Hope Bowdler is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.

It is situated on the B4371, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the market town of Church Stretton.

Hope Bowdler Hill rises to the north of the village, with a number of summits including Gaer Stone (or Gaerstones), the three tallest of which are 426 metres (1,398 ft), 410m and 393m.

It can be reached via a 3.5-mile circular walk from Hope Bowdler, traversing Gaerstone and Wilstone hills, and continuing towards Church Stretton, before returning to the village.

[2] The History of Hope Bowdler reaches back to the Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD.

On the summit of Caer Caradoc there are remains of a fort where it is alleged that Caractacus made his last stand against the Romans as described by Tacitus.

[3][4] A millennium later another famous rebel, Edric Silvaticus also known as 'Edric the Wild', was a Saxon that fought against the Normans in the area of Hope Bowdler after the Conquest of 1066.

Twenty years later Hope Bowdler is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086.

The church registers of birth, baptisms and burials begins 1564 and the chalice of 1571 still exists.

No memorial exists for the World War II soldiers because all seven of them returned safely.

[8] Outside the church on the north wall is an inlaid stone cross, with metal plaque below, in memory of Thomas Brooke Benson, Royal Scots Fusiliers, who was killed in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, France, in 1915.

It is more dramatic because the area has a smaller population so if people come and go it will more obvious in recorded statistics.

[12] The 1881 census provided details of Hope Bowdler industry and what was the main type of occupation in the area.

There were many different types of occupation that was recorded in the census: agriculture, professionals, food and lodging and domestic services.

The number of women that were employed was significantly lower than the male population of the area.

Agriculture was the main occupation so it was common for young boys to become apprentices for farmers.