Bomere Heath, Shropshire
A Village that went from Squatters to Commuters

Our Village

Purpose

This web site was created to record the local history of the village of Bomere Heath together with its ecclesiastical parish of Leaton and its former ecclesiastical parish of Preston Gubbals (previously Gubbalds).

If you are looking for the the web site of the Bomere Heath Village Hall please follow this link Bomere Heath Village Hall
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Latest News

The 576 bus service from Shrewsbury to Oswestry through Bomere Heath, which has been operated by Arriva for several years, will change to being operated by Tanat Valley Coaches from Saturday 3 December 2022. The route and bus times will remain the same.
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A planning application to use the former Zions Hill Presbyterian Chapel, Baschurch Road, Bomere Heath as a Children's Day Nursery (7.30am to 6pm) has been received by Shropshire Council.
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After being wound manually for 148 years the clock in the tower at Leaton Church is being changed to an automatic winding system.
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The Bomere Heath Post Office, which has existed in the village since at least 1870 (151 years), is to permanently close at the end of business on Wednesday 13th October 2021 when the postmaster retires. Sadly for the village and the surrounding area it has not been possible to find anyone else to continue the business which means that Bomere Heath residents will have to travel at least about four miles to the next nearest post office in future.
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Following the closure of the 200 year old Zion Chapel, Shrewsbury Road, Bomere Heath earlier in 2020 the Parish Council were offered the opportunity to purchase the building with the intention to create a Community Centre and Cafe. The Parish Council launched a public consultation in late December 2020 by sending a postcard to every household inviting residents to have their say but following this it was decided not to continue with the purchase. The building was subsequently advertised on the open market and was quickly marked as sold.
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The Bomere Heath Village Hall now has its own web site and Facebook page with photographs and information about the hall.
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The 1st Bomere Heath Scout Group now has its own web site for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts giving the days and times of meetings and their location.
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The Bomere Heath Parish Council now has its own web site with information about council matters, planning tracker, bus times and a map of the parish area.
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The West Midland Ambulance Service Automated External Defibrillator (WMAS AED) is now installed on the front wall of the Village Hall from where it will be used by a number of trained local volunteers.

In addition, another AED provided by the Co-op is available for any member of the public to use without authorisation, and is stored behind the counter in the shop.

Introduction

The earliest records which have been located so far indicate that Bomere Heath began life as a group of squatters houses 'on the Lord's waste' being the land at the extreme edge of the parishes of Preston Gubbals, Shrewsbury St Mary and Fitz although the majority was in Preston Gubbals.

Location

Bomere Heath is situated 41/2 miles (7 km) NNW of Shrewsbury in the county of Shropshire, England.
It is 13 miles (21 km) SE of Oswestry and 145 miles (233 km) NW of London.
The altitude of the village varies between 291 ft (88.7m) and 325 ft (99.1m) above sea level.
The location references for the cross roads in the middle of the village are:-
  • Ordnance Survey map reference SJ 47408 19765
  • Latitude 52.77287674 North ~ Longitude 2.78102684 West
  • Altitude 310 ft (94.5m)


View Bomere Heath Amenities in a larger map

View a modern Map of Bomere Heath from Google Maps
Use the Zoom facility to get a really close look at the village and remember to select Map, Satellite or Hybrid in the top right.

View a modern Map of Bomere Heath from Magic Maps
Change the Scale to 1:2,500 to see the village in detail.

View an alternative modern Map of Bomere Heath from Streetmap.

View an alternative modern Map of Bomere Heath from Bing Maps You can select the map type from the drop down menu at the top right.

View old Maps of Bomere Heath (1880 and 1900) from the National Library of Scotland

General Information

The village consists of a mixture of two storey houses, both detached and semi-detached, bungalows which are mainly detached plus some two storey maisonettes and a group of elderly persons bungalows. We have a general provisions shop which includes groceries, newspapers and a cash dispenser. There is a Post Office and a public house. The pub was run by the Edwards family for 75 years. There is also a Chip Shop & hairdresser. Just outside the village there is a small Industrial Estate at Leaton on the site of a former military establishment.

