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Towns and Villages in
Shropshire |
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You may view the information for ALL the locations in this area
by clicking HERE (the page may be very large) or you can view your
preferred location from the list on the left.
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This ancient village started
out as a tiny settlement in the 6th
century and its church, St Cuthbert’s, dates back
to the late 12th century. The 610-mile
Monarch’s Way footpath, which follows the
route taken by Charles ll as he fled after the
Battle of Worcester in 1651, cuts through the
parish. Local people take great pride in
Albrighton Moat and Gardens run by the charitable
Albrighton Trust. It is a series of gardens spread
around a medieval moat. The nearby village of Tong
contains the supposed resting place of Little
Nell, made famous by Charles Dickens in his ‘Old
Curiosity Shop’.
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Porch house, high street, Bishop's Castle -
Photo:
Humphrey Bolton
CCL |
Little remains of the 12th
castle from which this town took its name, but
there is no shortage of fine buildings, including
Tudor houses. Bishop's Castle is a tiny
settlement clinging to the steep hillside 150m up
on the edge of the Clun Forest. The town once
claimed to be the smallest borough in England -
but it has lost its status whilst retaining its
charm. Nearby are the Stiperstones, a range
of hills with a 1,700ft summit, part of a 1,000
acre national nature reserve. Mary Webb gave them
a supernatural flavour in her 1916 novel ‘The
Golden Arrow’. Shropshire’s most ancient monument,
a stone circle containing 15 stones, lies at
Mitchell’s Fold. The full story of the town’s
history can be found at the curiously-named House
on Crutches Museum. |
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Upon visiting
the town in 1642, Charles l was overheard to say
that Bridgnorth had ‘the finest view in my
domain’. He had a point because this intriguing
market town sits high up on a 100ft sandstone
cliff. Britain’s longest river, the Severn,
divides the two halves being connected by a
cable-pulled cliff railway which has the steepest
gradient in England. The town’s focal point is its
17th century arched town hall but
Bridgnorth has many other interesting features,
including a series of clifftop caves and some fine
half-timbered houses. The Severn Valley railway
runs classic steam trains on a 16-mile line
alongside the river while sitting uneasily on the
cliffs is the leaning tower of a 12th
century Norman castle, mortally wounded by the
Parliamentarians during the Civil War.
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Just a short drive from
Telford, Broseley is famous as the one-time centre
of clay pipe manufacture, a heritage celebrated in
the town’s evocative Clay Tobacco Pipe Museum. It
was also the base of ironmaster John Wilkinson,
the man who commissioned the world’s first iron
bridge across the River Severn at Ironbridge. He
also built ‘The Trial’, the world’s first iron
barge, in 1787. Near the town is 16th
century Benthall Hall, run by the National Trust,
which has fine furniture, pottery and paintings. |
Bethnall Hall Broseley - Photo:
Kokai
CCL |
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Church Stretton had
pretentions to become a fashionable spa town in
the 19th century but it was the writer
Mary Webb who put it firmly on the map by calling
it ‘Shepwardine’ in her famous novels. Lying in
the shadow of the great Long Mynd ridge, it has
also been called ‘Little Switzerland without
the wolves and avalanches’.
The Long Mynd, 10 miles long and up to 4 miles
wide, reaches 1,700 feet and offers the walker
stunning views of the surrounding countryside
including views of Church Stretton itself.
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The Long Mynd (Photo -
Shropshire Tourism) |
A place of tranquillity and tradition, it
has a thriving antiques centre and nearby is Acton
Scott Historic Working Farm, a ‘living museum’
offering a remarkable insight into old-fashioned
farming before the arrival of machines.
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Cleobury Mortimer, eastern main road - Photo:
Richard Webb
CCL |
Fancy a walk surrounded by
stunning scenery? Perhaps Cleobury is for you. It
is just a stone’s throw from the Clee Hills which
possess Shropshire’s tallest peak, Brown Clee.
Named in the Middle Ages after the local lords of
the manor, the town is reputed to be the
birthplace of William Langland, author of the
peasant-poem ‘Piers Plowman’ which railed against
poverty. Not far away is Apley Hall, claimed to be
PG Wodehouse’s ‘Blandings Castle’. The local
church has a crooked, wooded spire.
