1. Discovering Harley
Harley is a small village nestled in the shadow of the spectacular Wenlock Edge in Shropshire. The location is easy to find but discovering Harley is a much longer and more interesting story that goes back thousands of years. Harley lies in the Shropshire Uplands, a village folded away amongst fertile valleys and gentle hills. The villages here tend to be small and scattered. Then there are limestone escarpments like Wenlock edge which form the typically small scale Shropshire landscape.
With its intervening vales and picturesque villages and hamlets, this region is the most beautiful within the county. It is the essential Shropshire of Housman’s – ‘A Shropshire Lad’. The houses in Harley are not mostly medieval but they are built adjoining medieval and older roads. The deserted centre of Harley lies lost and forgotten down the magical Domas Lane at Domas itself. Here the old track, now a narrow road meets and crosses the stream, Harley Brook, the last remnant of the ancient glacier. This is where the old Tithe Map of 1842 shows a gathering of tiny fields, together on each side of the stream, then a river, the best evidence of an old settlement area.
The Shropshire Landscape (1972) by Trevor Rowley, Archeologist and Writer.
When we first settled in Harley at Glebe Cottage in 1974, there was the feeling that here was a very old place. Jim and Mary Brookshaw, a farmer and his wife, lived next door at Forge Farm, one of the five working farms in the village at that time. Our tenant, Cyril Hughes had worked on the same farm in Cressage for 53 years, his father before him. We had accidentally attached ourselves, as outsiders, to the inside story of a very traditional Shropshire village, built around farming.
In studying landscape history I had read ‘The Making of the English Landscape‘ by Professor W. G. Hoskins. I then read Trevor Rowley’s books ‘The Shropshire Landscape and Villages in the Landscape‘. They both make the point that villages and other settlements are far older than might be imagined.
In looking at the history and the pre-history of Harley, there is one central element which underpins the whole story, and that is farming, which in effect allows everything else to happen. Unfortunately, farmers, in the past, have never to my knowledge written about themselves or what they do, so in tracing the origins and development of agriculture other sources have to be relied upon.
Through times of great national change, the invasion of other cultures with other languages, life in the remote countryside maintains a steady, independence. The regularity of life and living, of birth and death, of incessant work, the cultural rhythm is maintained year after year, decade after decade, century after century, millennia after millennia. If you look behind Harley’s now very manicured appearance of a commuter village there are to be discovered elements of the past – stories told and evolved in the oral tradition; superstitions, old religions, old buildings, old place names, old words, old trackways, and old attitudes. A fascinating historical journey going back centuries.
In researching this history of Harley, I have used the most reputable sources available, such as the Victoria County History and local archives in Shropshire. In doing this I have interpreted and cross referenced the given information trying to build up a picture on sometimes a scarcity of historical records. Having been a resident of Harley since 1974 the history does also contain original observations.
Whilst I have tried to stick to the facts, some conjecture and deduction has been necessary and useful, even a little speculation at times, which has been clearly indicated. I believe that to make a readable and convincing text it is better to find links across time and to decipher consequences rather than to deliver an uninterrupted stream of historical detail.
Where information specific to Harley village is lacking, and there are enormous gaps, an attempt has been made to place the village into a regional or national context. I have attempted to create a picture of how this village has evolved from neolithic times all the way to the present day – a HUGE task that has proved a fascinating and consuming journey. It has been a labour of love, that began back in the late 1970’s and has been fitted in between work and the demands of family life.
My daughter, Vivianne and her partner Chris have helped me put my writings online – so it finally can see the light of day! Please do leave your comments and take a look at our Facebook page that has been set up for people to contribute any photos and memories..