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Parish Profile
Mission Statement:
‘Growing in Faith, Hope and Love: Sharing the Good News of
Jesus with all’
St. Laurence Parish
Church: Church Street, Church Stretton, Shropshire. SY6
6DQ
St Laurence Parish Centre: Situated opposite the
church on Church Street
St. Michael’s & All
Angels: Shrewsbury Road, All Stretton
All Saints: Ludlow Road, Little Stretton
Incumbent: Rev Richard Hill
Address: The Rectory, Cardingmill Valley Road, Church
Stretton, SY6 tel no. 01694 722585
Curate: vacant
Address: 26 Churchill Road, Church Stretton
The Parish:
The parish is situated in the South Shropshire Hills, an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, twelve miles south of
the county town of Shrewsbury, with St Laurence’s Parish
Church standing in the picturesque market town of Church
Stretton.
The parish with a population
of 4,200 people is concentrated in the town itself and in
two main villages, All Stretton, to the north, and Little
Stretton, to the south. These villages are served by two
daughter churches, ‘St Michael and All Angels’, and ‘All
Saints’ respectively. There are several outlying smaller
villages also included in the Parish and these have
allegiance to one or other of the daughter churches, eg.
Lower Wood near All Stretton and Minton and Hamperley near
Little Stretton.
Other Christian Churches are
well represented: - United Reformed (URC), Methodist, Roman
Catholic - and a Society of Friends Meeting
Schools:
There are two thriving schools in Church Stretton:
St
Lawrence's Church of England Primary
School, with almost 300 pupils and of which our rector is an
ex-officio governor Church Stretton Comprehensive
School, with over 750 students, for pupils aged 11-16 years.
This school draws from a very wide area outside the Stretton
valley. The nearest 6th form colleges are in Shrewsbury and
Ludlow.
Centres:
There is a well founded Medical Centre in Church Stretton
with the nearest hospital being in Shrewsbury.
A thriving community centre, called The Mayfair Centre,
offers a wide range of activities. It is run by a small paid
staff but largely dependent upon volunteers. There is also a
wide variety of societies and clubs meeting in the town and
surrounding villages.
Employment:
Church Stretton is a town with a good range of shopping
facilities and is a popular centre from which to walk and
explore the surrounding countryside. Tourism, shops and
farming are the principal sources of local employment.
Tourism means that the church is able to
welcome visitors who just want to look around as well as
those visitors who come to worship.
Accessibility:
There is a railway line running through the valley which
connects Manchester and South Wales with regular connections
to London and the West Midlands.
A regular bus service connects Church Stretton with
Shrewsbury and Ludlow and other bus services link outlying
villages and towns.
Local people value their town with its beautiful countryside
and opportunities both social and recreational, as well as
its strong community spirit.
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