Stanton Lacy is a small village and civil parish located 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...

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One quarter of Ludlow Racecourse

Ludlow Racecourse

Ludlow Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located near Ludlow, Shropshire, England.The B4365 crosses the racecourse at three points of the tracks and traffic is stopped when the course is in use....

 and the Ludlow Golf Club is located in the parish, to the south of the village. The River Corve flows through the parish, on its way south towards the River Teme

River Teme

The River Teme rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown in Powys, and flows through Knighton where it crosses the border into England down to Ludlow in Shropshire, then to the north of Tenbury Wells on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border there, on its way to join the River Severn south of Worcester...

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The ancient parish church here is St Peter's.

Areas

The parish can be divided into five main areas:

• Stanton Lacy village
• Vernolds Common
• The Hope
• Hayton's Bent
• Downton

History

Stanton Lacy can trace its history as far back as the Norman conquest of 1066, and is generally considered to be founded by Roger de Lacy

Roger de Lacy

Roger de Lacy, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a Marcher Lord on the Welsh border.- Lineage :He was son of Walter de Lacy , a retainer of William fitzOsbern. Roger was a castle builder, particularly at Ludlow Castle....

 around that time. The parish has had a long and varied history.

Much of the parish, as well as the neighbouring parish of Bromfield

Bromfield, Shropshire

Bromfield is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.According to the 2001 census it had a population of 306.-Location:Bromfield is located near the market town of Ludlow, two miles north of the town on the A49 road....

, is part of the Earl of Plymouth

Earl of Plymouth

Earl of Plymouth is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Catherine Pegge...

's Oakly Park Estate.

Murderer Robert Foulkes

Robert Foulkes

Robert Foulkes , was an English murderer.Foulkes ‘became,’ says Anthony a Wood, ‘a servitor of Christ Church College, Oxford, in Michaelmas term 1651, where he continued more than four years, under the tuition and government of presbyterians and independents...

 served as vicar of Stanton Lacy at the time of his crime.

Decline

Whilst the parish used to be able to boast two schools, four Methodist chapels, shops, pubs and a football team, none of these now remain. The population of the parish has declined greatly in the past century and it now serves as a popular retirement destination with a small farming community remaining too.

Further reading

• Wur bist 'ee gwa-in Siree: A History Of Stanton Lacy Parish, Clifford Smout (ISBN 0-9533860-0-7)