built of red sandstone in the Norman style. The church contains an alabaster monument to Sir Craig Wilson, as well as the Albrighton Mace donated to the village in 1663, by Lady Mary Talbot. The east window of the church dates from the 14th century. The church also contains the family tomb of the Talbot Family, including the final resting place of Charles Talbot, the only Duke of Shrewsbury, George Talbot, 9th Earl of Shrewsbury (a Catholic priest), and Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, among others. The church is separated from the extremely close parish church of St Cuthbert (Donington) by Humphreston Brook. The story is that two sisters disagreed about the nature of the architecture of the church and so resolved to build their own churches right next to each other. Humphreston Brook was dammed by a local miller in the 17th century and it now provides the boundary between the two parishes and feeds into Donington Pool which is also part of the Donington and Albrighton Nature Reserve. Rev. Blakeway's history refers to the pond as being called Hall Pool as it was adjacent to Hall Orchard, which was a burial ground for Roman Catholics by the church of St Mary Magdalene. For most of the 14th century and into the 15th the manor of Albrighton, together with Ryton, was held by the Carles, Careles or Careless family. The Carles were connected by marriage to the Lestranges (Lords Strange of Blackmere) and the Talbots. Albrighton left the control of this family with the marriage of an heiress to a member of the Corbet family in the reign of Henry VI. The Earl of Shrewsbury is the premier Earl of England and, until 1918, was the biggest land owner in Albrighton. They were originally the Talbot family (later Chetwynd-Talbot), many of whom are buried in Albrighton Church. Early in the 17th century, Albrighton was noted for making buttons and then in the 18th century clock making flourished. By 1880 it was bricks, but by and large, agriculture was the main industry before the building of the railways. The population of Albrighton in 1801 was 900. In 1901 it was 1,200 and was still only 1,230 by 1931. Today it is over 4,000. The High Street has not been altered too much over the years. The half timbered inns, Georgian facades and lime trees still make the street picturesque.