Whitchurch. Canals Prees was the intended destination of an arm of the Ellesmere Canal. However, the arm was only completed as far as Quina Brook. The arm is now known as the Prees Branch of the Llangollen Canal, and is navigable for about a mile to Whixall Marina; the following 3/4 mile is still followable on the towpath as it passes through Prees Branch Canal Nature Reserve. Notable people James Fleetwood (c.1603-1683) an English clergyman, vicar of Prees and later Bishop of Worcester. Thomas Gilbert (1613 in Prees – 1694) an English ejected minister of the seventeenth century. Philip Henry (1631–1696) an English nonconformist clergyman. and diarist, ordained in Prees in 1657 Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill (1772 in Prees Hall – 1842) as a British Army officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars, ultimately Commander in Chief. His doric column stands in Shrewsbury. Robert Chambre Hill (1778 in Hawkstone Hall – 1860) a British Army cavalry officer, fought in the Peninsular War. Clement Delves Hill (1781 in Hawkstone Hall – 1845) a British Army officer who fought in the Battle of Waterloo. Thomas Noel Hill (1784 in Hawkstone Hall - 1832) a British Army officer who fought in the Battle of Waterloo. Francis Sandford, 1st Baron Sandford KCB, PC (1824–1893) known as Sir Francis Sandford a British civil servant who implemented the Elementary Education Act of 1870, buried in Prees. Henry Maddocks (1871 in Prees — 1931) an English lawyer and Conservative Party politician. Thomas Oakley (1879 in Prees – 1936) a British electrician and politician, MP for The Wrekin 1924-1929 William Hutchings (1879 – 1948 in Prees) soldier and English amateur cricketer, played in 24 first-class matches for Kent and Worcestershire. Governance An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches northeast to Adderley with a total ward population taken at the 2011 census of 4,281. See also Listed buildings in Prees References External links Villages in Shropshire Civil parishes in Shropshire World War II prisoner of war camps in England