Betton Strange

Betton Strange
Long Barn - Betton Grange Farm
Betton Strange is located in Shropshire
Betton Strange
Betton Strange
Location within Shropshire
OS grid referenceSJ509093
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSHREWSBURY
Postcode districtSY5
Dialling code01743
PoliceWest Mercia
FireShropshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire
52°40′44″N 2°43′34″W / 52.679°N 2.726°W / 52.679; -2.726

Betton Strange is a hamlet in the English county of Shropshire. It is only 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Shrewsbury town centre, situated in countryside just beyond the Shrewsbury bypass (the A5) and near the A458.

It is located in the civil parish of Berrington, a village 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south. The hamlet lies at an elevation of between 65 metres (213 ft) and 85 metres (279 ft). Further west is the large stone quarry at Sharpstone Hill.[1]

Regional Cycle Route 32/33 runs through, on its way from Shrewsbury to Condover. The Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth railway line once ran to the east of the hamlet, but is now dismantled. The postcode is SY5.

Hall and chapel

Betton Strange Hall is a Grade II Listed building, built in the mid-19th Century, originally a country house but now divided into 20 flats.[2] It was owned by the Pearce family who founded Durston House School in Ealing and was used as a boarding school during the Second World War when some of the pupils of Durston House and Ripley Court School in Surrey were evacuated there.[citation needed]

There is a small church or chapel, dedicated to Saint Margaret, situated in woodland to the north of Betton Strange Hall, built in 1858 and also Grade II Listed. It is built of sandstone and still has gas lighting fitted.[3] It is usually locked these days (the churchwardens are shared with that of Berrington's church) though is used irregularly. Originally part of the parish of St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, it is today part of the Church of England's Diocese of Hereford, coming within the deanery of Condover.[4][5]

Betton Grange

Betton Grange is a historic part of the hamlet, dating back to the 16th Century, centred on the Grade II Listed farmhouse.[6] The GWR 6800 Class Betton Grange steam locomotive, currently under construction at the Llangollen Railway in Wales,[7][8] is named after this ancient manor.

Betton Alkmere

Just to the west of Betton Strange is Betton Alkmere,[1] a typical pool found in central Shropshire. At Betton Alkmere is a Grade II Listed early-19th Century farmhouse.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Ordnance Survey mapping
  2. ^ British Listed Buildings Betton Strange Hall
  3. ^ British Listed Buildings Church of St Margaret
  4. ^ Diocese of Hereford
  5. ^ Wenlock Team of Parishes
  6. ^ British Listed Buildings Betton Strange Farmhouse
  7. ^ Betton Grange 6880 website
  8. ^ Llangollen Railway Betton Grange 6880 project
  9. ^ British Listed Buildings Betton Alkmere

Media related to Betton Strange at Wikimedia Commons