The History of in Inevitably, over time places rise or fall in importance and Burcote is one which is in the latter category. Look at the village today and you would never believe the hive of activity it once was or that it was linked to ’s carpet factory.

As far as we can go back there have been people living at Burcote. There is evidence from flint finds of early human activity and in 1809 human and animal bones were found in a cave somewhere in the woods around Burcote. Exactly where the cave was is not known and in 1960 a group of archaeologists tried, and failed, to find the location. Nonetheless, I think we can assume that the story of the bones in the cave is true, although it would be good to see the evidence. The cave was found by a member of the Hardwicke family and written up in the Gentleman’s Magazine of January 1810. If it was a fiction, the family certainly went to a lot of trouble. Hardwicke speculates a little about what the people were doing in the cave; were they druids, robbers etc. In the end Hardwicke comes to the only sensible conclusion, that we don’t know what the people were doing there and that the date was some time before Elizabeth 1. It would appear that there was a landfall and both people and animals were trapped in the cave and died as a result.

Burcote was a recognised place, if not at the time of the Domesday Book, then shortly afterwards and it was an important place, too. The first reference I found seems really odd but I think it is indicative of the wealth of Burcote. Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury, who owned most of Shropshire, had decided to set up a college of canons at Quatford. Roger wanted to provide his clerks with extra income (Victoria County History for Shropshire Volume 2) and number of local The History of Burcote in Shropshire places were donated to the cause, including Burcote. Although many of the original endowments were retained, Burcote does not reappear. Nonetheless, the fact that it was given in the first place suggests wealth. The obvious question is what was the source of the wealth? The answer probably lies in fish. We know that in the thirteenth century there were 13 fisheries in Worfield and eight were at Burcote. It would be lovely to know where they were. Might they have been in that open, flat area adjacent to the Mill which perhaps later became the mill pool or might they have been what later became the Factory Stream? It would seem that Burcote’s fisheries were hatching and breeding ponds or stankings (Victoria County History for Shropshire Vol 4.) They may have provided fish for immediate consumption but were primarily a source of breeding stock to be transferred to other ponds. The fish were packed in wet grass and transported in canvas-lined barrels to keep them alive for a day or more. Were Burcote’s fish transported to other parts of the Earl of Shrewsbury’s holdings, hence the importance of the township, and the need for a good road network? The Victoria County History also says that, ‘for security and convenience they were usually sited near the manor house or in an existing park.’ The benefits were not restricted to fish. Wildfowl and swans (could this explain the name Swancott), good grazing on the margins of the ponds, rushes for thatching and cereals were additional bonuses. The ponds were drained regularly for cleaning and a catch crop of cereals could be grown on the pond bottom. After the crop was harvested the mud was dug out and used to fertilise the surrounding fields.

I am sure it is too neat a connection to say that the fishponds led to cereal production which led to the building of Burcote The History of Burcote in Shropshire Mill, but it could have happened that way. You may wonder why the cereals were not taken to Rindleford Mill, but that was built in Medieval times as a fulling mill and not for grinding grain.

After it was a cereal mill Burcote Mill became a linen mill. Exactly when this happened, I don’t know. In 1839, on the tithe map, down in the valley, there was a Factory Meadow and two buildings, close to a stream called The Old Factory Stream. In 1939 one of these buildings was used as a malthouse. On the other side of the Worfe there is a field called Bath Meadow. Both the stream and meadow names may suggest a place where the flax was retted or soaked to break down the fibres. If so it would make sense to have a building where the flax was made into linen close by because of the bulky nature of the material.

The first part in the process of making flax into linen. A photograph from Northern Ireland at the start of the twentieth century The History of Burcote in Shropshire Another transformation happened when Burcote Mill became a woollen mill. In 1814 John MacMichael of the Bridgnorth Carpet Factory had possession of the following:

... 2 dwelling houses with a malthouse, gardens, in St. Mary's adjoining the spinning manufactory with buildings and lands at Burcote, Worfield (now or late Messrs Macmichaels and McMath) all which were the estates of John Macmichael when he became bankrupt.

This is a brief summary of a valley which has now reverted to woodland and which was a hive of activity over five hundred years. Topographically all that is left now to mark its important past are:

- The remnants of Burcote Mill - Bridges crossing the Worfe by Burcote Mill and possibly another nearby, indicated by large sandstone blocks - Derelict buildings. A pile of standstone blocks and a small cave carved out of the sandstone rock - Roads and tracks of ancient usage, wide enough to take carts. The holloway flanked with sandstone walls leading down from Burcote House is particularly impressive.

Although this may be all that is left on the ground, there are written records to be researched and one feels that this is the start of another fascinating exploration.