Sutton Farm, Shrewsbury
Encyclopedia
Sutton Farm is a suburb of Shrewsbury
, Shropshire
, England
. It is home to Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology and it is connected to the suburbs of Abbey Foregate and Belvidere. Between these suburbs is Lord Hill's Column
, the tallest free-standing Doric column in the world.
The Mereside School is also in the area, which is a combined Infants and Junior school.
The majority of Sutton Farm is a housing estate built in the 1960s, but much older properties existed nearer the Column, and towards the Mere.
The original "Sutton Farm" was located where the current shops and Darwin (named after Charles Darwin, who went to school in Shrewsbury) pub.
Sutton Farm is in the Parish of St. Giles Church, which was once a leper hospital for the Shrewsbury Abbey.
In the heart of Sutton Farm is the Mere. This is an open green space with a large lake at the centre.
It is said that monks from St. Giles church used to lead lepers to the Mere to bathe, as it was believed the waters had healing properties.
Prior to becoming a possession of Shrewsbury Abbey, the manor of Sutton was recorded in the Domesday Book
as belonging to Wenlock Abbey.
On the edge of Sutton Farm, as you enter Shrewsbury from Much Wenlock, is Weeping Cross roundabout. (There is also another Mere here, down a steep slope).
This again dates bake to medieval times, and is where the poor in the surrounding countryside left their dead for the monks to give a Christian burial.
Not far down the road that skirts Sutton Farm, almost opposite Percy Thrower’s Garden Centre, is a medieval chapel, now used as a Greek Orthodox church.
This is a very ancient church, and archaeology suggests it was probably pre-dated by earlier stone and wooden churches, and the site could even date back to early Christianity in this part of the country, to a time when people were moving out of the old Roman city of Wroxeter, which is not too far away.
As you head into Shrewsbury there's a green belt of land on the eastern edge of Sutton Farm, known as the Rea Brook Valley. In here is the remains of a long mill race and levelling ponds built by the monks, who had water mills situated in the valley. Until more recent times, the former site of Salop Laundry (now replaced with new houses), was known by locals as the "mill" and is believed to be a site of one of the mills.
Along the mill race towards Lord Hill's Column are some old bridges and ancient bridge embankments, one of which is called "Leper's Bridge", and is said to be where the monks lead the lepers up to St. Giles Church which is at the top of the hill.
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is home to Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology and it is connected to the suburbs of Abbey Foregate and Belvidere. Between these suburbs is Lord Hill's Column
Lord Hill's Column
Lord Hill's Column, outside the Shirehall , is one of the most notable landmarks of the town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The tallest Doric column in England, standing at 133 feet 6 inches , it commemorates Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill, with a standing on the top of the column...
, the tallest free-standing Doric column in the world.
The Mereside School is also in the area, which is a combined Infants and Junior school.
The majority of Sutton Farm is a housing estate built in the 1960s, but much older properties existed nearer the Column, and towards the Mere.
The original "Sutton Farm" was located where the current shops and Darwin (named after Charles Darwin, who went to school in Shrewsbury) pub.
Sutton Farm is in the Parish of St. Giles Church, which was once a leper hospital for the Shrewsbury Abbey.
In the heart of Sutton Farm is the Mere. This is an open green space with a large lake at the centre.
It is said that monks from St. Giles church used to lead lepers to the Mere to bathe, as it was believed the waters had healing properties.
Prior to becoming a possession of Shrewsbury Abbey, the manor of Sutton was recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as belonging to Wenlock Abbey.
On the edge of Sutton Farm, as you enter Shrewsbury from Much Wenlock, is Weeping Cross roundabout. (There is also another Mere here, down a steep slope).
This again dates bake to medieval times, and is where the poor in the surrounding countryside left their dead for the monks to give a Christian burial.
Not far down the road that skirts Sutton Farm, almost opposite Percy Thrower’s Garden Centre, is a medieval chapel, now used as a Greek Orthodox church.
This is a very ancient church, and archaeology suggests it was probably pre-dated by earlier stone and wooden churches, and the site could even date back to early Christianity in this part of the country, to a time when people were moving out of the old Roman city of Wroxeter, which is not too far away.
As you head into Shrewsbury there's a green belt of land on the eastern edge of Sutton Farm, known as the Rea Brook Valley. In here is the remains of a long mill race and levelling ponds built by the monks, who had water mills situated in the valley. Until more recent times, the former site of Salop Laundry (now replaced with new houses), was known by locals as the "mill" and is believed to be a site of one of the mills.
Along the mill race towards Lord Hill's Column are some old bridges and ancient bridge embankments, one of which is called "Leper's Bridge", and is said to be where the monks lead the lepers up to St. Giles Church which is at the top of the hill.