A Quick Guide to Wem

Welcome to Wem in the heart of North Shropshire. From its time as a Saxon settlement through the present, Wem has been at the centre of life in North Shropshire, a small market town with over 5000 residents. Wem is also the administrative centre for the North Shropshire District Council. Whether it is for work or pleasure, Wem has much to offer the resident and visitor alike. With excellent communications, a good road network, rail links and regional airports just over an hour away, Wem is the ideal choice for people wanting all the advantages of an attractive rural environment without having to travel too far.

A real market town For over a thousand years, the people of North Shropshire have turned to Wem for their local needs. In Saxon times the town was called "Wamm", meaning "marsh" but finding good pastureland adjacent to this marshy ground, the early settlers knew that Wem had potential. Wem has been a market town since 1202. Through the ages Wem has provided a centre for local trade and this tradition continues today. The High Street is home to many different shops and local businesses and the weekly market takes place every Thursday in the Town Hall.

A heritage town From the earliest mention of Wem in the Doomsday Book of 1086 to present times, the town has a rich history and associations with many notable characters. From William Pantulf the first recorded Baron of Wem, to the 2nd Ralf Greystock who re-built the town after the War's of the Roses, Sir Thomas Adams who founded the town's school of the same name and Judge Jeffrey's 'the hanging Judge' who held the Barony in 1684 and local men William Hazlitt the essayist and John Astley the painter all have given Wem a certain notoriety. More recently Wem has become famous as the home of the modern sweet peas, the colourful flowers first cross-bred in the town by Henry Eckford FRHS in 1887.

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