Page Contents
Things to do in Shropshire
Days out in Shropshire
Places to visit in Shropshire

The County of Shropshire is situated on the England/Wales borderlands, one of England's rural peaceful counties, a delightful place to unwind, and enjoy heritage and nature.

Shropshire has over 90 places to visit, from Offa's Dyke, the longest archaeological monument in Britain, built by King Offa in the 8th Century to keep the Welsh Princes at bay, to historic houses and castles, beautiful gardens, and the famous Ironbridge Gorge Museums.

There are miles of unspoiled tranquil countryside, with 30 nature reserves to discover, many family attractions, 32 Castles, as well as many annual festivals and local events.

In north Shropshire you will find the pretty market town of Ellesmere, with medieval streets and Georgian buildings. The miniature lakeland of Meres and Mosses around Ellesmere are a haven for wildlife, where you can enjoy fishing or boating.

Market Drayton was the hometown of Clive of India. It is well known for its Wednesday market and as the home of gingerbread, baked here for 200 years. Discover the town trails, or take a walk along the Shropshire Union Canal to the impressive 40 step aqueduct.

Wem is home of the modern Sweet Pea flower, developed here by Henry Eckford. Wem holds an annual Sweet Pea festival in July, visit then for a delightful and unique experience.

Whitchurch is the oldest continually inhabited community in the County. The Shropshire Way and other long distance walks start from the Jubilee Park in the town.

The Heritage Centre in Oswestry is a good source of Shropshire Tourist Information, the town is situated on the border with Wales. It is an excellent place to start exploring the Welsh Mountains and nearby Chirk and Powis Castles.

Shrewsbury is Shropshire's county town, centrally situated on the banks of the River Severn. The town is the birthplace of Charles Darwin, who was inspired by the Shropshire landscape. A town of intrigue, with its narrow,cobbled streets and distinctive black and white buildings.

To the east side of the county lies Ironbridge, a World Heritage Site, home of the original Iron Bridge. There are also the 10 Ironbridge Gorge Museums that are well worth a visit.

Newport is one of the most unspoiled market towns in the district, it is located ten miles from Telford on the border of Shropshire and Staffordshire.

Bridgnorth High Town perches a hundred feet above the Low Town and the River Severn, the two are connected by England's oldest Funicular railway, The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway. The Severn Valley Railway is Britain's premier steam railway - it will take you on a nostalgic scenic 16 -mile trip along the River Severn.

Southern Shropshire also has several historic towns and picturesque villages. Ludlow is often called the "perfect historic Town", described by John Betjeman as "the loveliest town in England". Today it is a lively place, renowned as the Gastronomic Capital of Shropshire. The Ludlow Marches Food & Drink Festival is held in September and the Ludlow Festival is in June/July.

Church Stretton, with its alpine-like hills and valleys is sometimes called 'little Switzerland' - it retains its spa town feel with natural springs, the source of Stretton Hills bottled water. The Long Mynd rises above the town topped by a moorland plateau of heather and rocks. A popular walking area, ideal for exploring the Shropshire Hills.

At Bishops Castle you can admire the Town Hall, other historic buildings and the unusual Elizabethan House on Crutches, supported by wooden posts over a cobbled alley. Many traditional shops and art galleries line the main street.

Craven Arms is home to Stokesay Castle, the finest 13th Century fortified manor house in England. The town is an ideal place for long walks along scenic routes through Shropshire's idyllic countryside.

For further information visit Shropshire Tourism.

Days out in Shropshire

• Acton Scott Historic Working Farm
  Every afternoon you can see hand milking. Buttermaking takes place in the dairy holidays and weekends.
  
• Attingham Park
  Attingham Park was built in 1785 for the 1st Lord Berwick. It has a picture gallery by John Nash, magnificent Regency interiors and collections of silver, Italian furniture and Grand Tour paintings.
  
• Blists Hill Victorian Town
  Blists Hill is a wonderful re-creation of a Victorian town, where you can experience the sights and sounds of what it was like to live in the Victorian era.
  
• Buildwas Abbey
  Set beside the River Severn, against a backdrop of wooded gardens, are the remains of this Cistercian abbey.
  
• Carding Mill Valley and the Shropshire Hills
  The National Trust's Carding Mill Valley and the surrounding area of the Shropshire Hills is the ideal recreation area for those who enjoy long solitary walks, wildlife spotting, mountain biking.
  
• Coleham Pumping Station
  Magnificent Renshaw beam engines in 1901 pumping house.
  
