Lydbury North is an ancient parish located in a pleasant valley amidst the beatiful Shropshire hills. With a population of less than 200 in the village the parish boundaries spread over the hills to include another 400 people living in isolated hamlets and farms. Our community includes a wide mix of ages and lifestyles working together to build a stronger Christian presence.

THE PARISH CHURCH

The Church at Lydbury North is dedicated to Saint Michael and All Angels. There is a picture of Saint Michael in the stained glass window behind the organ. We know that there was a parish of Lydbury in Saxon times and that it was large and important. In 780 AD Egwin Shakehead was the owner of the parish. He suffered from the palsy and it is believed that he was cured of it when he visited the shrine of Saint Ethelbert at Hereford. He was so grateful for his cure that he gave the parish as a gift to the Bishop of Hereford.

The oldest remaining parts of our church were built in the time of the Normans. William the Clerk was the priest at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. The stone font still used for Baptisms today dates from this time.

The church is in the shape of a cross, the central part is made up of the nave, choir and chancel. In the north arm of the cross is the Roman Catholic Plowden Chapel and in the south arm is the Walcot Chapel. This chapel was reordered for the Millennium celebrations in 2000.

In our church there are a fine series of beautifully carved Jacobean pews. These were probably built around 1615.

This short history and description is taken from a church guide compiled with the help of the children at Lydbury North Primary School. The church is one of the 1000  Best Parish Churches listed in Simon Jenkins' book, and was used by the BBC for filming a sequence about the connection between the Christian faith and English law which was used in the Faith Zone of the Millennium Dome. The building is open during the day.