Visiting Merrily Watkins Country

On our way back from visiting family in Worcester, we decided to avoid the M5 and much of the M6 and drive up through a little bit of Herefordshire, and across Shropshire and Cheshire. We aimed to stop in Church Stretton for lunch. Some of you may know that this is the stamping ground of Merrily Watkins, the vicar/exorcist/detective invented by the late Phil Rickman.

The A49 and the railway pass between The Long Mynd to the west and Caer Caradoc and Hope Bowdler Hill to the east. I have always found it an extremely beautiful area if slightly spooky. Merrily just confirmed for me that I was not the only one to find it all a bit eerie.

Geology

The Long Mynd is an outcrop of Pre-Cambrian rock, some of the oldest rocks in England. They are dated to about 630-540 million years ago. On the other side of the valley, Caer Caradoc gives it’s name to the Caradocian series of rocks, identified by Roderick Murchison in 1839. These rocks were formed 458-448 million years ago. For more fascinating information, please follow the links. Isn’t geology great!!

Merrily Watkins and Shropshire churches

Merrily seems to spend much of her life uncovering supernatural goings on in churchyards around Herefordshire and Shropshire. These are often spiced up with gruesome murders and the odd ghost.

We found that many of the churches in the area have yew trees in their graveyards. These trees were (are?) sacred in pagan rituals and some believed that they purified the ground or protected against evil spirits. St Laurence’s, Church Stretton has several yew trees, some quite recently planted…….. Ooooer!

We were fascinated to see that the church itself has a collection of gargoyles and a Sheela-na-gig. The Sheela-na-gig is a carving of a naked woman displaying her genitals and is thought to have been put there by the builders in the 14th century. We also spotted a statue of St Laurence holding the grid iron on which he was burned and martyred.

Gargoyles

Beer

We had a very nice lunch in Jemima’s Kitchen. The beer I had is brewed by Hobson’s at Cleebury Mortimer, near Kidderminster. The church there has a twisted spire. The legend is that there were so few virgins married at the church that, when one did, even the church spire turned to look.

We really enjoyed our break from the motorways. The A49 runs from Ross on Wye in Herefordshire to Preston in Lancashire. While the northern end would be a bit of a pain to use, we find the route up to Warrington is lovely despite getting busier over the years.