The main street is lined with pollarded trees and a mixture
of timbered and Georgian houses. |
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Ironically, the
poet Housman called Clun one of the quietest
places under the sun. It may seem peaceful today
but clun has seen many battles
in its time. It was here that the British
chieftain Caractacus made a brave stand against
the Romans, and here that Welsh raiders frequently
terrorised the locals. Lying in the gorgeous Clun
Valley, it is overlooked by the ruins of a Norman
castle and is close to an Iron Age fort. Aston on
Clun has an annual tree dressing which records the
flight of Charles l after the Battle of Worcester.
He spent some of his time hiding up a tree. The
history of the town is recorded in the museum in
the 18th century Town Hall. Nearby the 8th century
defensive earthwork Offa's Dyke can be seen.
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There’s a good reason why this
small town near Shropshire’s ‘Secret Hills’ sounds
like it was named after an English pub. It was.
The pub and a hotel were opened in the early
part of the 19th century by Lord
Craven. A town developed around it once the area
joined the railway boom.
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Stokesay Castle |
Today Craven Arms is the perfect place from
which to explore the local countryside. First
stop is the nearby Secret Hills Discovery
Centre housed in a building which has a roof
made from 70 tons of grass. Among its exhibits
is the skeleton of an Ice Age mammoth.
Close to the town is the glorious Stokesay Castle,
possibly Britain’s finest fortified manor house
from the 13th century. Built by a rich
medieval merchant to impress the local bigwigs, it
is now run by English Heritage.
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A
series of meres have earned Ellesmere the
reputation as Shropshire’s own mini-Lake District.
There are no mountains, but ever-popular are water
sports, from sailing and angling to bird watching
and rowing. A pleasant town, it has a weekly
market that dates from the 13th
century, as well as pretty Georgian and
half-timbered buildings and a church built by the
Knights of St John. It was here that Scottish
shepherd’s son Thomas Telford spent his time
designing the local canal network. One of his
feats was the creation of the breathtaking, 125ft
high aqueduct over the Vale of Llangollen. |
Sunset at the Mere, Ellesmere - Photo:
Andy Stephenson
CCL |
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At first glance, ever-pleasing
Ironbridge looks like a typical Shropshire town
with its interesting mix of old and new. But
beneath this facade lies a momentous past. This is
where the Industrial Revolution went into
overdrive, a fact celebrated in a series of
brilliant museums which take an in-depth look at
the enterprise of some of Britain’s great
innovators. Spanning the steep Ironbridge Gorge
high over the River Severn is the world’s first
cold-cast iron bridge (now a World Heritage Site)
weighing a massive 386 tons and cast by the
brilliant Abraham Darby lll at his foundry at
Coalbrookdale.
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Iron Bridge (Photo
Shropshire Tourism) |
His grandfather had found the
secret of smelting iron from ordinary coal,
turning this otherwise sleepy town into the cradle
of heavy industry. Modern enterprise has gone into
the creation of the Enginuity Museum, the Museum
of Iron and the Museum of the Gorge (which has a
model of the town as it was in 1796). Step back in
time at Blists Hill Open Air Museum and
experience the atmosphere and way of life of a
working Victorian community.
There is also a tunnel of natural bitumen,
the tar tunnel, exposed in the late 18th
century, as well as the Coalport China Museum
which holds the National Collections of Coalport
and Choughley china.
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Broad Street, Ludlow (Photo
- Shropshire Tourism) |
Ludlow is an ideal centre from
which to explore the countryside of South
Shropshire. To the north is the Corve valley and
Wenlock Edge. To the north west is the Long Mynd,
and to the east is the Clee Hills.
A great place for dining out, this unhurried,
hilltop town has been described as England’s ‘most
perfect country town’.
With over 500 listed buildings and a street scene
that has changed little since medieval times.
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Ludlow's
impressive medieval castle was once the
headquarters of the Council of the Marches. It is
steeped in history and today's extensive remains
host Shakespearean plays during Ludlow's Summer
Festival. The tower of St Laurence's Parish Church
at 41m stands higher that the castle. The
cathedral-like church is full of interesting and
historic features, especially the misericords in
the choir and the east window. Broad Street is
Ludlow's finest, where almost every house is 14th
or 15th century. There are some fine ancient
public houses too, including the 16th century Rose
and Crown, the half-timbered Angel Hotel and the
17th century Feathers Hotel in the Bull Ring.
