Brief History of Cleobury Mortimer
The origin of the name is uncertain, but the first part of the name comes from the nearby Clee Hill. The Old English word clifu means a steep place. This is more likely than clai or clay as the hill is famous for its very hard dhustone rock. The second part of the name is straightforward as bury means a fortified settlement. The Mortimer part of the name comes from the Norman Lord of the Manor as Ralph de Mortimer was granted the manor in 1074. Cleobury became the chief seat of the family until Wigmore, and later Ludlow, became the centre of their operations.
The manor originally belonged to Edith, the wife of Edward the Confessor and a priest is mentioned in the Domesday Book, so, quite possibly, there was a church here in Saxon times, although the first mention of a church is in the endowment of Wigmore Abbey, when Hugh de Mortimer gave the living of Cleobury to the Abbey which then became its Rector appointing a vicar to take charge of the church. The incumbent was known as Vicar until 1995, when he became Rector of the newly formed group of parishes.
There have been two castles at Cleobury, one near the Church and the other on the site of an Iron Age earth works at Castle Toot. One was destroyed by te King in 1174 when Hugh de Mortimer rebelled. He was given permission to rebuild in 1179. It is uncertain which was the original castle, though it seems more likely that the church and castle should be at the centre of the settlement, and the new castle was built in a more defensible position high above a bend in the river.