Places to Visit

(also see [Local Beauty Spots] - [Local Events] - [Shopping] - [Where to Eat])

NOTE: (The information on this site should be used for guidance only - opening times, prices and other detail MUST be verified with the individual providers)

The House on Crutches Museum
Housed in half timbered, 16th century house over hanging The Cobbles at the top of the High Street, This volunteer-run museum offers a changing range of exhibitions covering the history of Bishop's Castle, town trades, fairs & markets, farming life and the surrounding countryside, costume and changing approaches to cooking and the kitchen. Admission: free but we depend on donations and groups, societies and schools which visit or arrange tours are expected to make a donation of about £1 per head.
Open: Easter to October - Sat & Sun, Bank Holidays inc. Good Friday and Thursdays throughout August and beginning of September, 1.00 p.m.. - 5.00 p.m.. or at any other time by arrangement with curators Sally Chappell and Anne Lawrence (01588 630007).

Bishops Castle Rail & Transport Museum
The museum , in School Lane off the High Street, shows the colourful history of the town' railway which ran from Craven Arms and closed in 1935. It also shows examples of the local road transport during the same period. The museum is run by volunteer members of the Bishop's Castle Railway Society.
Open: Easter to end of October, Sat and Sun 2.00 p.m.. to 5.00 p.m.. In addition at all public holidays and local town events. Special opening may be arranged by contacting the curator, Richard Newcombe (01588) 660293 or the archivist Ken Lucas (01588) 638446. Admission: free but donations welcome.

Bishop's Castle Heritage Resource Centre, Chapel lane
This volunteer run centre provides a resource for the two museums and the community in general in the form of a purpose-adapted heritage store room and a separate workshop. Items in the store (or material based on them) will be made accessible for use by schools and other groups and to individual researchers.
Open: regular sessions for volunteers and run several days each week. Individual or group visits by arrangement for which charges may apply (see below).
Admission: Groups £1 a head, meeting room with good facilities and seating for 20, £6 an hour.
Contact: Sally Chappell (01588) 630007 or Evelyn Bowles (01588) 638851

The Three Tuns Brewery
Salop St., Bishop's Castle, Shropshire SY9 5BW
The oldest brewery in the HK, part 17th century and part 19th century featuring a miniature Victorian tower brewhouse with a gravity process still in use producing fine, traditional beers.
Tours by appointment - a maximum of 12 per tour and the brewery is unsuitable for people unable to cope with steep staircases. Contact: John Russell (01588) 638392
www.threetunsbrewery.co.uk

The Six Bells Brewery Tap
Church Street, Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, SY9 5AA
Historic 17th century coaching inn situated alongside the old Mid Wales to London road specialising in the traditional ales produced in the adjoining brewery and traditional Shropshire food (see Where to Eat). Both pub and brewery have received several CAMRA Awards
Open: Tues to Fri 12.00 noon - 2.30 p.m.. and 5.00 p.m.. - 11.00 p.m..
Mon 5.00 p.m.., - 11.00 p.m.. Closed Mon lunchtimes. Sat 12.00 noon to 11.00 p.m.. (summer), 12.00 noon - 3.30 p.m.. (winter). Sun 12.00 noon - 3.30 p.m.. and 7.00 p.m.. - 10.30 p.m..
Closed Monday lunch times. Brewery tours by appointment only. Contact: Neville and Sue Richards (01588) 638930 (brewery) 630144 (pub).
(see "Where to Eat" section)

Bishop's Castle Library
The library has new, larger premises at Enterprise House in Station Street. It has a good local reference section with books and maps and visitors tickets are also available, upon proof of identity, for fiction and non-fiction books to take away, also videos, dvds & spoken word tapes. The Library is open on Mondays 10.00 a.m.. - 2.00 p.m.., Tuesdays and Fridays 10.00 a.m.. - 1.00 p.m.. 2.00 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.., 5.30 p.m.. - 7.30 p.m.., and Saturdays 9.30 a.m.. to 1.00 p.m.. A mobile library serves the villages.
Contact: the library during opening hours (01588) 638215 and Church Stretton library at other times (01694) 722535.

