Where is Much Wenlock?
Much Wenlock is a market town in Shropshire, England. It is a market town with a rich history and a number of interesting buildings dotted around the town. Those most likely to catch the eye include Reynalds Mansion, the Corn Exchange and the Guildhall.

The structure of Reynalds Mansion is Medieval but the triple gabled frontage dates to 1682.

Corn Exchange, paid for by public subscription, was built in 1852.

The Guildhall was built in 1540 as a courthouse and extended in 1577. The building continued as a courthouse until the late 1980s.
There is a excellent local museum in the town and Holy Trinity Church is just on the edge of the town centre with Wenlock Priory only a short walk away.
Much Wenlock Museum
In 1918 the First World War Memorial Committee refurbished the old Market Hall as a Memorial Hall venue for dances, boxing matches and meetings. It was also used as a cinema for a number of years from 1935 until the 1960s.
Following the construction of the local British Legion Hall after WWII, use of the Memorial Hall declined until it eventually closed in the 1960s.

For a number of years, it was a hall without a purpose until it was leased by the Borough Council to create a museum. In 1974 the museum was taken over by the County Council.
Now a welcoming and well-run local museum filled to the rafters with history, archaeology, art and geology. Free to visit but donations welcomed. For opening times click here.
Holy Trinity Church, Much Wenlock
There is still a small amount of stonework from the Anglo-Saxon period found in the church walls on the exterior of the south wall. The Nave was built around 1150 by the monks of Wenlock Priory. The tower came a little later in the 12th century around 1190.The nave was extended in the 13th century and the chancel, vestry and south porch added in the 14th and 15th century.

A Very Brief History of Wenlock Priory
The abbey was founded at Wenlock in the 680s by Merewald, King of Mercia. The king placed his daughter Milburga as the abbess here, in charge of a double house with separate provision for monks and nuns, with separate churches. The church for nuns was once on the site of Holy Trinity Church.

In 1101 the bones of St Milburga were found buried at Holy Trinity Church and a shrine built and Wenlock became a site of pilgrimage. The relics are said to have been lost or looted around the time of the dissolution in the 16th century.
In the 12th century the site passed to Benedictine monks affiliated to the French Abbey of Cluny. What largely remains today are the standing structural, earthwork and buried remains of a Cluniac Priory built between 1140 and 1180 and largely rebuilt from 1200 to 1240.
In 1540 the Priory fell victim to the Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII. The estate passed to the King’s physician, Augustin de Augustini who sold the priory to Thomas and Richard Lawley. Sometime in the 16th century they converted the infirmary and Prior’s house into a dwelling called Abbey House (now Priory House) . Building materials were taken from other buildings for the conversion.

Archaeological Excavations at Wenlock Priory
Excavations of the site took place in 1901, 1976 and the 1980s. The excavations between 1981-6 revealed that the Anglo-Saxon church had been adapted from an earlier late roman structure.
In 1982 archaeologists uncovered the remains of a ceramic mortuary chalice clasped in the hands of a male skeleton. This is a rare find as normally the chalice would be made from pewter or lead.

Lavbo – a trough for washing in a monastery
The priory site passed into the Guardianship of the Ministry of Works in 1964. It is now under the care of English Heritage. Admission charges apply. For opening times and access click here.
If you enjoyed reading this article you might enjoy reading ‘The Heritage Hiker’s Guide to Evesham’, ‘The Heritage Hiker’s Guide to Tewkesbury’ or ‘The Heritage Hiker’s Guide to Wigmore’.
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