Maesbury Walks
Route
2c -
along the main road from Waen Lane to Coed y Rae Lane
On the junction with Waen Lane is the Corner House, set back a little from the main road, which was for many years the Maesbury Marsh shop and Post Office. The 1890 Ordnance Survey map, on the right, suggests the PO was a little further up the road at Springfield on the right, which is supported by the Census records.
The
1861 Census shows the shop on the corner of what was then called 'Pentre
Maes Lane' (now Waen Lane):
Jane
Muckleston, head, widow, 52, shopkeeper (grocer), b. Llansillin
There was no mention of a PO in 1861, but by 1871 the Census indicates that the shop and PO were separate:
this
one appears still refers to the Corner House:
Jane Muckleton, head, widow, 61, grocer & general
dealer, b. Llanyblodwell
while
this one was further along the road:
Post Office - Thomas Davies, head, widower, 60,
post master & taylor, b. Dawley, Salop
Thomas Davies, son, unmarried, 24, bricklayer labourer, b. Shrewsbury
Mary Davies, daughter, 16, housekeeper, b. Oswestry
The
1881 Census makes no mention of a Post Master, so pehaps it had moved
to the shop by then as it seems to have expanded:
Charles
Woollam, head, married, 40, grocer & provision dealer, b. Wem Salop
Lizzie Woollam, wife, married, 43, b. London
Charles Woollam, son, 11, scholar, b. Lancaster
Mary Woollam, daughter, 10, scholar, b. Lancaster
John Woollam, son, 9, scholar, b. Lancaster
Henry Woollam, son, 7, scholar, b. Lancaster
Alice Woollam, daughter, 6, scholar, b. Maesbury
William Woollam, son, 4, scholar, b. Maesbury
Sarah Williams, visitor, unmarried, 20, housemaid, b. Llanfyllin, Mont.
Evan Davies, boarder, widower, 70, retired grocer, b. Llansantfraid, Mont.
In
the 1891 Census the family had changed slightly, but still there:
Elizabeth
Woollam, head, widow, 53, grocer & provision dealer, employer,
Charles L. Woolam, son, 21, grocer's assistant, b. Liverpool
Mary L. Woollam, daughter, single, 20, grocer's assistant, b. Liverpool
John E. Woollam, son, 19, grocer's assistant, b. Liverpool
Henry Woollam, son, 17, coachmaker bodymaker, b. Liverpool
Alice Woollam, daughter, single, 16, house assistant, b. Shrewsbury
William Woollam, son, 14, scholar, b. Maesbury
After the shop closed the post office moved to a private house below the bridge, but that too closed in 2002, leaving Maesbury with nothing until Canal Central opened in 2006.
The Marshfields housing estate on the left was built on the site of the 'Common Field' in the 1950s. Some of the houses on the right are clearly much older.
Proceed along the road to the junction with Coed y Rae Lan.
Walks 2, 3, 5 & 6 - route 2d - turn left into Coed y Rae Lane
Walk 4 - route 4a - continue along the main road