Prees

Prees
St Chad's church, Prees, dating from the 14th century, with an 18th-century tower
Prees is located in Shropshire
Prees
Prees
Location within Shropshire
Population939 (Village)[1]
2,895 (Civil Parish)[2]
(2011 Census)
OS grid referenceSJ553335
Civil parish
  • Prees
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWHITCHURCH
Postcode districtSY13
Dialling code01948
PoliceWest Mercia
FireShropshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire
52°53′49″N 2°39′58″W / 52.897°N 2.666°W / 52.897; -2.666

Prees (/priːz/) is a village and civil parish in north Shropshire, near the border between England and Wales. Its name is Celtic and means "brushwood".[citation needed]

Prees civil parish

The civil parish includes many other villages and hamlets as well as the namesake Prees Village. Examples include the villages Prees Higher Heath and Prees Green and the hamlets of Prees Lower Heath and Prees Wood (which all share the name Prees). Sandford, Darliston, Fauls and Mickley to the east of the village are also included in the parish. Prees Heath, a nearby village, despite its name, is not part of the civil parish and is actually contained within the neighbouring Whitchurch civil parish.

The population of the civil parish in 2001 was recorded at 2688,[3] increasing to 2,895 as of the 2011 Census.

Prees village

Prees is northeast of the small town of Wem. It is also west of Market Drayton and south of Whitchurch. The population in 2001 was recorded at 814, increasing to 939 as of the 2011 Census.[4]

History

The church in the village dates back to the 14th century (when the village was commonly spelt "Prys"), however, the tower is younger.

Several ancient coins were found on farmland outside Prees in 2017. They included four 300-year-old coins that date to the reign of James I and Charles I.[5]

Also located in Prees in the Prees Church of England Primary School and Nursery, a Victorian building that holds much history. There are a number of other churches in the village.

Transport

Roads

The A41 and A49 roads pass on either side of the village.

Railway

West of the village of Prees, but not in the village or the parish as the name would suggest, is the railway station of Prees opened in 1858. It lies on the Welsh Marches Line, between Whitchurch and Wem. There is a regular service with pre-determined stops. The station is not in the village itself because Captain Black, a wealthy resident in the village stated that the station had to be exactly one mile away from the centre of the village, which at the time was the mill, located (still today) on Mill Street. This was so that it could be easily reached as a route out with the goods produced.[citation needed]

Bus

The village is served by the 511 bus route, operated by Arriva Midlands North, which runs between Shrewsbury and Whitchurch via Wem. Some services terminate in Wem and do not continue to Whitchurch.

Bus services in Prees, Shropshire
Bus operator Route Destination(s) Notes
Arriva Midlands North 511 Shrewsbury → Hadnall → Wem → Prees → Whitchurch Some services terminate in Wem.[6]

Canals

Evening over Whixall Marina

Prees was the intended destination of an arm of the Ellesmere Canal. However, the arm was only completed as far as Quina Brook. The arm is now known as the Prees Branch of the Llangollen Canal, and is navigable for about a mile to Whixall Marina; the following 3/4 mile is still followable on the towpath as it passes through Prees Branch Canal Nature Reserve.[7]

Notable people

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches northeast to Adderley with a total ward population taken at the 2011 census of 4,281.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Prees (Shropshire, West Midlands, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". Citypopulation.de. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  3. ^ [1] [dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Prees (Shropshire, West Midlands, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". Citypopulation.de. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Hoard of ancient silver coins found at Prees is treasure". Shropshirestar.com. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Arriva Bus". Arrivabus.co.uk. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Wildlife Trust Reserve Details". 28 July 2011. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  8. ^ Gordon, Alexander. "Henry, Philip" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 26. pp. 124–126.
  9. ^ Dalton, Charles (1904). The Waterloo roll call. With biographical notes and anecdotes. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. p. 13.
  10. ^ "Ward population 2011". Ukcensusdata.com. Retrieved 29 November 2015.

Media related to Prees at Wikimedia Commons