All Saints' Church, Grinshill
GRIVELESUL (Domesday 1086) was held by 4
Saxon franklins. After the conquest it passed to
Earl Roger de Montgomery. The over-lordship of
the manor went to the Fitz-Alans and Grinshill
was held under them partly by the family of De
Orleton and partly by the Lords of Stanton on
Hine Heath. The de Orletons parted with their
property to the Canons of Haughmond Abbey
who held three-quarters of the manor until the
dissolution. The remaining quarter was held by
the Actons of Acton Reynald under the Stantoms.
In 1292 this quarter was passed to Sir Phillip
Burnell and was inherited by his sister, the wife of
William de Ercall. The Burnell share of Grinshill
descended to Francis, Lord Lovel, who was
attaited under Henry VII and his manor of Acton
Reynald was granted to one of the Dudleys. In
1637 Sir Andrew Corbet held the manor and most
of it has remained with the Corbets to this day.
Haughmond, ratified by Bishop Hugh de Novent
in 1190. The chapel and cemetery are thought to
have been founded in the reign of Stephen or
Henry II.
Grinshill is of course known for the quality of its
Triassic sandstone that has been quarried since at
least Roman times. It comes in seven colours
from white to red, brown and orange. The
creamy yellow stone was used by the Romans at
Uriconium and later in the 12th century was used
at Buildwas Abbey which still retains the marks
of the chisel and masons. Unfortunately, when
the present church was built in 1839-40, the red
sandstone was used which does not have the
durable quality of the white. The architect was
J.Carlisle Junior who also designed the church at
Albrighton (near Shrewsbury).
There is a deed in the Haughmond Cartulary of
15 Edward III (1341) which gives the boundaries of
the "vill. of Grileshull". However, when Richard
Gough wrote his "Antiquities and Memoirs of the
Parish or Middle" in 1701, only four of the places
mentioned could be identified.
The Canons of Haughmond held their Manor
Court at. Hardwicke and counted Grinshill a
member of it. After the dissolution their property
passed eventually to Richard Tyler, whose eldest
daughter took Hardwicke Grange with its
belongings in Grinshill and elsewhere to her
husband Thomas Whitcombe of Berwick
Mavison. The families of Kilvert, Embrey and
Wood have been landowners in Grinshill for
many generations. In 1617 William Kilvert and
Robert Emerie sold land to Shrewsbury School on
which the house (now known as Stone Grange)
was built as a country house to which masters
and boys could retire in case of sickness or plague.
The church of Grinshill was originally one, of the
chapels of Shawbury together with Acton
Reynald, Morton Corbet and Great Withyford.
Bishop Roger de Clinton (1130-1148) mentions that
he had himself consecrated the chapels and
cemeteries at three of the four chapelries but not
at Grinshill thus dating the church prior to 1130.
The four chapels together with the Mother church
were appropriated to the Canons of
The present south wall was built on the old
foundations and the west wall contains some
Norman masonry. The old church was narrower
than the existing building. The bell tower which
has a corbelled out parapet, has been dated late
17th or early 18th century. It houses a single bell
and a pendulum driven clock, which strikes the
hour. The great queer heads under the gables
should be noted.
The roof is supported on timber Queen post roof
trusses. The church was built with a gallery at the
west end but a faculty was granted in 1880 for its
removal and the fitting of new pews to
accommodate a larger congregation (the
population in 1891 was 334). The Vicar at that
time was the Rev. John Wright whose sisters were
responsible for the carving of the reredos, altar,
reading desk, Litany desk and the ends of the
pews (an explanation of these hangs at the rear
of the church). The screen was carved by six
parishioners to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond
Jubilee in 1898. The organ, a single manual and
pedal board with 6 stops, was built in 1885.
The oldest grave identifiable is of William Key
who died in 1699.
The interior is notable for the windows. The north
and south windows are round headed and some
contain tiny panels of foreign glass about 300
years old each showing a robed figure out of
doors. The east window is brilliant with the three
figures of the Crucifixion standing out against
diamond panes of clear glass.
There is no list of early incumbents. The first
name known is Sir Thomas Newnys, clerke, in
1577 who was also rector of Broughton and
curate of Clive, on 23rd May 1553 he presented to
Edward VI's commissioners the list of church goods
remaining in his hands thus:
"Sir Thomas Newnys, p'son, Will. Curton, Thom.
Emery, wardens and p'ishonrs of the parish of
Grynsell: Remayning on' Chalice with a patent to
the same . . . ".
This chalice and paten made way for a paten
given by Mrs Eyton in 1689 (she was then living
with the Lady Corbet at Acton Reynald), a
chalice given by Mrs. Judith Corbet in 1776 and a
flagon given in 1880. There is also a pewter
tankard dated 1704 but this has suffered the
ravages of time.
There appear to have been two extensions to the
churchyard in 1872 and 1938. The old churchyard
contains two things from the 18th century - a
fluted font bowl in which flowers grow and a
sundial on the octagonal shaft of a mediaeval
cross.
The sundial bears the inscription "James Walsh
Sculptist".
There is a list of monumental inscriptions hanging
on the vestry wall. The first recorded entry in the
registers is of the baptism of Jane Maddox on 13th
February 1592.
The parish formed part of the Salop Deanery in
the 16th century and became part of the Wem
Deanery in l858. The parish was united with Clive
in June 1967 and together with Astley and
Hadnall became a united benefice in May 1982.
The patron of all four parishes is D.R.B.Thompson
Esq., of Sansaw Hall.
Among the church records is a conveyance of
land in 1856 to the London and North Western
Railway for £50 that provided, with subscriptions
the building of the Parish School first opened in
1862. Subsequently a joint school with Clive and
Broughton was opened above the church in Clive
in 1873 (a subscription of £1058 l6s 0d was raised).
A Sunday School was built by the village green in
1898 and now serves as the Village Hall.
The escarpment behind Grinshill rises to 630 ft. at
the trigonometrical point there. Clive is probably
a corruption of cliff. Brown Clee, also a corruption
of cliff, rises to 1792 ft., almost three times the
height, and was at one time Shropshire's tallest
hill.
However the earliest register of Greenshill records
Mary Buckley, widd. buried 20th March 1593.
Much of the above information comes from the
Registers of Grinshill 1592-1812 published by the
Shropshire Parish Register Society and from later
research done by Mr.C.A.Harley of the Clive in
1974 on the parish registers from 1838-1938. The
marriage register in use today starts in 1837 and
the baptismal register in 1902. All previous
documents are with the Diocesan Records Office.