SHOBDON is a large parish and neat village situated on the main road between Leominster and Presteigne, about 8 miles W.N.W. of Leominster, 6 E.S.E. of Presteigne, 18 N.W. of Hereford, and 3 N. of Pembridge station on the Leominster and Kington railway. It is in Stretford hundred, Leominster union and county court district, Pembridge polling district, and Wigmore petty sessional division. The population in 1861 was 503; in 1871, 454; inhabited houses, 98; families or separate occupiers, 114; area of parish, 3,491a. 2r. 36p.; annual rateable value, £5,327: The Right Hon. Lord Bateman is lord of the manor and principal landowner. Miss Tanner and Mrs. Harris are also landowners here. The soil is a light clay; subsoil, gravel and limestone; chief crops, wheat, hops, beans, barley, fruit, and pasture. The neighbourhood is well wooded. Shobdon is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Leominster; living, a rectory; value, £610, with residence and 60 acres of glebe; patron, Lord Bateman; rector, the Hon. and Rev. Arthur Allen Bateman Hanbury, B.A., of Christ Church, Oxford, who was instituted in 1853, and is also prebendary of Hampton in Hereford cathedral. The church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, is situate near Shobdon court, and is a cruciform building, with tower (containing two bells), nave, chancel, transept, organ, and a monument to the memory of the late Lord Viscount Bateman.

This church was erected about the year 1753, and occupies the site of the former edifice, which was built by Oliver de Merlylond, steward to Hugh de Mortimer, about the year 1140. He likewise founded near it a small priory for canons, which was afterwards removed to Eye, and thence finally to Wigmore. The parish registers commence with the year 1670. The charities are of £40 yearly value. There is a parochial school for boys and girls with accommodation for nearly 100 children. It was erected by Lord Bateman, and is chiefly supported by himself, his lady, and the rector. Shobdon Court, the seat of the Right Hon. Lord Bateman (Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county), is an elegant brick mansion, in the style of Louis XIV., and has a very beautiful entrance hall. The park is between three and four miles in extent, and includes some rich and picturesque scenery. It is stocked with deer, and studded with trees. Downwood is a hamlet I mile N.W. of the village; Easthampton lies to the N.E.; Ladycourt is 1 mile E.; and Uphampton is about 1 mile N. of the village.