Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock
The town of Much Wenlock is a charming place to visit, originally a Saxon town the original priory here was founded by Merewald King of Mercia in 680, it was destroyed in 874 by the Danes and rebuilt by Leofric the Husband of Lady Godiva.
The priory’s now atmospheric Norman Cluniac ruins date from the 14th and 15th century and are set amid well-kept lawns. There is a finely decorated chapter house and the topiary in the gardens is worth seeing as well as a Lavabo.
The town is full of interesting architecture with Tudor Jacobean and Georgian houses to be found in the streets, Much Wenlock has been described as a quintessential English town.
The town can also lay claim to be the birth place of the modern Olympics, when Dr William Penny Brookes a local lad and physical education pioneer instituted the games in the town in 1850,ten years later the games were opened to all England.
In 1890, the games raised the interest of Baron Pierre Coubertin who visited Much Wenlock to discuss the games in great detail with Brookes. Later the Baron launched the Modern Olympic Games in Athens but Brooke’s involvement was never mentioned.
In 1994, the then Olympic president Juan Antonio Samaranch visited the town to pay his respects to the founder of the modern Olympics, Much Wenlock’s games are held every July.
The tourist information office is set in an excellent little museum in the town square, here you can find all manner of information on the local area, and there is also a section about Mary Webb the celebrated Shropshire author.
Activities in Much Wenlock
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