Although Hampton Loade station is on the west bank of the River Severn the settlement on this side of the river is shown as simply Hampton on O.S. maps.  Most of the dwellings lie on the east bank  in the settlement known as Hampton Loade, where there is also a hostelry, the Lion Inn, built in the 17th century as a cider house.  Another hostelry, the Unicorn stands on the west bank not far from the ferry landing. 

There was at one time considerable traffic on the river itself but this tended to be seasonal, winter rains in the Welsh hills being necessary to provide sufficient depth for navigation purposes.  It is believed that  the river was once navigable as far as Newtown in Powys and tradition has it that barges reached as far as Pool Quay, four and a half miles south of Welshpool .  By 1800 a horse path had been completed from Bewdley to Coalbrookdale but  the opening of the railway in 1862 brought a rapid decline in river traffic, the last barge from Shrewsbury left in that year and commercial traffic north of Stourport  had ceased by the 1920s.  The only industrial activity to disturb the rural peace of Hampton Loade came during  the 18th and 19th centuries when a forge on the east bank produced best quality charcoal iron used in the manufacture of gun barrels, wire and horseshoe nails.  After closure of the forge large quantities of slag were sent away for use as railway ballast via an aerial ropeway across the river to a narrow gauge horse drawn tramway from the river bank to the station loading dock.