English Heritage

The tranquil ruins of Wenlock Priory stand in a picturesque setting on the fringes of beautiful Much Wenlock.

An Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded here in about 680 by King Merewalh of Mercia, whose abbess daughter Milburge was hailed as a saint. Her relics were miraculously re-discovered here in 1101, attracting both pilgrims and prosperity to the priory.

By then Wenlock had been re-founded by the Normans as a priory of Cluniac monks. It is the impressive remains of this medieval priory which survive today, everywhere reflecting the Cluniac love of elaborate decoration. Parts of the great 13th-century church still stand high.

Much Wenlock was also the home of Dr. William Penny Brookes (1809-95), originator of the still-continuing Wenlock Olympian Games, a major inspiration for the modern International Olympics.

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