Much Wenlock
Coordinates: 52 ° 52 ′ N , 3 ° 3 ′ W
Much Wenlock is a small town in the English Unitary Authority Shropshire , near the border with Wales . It is located about 18 km southeast of Shrewsbury and has 2605 inhabitants (as of 2001).
history
The small town was founded around the year 680 near a monastery by Merewalh, a son of King Penda of Mercia . Merewalh's daughter, Saint Milburga von Wenlock, was the first abbess from 687. In 874 the abbey was destroyed by the Danes . Count Leofric von Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva founded another religious institution on the same site in the middle of the 11th century. Finally, Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, founded the Much Wenlock Priory , a Benedictine monastery in 1079 or 1082 , which lasted until the English monasteries were dissolved in 1539. The city of Much Wenlock was formally founded in 1468 by King Edward IV at the request of John Wenlock, 1st Baron Wenlock .
Much Wenlock is known for the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games , which were launched in 1850 by botanist William Penny Brookes . This sporting event is considered to be one of the forerunners of the modern Olympic Games and is still held annually.
Near the village is Wenlock Edge , a sandstone layer that has played a significant role in the history of science in geology . Wenlock , a chronostratigraphic series of the Silurian Age , is named after her . The limestone from "Wenlock Edge" has been used as a building material for many years and is prepared in lime kilns. The National Trust has restored some old lime kilns to preserve some of the area's industrial heritage.
Much Wenlock and Wenlock Edge are the subject of poems by Alfred Edward Housman , which were set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams .
Personalities
- Jonathan Barnes (* 1942), philosopher
- William Penny Brookes (1809–1895), botanist
- Rosemary Leach (1935-2017), actress
- Tony Levin (1940-2011), jazz drummer
- Andy Leggett (born 1942), jazz musician
- Mary Beard (* 1955), ancient historian
- Isobel Cooper (* 1975), soprano