• Dorothy Clive Garden
  The Dorothy Clive Garden is intimate and informal. It embraces a variety of landscape features, including a superb woodland garden, an alpine scree, a damp garden and spectacular summer flower borders.
  
• Dudmaston Estate
  Dudmaston offers a wonderful collection of art and sculptures in a grand country house setting. A visit to this splendid estate offers choices of how to spend your day.
  
• Haughmond Abbey
  The extensive ruins of the 12th century Haughmond Augustinian Abbey can be found at Shropshire's Upton Magna.
  
• Hodnet Hall Gardens
  Winner of the Christies Historic Houses Association Garden of the Year Award for 1985, and subject of numerous BBC radio and television programmes.
  
• Iron Bridge
  The centrepiece of the Ironbridge Gorge area - a UNESCO World Heritage Site is, of course, the Iron Bridge itself - around which everything else has grown up.
  
• Ironbridge Gorge Museums
  This is the valley that changed our world, this is where the Industrial Revolution began.
  
• Jackfield Tile Museum
  The Jackfield Tile Museum is the home of the Victorian Tile!
  
• Lilleshall Abbey
  Lilleshall Abbey was dissolved in 1538, yet today its extensive and peaceful ruins are an evocative reminder of the lives of its Augustinian canons.
  
• Ludlow Racecourse
  Tradition has it that in the fourteenth century soldiers from Ludlow Castle came here not only to practice archery but also to match their horses.
  
• Rays Farm Country Matters
  Rays Farm is located in the heart of the beautiful South Shropshire countryside, the term 'Rays' comes from the Anglo Saxon for streams - the farm by the streams.
  
• Royal Air Force Museum Cosford
  The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford houses one of the largest aviation collections in the United Kingdom.
  
• Shipton Hall
  Shipton Hall was built around 1587 by Richard Lutwyche to replace a much older, black and white, timbered house which was destroyed by fire earlier in the 16th century.
  
• Shrewsbury Castle and The Shropshire Regimental Museum
  Spanning nearly a millennium of our history, Shrewsbury Castle's origins date back to Norman attempts to secure the border with Wales.  It's now home to the Shropshire Regimental Museum.
  
• Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery (Rowley's House)
  Rocks, Romans, China and Costume, Mediaeval Shrewsbury and Shropshire Wildlife.
  
• Stokesay Castle
  This is one of England's best preserved fortified manor houses. Stokesay's Great Hall is unchanged since the days of baronial feasts.
  
• Walcot Hall
  Walcot Hall dates back to Tudor times, the original Elizabethan facade being gabled. In 1763, Lord Clive of India commissioned Sir William Chambers, leading architect of the time to redesign the house.
  
• Wenlock Priory
  Wenlock Priory with its striking clipped topiary has a pastoral setting on the edge of lovely Much Wenlock.
  
• Weston Park
  Visit Weston Park, set in the spectacular Shropshire countryside, and you will marvel at the beautiful Seventeenth Century House and the splendour of the 1,000 acre Parkland in which it rests.
  
• Wroxeter Roman City
  Visiting the museum at Wroxeter gives a good insight into what life was like in a big Roman city. The museum tracks life from before the Romans arrived through to what happened after they left.
  

Places to Visit in Shropshire

• Acton Scott
  Acton Scott is an ancient village below the slopes of Ragleth Hill, and the home of the Scott family for centuries.
• All Stretton
  All Stretton is the northernmost of the three Strettons that are strung out along the road from Shrewsbury to Ludlow below the sprawling bulk of the Long Mynd.
  
• Aston Pigott
  Aston Pigott is a small hamlet located approximately 13 miles west of Shrewsbury and just off the Shrewsbury to Montgomery road. It consists of three working farms called Aston Pigott Farm, Hole Farm, and The Grove Farm.
• Bishop's Castle
  On the edge of the Clun Forest, is the ancient market town of Bishop's Castle, the town retains its medieval outline and has a long and fascinating history.
• Bridgnorth
  The half-timbered buildings, the markets, shops and inns of Bridgnorth have welcomed and enchanted visitors for centuries.
  
• Cardington
  Cardington is a quiet village among the Shropshire hills. It was founded in Saxon times, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as the property of the Viscount Rainald, the greatest of all the nobles who owned the Earl of Shrewsbury
  
• Church Stretton
  Church Stretton's glorious setting in a narrow valley earned the name 'Little Switzerland' from the Victorians when they tried to establish it as a spa, and visitors today are still refreshed by its beauty.
  
• Cleobury Mortimer
  Cleobury Mortimer - (pronounced Clibbery) The name derives from the great Norman family of Mortimer established here in 1086.
  