Enterprise House, (01588) 638038 Station Street, Bishop's Castle
Drop-in IT Centre with internet access and office services. Online Centre. Hands-on beginners courses, bespoke training and PC and Apple Mac support. Open 9-5pm Monday - Friday. Late nights Tuesday & Friday to 7.30pm. Saturday 10am - 1 pm. The Public Library and Dial-a-Ride service share the same building.

Clun Castle
Built in stone in 1195 on the site of an original motte and bailey. Now a ruin and under the care of English Heritage.
Clun Museum
On the ground floor of the Town Hall in the Square, an ancient monument, and once and open jail. It has many wondrous things including local flints, Civil War helmets and Clun chairs.
Open: Tuesday & Saturday 2.00 - 5.00 p.m..

Trinity Hospital, Clun
A group of almshouses built in 1614 by the Earl of Northampton. The gardens and grounds are open to the public.

Lydbury North
Lydbury North was an important Saxon Manor pre dating Bishop's Castle and has a fine Norman church.

Walcot Hall & Arboretum
Lydbury North, Shropshire SY7 8AZ
e-mail: maria@walcothall.com www.walcothall.com
The Hall is the historic home of Lord Clive of India who commissioned Sir William Chambers to re-design the house and stable block in 1763. It has been slightly reduced in size to suit present day requirements but its aspect remains a perfect, Georgian elevation with parapet walls and sash windows.
Clive's son Edward added a free standing ballroom around c. 1800 which is now available for weddings, concerts and parties. He was much interested in gardening and arboriculture and 30 acres have been developed into an arboretum with winding walks and a variety of magnificent specimen trees.
Walcot hall remained in the Clive family for 170 years, during which time large sums of money were spent on maintaining and improving the grounds. A mile long lake stretches in front of the hall which was enlarged by French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars.
Open: Walcot Hall on Sun and Mon May 28th and 29th from 1.30 p.m.. - 5.30 p.m.. under the National Gardens Scheme open days with teas served in the ballroom. By appointment only at any other time.
Arboretum from April to October -12 noon - 4.00 p.m.. every day but Saturday.
Admission to Arboretum: £3.50, children (under 15 years) free. Collect tickets from box adjacent to the car park.
Contact: Administration Office at Walcot Hall (01588) 680570. - e-mail: maria@walcothall.com

Walcot Wood
Owned by the National Trust, the wood is a remnant of ancient pasture woodland, once part of a large Elizabethan deer park. It is dominated by unusually shaped 400 year old veteran oak trees which are home to rare lichens and beetles.
The wood, which lies in a small valley below Bury Ditches Hill Fort and is protected from extreme weather and pollution, is now under active management after years of neglect. Bluebell, primrose, violet and sorrel carpet the wood in springtime and it is a haven for much wildlife. It is off the lane which runs between the villages of Brockton and Clunton and the Shropshire Way runs through it. That path and other tracks give public access to the woods.
Contact: The National Trust, Cardingmill Valley, Church Stretton, telephone (01694) 723068.

Chirbury
The seat of Lord Herbert of Chirbury, now the Earl of Powis, is a small, border village where many of the houses are timber framed with red brick facades. It is two miles from Offal's Dyke on the Montgomery road and within easy reach of Mitchells s Fold Stone Circle above Priest Weston (see Beauty Spots). The School House is a typical black and white timber framed building with a Victorian wing. It was founded by local vicar Edward Lewis in 1675 and is still in use. There was once an ancient priory and the church, which has two rows of leaning pillars inside, retains many of its building materials. The Herbert Arms serves food and there is a local Post Office, shop and tourist information point which stocks a local leaflet. T.I. open Mon - Fri 9.00 a.m.. - 5.30 p.m.. Sat 9.00 a.m.. - 1.00 p.m., and Sun 10.00 a.m.. - 12.00 noon.

Visitor Centre at The Bog, Stiperstones
A former Victorian village school, the centre is open as a visitor centre with full disabled access, toilets and a cafe.
The cafe sells home made cakes and the centre volunteers have extensive knowledge of the area. Work of local artists and crafts people is on display. Open: Wed - Sun and all school holidays plus bank holidays from mid March to the end of October 10.00 a.m.. - 5.00 p.m.. Nov and Dec opening weekends only. Closed Christmas Day but open Boxing Day 10 a.m.. - 5.00 p.m.. Fully disabled access.
Contact: Co-ordinator, Muriel Lewis (01743) 790875

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