per annum; fortunately the Rev. Halke was a man of means. The majority worked in farming but a few worked on the railway. After the Great War A big change came after the First World War when Shropshire County Council bought of the Manor, bringing its smallholdings scheme to Withington. The original manor was then split into two smallholdings and five new white houses were built for small-holders. There were also three cottage holdings owned by the council. This made the County Council the largest landowner in the village. In 1911 the sale of the Tayleur estate led to changes in the Walcot Lees to Rodington area of Withington. Three farmers operating on a larger scale emerged at this time. The population in 1926 was 235. Again there were craftsmen among the farmers -a blacksmith, a carpenter and a boot and shoe repairer. Village children travelled to Upton Magna or Rodington for state schools but from the 1920s to 1940s there was a small private school in the Shrubbery. After 1945 for all secondary schools children travelled into Shrewsbury and Wellington but with a limited choice of schools. Children going to private or grammar schools took the train from Walcot or Upton Magna stations whilst pupils at the secondary modern at Harlescott were bused into Shrewsbury. This state of affairs changed with the closing of the stations. As a result of a petition the daily bus service from Shrewsbury to Upton Magna was extended to Withington. The 1960s and modernisation Withington remained an agricultural community on this scale until the late 1960s when changes began to occur. The population had become rather elderly, children moved away out of agriculture and, as houses came up for sale, they were bought by people who wanted to live in the country and had the means to modernise them. At the same time agricultural changes meant it was more viable to create bigger holdings. The council began consolidating its holdings into bigger units as tenants retired and later began the process of selling them to the tenants if they wished or to the public. Only two holdings remained in 2003 as council holdings but three former council holdings, which were sold, were still farming. Services came to Withington slowly. Electricity was pre-Second World War, water in the late 1950s, sewerage in the early 1970s and gas in the early 1990s. These services were a