Shrewsbury sits in the county of Shropshire, very near to the Welsh borderlands. It is the real world site of the Abbey of Saints Peter and Paul, and the fictional home of Brother Cadfael, the medieval monk/sleuth created by Ellis Peters (aka Edith Pargeter). A historian before she became a crime novelist, Pargeter/Peters only invented 3 characters for her series of Cadfael books, and the old parts of Shrewsbury have changed very little since the real people portrayed walked its streets and ‘shuts’. Enjoy a short tour!
Welcome to England! We arrived by train mid-afternoon . . .
just in time for tea!
Our lovely hostess, Madeline, with Paula.
The shortest route from Madeline’s house . . .
. . .to the village proper, involves a toll bridge . . .
with a lovely view of the rowing club and the Severn River.
Cars still pay the 10 pence toll to pass . . .
. . . fortunately pedestrians no longer have to pay to cross!
Even ordinary buildings have some special features here . . .
. . .like gargoyles
The Coach and Horses Pub . . . a real pub, frequented by the locals.
Inside the pub - this gent, it turned out, works for the tourist office!
Paula + Madeline raise a glass to the sun, which finally appeared!
The high street, with some of the ‘black and white’ buildings . . .
Shrewsbury is famous for having the biggest number of ORIGINAL
black and white, half timber buildings in the north of England.
Paula + Steve on the Bear Steps
Shrewsbury is famous for its “shuts” . . .
. . . streets which could originally be shut off with gates at night.
“newer” houses
Flowers abound
St. Mary’s Bell Tower - one of 4 Saxon churches in Shrewsbury.
In 1409 during the English civil war this town was in the thick of
the fighting between Cromwell’s men and the King’s supporters
a view of the River Severn not quite overflowing its banks here
The guardhouse (and jail) of Shrewsbury Castle
Shrewsbury is also the birthplace of Charles Darwin . . .evolution?
street buskers
a typical Shrewsbury lane
some interesting architecture
. . .but only if you have been warned!
Yes, British ladies still wear hats!
Shrewsbury has TWO hat shops!
the English Bridge, leading to the Abbey
the church in the foreground is newer, 17th c. the abbey is behind
. . .on the Bridge . . .
The tower of what remains of the Abbey church, mostly dismantled
after Henry VIII dissolved the Catholic church in England
but the central part of the church was retained and is still used
by the Church of England, you can see the church was once bigger
this was also part of the old Abbey
as was this
This amazing building is a private hospital . . .
. . .with fanciful chimney stacks!
This is the way to Traitor’s Gate, where the Battle Shrewsbury . . .
finally ended, as the opposing forces were let into the city by
person or persons unknown!
This is St. Chad’s, an amazing Round Church
built with classical Greek and Roman influences
it has an upper gallery
lovely plasterwork
a copper and brass pulpit, known
locally as ‘the coal scuttle’
locally as ‘the coal scuttle’
and a baptismal font of local stone
full of fossils
a modern addition at the foot of the font
Rule Brittania
more chimney stacks . . . on the train station
English summer
the famous “Jesse” window of St. Mary’s
it was rescued from another even older church which was torn down
this window was made of leftover glass -- so lovely!
the entry of St. Mary’s
typical Shrewsbury . . . visit if you get the chance!!!
