Ashford Carbonel, a small rural village with a population of less than 300, is one of the most southerley in Shropshire, lying close to the borders of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, three miles south of the medieval market town of Ludlow.
The village is bounded to the west by the River Teme and is very old. A ford across the river, which gave rise to the name Ashford, was in use from prehistoric times as a staging post on an important trade route from Wales to the Midlands. A Saxon road from the north to Worcester crossed this ancient trackway above the floodplain and made an excellent site for a settlement, and dwellings were built on either side of the road forming the pattern that remains evident to the present day. The name Carbonel commemorates one of the principal captains who accompanied Duke William in 1066 and the 11th century church of St Mary Magdalen was built early in the Norman period on a site of great antiquity attested by yew trees, one of which has been authenticated as being 1500 years old. The Saxon road, now the village main street, went on to become a major medieval road from Ludlow to Worcester and later an important coach road.