The full story of the castle and the region can be
found in the town’s museum.
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A bustling town
with a market on Wednesdays
that dates back to the times of Edward l,
Market Drayton also claims to be the place where
gingerbread was invented. The centre of the town
has a number of black and white, half-timbered
buildings which include the Butter Market. Clive
of India was born and raised here and is said to
have climbed the local church and contemptuously
sat astride a gargoyle when he was just a young
tearaway. The Butter Cross was built in 1842 to
keep traders dry on rainy days. Nearby are two
superlative gardens, the Dorothy Clive Garden and
the gardens of Hodnet Hall.
The Shropshire
Union Canal passes by. |
Dorothy Clive Gardens |
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Holy Trinity Church and Guild Hall, Much
Wenlock - Photo:
Humphrey Bolton
CCL |
A largely unspoilt medieval
market town, Much Wenlock has some fine buildings
and considerable charm. The ruined
Priory
of St Mildburga is a popular
attraction, a one-time nunnery
restored in the 11th century by Leofric,
Earl of Mercia, and his wife, Lady Godiva. The
old black and white Guildhall, built on oak arches
over the buttermarket, is still in use today.
Nearby is the spectacular wooded escarpment of
Wenlock edge, now in the care of The National
Trust.
It gives the impression of being just like
any other sleepy English village but each year
Much Wenlock maintains its long tradition of
hosting its limited version of the Olympic Games.
It was here, in 1850, that local doctor William
Brookes created what was to become the first
modern (untelevised!) Games. |
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A small market town, Newport
is arguably one of Shropshire’s most picturesque
locales and although many fine old residences were
burned down in a disastrous fire in the 17th
century, it possesses a number of beautiful
Victorian and Georgian buildings. One claim to
fame is that it was where the great Charles
Dickens stumbled on his inspiration for the
character ‘Miss Faversham’.
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Late Medieval Half Timbered Shop in Oswestry
Centre - Photo:
Charles Rawding
CCL |
Oswestry is a bustling market
town
nestling on the Welsh
border with an individual character formed over
centuries. Narrow passageways link streets whose
names conjure up images of the past: English
Walls, Welsh Walls, The Bailey and The Horsemarket. Built around the
well of St Oswald, a crucified Saxon King of
Northumbria, it only joined the ranks of English
towns in the 16th century.
While the town's
thriving weekly market dates back to 1190, and
a collection of over 100 colourful stalls
offer everything from fresh farm produce to
fashion. There are some unbeatable bargains
for the discerning shopper. |
Hotels and inns bear witness
to the historic importance of Oswestry as a
stagecoach and railway centre. The Cambrian
railway has its headquarters in the town. Old
Oswestry is an Iron Age fort which contains part
of Offa’s Dyke. Not far away are the rambling
Llanymynech Hills. Oswestry's first school,
founded in 1407, is now both Tourist Information
Centre and Heritage Centre holding regular
exhibitions of local arts and crafts. Modern
Oswestry is an important shopping and agricultural
centre, with some well-known high street stores
and a good selection of cafés and bars. However it
still retains the intimacy of a rural town where
people come to chat and shop, and where there are
specialist and independent shops of all sorts.
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This one-time staging post is
home to the former hunting lodge Boscobel House,
now run by English Heritage, which made headlines
in the 17th century when Charles ll
sought refuge after being defeated at the Battle
of Worcester. At night he hid from the Roundheads
in a secret room. In daylight hours he used an old
oak tree. Sadly, the Royal Oak has long since
vanished but in its place is another welcoming
oak. Not far from the town is the must-see RAF
Museum at Cosford which has on display missiles,
war planes such as the Spitfire and Mosquito and
classic passenger aircraft such as the Comet and
the ubiquitous VC10. |
Shifnal Church - Photo:
Geoff Pick
CCL |
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Shrewsbury is built on rising
ground in a loop of the river Severn which almost
forms an island.
England’s ‘finest Tudor town’ has always occupied
an important position near the Welsh border and
was the seat of the Welsh princes of Powys back in
the 5th and 6th centuries. Later it
became part of the region of Anglo-Saxon Mercia
and during the Norman period was enhanced by its
mighty stone castle as Edward l set out to subdue
his Celtic enemies. Once an important centre of
the clothing trade, this county town still has
more than 600 listed buildings. The river is
crossed by two fine bridges traditionally known as
the English Bridge and the Welsh Bridge.
