Walking the Shrewsbury Battlefield – Part One

Although we have lived in Shropshire for years it is only now that we have finally visited the site of the famous Battle of Shrewsbury and the Church of St Mary Magdalene built there to commemorate those who died in battle.

There were absolutely no clues that a battle ever took place here as we walked the footpath across the site of the battle, but we enjoyed wandering along the hedgerows with the song of Skylarks high above us and the distinctive call of the first returning migrant warbler, the Chiffchaff. We enjoyed seeing and hearing a Yellow Hammer a scarce farmland bird.

Signs of spring were to be seen every step of the way, freshly bursting buds with the brightest of greens emerging and the earliest of blossoms.

 

 

The willows were giving a light show, as the sun shone through their catkins.

   

 

Some trees were still bare skeletons against the blue skies.

 

As we approached the scatter of buildings around the church, a shallow stream flowed alongside with banks of water plants coming to life.

 

 

   

In the woodland around the church we discovered the remaining fish ponds used by the college chaplains.

 

 

 

We wandered past the church and made our way to the nearby Battlefield Farm Shop which luckily had a coffee shop! We decided to have a look at the church on the way back when we would be well-refreshed. In converted old farm buildings an exhibition explained all about the Battle of Shrewsbury.

 

 

We began our walk back around the battlefield site following a narrow gravel path between a tall hedge and an old chestnut fence. In a field showing signs of ancient ridge and furrows agriculture we spotted a drainage pond rich in vegetation and a old fallen tree with the most amazingly shaped trunk and branches.

In part two of our look at the Shrewsbury Battlefield site we will look at the church and the skeletal tree in more detail.