West Felton

{{Short description|Village in Shropshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use British English|date=October 2024}}

{{Infobox UK place |country = England |static_image_name = St Michael's Church, West Felton - geograph.org.uk - 1188162.jpg |static_image_caption = St Michael's Church, West Felton |coordinates = {{coord|52.824|-2.971|display=inline,title}} |official_name = West Felton |population = 1,475 |population_ref = (2011) |civil_parish = West Felton |unitary_england = Shropshire |lieutenancy_england = Shropshire |region = West Midlands |constituency_westminster= North Shropshire |post_town = OSWESTRY |postcode_district = SY11 |postcode_area = SY |dial_code = 01691 |os_grid_reference = SJ345256 }}

'''West Felton''' is a village and civil parish near Oswestry in Shropshire, England. At the 2001 census the parish, which also includes the settlements of Rednal, Grimpo and Haughton, had a population of 1,380,<ref name="ons">[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=798954&c=west+felton&d=16&e=15&g=482280&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1287995323656&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 West Felton CP], Office for National Statistics</ref> increasing to 1,475 at the 2011 Census.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11130348&c=West+Felton&d=16&e=62&g=6460623&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1448551150688&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=26 November 2015}}</ref>

==History== The village originally grew around a Norman castle, whose motte lies next to the church. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Feltone, and as "Felton by le Knokyn" in 1303.<ref name="gelling">Gelling, M. ''The Place-names of Shropshire: Vol I, the Major Names of Shropshire'', English Place-Name Society, 1990, p.307</ref> The name Felton probably represents a combination of Old English ''feld'', "open land", and ''tun'', "settlement".<ref name="gelling"/>

The old ecclesiastical parish of West Felton contained the townships of West Felton, Sutton, Rednal, Haughton, Tedsmore (the latter five originally part of the eleven townships forming the mediaeval manor of neighbouring Ruyton-XI-Towns), Woolston (now in Oswestry Rural), Sandford and Twyford. The modern civil parish has similar, though not identical, boundaries.

The parish church, which has a 12th-century nave,<ref name="pevsner">Pevsner and Newman, ''Shropshire'', Buildings of England Series, p.682</ref> is dedicated to St Michael, and has a chapel of ease at Haughton.

==Notable people== * The ornithologist and poet John Freeman Milward Dovaston was born in Twyford in 1782.<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=7946|title=Dovaston, John Freeman Milward (1782–1854), naturalist and poet}}</ref>

* Nonconformist historian and lawyer Sir John Bickerton Williams was born at Sandford Hall in 1792.<ref>{{DNB|wstitle= Williams, John Bickerton |volume= 61 |last= Fletcher |first= W. G. D. |author-link= |pages= 431-432 |year= |short=1}}</ref>

* Benjamin Hall Kennedy, previously Headmaster of Shrewsbury School, was Rector of West Felton from 1866 to 1868.<ref>{{acad|id=KNDY822BH|name=Kennedy, Benjamin Hall}}</ref>

* Boer War Victoria Cross recipient General Sir Walter Congreve had his home at West Felton Grange from 1903 to 1924. His son William was killed in the First World War and (posthumously) received the Victoria Cross, too. Their military service in the latter war is recorded in one of the Rolls of Honour books at St Michael's Church. The former gave land to the Church of England for the erection of a community facility called the Haslehurst Institute.<ref name="swmsor">{{cite book|title=Shropshire War Memorials, Sites of Remembrance|last=Francis|first=Peter|year=2013|publisher=YouCaxton Publications|pages=166–168|isbn=978-1-909644-11-3}}</ref>

* Boris Johnson married at St Michael's Church to Allegra Mostyn-Owen on 5 September 1987, with their wedding reception held at her nearby family country home of Woodhouse. They divorced in 1993, whereafter Boris Johnson remarried.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gimson|first=Andrew|title=Boris: The Rise of Boris Johnson|year=2012|publisher=Simon & Schuster|pages=85–86}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Purnell|first=Sonia|title=Just Boris: Boris Johnson - The Irresistible Rise of a Political Celebrity|year=2011|publisher=Aurora Press, London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/justborisirresis0000purn/page/92 92–94]|isbn=978-1-84513-665-9|url=https://archive.org/details/justborisirresis0000purn/page/92}}</ref> Allegra's father, William Mostyn-Owen, who owned the Woodhouse estate from inheriting it in 1947 until his death in 2011, was an art historian.<ref name="theguardian1">{{cite news|last=Burton|first=Humphrey|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jul/20/william-mostyn-owen-obituary |title=William Mostyn-Owen obituary|work=The Guardian |access-date=24 September 2016}}</ref>

==See also== *Listed buildings in West Felton

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|West Felton}} *[http://arakiel.co.uk/tree/plc/a/3/b7993385c9773a6493a.html Histories & Photographs of West Felton]

Category:Villages in Shropshire Category:Civil parishes in Shropshire