Wem

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 52.8555
longitude= -2.7211
official_name= Wem
population = 5,142
shire_district= North Shropshire
shire_county = Shropshire
region= West Midlands
constituency_westminster= North Shropshire
post_town= SHREWSBURY
postcode_district = SY4
postcode_area= SY
dial_code= 01939
os_grid_reference= SJ514289

Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre of North Shropshire District Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem [ OS Explorer Map 241, Shrewsbury, Wem, Shawbury & Baschurch. ISBN 9780319462768 ] . The town has a railway station - Wem railway station 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.

History

The area now known as Wem is believed to have been settled prior to the Roman Conquest of Britain, by the Cornovii, Iron Age settlers. The town is recorded in the Domesday Book as consisting of four manors. In 1202, Wem became a market town.Cite web |url=http://www.wem.gov.uk/history.html |title=History of Wem |work=Wem |accessdate=2008-07-02]

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".Fact|date=December 2007

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".

Geography

Wem is twinned with the town Fismes (pronounced IPA|/fiːmz/ or "feems"), 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.

Culture and community

Within the town there are also four churches. The best known of these churches is the main Anglican Church. Each year Wem holds a traditional town carnival on the first Saturday of September, as well as the Sweet Pea Festival. Hawkstone Park is nearby.

Notable people

Wem was the birthplace of actors Peter Vaughan [Cite web |url=http://www.shropshiremagazine.com/2007/11/peter-vaughan-acting-clever/ |title=Peter Vaughan: Acting clever |work=The Shropshire Magazine |accessdate=2008-07-02] and Peter Jones [Cite web |url=http://www.phill.co.uk/people/j/jonesp.html |title=TV Comedy People: Peter Jones |work=British TV Resources |accessdate=2008-07-02] , and was also the childhood home of the essayist and critic, William Hazlitt, whose father was a Unitarian Minister in the town. [Cite web |url=http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/roots/places/wem/wem.htm |title=Wem |work=Shropshire Routes to Roots |accessdate=2008-07-02]

References

*The Story of Wem by Iris Woodward (1952)
* [http://home.freeuk.com/castlegates/wem01.htm The History of Wem by Samuel Garbet (1818)]

External links

* [http://www.wem.gov.uk/ Official Wem Town Web Site] - history, events, information
* [http://www.wemcarnival.com/ Wem Carnival photos]
* [http://www.ghostdatabase.co.uk/articles/wem/ The Haunting of Wem Town Hall]