Wem

Wem

Wem High Street
Wem
Wem shown within Shropshire
Population 5,142 
OS grid reference SJ514289
Civil parish
  • Wem Urban
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SHREWSBURY
Postcode district SY4
Dialling code 01939
Police West Mercia
Fire Shropshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament

Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the northern area committee of Shropshire Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem.[1] Wem lies nine miles to the north of Shropshire's county town of Shrewsbury and sits on the rail line between that town and Crewe in Cheshire.

Wem's civil parish is named Wem Urban. A separate civil parish in the surrounding countryside is named Wem Rural.

History

House in Wem where William Hazlitt and his father lived in the late eighteenth century

The name of the town is derived from the Old English wamm, meaning a marsh, as marshy land exists in the area of the town. Over time, this was corrupted to form "Wem".[2]

The area now known as Wem is believed to have been settled prior to the Roman Conquest of Britain, by the Cornovii, Celtic Iron Age settlers. The town is recorded in the Domesday Book as consisting of four manors in the hundred of Hodnet.[3] In 1202, Wem became a market town.[2] From the 12th century revisions to the hundreds of Shropshire, Wem was within the North Division of Bradford Hundred until the end of the 19th century.[4]

The Domesday Book records that Wem was held by William Pantulf, First Lord of Wem, from Earl Roger.

The town supported the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was subject to an attack by Lord Capel, in which the town held off the attackers. In 1677, a fire destroyed many of the wooden buildings in the town.[2]

Within the town the sweet pea was first commercially cultivated, under the variety named Eckford Sweet Pea, after its inventor, nursery-man Henry Eckford. He first introduced a variety of the sweet pea in 1882, and set up in Wem in 1888, developing and producing many more varieties. There is a road to signify the Eckford name, called Eckford Park (within Wem). Each year, the Eckford Sweet Pea Society of Wem hold a sweet pea festival. In Victorian times, the town was known as "Wem, where the sweet peas grow".

Brewing, initially a 'cottage industry', was carried out in Wem as early as 1700, when Richard Gough wrote of a contemporary in his History of Myddle a Latin aphorism he translated: Let slaves admire base things, but my friend still/My cup and can with Wem's stoute ale shall fill.[5] By 1900[6] a Shrewsbury and Wem Brewery Company traded on a widespread scale after acquiring the brewery in Noble Street previously run by Charles Henry Kynaston.[7] The company was taken over in turn by Greenall Whitley & Co Ltd[8] but the brewery was closed in 1988.[9] From 1986 to 1989 the brewery served as the shirt sponsor for Shrewsbury Town. [10]

Wem was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.[11] More recently, it has been popularly known as the siting of the so-called Wem ghost. In 1995 an amateur photographer photographed a blaze which destroyed Wem Town Hall; the photo appeared to show the ghostly figure of a young female in a window of the burning building, dressed in 'old-fashioned' clothes. Although the photographer (who died in 2005) denied forgery, after his death it was suggested that the girl in his photo bore a 'striking similarity' with one in a postcard of the town from 1922.[12][13]

Governance

Wem was historically the centre of a large parish, which became a civil parish in 1866. In 1900 the outer parts of the parish were separated to form the civil parish of Wem Rural, and the town itself became the civil parish of Wem Urban, coextensive with Wem Urban District. In 1967 the urban district was abolished and became part of North Shropshire Rural District.[14] From 1974 to 2009 it was part of North Shropshire district.

The parish council of Wem Urban has exercised its right to call itself a town council.

The electoral ward of Wem for the purposes of elections to Shropshire Council also covers part of Wem Rural parish. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 8,234.[15]

Geography

Since 1978, Wem has been twinned with Fismes[16] in France, after which is named a road in Wem, Fismes Way.[17]

The River Roden flows to the south of the town. The Shropshire Way long distance waymarked path passes through Wem.

