High Ercall

High Ercall, also known in the past as Ercall Magna, is a village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The civil parish is still called Ercall Magna, and had a total population of 1, 679 at the 2001 census, reducing to 1, 639 at the 2011 Census. The parish also includes the villages of Rowton, Ellerdine, Cold Hatton, and a number of small hamlets including Roden and Poynton. Its name is locally pronounced "Arkel". The village lies on the junction of the B5062 and B5063 roads. History, architectureThe etymology of the name Ercall is obscure, though it may be derived from a Welsh word ercal, perhaps once applied to the whole area. High Ercall was recorded in Domesday as "Archelou": it was stated to have been held by Earl Eduin in the time of Edward the Confessor, when it was worth £20. At the time of the survey it contained two mills and a fishery yielding "1502 great eels" annually. It is thought a church may have stood in High Ercall since Saxon times, but the present St Michael's Church shows mostly medieval work with a tower dating from the 14th century. The base of the tower is badly weather-beaten. The parishioners, however, have a more romanticised explanation, that the damage is due to people sharpening their weapons on it in ancient times. In the churchyard, as well as graves covering several centuries, there is a sundial from the 18th-century which records the time in Jerusalem, Rome and Plymouth in Massachusetts.

High Ercall, also known in the past as Ercall Magna, is a village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The civil parish is still called Ercall Magna, and had a total population of 1, 679 at the 2001 census, reducing to 1, 639 at the 2011 Census. The parish also includes the villages of Rowton, Ellerdine, Cold Hatton, and a number of small hamlets including Roden and Poynton. Its name is locally pronounced "Arkel". The village lies on the junction of the B5062 and B5063 roads. History, architectureThe etymology of the name Ercall is obscure, though it may be derived from a Welsh word ercal, perhaps once applied to the whole area. High Ercall was recorded in Domesday as "Archelou": it was stated to have been held by Earl Eduin in the time of Edward the Confessor, when it was worth £20. At the time of the survey it contained two mills and a fishery yielding "1502 great eels" annually. It is thought a church may have stood in High Ercall since Saxon times, but the present St Michael's Church shows mostly medieval work with a tower dating from the 14th century. The base of the tower is badly weather-beaten. The parishioners, however, have a more romanticised explanation, that the damage is due to people sharpening their weapons on it in ancient times. In the churchyard, as well as graves covering several centuries, there is a sundial from the 18th-century which records the time in Jerusalem, Rome and Plymouth in Massachusetts.