Transport

  • Canals - The canal system never actually came to Bomere Heath but there were two canal terminals only about five miles away from the village. In the south there was a canal in Shrewsbury and in the north west there was a canal terminal at Westonwharf, two miles north of Baschurch. This latter canal was originally planned to come nearer but work stopped as the railways started to take the business from the canals. According to a plan of a 'Possible Route of Proposed Canal' from Westonwharf it would have travelled south on the eastern side of Baschurch and Walford to Walford Heath then Leaton Heath (one possible place for goods to load and unload for Bomere Heath). It would have crossed the Shrewsbury - Baschurch road just south of Leaton Church before crossing the road at Dunnsheath (another possible place for goods to load and unload for Bomere Heath). At this point it would have been directly alongside the Shrewsbury - Chester railway line, the presence of which was almost certainly the reason that the canal did not get built this far. From Dunsheath the canal would have headed almost due south towards Shrewsbury, entering the Coton Hill area of the town descending through a series of locks to descend 107 feet before joining up with the Shrewsbury - Upton Magna - Newport Canal, but it was never to be.

  • Railways - The railway network came very close to Bomere Heath with the opening of the Shrewsbury - Chester Railway line in October 1848, one of the first lines to be opened in Shropshire. The village was served by Leaton Station, 3/4 mile to the south, which had facilities for passengers and goods, including a siding. People living to the north of the village also had the option of using the station at Oldwoods if that was nearer.

    Plans were drawn up to create a railway link from close to Leaton Station to the main Shrewsbury - Whitchurch line between Hadnall and Yorton. This would have passed through Bomere Heath village in the vicinity of Windsor Lane from its junction with Shrewsbury Road to its junction with Broomhall Lane. Although some of the formal preparation was carried out, including the preparation of plans, the line was never built.

    For a much more detailed history of the Shrewsbury & Chester Railway, which passes just half a mile from Bomere Heath, see the Disused Stations web site.

  • Roads - Although the village lies on a cross-roads of roads running north-south and east-west, none of these have any particular importance beyond serving the local community but the village does lie between two major roads running north and north-west from Shrewsbury. Just over one mile to the east of Bomere Heath is the A.528 Shrewsbury - Ellesmere Road which also has a branch to Wem and Whitchurch from the village of Harmer Hill. One mile to the west of Bomere Heath is the B.5067 Shrewsbury - Baschurch road with connections beyond Baschurch to Ruyton-XI-Towns, Oswestry and north Wales. The route between Shrewsbury and Baschurch had been maintained by the Shrewsbury Baschurch Turnpike as late as 1865 when they still had a Toll Gate at Prescott, just south of Baschurch.

    Additional information about Turnpikes can be found on the following:- New

    Primary Education

    Bomere Heath C of E Primary School for children aged from five to eleven (Years 1 to 6) with the addition of the Sunshine Pre-School on the same site.

    The School is supported by a group of Parents and Teaching Staff known as the Friends of Bomere Heath School who work together 'in their own time' to organize events that raise money for activities and equipment to benefit all children in the school.

    In April 2013 a leaflet describing the Friends was produced and given to each child to take home so that all parents would know the benefits this group bring to the school and thus to their children.

    Bomere Heath C of E Primary School Profile on government website.

    Map of School Catchment area
    In the Search area (top left of the map) enter SY4 3PQ in the box and click 'Search'. You may need to zoom in or out to see the school. Click 'Map Layers' on the extreme left of the screen then scroll about three quarters of the way down the list and click in the 'Primary Schools' box and the 'Primary Catchment Areas' box. Zoom in or out on the map until you can see the whole of the catchment area.

    Secondary Education

    The Corbet School, Baschurch is the Secondary School that most children move on to when they leave Bomere Heath at the end of Year 6, about age 11 years. To view the school location and catchment area on the Shropshire Council web site follow the instructions for 'Map of School Catchment area' above but use Postcode SY4 2AX and select 'Secondary Schools' and 'Secondary Catchment Areas' instead of Primary.

