The Hope Vere's trace their ancestry to Roger De Vere who was Lord of the Manor of Hales and when he became Sheriff of Shropshire in the 16th century he changed the name of his Manor from that of Hales to Sheriffhales to reflect his importance in being appointed to this additional role.{{dubious|July 2022|date=July 2022}}{{cn|date=July 2022}}
thumb|St Mary's Church
==See also== *Listed buildings in Sheriffhales
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Sheriffhales}}
{{shropshire}}
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Category:Civil parishes in Shropshire Category:Villages in Shropshire Category:World War II prisoner-of-war camps in England