Baschurch

Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. gbmapping|SJ425220

It lies in North Shropshire, north of Shrewsbury. Population: 1,475 (2001 census). The village has strong links to Shrewsbury to the south-east, Oswestry to the north-west, and Wem to the north-east. Baschurch is twinned with the town of Giat in the French "département" of Puy-de-Dôme, in the Auvergne "région". There is a large village not far from Baschurch called Ruyton-XI-Towns.

A major feature of the village is the All Saints' Church of England Church which is one of, if not the, oldest standing structure in the village. A timber church which burnt down is believed to have stood on the same site previously. Leading industrialist and builder Thomas Telford made numerous major alterations to the modern sandstone church.

The village has two schools including Baschurch Church of England Primary School, and the Corbet School formerly known as Baschurch Secondary Modern School. Just outside the village is Walford College, an agricultural and sports college which in 2002 merged with Oswestry-based North Shropshire College to form Walford and North Shropshire College.

In 2000 a large stone made of local sandstone was erected in the modern centre of the village to commemorate the Millennium. Similar smaller stones were erected in neighbouring communities.

There is also a disused Victorian Railway Station in Baschurch on the Shrewsbury to Chester Line. There have been many efforts in the past to bring the station back into use, however none have been successful.

History

Earliest references to Baschurch are under the Welsh name "Eglwysseu Bassa" (Churches of Bassa) where the king or prince "Cynddylan" of the Kingdom of Pengwern is said to have been buried in the early 7th century. This comes from a poem entitled 'Canu Heledd' possibly written between the 10th and 12th centuries. It is believed that Baschurch may have been the capital of this Kingdom. The poem also refers to a battle occurring between the Welsh and the invading Saxons at the ancient fort, The Berth, just outside the village.

Local tradition holds that the Berth Pool and its ancient earthworks outside the village are the resting place of the legendary King Arthur.

Baschurch appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bascherche.

The world's first Orthopaedic Hospital was established in Baschurch by Sir Robert Jones and Dame Agnes Hunt to treat wounded from the First World War. The hospital moved to Oswestry in the 1960s.

On February 13, 1961 a passenger train travelling from Shrewsbury to Chester collided with a freight train which was partially shunted into a siding in Baschurch. Three people died in the accident. Television footage of the wreckage is available from the BBC.