Walk to the bend in the road, go right then immediately left on a stony track. Walk into National Trust woodland at Roman Bank, then descend and turn left at a footpath sign. The path slants down the steep face of Wenlock Edge. Emerge into a field, follow the right-hand hedge briefly, then continue ahead past a tree to a gap in the hedge partway down. Bear left to a stile in a hedge, then cross the old railway.
Cross the next field to a hedge corner. Continue with the hedge on the right, cross a bridge and follow the right-hand field edge. Pass a house, cross a stile and pass the remains of the motte on your left before meeting a lane. Turn left, walk through Rushbury, then descend.
Just before a brook turn right on a track beside a new house. Take a green path alongside the brook, cross the packhorse bridge and follow a short track to a lane. Turn right. After Lilywood Barn the lane becomes a track.
Cross a bridge, enter a field and follow its right edge. In the third field cross the hedge at a waymark and resume on the other side. Continue to a gate and stile. A track climbs through a plantation to a gate. Climb to the left edge of another plantation, go through a gate and take the main track, ignoring branches left and right.
Leaving the wood, continue straight ahead, crossing another bridleway. Skirt Wetmore Farm, then bear slightly right past a dead tree to a bridle gate. Continue through the next field then climb steadily through woods. At the top the track bends left.
Go straight down, ignoring a track on the right, to meet a tarmac track. Go left, pass the derelict sheds of Little London Farm, then in 200yds (183m) bear right at a way-marked gate. Follow a hedged path, turn left at a T-junction, and find a stile on the left just after emerging from trees.
Go straight up until almost level with a house on the left. Turn right to a stile. Go straight ahead on a forest track, ignoring side turnings but following the track as it curves left and descends. Pass a field on the right then cross a stile and descend the field, trending right to find ruins by a large yew.
Go right in front of these, through a gap, past a blocked stile and through a gate into woodland. After a few paces turn left on a grassy track. Go straight over a cross-tracks, then turn right on a green track along field-edges. Follow these, curving left to pass left of Upper Millichope Farm. In the field corner follow waymarks alongside a stream to a lane.
Cross to a footbridge and go up the left field-edge. Continue up, switching sides at a gap and going through a narrow wood. Near the top, at a large oak, turn left across the slope to gates at the far side. Go straight ahead on a forest track, ignoring all side-tracks. Continue through fields to houses, turn left on a track and left again to join a lane leading back to Roman Bank.
The two-tiered structure of Wenlock Edge is clear on several of these walks, perhaps never more so than on this one. The ‘leading’, or northwestern, edge – which we might call the true Wenlock Edge – is relatively low here: both the descent, on the way to Rushbury, and the climb back up, after... re-crossing the old railway, are quite short. But then the ‘secondary’ edge – sometimes called View Edge – rears up, and the route climbs almost to the summit of Middlehope Hill, its second highest point. (The highest is Callow Hill, the site of Flounder’s Folly). On the gentler southeastern slope, you’ll find Little London. There’s both a house of that name and a separate Little London Farm, through which the walk passes. The name is actually a fairly common one for farms in the Marches and Wales because cattle drovers had a habit of naming overnight stopping places after their final destination. Rushbury, which you pass through early in the walk, is a small village, but it’s the centre of an extensive parish. There’s some evidence of Roman occupation in the area, coins and other artefacts having been found near the church in the 19th century. Roman stone may also have been used in the building of St Peter’s Church. There is firmer evidence of Norman occupation, including the remains of a motte, which you pass as you reach the village. The church has some herringbone masonry (probably Saxon) as well as much that is Norman. There are also some fine half-timbered houses, notably Church Farm, which is well seen from the road through the village.
Perhaps nowhere else in England will you find a county so deeply rural and with so much variety as Shropshire. Choose a clear day, climb to the top of The Wrekin, and look down on that ‘land of lost content’ so wistfully evoked by A E Housman.
