Travel to Wem Map
Wem tourist guide map of landmarks & destinations by Walkfo
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When travelling to Wem, Walkfo’s has created a travel guide & Wem overview of Wem’s hotels & accommodation, Wem’s weather through the seasons & travel destinations / landmarks in Wem. Experience a unique Wem when you travel with Walkfo as your tour guide to Wem map.
Wem history
Prehistory and Roman
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. There is an Iron Age hillfort at nearby Bury Walls occupied over into the Roman period.
Dark Ages
The ‘Wem Hoard’, a collection of coins deposited in the post Roman period, was found in land in the Wem area in 2019.
Norman and medieval periods
Weme was an Anglo-Saxon estate, which transitioned into a Norman castle-town established after the conquest. The town is recorded in the Domesday Book as consisting of four manors in Hodnet. The Norman town was probably enclosed by an earthwork. There is some speculation that the town had walls by the 1400s.
Tudor Period
In Henry VIII’s reign Lord Dacre (d.1563) began to fell Northwood, a task completed by the Countess of Arundel. Dacre also drained the Old Pool, work again completed by his grand-daughter. Unlicensed brewers were not prevented and were fined in number at each court leet.
1600s
In 1642, during the English Civil War Charles I passed close by Wem en route from Chester to Shrewsbury at the invitation of the corporation of the latter town, taking the route via Soulton and Lee Brockhurst. During the campaigns in Newbury and Gloucester the town was planted with a Parliamentarian garrison. The town was the seat of the Shropshire Committee until 1645, and was subject to an attack by Lord Capel in 1645.
1700s
The town 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. The town held a 230th Anniversary Celebration of Hazlit’s Life and work for five days, hosted by author Edouard d’Araille.
Victorian period
In Victorian times the town was known as “Wem, where the sweet peas grow” Within the town the sweet pea was first commercially cultivated, under the variety named Eckford Sweet Pea, after its inventor, nursery-man Henry Eckford.
20th century
Fifty-five men of Wem are recorded as having fallen serving their country in the First World War. The town’s war memorial was dedicated in 1920. In 1940 Anna Essinger evacuated her boarding school from Otterden, Kent to Trench Hall, near Wem.
21st century
From 2002 to 2019 the Morgan Library building was leased to ‘Mythstories’, which styles itself as the world’s first museum of storytelling. Wem is a Transition Town.
Wem map & travel guide with history & landmarks to explore
Visit Wem Walkfo Stats
With 15 travel places to explore on our Wem travel map, Walkfo is a personalised tour guide to tell you about the places in Wem as you travel by foot, bike, car or bus. No need for a physical travel guide book or distractions by phone screens, as our geo-cached travel content is automatically triggered on our Wem map when you get close to a travel location (or for more detailed Wem history from Walkfo).
| Travel Location: Travel Area: | Wem [zonearea] | Audio spots: Physical plaques: | 15 0 | Population: | [zonesize] |
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Tourist Guide to Wem Map
Wem map historic spot | Wem map tourist destination | Wem map plaque | Wem map geographic feature |
| Walkfo Wem travel map key: visit National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top travel destinations in Wem | |||