Buildwas is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, on the north bank of the River Severn at . It lies on the B4380 road between Atcham and Ironbridge. The Royal Mail postcodes begin TF6 and TF8.
Buildwas Primary Academy is situated on the Buildwas bank road. The school has been running since 1855, and has three classes and a nursery.
Buildwas previously had a nine-hole golf course which ran between the River Severn and the site of Ironbridge Power Station. It was open to members of Buildwas Abbey Club.
Village
The village of Buildwas has been recognised since 1086 as the first reference to it was made in the Domesday Book. Buildwas was valued at 45 shillings (£2.25) to the Bishop of Chester, i.e. the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, the local diocesan bishop, in 1086. The value of the manor was the same as in 1066, although it had slipped in the interim period. Its value lay in its location on the River Severn in its woodland, which was useful for agricultural and farming purposes. During this time period, the village had a total population of nine households, three of villeins, five of slaves and one the reeve. Due to this the village only had a total tax assessment of one geld unit which was very small. Buildwas had resources of 200 pigs and a mill which people relied on. The manor was assigned to Buildwas Abbey, originally founded as a Savigniac monastery, in 1135 by Roger de Clinton (1129–1148), Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. The Savigniac houses were later absorbed into the Cistercian order. After the abbey was suppressed in 1536, as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the site and much of the property was granted to Edward Grey, 3rd Baron Grey of Powis
Buildwas was also the site of a station opened in 1862 on the Wellington to Craven Arms Railway and Severn Valley Railway, although the station was inaccessible to the population and visitors who had to get off further down the line at either Ironbridge or Coalbrookdale. The site was, until recently, occupied by Ironbridge Power Station. However, the station was demolished in stages completed in 2021. with hopes a new railway station to serve Ironbridge Gorge area could be opened near Buildwas.
Based on a study of train journeys and travel times, Michael Cobb argued in 1977 that Buildwas could have been a location setting for the fictional Market Blandings in the writings of P.G. Wodehouse, and the mansion Buildwas Park an original for Blandings Castle.
Occupations
thumb|left|Occupational order of Buildwas for 1881
The first census regarding occupational data for the village of Buildwas was taken in 1831 and gives a valuable insight into the village for this time period. The census showed that the biggest employability sector at this time was agricultural labourers, and there were 35 people employed in this field. The average price of property which has been sold in Buildwas was valued at £218,114 which was well above the national average of £161,558 in April 2012.
In June 2018 the Harworth Group announced that it had bought the Ironbridge Power Station site, whose buildings were scheduled for demolition, for an undisclosed sum. Plans for the site included the development of 'several hundred new homes' together with commercial development, leisure uses and significant public open space. An outline planning application for a development including 1,000 new homes and other facilities was submitted to both Shropshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council on 19 December 2019. The plan was initially rejected by Shropshire Council's Southern Planning Committee in August 2021 over a number of issues including the level of guaranteed affordable housing, but was granted in September 2021 after amended proposals were submitted.
Abbey
The preserved remains of a Cistercian abbey lie on the south bank of the River Severn. These include an unusually unaltered 12th-century church, a vaulted and tile-floored chapter house, and a re-opened crypt chapel. The stone abbey buildings were completed mainly during the abbacy of Ranulf, which began around 1155. The income for the abbey came mainly from a large portfolio of properties, concentrated around monastic granges in the surrounding areas of Shropshire and Staffordshire. The site is now cared for by English Heritage.
Bridge
thumb|Telford's bridge at Buildwas
A brick and stone bridge crossed the Severn from medieval times to the 18th century; in the floods of 1773 and 1795, it was irreparably damaged and finally swept away by severe flooding following an earthquake. After its destruction, Thomas Telford built a in 1796, which survived subsequent floods until its replacement by a steel Pratt truss in 1905, which itself was replaced in 1992.
See also
- Listed buildings in Buildwas
- Ironbridge Gorge
- Buildwas Junction railway station
- Telford Steam Railway