Howle, also spelt Howl, is a small village in Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, in a rural area some 5 miles to the north-west of the town of Newport

Newport, Shropshire

Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some north of Telford and some west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border...

. Although it is part of the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 of Chetwynd

Chetwynd, Shropshire

Chetwynd is a rural civil parish just to the north of Newport, Shropshire in England.Although the parish contains no substantial nucleated settlements it includes the Chetwynd Park estate, in addition to Sambrook, Howle, Pickstock and a number of other small hamlets.The north-eastern boundary of...

, the nearest village is Child's Ercall

Child's Ercall

Child's Ercall is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located in a rather remote rural area between the small towns of Market Drayton and Newport: the civil parish had a total population of 599 at the 2001 census...

.

The village name has been variously suggested as being derived from the Old English personal name element Hyge- or from a word meaning "hill". In the Domesday book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 survey it was recorded as the manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Hugle.

Howle is on the edge of Ercall Heath, which was largely forested until World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and has been partly brought into cultivation since; the River Meese flows nearby. There is a holy well

Holy well

A holy well, or sacred spring, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either in a Pagan or Christian context, often both. Holy wells were frequently pagan sacred sites that later became Christianized. The term 'holy well' is commonly employed to refer to any water source of...

, formerly used by those seeking cures, south of Howle near the road to Tibberton

Tibberton, Shropshire

Tibberton is a village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England.It is a fairly small village with some new barn conversions contrasting with the older houses. The River Meese flows just to the north of the village...

.