It is Shropshire day and we were thrilled to be refered to in an article highlighting the county’s treasures in the Shropshire Star:
The county… features in literature over many centuries… Soulton Hall… where Shakespeare may have been inspired for the character of Old Sir Rowland in As You Like It, [and] literary links go back to the 14th century…
William Langland, author of the iconic Piers Plowman, hailed from Cleobury Mortimer while St Erkenwald, a 14th century poem, is written by a poet who spoke in a Shropshire dialect,”… Parts of Shropshire lay within the ancient Forest of Arden, setting for As You Like It, and Sir Rowland Hill, a prominent figure from the county, may have inspired that play’s creation.”
Literary legacies include the Cotton family, original custodians of the famed Cotton Library, which originated in Shropshire.
And Shrewsbury Abbey provided a home for Brother Cadfael in Ellis Peters’ The Cadfael Chronicles… A. E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad immortalised the county’s beauty in verse and D. H. Lawrence’s St. Mawr explored the Stiperstones area… Mary Webb, born and raised in the county, set all her novels there, notably the evocative Precious Bane while for younger readers, Malcolm Saville’s children’s adventures unfolded against Shropshire’s backdrop… Terry Pratchett, in Good Omens, playfully credited the angel Aziraphale with designing Shropshire.
You can read the article here.