• Clun
  Clun is a town in miniature, lying in the valley of the River Clun. The ruined Norman castle, built in the 12th century to defend the Welsh border dominates the town.
  
• Clungunford
  Clungunford is a small village, witn no shops or pubs that is why it is a very peacefull place. The river clun runs through the village.
  
• Ellesmere
  Set on the largest and most spectacular of nine glacial meres, Ellesmere was the birthplace of the Llangollen Canal, which was designed and built by Thomas Telford from his offices in the town and funded by money raised in a local hotel.
  
• Frodesley
  Frodesley is a tranquil hamlet on the edge of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, commanding good views on all sides of the surrounding hills and farmland. The main street is a quiet cul-de-sac.
• Hadnall
  Hadnall is a small village about 4 miles North of Shrewsbury on the A49. Just south of the village is the site of the 140' battle of Shrewsbury where Henry IV defeated Harry Hotspur at the bloodiest of battles ever fought on English soil.
• Highley
  I have lived in Highley all of my life & I would not like to live anywhere else. Highley has a lot of countryside and the River Severn flows though it. Highley has a lot to offer: shops, churches, golf courses, hair dressers, takeaways etc.
  
• Ironbridge
  The village of Ironbridge on the River Severn, grew up around the famous Iron Bridge - the first of its kind in the world, and an icon of this area, which was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
  
• Little Stretton
  Little Stretton is in the heart of the Shropshire Hills, nestling at the foot of the Long Mynd and looking across the valley to Ragleth Hill.
  
• Llanymynech
  This small, pretty village straddles the border between England (Shropshire) and Wales (Powys). Once upon a dry time (in the days when you couldn't drink in Powys on Sundays) the lounge bar in the pub was shut on the Sabbath
• Ludlow
  Medieval Ludlow - Capital of the Marches - Ludlow is often called the 'perfect historic Town'. The castle is perched high on a cliff above the picturesque River Teme and breathes history at every turn.
  
• Maesbury Marsh
  The original plan by the Ellesmere Canal Company (later The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company) was to build a canal from the Mersey across the Wirral to Chester then up to Wrexham and thence south
  
• Market Drayton
  Market Drayton is Famous for being the birthplace of Robert Clive - Clive of India; visitors can take a town trail and discover his 'Boyhood Haunts'.
  
• Melverley
  The village of Melverley is off the beaten track, a quiet village with houses and farms scattered over a large area.
  
• Much Wenlock
  Stay in Much Wenlock and you will discover the rustic charm of a medieval market town complete with historic buildings and speciality shops.
  
• Newport (Telford)
  One of the most unspoiled market towns in the district, Newport has a fascinating history as a twelfth century planned town, which was largely rebuilt in the 17th century after a great fire in 1665.
  
• Oakengates
  Oakengates is now part of Telford - Once a small, self-contained industrial town with a long history of coal mining and iron foundries. The town is now generating a reputation for itself as a centre for evening entertainment.
• Oswestry
  Unspoiled by progress, Oswestry is a bustling market town 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.
  
• Ratlinghope
  The small village of Ratlinghope and its equally tiny offshoot Bridges lie in the beautiful valley of the Darnford brook, which rises at Wildmoor Pool on the Long Mynd. Its name is pronounced "Ratchup" by some locals.
  
• Rushbury
  The village of Rushbury lies in Apedale below the ridge of Wenlock Edge. It has a 19th century school, a half-timbered manor house, the earthworks of a Norman castle and an ancient church.
  
• Shrewsbury
  Shrewsbury is one of the country's most famous and picturesque market towns. In an idyllic border location, it is cradled by the rolling hills and plains of Shropshire. Famous for being the birthplace of Charles Darwin.
  
• Telford
  Telford is named in honour of renowned eighteenth century road builder and engineer Thomas Telford, Shropshire's first county surveyor.
  
• Wellington (Telford)
  Now part of Telford, Wellington still retains its character as an historic market town, set against the backdrop of the Wrekin Hill.
  
• Wem
  The small market town of Wem, is famous for being the birthplace of the modern Sweet Pea. Visitors come from far and wide, to attend the annual show held in July.
  
• Whitchurch
  Whitchurch is a bustling market town and an ideal base for a holiday whatever your interests. It is the home of J. B. Joyce, the oldest tower clockmakers in the world.
  
• Willstone
  Willstone is a tiny hamlet in the parish of Cardington. It lies on the South-East slope of a ridge called The Wilderness, overlooked by higher hills - Caer Caradoc and The Lawley. South of Willstone rises Willstone Hill, with the rock tow