Place:Shrewsbury St. Alkmund, Shropshire, England

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NameShrewsbury St. Alkmund
Alt namesSt. Alkmondsource: another spelling
Albrightleesource: township in parish
Dinthillsource: township in parish
Harlscottsource: township in parish
Hencottsource: township in parish
Prestonsource: township in parish
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates52.7078°N 2.7533°W
Located inShropshire, England
See alsoFord Hundred, Shropshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Shrewsbury Liberty, Shropshire, Englandliberty in which it was located
Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Englandmunicipal borough of which it was a part 1837-1935
source: Family History Library Catalog

Shrewsbury St. Alkmund is an ancient parish of the market town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The church is located in the centre of Shrewsbury, but the parish stretched out a long distance into the countryside to the northwest.

Shrewsbury St Alkmund's parish records began in 1559, and its Bishops Transcripts in 1630.

Other places in the parish include:

  • Albrightlee, a township in the parish of Shrewsbury St. Alkmund, in Shropshire, 3 miles to the N.E. of Shrewsbury. It is at a short distance from Sundorne Castle."
  • Dinthill a township in the parish of Shrewsbury St. Alkmund, in the county of Salop, 3 miles W. of Shrewsbury. It is joined to Preston."
  • Harlscott, a township in the parishes of Shrewsbury St. Alkmund, and Shrewsbury St. Mary, county Salop, 2 miles N. of Shrewsbury."
  • Hencott, a township in the parish of Shrewsbury St. Alkmund, county Salop, 1 mile N. of Shrewsbury."
  • Montford, a township in the parish of Shrewsbury St. Alkmund, county Salop, 4 miles W. of Shrewsbury. It is situated near the Severn, and is joined with Preston and Dinthill to form a township." NOTE: Montford later became a parish.
  • Preston, a hamlet in the parish of Shrewsbury St. Alkmund, county Salop, 4 miles W. by N. of Shrewsbury. It is situated on the river Severn. It is joined with Dinthill and Montford to form a township."

Descriptions from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 as transcribed by Colin Hinson.

(Sources: FamilySearch Research Wiki] and also GENUKI)

Research tips

  • The historical short form for Shropshire was "Salop". This is quite often found in archive material.
  • Shropshire Archives, Castle Gates, Shrewsbury SY1 2AQ
  • Shropshire Family History Society.
  • The GENUKI main page for Shropshire provides information on various topics covering the whole of the county, and there is also a link to a list of parishes. Under each parish there is a list of the settlements within it and brief description of each. This is a list of pre-1834 ancient or ecclesiastical parishes but there are suggestions as to how to find parishes set up since then.
  • GENUKI also provides transcriptions of parish registers for numerous parishes throughout Shropshire. These will be noted at the bottom of this list as time permits for the parishes involved. Each register is preceded by historical notes from the editor-transciber and other details than simply births, marriages and deaths that have been found in the individual books from the parishes. These registers probably only go up to 1812 when the proscribed style for registers across the country was altered.
  • GENUKI lists under each parish further references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. (URLs for these other websites may not be up to date.)
  • The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date and from more recent data. The wiki has a link to English Jurisdictions 1851. There is a list of all the parishes in existence in 1851 with maps indicating their boundaries. The website is very useful for finding the ecclesiastical individual parishes within large cities and towns.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time, Shropshire, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are similar pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions that existed pre-1974. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72 which often provides brief notes on the economic basis of the settlement and significant occurences through its history.
  • The two maps below indicate the boundaries between parishes, etc., but for a more detailed view of a specific area try a map from this selection. The oldest series are very clear at the third magnification offered. Comparing the map details with the GENUKI details for the same area is well worthwhile.
  • Map of Shropshire illustrating urban and rural districts in 1900 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time. Parish boundaries and settlements within parishes are shown. (Unfortunately the online copy of this map has pencil codings in each parish which make it difficult to see the orignal.)
  • Map of Shropshire urban and rural districts in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time. Parish boundaries and settlements within parishes are shown. This is not a repeat of the first map. There were a number of changes to urban and rural district structure in the 1930s.
  • A map of the ancient divisions named "hundreds" is to be found in A Vision of Britain through Time. Some of the hundreds were broken into separate sections with other hundreds in between.
  • The website British History Online provides four volumes of the Victoria County History Series on Shropshire. Volume 2 covers the religious houses of the county; Volume 4 provides a history of agriculture across the county, and Volumes 10 and 11 deal with Munslow Hundred, the Borough of Wenlock and the Telford area (i.e., the northeastern part of the county). The rest of the county is not presently covered. References to individual parishes will be furnished as time permits.