Editing Morda

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| official_name = Morda
| population = 
| population_ref = 
| civil_parish = [[Oswestry Rural]]
| unitary_england = [[Shropshire (district)|Shropshire]]
| lieutenancy_england = [[Shropshire]]
| region = West Midlands
| constituency_westminster = [[North Shropshire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Shropshire]]
| post_town = OSWESTRY
| postcode_district = SY10
| postcode_area = SY
| dial_code = 01691
| os_grid_reference = 
}}

'''Morda''' is a village on the outskirts of the town of [[Oswestry]], [[Shropshire]], located near the border of [[England]] with [[Wales]].

The village is named after the [[River Morda]], a [[tributary]] of the [[River Vyrnwy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oswestry.histarch.uk/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/Morda_Valley_15.pdf|title=Interim Report of the Morda Valley Research Project|date=March 1998|publisher=Oswestry & Borders History & Archaeology Group}}</ref>

== History ==

===The Morda Valley===

Prior to 1792, Morda comprised the Drill Inn, perhaps one or two farms, and possibly a small [[flour]] mill.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Industries of the Morda Valley|last=Thomas|first=R. D.|publisher=Shropshire Libraries|year=1939}}</ref> The following decades of the [[Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom|Industrial Revolution]] saw several factories and mills spring up along the banks of the village's namesake river, which provided a ready source of power for machinery. These mills were used to grind corn for flour, and to manufacture textiles, paper and animal products. Dwellings were also built at this time to house the local workforce, which comprised [[blacksmith]]s, [[wheelwright]]s and [[millwright]]s among other [[Artisan|craftspeople]].<ref name=":1" />

The village's main enterprise at the end of the 18th century was that of Warren Roberts & Co., originally of [[Manchester]], who opened several mills for the printing and dyeing of [[calico]].<ref name=":1" /> Calico activities ceased in Morda around 1818.<ref name=":1" />

The village's present school was erected in 1872, replacing one that operated in a malt kiln behind the Drill Inn from around 1850.<ref name=":1" />

===Coal mining and brick making===

There were several good sources of [[coal]] in Shropshire and in its heyday in the 1800s the local mining industry rivalled neighbouring [[Staffordshire]] in its output. Contributing to this productivity was coal extracted from Morda, Coed-y-go and [[Trefonen]]. The coal in the area was often close to the surface and accordingly the [[bell pit]] was a common method of extraction.<ref name=":1" />

By the turn of the 19th century, the [[Ellesmere Canal]] and the [[Shropshire Union Canal|Shropshire Union]] offshoot opened up the markets to the north and for some fifty years, much coal mining would take place in Morda. In 1813, the [[Morda Tramway]] was laid down to transport coal to the canal at [[Maesbury]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://shropshirehistory.com/mining/nshropscf.htm|title=North Shropshire Coalfield|website=shropshirehistory.com|access-date=2017-12-25}}</ref> In 1860, local entrepreneur [[Thomas Savin]] constructed a railway to link the Morda pits to the main line of the [[Cambrian Railways|Cambrian Railway]] at Whitehaven, near [[Llynclys]].<ref name=":2" /> The railway opened in 1861 but Savin's bankruptcy in 1866 ended matters and his mine closed in 1869.<ref name=":2" />

As some of the mines in the area became flooded, their owners turned instead to utilising the clay dug out as a by-product of mining. This clay was most often used in the making of bricks and pottery items.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oswestry-borderland-heritage.co.uk/?page=51|title=Oswestry Borderland Heritage - Short History|website=www.oswestry-borderland-heritage.co.uk|access-date=2017-12-26}}</ref>

Coal extraction had mostly ended in the Morda field by 1900.<ref name=":2" />

===Morda House===

The village was home to Morda House, otherwise known as the House of Industry or Oswestry Workhouse, originally opened in 1792 as the communal [[workhouse]] for Oswestry, [[Chirk]] and [[Llansilin]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Oswestry/|title=The Workhouse in Oswestry, Shropshire (Salop)|last=Higginbotham|first=Peter|website=www.workhouses.org.uk|access-date=2017-11-28}}</ref> After the [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]] the workhouse's scope was extended to take in people from many more of the surrounding parishes.

The main workhouse was a substantial three-storey building that could accommodate up to 300 inmates. In 1891, a 16-bed isolation hospital was erected to the south-east of the workhouse. This later became the Oswestry and [[Chirk]] Isolation Hospital, and then Greenfields Hospital.<ref name=":0" /> Since the 1980s the former hospital has housed Morda & Sweeney Social Club.

The main workhouse building was destroyed by fire in 1982. The only surviving part of it was a two-storey section that was later incorporated into a private residence.<ref name=":0" />

==Morda United F.C.==
The village is home to the [[association football|football]] club Morda United, which plays at the Weston Road Ground.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/morda_united.html|title=Morda United|website=www.pyramidpassion.co.uk|access-date=2017-12-25}}</ref> The club was first founded as Morda F.C. in the 1800s, but folded in the mid-1900s. The club was reformed in the 1970s under the name of Morda United F.C. and played throughout central Wales and the West Midlands for more than 40 years. Notable success came in 1991, when the club became [[Mid Wales Football League]] champions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fchd.info/MORDAU.HTM|title=Football Club History Database - Morda United|website=fchd.info|access-date=2017-11-29}}</ref> Following a period of dormancy from 2017, Morda United reformed and returned to playing action in 2020 in the Shropshire County Football League.<ref>{{Cite web|date=|title=Border Counties Advertizer|url=https://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/sport/18993478.barton-takes-helm-morda-10-months-welsh-football-inactivity/?ref=fbshr&fbclid=IwAR1eC3gTlDEdMCBvfOuAyQazHOPNq838GMijnIBQ-7iNd3ybzxKU7Ml4vEE|access-date=7 January 2021}}</ref>

==Other==
Morda features heavily in ''Dear Thief'' (2014), a novel by the award-winning author [[Samantha Harvey (author)|Samantha Harvey]].{{cn|date=November 2023}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/23062 Morda] at A Vision of Britain through Time
* [https://www.morda.shropshire.sch.uk Morda CofE Primary School]
*[https://www.facebook.com/MordaUnited/ Morda United F.C.]

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[[Category:Villages in Shropshire]]