Picklescott

Betchcott () is a hamlet near the villages of Picklescott and Woolstaston in Shropshire, England. It lies in the parish of Smethcott, in the northern foothills of the Long Mynd. The nearest town is Church Stretton. The hamlet is made up of three farms, Upper Farm, Middle Farm and Batchcott Hall Farm, as well as Batchcott Hall and several other cottages. Its name is derived from Old English bæce or bece, "brook", referring to a cottage by a brook.Max Wenner (1887–1937), textile businessman, birder, landowner; possibly a British Secret Service agent assassinated by the Gestapo, lived at Batchcott Hall at time of his death.

Smethcott (sometimes Smethcote) is a civil parish and dispersed hamlet near the village of Picklescott, in Shropshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 254. The name Smethcott has an Old English origin, and means "cottage(s) of the smiths". It was listed as a manor in the Domesday Book, where (spelt "Smerecote") it is recorded as having been held by Eldred, the tenant of its former owner Edmund, who now himself held it from a member of the Anglo-Norman nobility. A 13th century motte-and-bailey castle existed at Smethcott, of which now only the earthworks remain in a field near the church. The motte hill rises to an altitude of 247 metres (810 ft). The church, which is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, was largely rebuilt in 1850 though retains some Norman features. The parish's war memorial, a stone cross, is in the churchyard and there is also a Roll of Honour inside the church. The village school closed in 1964 and today the nearest services (pubs, shops, etc.) are found in Picklescott and Leebotwood. The rural parish is situated in the northern foothills of the Long Mynd and includes Picklescott and the hamlet of Betchcott. The nearest town is Church Stretton. To the south is the village and parish of Woolstaston, with the Betchcott Brook forming the parish boundary.

Woolstaston is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of the nearest town, Church Stretton. It is located in the northern foothills of the Long Mynd and is situated near Leebotwood, Smethcott and Picklescott. The parish is geographically very small, covering only the village, the lanes leading to it and a small part of the Walkmills area to the north-east. The area also contains the Rectory Farm Bed & Breakfast. The village has a Church of England parish church dedicated to St Michael, dating to the 13th century but restored in its present form in 1864-65 when a transept, vestry and bell turret were added. Lalage Bown (1927-2021), educator, feminist and women's literacy advocate in Africa, was brought up in Woolstaston and her ashes were scattered in the churchyard.

Church Pulverbatch is a small village and civil parish in central Shropshire, England. The population of the parish was 344 at the time of the 2001 census, increasing to 361 at the 2011 Census.It is located near Habberley and Picklescott. The nearest towns are Shrewsbury and Church Stretton; both are approximately 8 miles by road. Also within the parish is the village of Pulverbatch, which is situated on the Shrewsbury-Longden-Bridges road and has a public house, called the White Horse. The villages of Church Pulverbatch (also known as Churton) and Pulverbatch are less than half a mile apart. The hamlet of Wrentnall is situated to the north of Pulverbatch, also within the parish. The current Lord of Wrentnall, and Lord of Great Lyth, is also the Baron of Pulverbatch (Farrow, M. W. MA (Cantab), 7 April 2003, Lordships of Wrentnall and Pulverbatch). The Church of England parish church of St Edith, built of mauve rubblestone with Grinshill stone dressings, has an ornate west tower of 1773, but most of the present building, the nave and chancel, was restored in 1852-53 and a north aisle added by Shrewsbury architect Edward Haycock. Inside is a plain wooden west gallery and box pews, besides a framed Roll of Honour to parish men who served in World War I, and electric lighting that was fitted in memory of five men of the parish who died serving in World War II. The churchyard contains a Commonwealth war grave of a Canadian airman of World War II.On a hill to the south of Pulverbatch are the earthwork remains of Castle Pulverbatch, a medieval motte-and-bailey castle.

