Church

St. Mary's Church is a Grade 1 Listed Building in the medieval Early English style. It has been continually and carefully conserved down the centuries. Two new stained glass windows were installed in 2000, to mark the turn of the millennium.

Originally a chapel for Condover, it became a private chapel for the Corbett family of Longnor Hall, before taking on the function of a parish church.^[2]

Longnor was the birthplace of Samuel Lee (1783–1852), a linguist, Cambridge academic and Anglican cleric, whose translations from the Bible and other religious works into Arabic and other languages helped to launch the missionary activities of the Evangelical movement in the first half of the 19th century.^[3]

Education

Longnor CE Primary School, the village primary school, had 112 pupils aged five to eleven in January 2011.^[4][5] Its 2018 SAT results put it in England's top 1 per cent of schools for the proportion of children reaching and exceeding expected standards in writing and mathematics.

Its attached pre-school section is called Little Owls.^[6] The nearest secondary school is in Church Stretton.^[7]

Food and drink

The nearest restaurant is 1.7 miles (2.7 km) away in Leebotwood, south-east of Longnor. It is called The Pound and serves British cuisine.^[8] The nearest pub is the Fox Inn, 1.7 miles to the north in Little Ryton, which also serves meals, including vegetarian.^[9]

Leebotwood & Longnor PC

Longnor shares a parish council with the village of Leebotwood. In 2008, the electorate in the parish was 343 members, who vote on matters such as improving the quality of life of the two communities and looking after the environment. It influences and works alongside the principal authority Shropshire Council, Police, Highways Agency, PCT.^[10]

Cound Brook

Cound Brook is a 25-mile-long (40 km) tributary of the River Severn running from the All Stretton area through Longnor and Condover and emptying into the Severn near Cound. Longnor lies in the middle section of Cound Brook. Having rainwater runoff from the Stretton Hills join it, the brook widens, passing to the east of Leebotwood and west of Longnor and the Medieval deer park there. Continuing east of Dorrington village, it changes direction to east at Stapleton. The flow can vary from slow and sluggish in a dry summer to a torrent in winter or spring.^[19]

Medieval deer park

The medieval deer park was an enclosed area bounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden park palisade. The ditch was typically on the inside, so that deer could enter the park but not leave it.^[20]

Shropshire ghost

The White Lady of Longnor is said to appear clothed in a long white wedding dress, on or by the road bridge near the village. She is thought to have thrown herself into the water below after being deserted at the altar.^[24]

Road

The A49 is the main road that passes by Longnor just to the west of the village. It heads north and south, traversing the Welsh Marches between Hereford and Wigan. It provides the main routes between Longnor and surrounding towns and villages, notably Shrewsbury and Church Stretton. Church Stretton as the nearest town for shopping. The A49 is also the bus route for Longnor: the No. 435 stops just north of the village.^[25]

Cycling

Route 32/33 links the village with the National Cycle Network, which runs between Little Ryton and All Stretton as part of National Cycle Route 44.^[26]

Trains

The nearest railway station to Longnor is 4.7 miles (7.6 km) off at Church Stretton on the Welsh Marches Line, beside the 435 bus route. The nearest mainline station is in Shrewsbury, 7.7 miles (12.4 km) to the north.^[27]

Buses

Longnor is served by bus routes numbered 435 and 540. Both start from Church Stretton, being the largest town nearby. The 435 takes in a number of different villages, including Longnor, on its way to Shrewsbury. The 540 runs to Radbrook Green, a suburb of Shrewsbury.^[27]