Harmer Hill Village
Harmer Hill is a small village about 6 miles north of Shrewsbury on the A528. It lies in the parish of Myddle and Broughton.*
It has mixed woodlands to the south and north-west with some tall Pine trees. These Pine trees were mentioned by the Essayist William Hazlitt in 1798 after he had walked through Harmer Hill with the poet Coleridge. “Harmer Hill stooped with all its Pines to listen to the poet as he passed”, he wrote.
It is generally accepted that the name means “the hill overlooking Hare Mere” or the “hill overlooking the mere by which hares live”. The Mere, which was drained several hundred years ago, lies on the western side of the village, in the area now known as Harmer Moss.
It is a relatively modern village, and apart from “a cottage on Haremeare Hill” is not mentioned in Richard Goughs acclaimed History of Myddle written at the start of the 18th century. Gough also mentions Haremeare, Haremeare Heath, Haremeare Mosse, and Haremeare Warren.
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The 1813 enclosure map shows few houses in the area, but by 1841 it boasted 2 public houses, a shop and an Independent church, where the Rev George Rogers was the Minister. It then had a population of about 200 with nearly 50 households. The population of Harmer Hill remained at between 200 and 250 from then until 1911. The Village grew quicker after mains water came to the village around 1960, and mains drainage in 1975.
In the 1841 census, Harmer Hill was listed under “the township of Newton”. This is Newton on the Hill, where Richard Gough had lived. Newton, a small hamlet of 2 farms and about 9 houses, lies about half a mile north of Harmer Hill.
By 1861 the Village had a Sub Post Office and also a Village Policeman.
In the 19th century most men were employed on the land as Agricultural labourers, but there were also Butchers, Tailors, Wheelwrights, Carpenters, and other trades. Women worked as dairy maids, dressmakers, and servants.