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The castle was restored in the
18th century by the engineer and
architect Thomas Telford. More famous these days
is the local 11th century Benedictine
abbey, setting for the Brother Cadfael novels by
author Ellis Peters. The Cadfael connection is
explored in 'The Shrewsbury Quest', a themed
visitor centre near the Abbey. Shrewsbury public
parks and gardens were made famous by the
television appearances of their creator, gardener
Percy Thrower and each year the town hosts the
Shrewsbury Flower Show. |
Shrewsbury (Photo-
Shropshire Tourism) |
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was
born here and educated at the all-boys Shrewsbury
School, founded by Edward Vl in 1552. Maybe there
was something in the air in those days but he went
on to pen his ‘On the Origin of the Species’ and
change forever the way we interpret the world
around us.
Outside the town stands the
one-time Roman citadel of Viroconium which has
undergone excavations from as far back as the
1860s. At one time it had a population numbering
over 6,000 and is thought by some to have been a
stronghold of King Arthur.
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Despite glorious
scenery that surrounds it, this sprawling ‘new
town’ is not yet old enough to count on a violent
past to pull in the visitors. Nevertheless it has
a useful location and a vibrant connection with
one of Britain’s most famous industrial engineers.
Originally known as Dawley it became Telford in
the late 1960s and its name derives from the
Thomas Telford (1757-1834), one-time Surveyor of
Shropshire, who built numerous canals, bridges and
buildings. Overlooking the town is the five-mile
long ridge known as the Wrekin. Telford is
easily accessed by motorway and rail and has every
modern amenity for the visitor - a range of
hotels, excellent shopping, entertainment and
sporting activities. Telford's modern facilities
complement the historic sites and Ironbridge on
its doorstep.
Among local attractions are the steam
trains kept by the Telford Steam Railway Trust.
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Like many small towns in
Shropshire, Wellington looks unsure of its true
lineage. One moment it seems modern, the next it
looks a little bygone, with Victorian buildings
nestling against more recent additions. This
sympathy is typified by Sunnycroft, a National
Trust property which aims to preserves a Victorian
gentleman’s suburban villa. Complete with pig
sties, kitchen garden and a Wellingtonia avenue,
it offers a unique insight into the life of an
old-style professional man. Not far from here at
Longdon-on-Tern is an experimental aqueduct that
is indisputably the work of the canal engineer
Thomas Telford. Overseeing the town is the Wrekin,
a vast, flat-topped hill that was once the HQ for
the Cornovil tribe. The view from the top is
guaranteed to astound. |
Sunnycroft at Wellington - Photo:
Humphrey Bolton
CCL |
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Often described as ‘quaint’,
Wem is the home of the sweet pea which was
developed here by a local nurseryman in the 19th
century. The town’s annual sweet pea show is both
unique and world-famous. Largely destroyed during
the War of the Roses, the town suffered a terrible
blow when a fire broke out in the 17th
century. Its most famous ‘son’ was the
bloodthirsty Judge Jeffreys. In the late 17th
he was made Baron of Wem after sending numerous
rebels to be hanged. Essayist William Hazlitt
(1778-1830) lived here as a boy.
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Grindley Brook Locks, Near Whitchurch - Photo:
John Haynes
CCL |
The oldest town in
Shropshire with plenty of beautiful old buildings,
Whitchurch is home to the firm J.B. Joyce (est.
1690), the most ancient makers of clock towers in
the world. Once an important Roman settlement
known as Mediolanum, the town is said to be the
place where Cheshire cheese was first created. It
was also the birthplace of composer Edward German,
of ‘Merrie England’ fame. Whitchurch takes
its name from a 14th century church built of white
stone and dedicated to St. Alkmund. The church
completely collapsed in 1711, and was replaced by
the present church with the same dedication.
In St Alkmund’s Church are the bones of the
lst Earl of Shrewsbury, John Talbot, who died
fighting the armies of Joan of Arc at the Battle
of Castillon in 1453. The church was founded by
the daughter of Alfred the Great in the 10th
century.
There is a Heritage Centre in the town. |
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