Willey, Shropshire


Willey is a small village south west of the town of Broseley, Shropshire, England, within the civil parish of Barrow. It is made up of about 4 farms and the majority of land is owned and leased by the Weld-Forester family of Willey Hall. Willey also sports a proud cricket team like many small villages around the United Kingdom.
The village was the site of one of John Wilkinson's ironworks in the 18th century. The world's first iron boat, a barge, was built there in 1787.
Willey Park, the landscaped grounds of Willey Hall, contains a war memorial in form of a stone Celtic cross, originally erected by the 6th Baron Forester, to the men of the parishes of Barrow and Willey who died serving in the World Wars.
The Church of England parish church at Willey, the family burying place of the Lords Forester, is maintained by the Forester family but is no longer open for regular worship nor open to the public except by arrangement with the estate office or when the church, with the Willey Park gardens, is opened under the National Gardens Scheme.