    Clubs, Groups and Organisations

    There are several of these within the village. Contact information for some is in the Parish News which is delivered free to each house.
    • 1st Bomere Heath Scout Group
    • Brownies
    • Cricket Club
    • Gardening Club
    • Kool Kids (Every Friday 6pm-7pm in the Methodist Hall)
    • Ladies Club ( formerly New Venture Club until 18 Feb 1992)
    • Ladies Fellowship
    • Ladies Netball Team, which is run by Lisa Rowley {lisa_rowley (at) hotmail.co.uk}, meets at Bomere Heath School every Thursday. New players welcome.
    • Music Tots (Action songs & Nursery Rhyme Singing for pre school children)
    • Over 60's
    • Parish Council
    • Parish News (published monthly and distributed free to every house)
    • Playgroup (Activities for Babies & Toddlers)
    • Storytots (Every Thursday 10am-11.30am in the Methodist Hall)
    • Quilters
    • Tennis Club
    • Yoga classes

    Sadly a number of former organisations are no longer in existence.
    • Art Club
    • Brass Band
    • Football Club
    • Girl Guides
    • Men's Club (was held in the old School, Preston Gubbals Road)
    • Primrose League
    • Village Players (Drama Group)
    • Women's Institute

    Religious buildings

    Historically most of the village, from the Pub to the north, was in the ancient parish of Preston Gubbals (or Gobbalds or Gobalds) but St Martin's Church was made redundant in 1973 when part of the building and the tower had to be demolished. The southern part of the village was in the parish of Shrewsbury: St Mary and a small part on the west side in the parish of Fitz.

    Following the formation of Leaton parish in 1860 from parts of the above three parishes the whole village has since been in Leaton parish.

    Within the village itself there is a Mission Chapel (C of E), a Presbyterian Church and a Methodist Church. The Parish Church is Holy Trinity, Leaton which is situated on the main B.5067 Shrewsbury to Baschurch road 1 mile SSW of the village.

    War Memorial

    Our War Memorial is situated at Leaton, at the side of the Shrewsbury - Baschurch road at its junction with the road to Montford Bridge. It is a sandstone construction with a nonagon section. Each of the nine panels are inscribed with different information including the names of the eleven men of Leaton who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1918 as well as those who served and returned home afterwards.
    In addition to this memorial there are Memorial Boards inside Leaton Church for the First and Second World Wars.

    The Cold War

    During the Cold War (1947-1991) Bomere Heath played its own small but significant part in the defence of the country should there ever have been a nuclear attack. In the corner of a field on high ground just outside the village the Royal Observer Corps had one of their (25 in Shropshire) underground monitoring posts which would have housed a small staff of two or three observers in a time of crisis. Further information about this post can be found at Subterranea Britannica and photographs of the inside of the post can be seen here. The map on the wall shown in the second interior photograph is the local Ordnance Survey Sheet 118 Shrewsbury at a scale of 1 inch to 1 mile. Missing from the photographs are the metal bunk beds which were alongside one wall when I was lucky enough to be shown the inside of this post in the 1980's whilst it was still operational. There is some more information on this web site here.

    Time Line

    An extensive Time Line (or what happened and when it happened) is available .......
    (Click on the Time Line link at the top of this page)

    Weather Forecast locally

    There are a number of web sites which provide free weather forecasts for this area.

    The Met Office - select Shawbury or Shrewsbury for a Five Day forecast for the immediate area.

    MetCheck - Type in your postcode for your local forecast.

    AccuWeather.com UK & Ireland - Type in your postcode for your local forecast.

    Links Updated

    1st Bomere Heath Scout Group.
    Aerial Photographs of Bomere Heath and elsewhere.
    Bomere Heath and District Parish Council.
    Bomere Heath Ballads.
    Bomere Heath Cricket Club.
    Bomere Heath Football Club
    Bomere Heath on Curious Fox UK Gazetteer
    Bomere Heath Post Office. -- CLOSED --
    Bomere Heath Village Hall web site.
    Bomere Heath Village Hall on Facebook.
    Bomere Heath on Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia
    Bomere Heath C of E Primary School.
    Bomere Heath C of E Primary School on Facebook.
    Jean English (formerly Latham) lived in Bomere Heath from 1921 to 1927 in a cottage known then as "Mychket" on main road.
    Merrington Coarse & Carp Fishery
    Topix Local News

    Read about the village in 1986 on the BBC Domesday Reloaded web site - just put Bomere Heath in the search box.


    Local Accommodation

    Bed and Breakfast
    The Old Station, Leaton

    Self Catering
    Vicarage Cottage, Leaton can be found here and here

    Contact

    Send email to hulmemj (at) gmail.com

    Please put "Bomere Heath Village" (without quotes) in the subject line

    Last updated 26th May 2024

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Site created by Michael J Hulme and his assistant.