Walk to the bend in the road, go right then immediately left on a stony track. Walk into National Trust woodland at Roman Bank, then descend and turn left at a footpath sign. The path slants down the steep face of Wenlock Edge. Emerge into a field, follow the right-hand hedge briefly, then continue ahead past a tree to a gap in the hedge partway down. Bear left to a stile in a hedge, then cross the old railway.
1 of 9
Cross the next field to a hedge corner. Continue with the hedge on the right, cross a bridge and follow the right-hand field edge. Pass a house, cross a stile and pass the remains of the motte on your left before meeting a lane. Turn left, walk through Rushbury, then descend.
2 of 9
Just before a brook turn right on a track beside a new house. Take a green path alongside the brook, cross the packhorse bridge and follow a short track to a lane. Turn right. After Lilywood Barn the lane becomes a track.
3 of 9
Cross a bridge, enter a field and follow its right edge. In the third field cross the hedge at a waymark and resume on the other side. Continue to a gate and stile. A track climbs through a plantation to a gate. Climb to the left edge of another plantation, go through a gate and take the main track, ignoring branches left and right.
4 of 9
Leaving the wood, continue straight ahead, crossing another bridleway. Skirt Wetmore Farm, then bear slightly right past a dead tree to a bridle gate. Continue through the next field then climb steadily through woods. At the top the track bends left.
5 of 9
Go straight down, ignoring a track on the right, to meet a tarmac track. Go left, pass the derelict sheds of Little London Farm, then in 200yds (183m) bear right at a way-marked gate. Follow a hedged path, turn left at a T-junction, and find a stile on the left just after emerging from trees.
6 of 9
Go straight up until almost level with a house on the left. Turn right to a stile. Go straight ahead on a forest track, ignoring side turnings but following the track as it curves left and descends. Pass a field on the right then cross a stile and descend the field, trending right to find ruins by a large yew.
7 of 9
Go right in front of these, through a gap, past a blocked stile and through a gate into woodland. After a few paces turn left on a grassy track. Go straight over a cross-tracks, then turn right on a green track along field-edges. Follow these, curving left to pass left of Upper Millichope Farm. In the field corner follow waymarks alongside a stream to a lane.
8 of 9
Cross to a footbridge and go up the left field-edge. Continue up, switching sides at a gap and going through a narrow wood. Near the top, at a large oak, turn left across the slope to gates at the far side. Go straight ahead on a forest track, ignoring all side-tracks. Continue through fields to houses, turn left on a track and left again to join a lane leading back to Roman Bank.
The two-tiered structure of Wenlock Edge is clear on several of these walks, perhaps never more so than on this one. The ‘leading’, or northwestern, edge – which we might call the true Wenlock Edge – is relatively low here: both the descent, on the way to Rushbury, and the climb back up, after... re-crossing the old railway, are quite short. But then the ‘secondary’ edge – sometimes called View Edge – rears up, and the route climbs almost to the summit of Middlehope Hill, its second highest point. (The highest is Callow Hill, the site of Flounder’s Folly). On the gentler southeastern slope, you’ll find Little London. There’s both a house of that name and a separate Little London Farm, through which the walk passes. The name is actually a fairly common one for farms in the Marches and Wales because cattle drovers had a habit of naming overnight stopping places after their final destination. Rushbury, which you pass through early in the walk, is a small village, but it’s the centre of an extensive parish. There’s some evidence of Roman occupation in the area, coins and other artefacts having been found near the church in the 19th century. Roman stone may also have been used in the building of St Peter’s Church. There is firmer evidence of Norman occupation, including the remains of a motte, which you pass as you reach the village. The church has some herringbone masonry (probably Saxon) as well as much that is Norman. There are also some fine half-timbered houses, notably Church Farm, which is well seen from the road through the village.
Perhaps nowhere else in England will you find a county so deeply rural and with so much variety as Shropshire. Choose a clear day, climb to the top of The Wrekin, and look down on that ‘land of lost content’ so wistfully evoked by A E Housman.
