Central Shropshire

Lilleshall lies across the A518 Telford to Newport road with the village lying to one side in seclusion at the foot of Lilleshall Hill. On the hill can be seen the monument which was erected in memory of the First Duke of Sutherland in 1839. On it is the inscription: "To the memory of George Granville Leveson Gower, K.G. 1st Duke of Sutherland. The most just and generous of landlords. This monument is erected by the occupiers of his Grace's Shropshire farms as a public testimony that he went down to his grave with the blessings of his tenants on his head and left behind him upon his estates the best inheritance which a gentleman of England can bequeath to his son; men ready to stand by his house, heart and hand." - A somewhat long-winded testament to an obviously popular landlord.
Nearby is Lilleshall Abbey, its ruins only a shadow of itself as it was large by Augustinian standards. It was founded early in the 12th century, and for around four hundred years was an obvious influence on the parish. When the Dissolution came, the Abbey and its substantial estates were given to the Cavendish ancestor of the Dukes of Devonshire.

Pontesbury is a large and thriving village some eight miles to the south-west of Shrewsbury. To the south of Pontesbury the Stiperstones start. They are rugged with a wild touch to them when winter clouds are low. But the twin summits of Pontesford and Earl's hill immediately behind the village have something mystical about their shape. Both have sites of prehistoric forts and it is no wonder there are legends and stories linked to these hills, the best being the legend and story of the Golden Arrow. The legend is one of a battle between the kings of Mercia and Wessex in the 7th century. One version of the legend says that one of the kings lost a golden arrow during the battle and whoever found it would succeed to a great fortune. Sadly, one version reduces the possibilities of success by saying the finder must be the seventh daughter of a seventh son, and then only if she were under twenty and searched in the early hours before dawn. The story came much later, when Mary Webb, who once lived in Pontesbury, and later at nearby Lyth Hill, wrote the best known of her novels, "The Golden Arrow".

There is no doubt about the fact that Shrewsbury is an English town that we should be proud of. Its location on a hill, with the river creating an almost complete loop for protection, its mediaeval charm with a wealth of timber-framed buildings, some of which lean so crazily that it is surprising they still stand, and its history which seems to be almost visible, are all things which make Shrewsbury unique. But that's not to say it doesn't have its faults. Its position in the loop of the river is the main cause of the traffic problems of today, and its mediaeval charm is a continuous cause for concern and discussion when any developer makes a move towards the town. And even its history has caused controversy over the years amongst those puritans who do not wish to mix fact and fiction in Shrewsbury. For further details see Shrewsbury.

The small village of Tong, on the A41 and beside the M54, is dominated by the church which is dedicated to St. Bartholomew, and which has been likened to a village version of Westminster Abbey. Inside there are some of the most magnificent monuments in the county and, if it were not for the noise of traffic from the nearby M54, it would be as peaceful a spot as when it was founded, when the priests were under orders to talk in a low voice, eat and drink modestly, and to refrain from hunting and hawking.
After visiting Tong, Charles Dickens used it as the final resting place for Little Nell and her Grandfather in "The Old Curiosity Shop". Apparently this story was serialised in a paper of the day and such was the interest shown in the continuing story that it is said that ships arriving in America were met by people wishing to know how Little Nell was faring. Her eventual and expected death is said to have made grown men weep. Today the village of Tong is a small village of delightful timber-framed houses clustered beside the church.