The Longmyndian Supergroup is a 6,000-metre-thick (20,000 ft) sequence of Ediacaran (late Precambrian) rocks that outcrop between the Pontesford–Linley Fault System and the Church Stretton Fault System in the Welsh Borderland Fault System of England and Wales. The supergroup consists of two major geological groups, the Stretton Group and the overlying Wentnor Group. The successions represented by these two groups have also been referred to as the Eastern Longymndian and Western Longmyndian respectively, forming as they do the bedrock of the east and west parts of the Long Mynd in Shropshire. The rocks are a generally regressive sequence from basinal facies to clastic sedimentation. The rocks are thought to be derived from Uriconian mountains that were formed during the southward subduction of an oceanic plate beneath a continental block (ocean closure). The rocks have since been folded due to fault movements and plunge gently to the south. The Longmyndian rocks were deposited in northeast–southwest trending faulted rift basins. These were deposited on top of the Uriconian volcaniclastic deposits. Subsequent ocean closure squeezed these rocks together to provide sub-vertical bedding in the synclinal sequence seen in exposed rocks today. The deposited rocks of the Longmyndian show a variety of depositional facies that tell a story of ocean closure. The Longmyndian deposits rest upon Uriconian rocks but different sections are exposed exclusively between the Church Stretton Fault and the Pontesford-Linley Lineament.

The Long Mynd (Welsh: Cefn Hirfynydd) is a heath and moorland plateau that forms part of the Shropshire Hills in Shropshire, England. The high ground, which is common land and designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, lies between the Stiperstones range to the west and the Stretton Hills and Wenlock Edge to the east. Much of it is owned by the National Trust, and is managed by the Longmynd Commoners.The Long Mynd is approximately 7 miles (11 km) long by 3 miles (5 km) wide, and is broadly characterised by steep valleys on its eastern flanks, and a long slope to the western side rising in a steep escarpment. In its vicinity are the principal settlements of Church Stretton, Little Stretton and All Stretton, Pulverbatch, Smethcott, Woolstaston, Asterton, Myndtown, Wentnor and Ratlinghope. The highest point on the Long Mynd is Pole Bank (1,693 ft, 516 m); this and the adjacent hill of Caer Caradoc (1,506 ft, 459 m) are classed as Marilyns.

Oaks is a village in Shropshire, England, southwest of Shrewsbury. The manor of Oaks is identified before the Norman Conquest, probably held with the adjacent Pontesbury and Wrentnall.

Huglith Mine is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Shropshire, England. It is located 4km west of Dorrington or 3km southeast of Minsterley. It is protected because of the geology exposed in this disused mine (the mine opened in the 19th century and closed in 1945). When the mine was active, it was a major producer of barium and this protected area still has an exceptional deposit of barite.

All Stretton is a village and a now separate civil parish in Shropshire, England. Much of it is covered by a Conservation Area.

Ratlinghope (, locally also RAT-chəp) is a hamlet and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 138. It is situated four miles (6 km) west of Church Stretton and twelve miles (19 km) south of Shrewsbury. Historically it was located in the hundred of Purslow. In the Church of England it is in the rural deanery of Bishop's Castle, archdeaconry of Ludlow, and diocese of Hereford. The village is scattered around a valley in the hills of the Long Mynd and Stiperstones, an AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty). Nearby is the hamlet of Bridges, which falls within Ratlinghope civil parish, and where there is a youth hostel and a public house. Castle Ring, the earthwork of Ratlinghope Hill, is the fort described by Mary Webb in her novel Golden Arrow.

Church Stretton School is an 11–16 mixed secondary school with academy status in Church Stretton, Shropshire, England. Previously a community school administered by Shropshire Council, Church Stretton School converted to academy status in April 2013. The school is now part of the TrustEd Schools Partnership (previously the South Shropshire Academy Trust), which runs five secondary and four primary academies. The school became comprehensive in 1977.

All Stretton Halt was a minor railway station on the Welsh Marches Line between Shrewsbury and Church Stretton in the English county of Shropshire.