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Moreton Corbet is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Moreton Corbet and Lee Brockhurst, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The village's Toponymy refers to the Corbet family, the local landowners.
It is just north of the larger village of Shawbury near Stanton upon Hine Heath and the River Roden. Moreton Corbet lies about NNE of the market town of Shrewsbury. In the village is the ruin of Moreton Corbet castle.
The village has seen steady development and population growth since then.
The 1961 census recorded a population in Moreton Corbet of 257 people, the population of the area being rather inconsistent as only 10 years earlier it reached 350. According to a 2001 census, the population of "Moreton Corbet and Lee Brockhurst" was 281: 149 males and 132 females with the biggest age range occurring between 45- and 64-year-olds.
The first census to report on how well people were housed was that of 1891, but the only statistics gathered were the number of rooms and the number of people in each household. The total amount of households rose to 72 in 1961 and further again to a total of 114 households by 2001. The majority of these households consisted of whole detached houses and bungalows, of which mainly married couples inhabited.
On 1 April 1988 the parish was abolished to form "Moreton Corbet & Lee Brockhurst", part also went to Shawbury.
Among Moreton Corbet's biggest attractions are the ruins of the castle, leading Moreton Corbet to be called "one of the most exciting places to visit in Shropshire", and described as a "magnificent and unusual, ornate ruin, that is disturbingly atmospheric".
Robert Corbet inherited Moreton Corbet castle in 1578 and immediately began to transform his ancestral home, influenced by his extensive travelling. He died of Bubonic plague in 1583 and his brothers Richard and Vincent, who inherited the castle in turn, completed the range. In the Civil War Sir Vincent Corbet (died 1656) fought for the Cavalier cause and the house was damaged in recurrent fighting. The buildings were later repaired and re-occupied.
In the 18th century the castle was abandoned as a residence and soon lost its roof. Plans were prepared in 1796 to build a new house on the site, but the project was never realised and the castle remained a ruin.
The church was patronised by the Corbet family and has an extraordinary Corbet family pew-room built into the south wall complete with a fireplace and carved seats on three sides. There is a number of monumental chest tombs of members of the family, such as that of Sir Richard Corbet (died 1566) and his wife Margaret. Some of the monuments depict the deceased's children: one portrays 18 children and another has a single baby in swaddling clothes with rose and lily. There are tablets to two Corbets who died in different wars; a large marble plaque on the west wall to Captain Robert Walter Corbet, 49th Regiment, who died of fever at Marseille in 1855 during the Crimean War, the epitaph quoting his recorded last words Homme propose - Dieu dispose ('Man proposes, God disposes'), and another on the south wall to Captain Sir Roland Corbet, 5th Baronet, Coldstream Guards, who was wounded in the Retreat from Mons and died in France in 1915, in World War I. The latter's sword used to be displayed beneath the tablet but has been removed.
There is a framed Roll of Honour listing 46 local men (including then Rector Edward Charles Pigot) who served in World War I, with indications of those killed, wounded or gassed in action or taken prisoner.
The churchyard has one war grave, that of a World War II Royal Air Force officer. Immediately outside the churchyard stands the parish's war memorial, a stone Celtic cross commemorating dead of both World Wars. Around its base is Earl Haig's quotation: "By the long road they trod with so much faith and with such devoted and self-sacrificing bravery we have arrived at victory and to-day they have their reward."
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