Discover... The Midlands

The English counties that run along the Welsh border south of Cheshire shelter some of the most idyllic countryside in Britain, undiscovered jewels that do not catch the eyes of those who live elsewhere because they think there is nothing more to this region than the conurbations around Birmingham. They could not be more wrong.

This is the countryside which inspired the poetry of Housman and the music of Elgar. Long-distance paths cross the hills and valleys, including the Offa’s Dyke Path from Chepstow to Prestatyn, and the Three Choirs Way that links the cathedrals of  Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester.

Among the unspoiled medieval market towns of this region is Lichfield in Staffordshire, which has a genteel set of 17th and 18th century buildings at its heart. It also boasts a medieval cathedral and chapterhouse where you will find the Lichfield Gospels, a rare 8th century illuminated manuscript.

Warwickshire has a good selection of stately homes and fortresses, including Warwick Castle, one of the best-preserved medieval strongholds in England. By comparison, the Elizabethan Kenilworth Castle is now a picturesque ruin standing in fields outside the pleasant town that shares its name.

There are more reminders of the Elizabethan age at Stratford-upon-Avon, to which you should never take anyone who suffers from a Shakespeare phobia. Among the sights connected to the Bard are the house where he was (probably) born; New Place, his home in old age; and Holy Trinity Church, which saw his baptism and burial. And, of course, there are the two Royal Shakespeare Company theatres beside the river.

The delightful town of Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire, was raised during the Dark Ages on a defendable site inside a loop of the River Severn. It has some fine Tudor buildings in the small streets and alleys of its medieval centre.

On down the river another important historical site is still very visible in all its glory: the graceful bridge over the Severn which has given its name to the Ironbridge Gorge. This, the first cast iron bridge in the world, was erected in 1779 by Abraham Darby III. His grandfather, Abraham Darby, achieved one of the key technological innovations that enabled the Industrial Revolution 70 years earlier at his works in nearby Coalbrookdale: smelting iron ore with coke rather than charcoal.

This is great walking country, with the hilly scenery hiding innumerable sleepy villages and country pubs. Many walkers end their journey in the comfortable surroundings of Ludlow, a very pretty little town with a crumbling Norman castle, once the economic centre of the region. It still boasts an unusually good selection of pubs and restaurants.

The next major town on the Severn is Worcester, where you will find another spectacular medieval cathedral. South of the city are the Malvern Hills, where in the late 19th century Sir Edward Elgar rode his bicycle through the woods and fields as lines of orchestral music drew together in his mind. This is another ramblers’ paradise, with some magnificent views from the tops of the hills.

Visit Hereford, in the quiet, rural county of Herefordshire, to see the 14th century Mappa Mundi, the map of the world, housed in a museum near the cathedral, and the less intellectual, but still intriguing, Cider Museum and King Offa Distillery. The north-west of the county is famous for its black and white villages of half-timbered 16th and 17th century houses.

Neighbouring Gloucestershire has a slightly more crowded feel, a consequence of the wealth and success of its major towns during the Middle Ages. Gloucester Cathedral became a major centre for pilgrimage during the 14th century in strange circumstances, as the devout came to pay their respects at the tomb of the murdered Edward II.

To the west is the Forest of Dean, a mysterious pocket of England with its own dialect and customs. Preserved for centuries as a royal hunting ground, it was also important in the early industrial period as a source of iron, coal and timber.

It was on the fertile agricultural lands of the East Midlands that some of the greatest fortunes of medieval England were made, and this is still an excellent place to find unspoilt villages and towns that have changed little in centuries.

Perhaps the best example of medieval architecture anywhere in the region is Lincoln Cathedral. This massive Gothic structure is built on a steep hill that rises up out of the flat countryside around it, an effect emphasised by its three large towers. The central tower, today 271 feet high, was topped by a spire that hit 525 feet, making it the tallest building in the known world, until it was destroyed by a storm in 1549.

Lincoln also has a castle, parts of which date from the 11th century, and which was later turned into a hellish 19th century prison. This was an important Roman town and port, Lindum, which replaced an existing Celtic settlement in the 1st century. Fragments of Roman wall survive in the medieval city walls and there are enough medieval and Tudor buildings here to satisfy any antiquarian.

South is Burghley House, once the home of Queen Elizabeth I’s trusted counsellor William Cecil. It underwent considerable alteration during the 17th century, when its then owner John Lord Burghley introduced some extravagant Continental elements to its contents and decor.

 Nottinghamshire owes its worldwide fame to the legends of the outlaw Robin Hood. Today, although there is almost nothing left of medieval Nottingham or Sherwood Forest, there are still some places in the county where you can walk through ancient woodland and indulge your swashbuckling fantasies.

Perhaps the best is Clumber Park, in the countryside south of Worksop. It became a country estate belonging to the Dukes of Newcastle, but was once part of the forest where, perhaps, the Merrie Men dwelt.

There are some excellent stately homes within reach of Nottingham. The beguiling Newstead Abbey was an Augustinian priory until the Dissolution, when Henry VIII granted it to Sir John Byron, who built his manor house in part of the ruins. It was eventually inherited by his famous descendant, the poet and 6th Lord Byron, George Gordon, who lived here in the early 19th century. You can see Byron’s bedroom and dressing room, as well as a number of his papers and possessions.

Hardwick Hall, in Derbyshire, was built by a figure as infamous in her own time as Byron was in his. Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury, was one of the most remarkable figures of the 16th century, a woman of relatively lowly origins who worked her way up to a position of great wealth and some political influence through four upwardly-mobile marriages and her own wit and cunning.

But the most appealing part of Derbyshire is the Peak District, Britain’s oldest National Park, an area of wild upland and moorland that runs south between the urban areas around Sheffield and Manchester and, in places, retains an atmosphere of medieval rural isolation. It is easy to see how ancient pagan customs persisted into living memory here.
There are some exceptionally beautiful valleys and hills to enjoy, and some notable historic sites.

Near the small town of Bakewell are two wonderful, utterly different stately homes. Haddon Hall, a Norman manor house with medieval additions, has been owned by the Manners family, later the Dukes of Rutland, for 400 years. Chatsworth, the ‘Palace in the Peaks’, is on a different scale. Home of the Dukes of Devonshire since it was built in the 17th century, this is unquestionably one of Britain’s finest buildings. You can tour the estate’s vast grounds, magnificent in their own right, but you should not fail to visit the house to see the opulent state rooms and view the superb art collection. 

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