ERCALL MAGNA
A brief journey through time
The Place
The People
External Sites
A brief history (According to Rob)
Bradford?
In 1068 Ercall was in the Wrockwardine Hundred, Bradford Hundred did not
exist at this time. Hodnet and Wrockwardine hundreds were amalgamated
in the mid or later 12th century, however Bradford Hundred seems to have
existed by 1203. The choice of Bradford as the new hundred meeting place
may suggest the year 1190/1 when, lord of the manor of Ercall Magna,
was William FitzAlan's under-sheriff, he was probably a second cousin
of FitzAlan's half-sister.
From the above it is probable to assume that Bradford, to whom the Hundred
gained its name was in Ercall Magna. According to the book 'The Victorian
History of Shropshire', Bradford, the 'broad ford' (mentioned in the 1140s)
lies within the manor and parish of Ercall Magna where the road from High
Ercall to Shrewsbury crosses the river Roden. Bradford bridge apparently
remained the meeting place of the hundred court until at some time between
1602 and 1682 the court moved from Bradford bridge to Wellington, probably
to the 'town hall'.
One question that comes to mind is whether the bridge that we know as
the Mill Bridge was once the Bradford Bridge or near where the Bradford
Bridge once stood?
The maps link has a map that shows an approximation of where Bradford
is taken from an 1831 map of Bradford
Hundred and then with it on an 1839 field
map (although not actually shown on any maps similar to this
that I have seen).
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