Wem
Encyclopedia
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. Wem railway station
is on the Shrewsbury
to Crewe
railway line. Nine miles south of the town is the county town
of Shropshire, Shrewsbury
.
The civil parish which constitutes the town is Wem Urban - see also Wem Rural
.
, by the Cornovii, Celtic Iron Age
settlers. The town is recorded in the Domesday Book
as consisting of four manors. In 1202, Wem became a market town
.
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.
Within the town the sweet pea
was first born, under the name the 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 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".
The name of the town is derived from the Saxon "Wamm", meaning a marsh
, as marshy land exists in the area of the town. Over time, this was corrupted to form "Wem".
(icon), in France
, which also has its own road in Wem, called Fismes Way.
The River Roden
flows to the south of the town. The Shropshire Way
long distance waymarked path passes through Wem.
Wem was the fiefdom
of Judge Jeffreys
(the "hanging judge"), infamous for his willingness to impose capital punishment. George Jeffreys was born at Acton Hall in Wrexham
in 1648, the son of John Jeffreys and Margaret Ireland. His grandfather was a judge in Wales
and George eventually decided on a career in law much to his parents' disapproval. Educated at Shrewsbury and St Paul's Westminster and Cambridge. He began his studies in the Inner Temple in 1663 and was acting as an advocate before he was officially called to the bar. He entered Gray's Inn. He was appointed Solicitor General to the Duke of York later James II and was knighted in 1677. He became recorder of London in 1678. At the age of 33 he became Lord Chief Justice of England and a privy counsellor and two years later Lord Chancellor. In 1683 he was created Baron Jeffreys of Wem. He is known as Hanging Judge Jeffreys because of the punishment he handed out at the trials of the supporters of the Duke of Monmouth. In 1688 when James II fled the country, Jeffreys was placed in the Tower of London for his own safety. He died there the following year aged 44 of kidney disease.
is nearby.
Wem is now widely known amongst the oratory storytellers as the 'home of the regeneration of modern young storytelling' mainly due to the youth storytelling group Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Young Tellers (STWYTellers) being based in the Mythstories Museum of Myth & Fable in the town centre. The group is currently chaired by Joe White and its board is composed of young people including Jen Ward, vice chair, and Daragh Quinn, secretary. The group runs quarterly charity fundraising performances called Telling Tuesdays which are open to all to attend and free on the door with collections afterwards.
, actors Peter Vaughan
and Peter Jones
, and the childhood home of the essayist and critic, William Hazlitt
, whose father was a Unitarian Minister in the town. Professional wrestler Neil Faith
attended the Thomas Adams School in Wem. Daddy Mac, the boom boxer, was also from Wem, as was 18th-century portrait painter John Astley
. Anna Essinger
moved her boarding school to Trench Hall, near Wem when Bunce Court was given short notice to evacuate during World War II
.
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in 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 the administrative centre for the northern area committee
Area committee
Many large local government councils in the United Kingdom have a system of area committees, with responsibility for services in a particular part of the area covered by the council....
of Shropshire Council
Shropshire Council
Shropshire Council is a unitary authority in Shropshire, United Kingdom.It replaced the former two-tier local government structure in the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire on 1 April 2009, which involved its immediate predecessor, Shropshire County Council, and five non-metropolitan districts -...
, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem. Wem railway station
Wem railway station
Wem railway station serves the town of Wem in Shropshire, England. The station is 17 km north of Shrewsbury on the Welsh Marches Line line to Crewe....
is on the Shrewsbury
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...
to Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
railway line. Nine miles south of the town is the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of Shropshire, Shrewsbury
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...
.
The civil parish which constitutes the town is Wem Urban - see also Wem Rural
Wem Rural
Wem Rural is a civil parish in Shropshire, England that encircles the market town of Wem which is a separate parish . The parish has three wards - Edstaston ward to the north and north east of Wem, Newtown ward to the north and north west of Wem and the confusingly named Wem ward to the west, south...
.
History
The area now known as Wem is believed to have been settled prior to the Roman Conquest of BritainRoman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
, by the Cornovii, Celtic Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
settlers. The town is 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 consisting of four manors. In 1202, Wem became a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
.
The town supported the Parliamentarians
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, 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.
Within the town the sweet pea
Sweet pea
Sweet pea is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae , native to the eastern Mediterranean region from Sicily east to Crete....
was first born, under the name the Eckford Sweet Pea, after its inventor, nursery-man Henry Eckford
Henry Eckford (plant breeder)
Henry Eckford was the most famous breeder of sweet peas, transforming the plant from a minor horticultural subject into the queen of annuals. Liberty Hyde Bailey called him "the prince of specialists". In 1888 He moved to the town of Wem in Shropshire...
. He first introduced a variety of the sweet pea in 1882, and set up in Wem in 1888, developing and producing many 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".
