Go down Burgage Way, left on Mutton Shut and left again on The George Shut to High Street. Turn right to Barrow Street, then left along Wilmore Street. Pass the church, then turn first right on Bull Ring. Continue past the priory and along the lane.
Descend past a sewage works. At the bottom take a footpath on the right, cross a brook and follow the left-hand hedge. Where it bends left keep straight on to a stile in the far corner.
Follow the right edge of the next field then go along the far end to a gate through the hedge. Turn left, pass two big oaks, then follow an old field boundary to the far corner and a stile. A path climbs through young woodland.
Emerge into a field. Follow the left edge, then a short hedged path. Follow a track beside a holly hedge. When it bends right keep straight on to Arlescott Farm.
Right of the farm, two gates lead into pasture. Turn left, towards Arlescott Cottage, and climb just right of it. Go through a gate on the left and follow Jack Mytton Way markers: watch for one pointing down left to a gap in a lower hedge. Turn right and continue to a lane.
Turn right, then left by Manor Farm in Wyke. Turn left again on a lane descending into a wooded valley. Turn left (Shropshire Way marker) on a stony track. Just below a house, bear left on a green track. In the first field, look for a waymark and go left to an isolated oak then turn right to a kissing gate. In the next field turn left. Cross another gate. When the rooftops of Bradley Farm and the Cavalier Centre appear, bear right towards them.
Go through two gates and follow the access track to a lane. Cross into a green track. Follow a field-edge then a well-trodden path diagonally across pasture. Cross a footbridge, skirt houses at Downsmill and soon meet the lane from Much Wenlock.
Go past the sewage works then keep straight on to join a dismantled railway. Turn left. After 300yds (274m) climb steps on the left to a fenced path, which passes the former station. Emerge near the priory, turn right and return to the start.
Much Wenlock has been a market town for at least 700 years. It is a delightful little place, with charming old houses and a real working farm just off the High Street. There’s something to see round every corner, so do take the time to explore fully. The town museum is a model of its kind and in... the adjoining tourist information centre you can pick up an excellent leaflet that guides you round the main sights. The town’s crowning glory is St Milburga’s Priory, now an English Heritage property. Much Wenlock originally developed because of the presence of a religious house, and the name Wenlock may come from the Celtic gwynloc, meaning white monastery. The Cluniac priory is in ruins today, but it was once a prosperous and powerful religious centre. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries, but the first religious house on this site was an abbey founded around ad 680 by Merewalh, the son of King Penda of Mercia. He placed his daughter Milburga in charge in 682. Under her guidance the foundation flourished, and she was credited with miraculous works Milburga’s abbey was destroyed around 874, possibly by a Danish raiding party, but in the 11th-century Earl Leofric and Countess Godiva of Mercia built a religious house on the same site, which was succeeded by a Cluniac priory founded by Roger de Montgomery after the Norman Conquest. Many of the existing buildings are almost entirely Early English in style and represent a rebuilding by Prior Humbert in the 13th century. Only a little Norman work survives from Earl Roger’s time, but what does remain is superb, especially the decorative arcading in the chapter house and the carvings in the lavatorium (washroom). The entire scene is dominated by the towering gable of the priory church. Such grand ruins testify to the prosperity of the priory, which flourished until the Dissolution in 1540. It once drew wealth from a variety of interests, including a toll bridge on the Severn, mines, iron works, forestry and vast agricultural holdings. Holy Trinity Church on Wilmore Street is also connected with the priory. It was founded around 680 as a place of worship for the nuns of Wenlock Abbey and was enlarged between 800 and 1050. The present nave was built around 1150 by the Cluniac monks of what had become St Milburga’s Priory. Abbess Milburga was originally buried in Holy Trinity, but in 1101 her bones were transferred to the Priory and over the years many pilgrims came to worship at her shrine. A well bearing her name can still be found on Barrow Street, and people used to believe its water could cure eye diseases.
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.