Culture and community

Wem's main church is the Anglican Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Within the town there are four main churches. The oldest of these is the Anglican Parish Church of St. Peter & St. Paul. The other three are Baptist, Methodist[18] and Roman Catholic.[19]

Thomas Adams School is a state-funded secondary school, established in 1650. It also has a Sixth Form College on site.

Each year Wem holds a traditional town carnival on the first Saturday of September, as well as the Sweet Pea Festival on the third weekend of July. Wem Vehicles of Interest Rally & Grand Parade also runs along side the Sweet Pea Festival on the Sunday.

Hawkstone Park is nearby.

Notable people

Wem was the fiefdom of Judge Jeffreys (1645–1689), known as the "hanging judge" for his willingness to impose capital punishment on supporters of the Duke of Monmouth. His seat was Lowe Hall at The Lowe, Wem. In 1683 he was made Baron Jeffreys of Wem.

Wem's main claim to fame is that it was the childhood home of one of England's greatest essayists and critics, William Hazlitt (1778–1830). Hazlitt's father moved their family there when William was just a child. Hazlitt senior became the Unitarian Minister in the town[20] occupying a building on Noble Street that still stands. In 2008 the town held a 230th Anniversary Celebration of Hazlitt's Life and work for five days, hosted by author Edouard d'Araille who gave series of talks and conference about 'William of Wem'. William Hazlitt moved away from Wem in later life and ultimately died in London.

In 1940 Anna Essinger (1879–1960), a German Jewish educator, evacuated [21] her boarding school, Bunce Court School from Otterden, in Kent to Trench Hall, near Wem. She facilitated Kindertransport.

and

References

  1. ↑ OS Explorer Map 241, Shrewsbury, Wem, Shawbury & Baschurch. ISBN 978-0-319-46276-8
  2. 1 2 3 "History of Wem". Wem. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  3. ↑ Powell-Smith, Anna. "Wem - Domesday Book".
  4. ↑ "Bradford Hundred - British History Online".
  5. ↑ Woodward, Iris (1976). The Story of Wem and its Neighbourhood. Wilding's, Shrewsbury. p. 18. Gough's book was not published until the 19th century.
  6. ↑ Kelly's Directory of Shropshire. Kelly's. 1900. pp. 269, 333.
  7. ↑ Kelly's Directory of Shropshire. Kelly's. 1895. pp. 253, 312.
  8. ↑ Woodward, Iris. The Story of Wem and its Neighbourhood. p. 114.
  9. ↑ "End of Era for Brewery". Shropshire Star. 22 July 1987.
  10. ↑ "Shrewsbury Town - Historical Football Kits".
  11. ↑ www.eswd.eu/cgi-bin/eswd.cgi
  12. ↑ "Ghost picture mystery resolved".
  13. ↑ "Has the mystery of the 'Wem Ghost' photograph finally been solved? - The Times".
  14. ↑ "Wem Rural CP through time - Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit".
  15. ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "Twin towns".
  17. ↑ "Location Map".
  18. ↑ "Wem Churches near Shrewsbury, Shropshire".
  19. ↑ http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/shropshire/cd/view.page?record=LQLE5deSKGE
  20. ↑ "Wem". Shropshire Routes to Roots. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  21. ↑ The Guardian, 18 July 2003, Anna's children retrieved 17 March 2018
  22. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 01, Adams, Thomas (1586-1667) retrieved 17 March 2018
  23. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 27, Holland, Philip retrieved 17 March 2018
  24. ↑ John Astley on Artnet retrieved 17 March 2018
  25. ↑ ESPN cricinfo Database retrieved 17 March 2018
  26. ↑ IMDb Database retrieved 17 March 2018
  27. ↑ "TV Comedy People: Peter Jones". British TV Resources. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  28. ↑ IMDb Database retrieved 17 March 2018
  29. ↑ IMDb Database retrieved 17 March 2018
  30. ↑ Sybil Ruscoe Media, Sybil Ruscoe retrieved 17 March 2018
  31. ↑ IMDb Database retrieved 17 March 2018
  32. ↑ Online World Of Wrestling, Profile, Neil Faith retrieved 17 March 2018
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