The name of the town is derived from the Saxon "Wamm", meaning a marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
, as marshy land exists in the area of the town. Over time, this was corrupted to form "Wem".
Geography
Wem is twinned with the town FismesFismes
Fismes is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.- Economy :Many agricultural zones of the region may soon become a section of the zone for production of Champagne.- Antiquity :...
(icon), in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, which also has its own road in Wem, called Fismes Way.
The River Roden
River Roden, Shropshire
The River Roden is a river in Shropshire, England, which rises near Wem Moss and meets the River Tern at Walcot.Villages and towns it flows through or near to include:*Wem*Lee Brockhurst*Shawbury*Roden*Rodington-Wildlife:...
flows to the south of the town. The Shropshire Way
Shropshire Way
The Shropshire Way is a waymarked long distance footpath running through the English county of Shropshire. It runs 224 kilometres / 139 miles around the interior of the county in a large loop.- The Waymarked Route :...
long distance waymarked path passes through Wem.
Wem was the fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
of Judge Jeffreys
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, PC , also known as "The Hanging Judge", was an English judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor .- Early years and education :Jeffreys was born at the family estate of Acton Hall, near Wrexham,...
(the "hanging judge"), infamous for his willingness to impose capital punishment. George Jeffreys was born at Acton Hall in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
in 1648, the son of John Jeffreys and Margaret Ireland. His grandfather was a judge in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and George eventually decided on a career in law much to his parents' disapproval. Educated at Shrewsbury and St Paul's Westminster and Cambridge. He began his studies in the Inner Temple in 1663 and was acting as an advocate before he was officially called to the bar. He entered Gray's Inn. He was appointed Solicitor General to the Duke of York later James II and was knighted in 1677. He became recorder of London in 1678. At the age of 33 he became Lord Chief Justice of England and a privy counsellor and two years later Lord Chancellor. In 1683 he was created Baron Jeffreys of Wem. He is known as Hanging Judge Jeffreys because of the punishment he handed out at the trials of the supporters of the Duke of Monmouth. In 1688 when James II fled the country, Jeffreys was placed in the Tower of London for his own safety. He died there the following year aged 44 of kidney disease.
Culture and community
Within the town there are four main churches. The best known of these churches is the main Anglican Church of St Peter and St Paul. Each year Wem holds a traditional town carnival on the first Saturday of September, as well as the Sweet Pea Festival. Hawkstone ParkHawkstone Park
Hawkstone Park is an historic landscape park with pleasure grounds and gardens formerly belonging to Hawkstone Hall, near to Market Drayton, in Shropshire, England, UK, one mile east of the A49 road....
is nearby.
Wem is now widely known amongst the oratory storytellers as the 'home of the regeneration of modern young storytelling' mainly due to the youth storytelling group Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Young Tellers (STWYTellers) being based in the Mythstories Museum of Myth & Fable in the town centre. The group is currently chaired by Joe White and its board is composed of young people including Jen Ward, vice chair, and Daragh Quinn, secretary. The group runs quarterly charity fundraising performances called Telling Tuesdays which are open to all to attend and free on the door with collections afterwards.
Notable people
Wem was the birthplace of comedian Greg DaviesGreg Davies
Greg Davies is a British stand-up comedian, actor, and former teacher, best known for his roles as Greg in We Are Klang and Mr. Gilbert in The Inbetweeners. He has performed on the BBC's Live at the Apollo series....
, actors Peter Vaughan
Peter Vaughan
Peter Vaughan is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts...
and Peter Jones
Peter Jones (actor)
Peter Jones was an English actor, screenwriter and broadcaster.-Early life and career:Jones was born in Wem, Shropshire and he was educated at the Wem Grammar School and Ellesmere College. He made his first appearance as an actor in Wolverhampton at the age of 16 and then appeared in repertory...
, and the childhood home of the essayist and critic, William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt was an English writer, remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism, and as a grammarian and philosopher. He is now considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. Yet his work is...
, whose father was a Unitarian Minister in the town. Professional wrestler Neil Faith
Neil Faith
Neil Andrew Horsfall , better known as Neil Faith, is an English professional wrestler, trained by Bruce Hart in the Hart dungeon.-Professional wrestling career:...
attended the Thomas Adams School in Wem. Daddy Mac, the boom boxer, was also from Wem, as was 18th-century portrait painter John Astley
John Astley (painter)
John Astley was an English portrait painter and amateur architect, known for his "patronage among a vast circle of fashion" as well as a fortune acquired through marriage.-Early life:...
. Anna Essinger
Anna Essinger
Anna Essinger was a German-Jewish educator. At the age of 20, she went to finish her education in the United States, where she encountered Quakers and was greatly influenced by their attitudes, adopting them for her own...
moved her boarding school to Trench Hall, near Wem when Bunce Court was given short notice to evacuate during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
External links
- Official Wem Town Web Site - history, events, information
- Wem Carnival photos
- The Haunting of Wem Town Hall