Go down Burgage Way, left on Mutton Shut and left again on The George Shut to High Street. Turn right to Barrow Street, then left along Wilmore Street. Pass the church, then turn first right on Bull Ring. Continue past the priory and along the lane.
1 of 8
Descend past a sewage works. At the bottom take a footpath on the right, cross a brook and follow the left-hand hedge. Where it bends left keep straight on to a stile in the far corner.
2 of 8
Follow the right edge of the next field then go along the far end to a gate through the hedge. Turn left, pass two big oaks, then follow an old field boundary to the far corner and a stile. A path climbs through young woodland.
3 of 8
Emerge into a field. Follow the left edge, then a short hedged path. Follow a track beside a holly hedge. When it bends right keep straight on to Arlescott Farm.
4 of 8
Right of the farm, two gates lead into pasture. Turn left, towards Arlescott Cottage, and climb just right of it. Go through a gate on the left and follow Jack Mytton Way markers: watch for one pointing down left to a gap in a lower hedge. Turn right and continue to a lane.
5 of 8
Turn right, then left by Manor Farm in Wyke. Turn left again on a lane descending into a wooded valley. Turn left (Shropshire Way marker) on a stony track. Just below a house, bear left on a green track. In the first field, look for a waymark and go left to an isolated oak then turn right to a kissing gate. In the next field turn left. Cross another gate. When the rooftops of Bradley Farm and the Cavalier Centre appear, bear right towards them.
6 of 8
Go through two gates and follow the access track to a lane. Cross into a green track. Follow a field-edge then a well-trodden path diagonally across pasture. Cross a footbridge, skirt houses at Downsmill and soon meet the lane from Much Wenlock.
7 of 8
Go past the sewage works then keep straight on to join a dismantled railway. Turn left. After 300yds (274m) climb steps on the left to a fenced path, which passes the former station. Emerge near the priory, turn right and return to the start.
Much Wenlock has been a market town for at least 700 years. It is a delightful little place, with charming old houses and a real working farm just off the High Street. There’s something to see round every corner, so do take the time to explore fully. The town museum is a model of its kind and in... the adjoining tourist information centre you can pick up an excellent leaflet that guides you round the main sights. The town’s crowning glory is St Milburga’s Priory, now an English Heritage property. Much Wenlock originally developed because of the presence of a religious house, and the name Wenlock may come from the Celtic gwynloc, meaning white monastery. The Cluniac priory is in ruins today, but it was once a prosperous and powerful religious centre. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries, but the first religious house on this site was an abbey founded around ad 680 by Merewalh, the son of King Penda of Mercia. He placed his daughter Milburga in charge in 682. Under her guidance the foundation flourished, and she was credited with miraculous works Milburga’s abbey was destroyed around 874, possibly by a Danish raiding party, but in the 11th-century Earl Leofric and Countess Godiva of Mercia built a religious house on the same site, which was succeeded by a Cluniac priory founded by Roger de Montgomery after the Norman Conquest. Many of the existing buildings are almost entirely Early English in style and represent a rebuilding by Prior Humbert in the 13th century. Only a little Norman work survives from Earl Roger’s time, but what does remain is superb, especially the decorative arcading in the chapter house and the carvings in the lavatorium (washroom). The entire scene is dominated by the towering gable of the priory church. Such grand ruins testify to the prosperity of the priory, which flourished until the Dissolution in 1540. It once drew wealth from a variety of interests, including a toll bridge on the Severn, mines, iron works, forestry and vast agricultural holdings. Holy Trinity Church on Wilmore Street is also connected with the priory. It was founded around 680 as a place of worship for the nuns of Wenlock Abbey and was enlarged between 800 and 1050. The present nave was built around 1150 by the Cluniac monks of what had become St Milburga’s Priory. Abbess Milburga was originally buried in Holy Trinity, but in 1101 her bones were transferred to the Priory and over the years many pilgrims came to worship at her shrine. A well bearing her name can still be found on Barrow Street, and people used to believe its water could cure eye diseases.
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.
