Sibdon Carwood - Etymology and History

Etymology and History

The place is occasionally written simply with the first part of the name, which has been spelt variously over the centuries. Originally "Sibton" (in the Domesday Book of 1086 it is recorded as "Sibetune"), from Saxon origin meaning "Sibba's farmstead". The second part of the full name, Carwood, means "the wood where the rocks are found". The name Carwood is also given to a wooded slope, north of Wart Hill in the north of Hopesay parish, and to three cottages there.

The Norman barons who locally had their power base at Clun Castle, the de Say family, held the manor after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The name of the neighbouring village and parish, Hopesay, derives from "Hope de Say" - "the valley of Say". During the medieval period, the Welsh Marches was an area of instability and conflict, ruled by the Marcher lords.

The fortified manor at Sibdon Carwood, the predecessor to the 17th-century Sibdon Castle country house, is given the name "Shepeton Corbet" by a number of historical documents, including that of John Leland (c. 1535-43), who also gives the suffix to Hopton Castle and Moreton Corbet castle. This is an indication that the Corbet family owned these fortified manors around the time, of which Moreton Corbet's castle both remains in their ownership and retains the suffix to this day.

About a mile to the north, in the neighbouring hamlet of Cheney Longville, was Cheney Longville Castle.

A description of the parish published in 1848 records that 59 people lived in the parish, which was wholly owned by the Sibdon Castle estate. It also noted a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £50.

The parish came within the hundred of Purslow. In 1894 it became part of Ludlow Rural District and then in 1974 the non-metropolitan district of South Shropshire. In 2009 there was another re-organisation of local administration, with the creation of a unitary authority covering most of Shropshire.

The nearby town of Craven Arms is a relatively recent development in the area - it was established only in the mid-19th century, being at the junction of a number of newly-laid railway lines. With much of its recent growth towards the west of the town, its urban area has reached Watling Street and its outskirts fringe into Sibdon Carwood parish.