Cleobury Mortimer
Cleobury Mortimer is a small market town in the county of Shropshire in the English West Midlands. The town is thought to have got its name from the Old English words Clifu (steep place) and Bury (fortification/settlement). The Mortimer name here refers to the Norman knight Roger de Mortimer who was put in charge of this area after the Norman invasion of England.
It is thought that the first manor house to stand at Cleobury Mortimer actually belonged to the wife of Edward the Confessor, Edith. Cleobury Mortimer was also mentioned in the Domesday Book. At the time this was a significant place and it is thought that there were a number of castles in the area. This was most likely due to the location of the town which made it an ideal place to use as a fortification for protecting the Welsh/English border. It is thought that one castle was located by the site of the current day church and one outside the town on what is now the site of Iron Age earthworks at nearby Castle Toot.
As the Middle Ages progressed the town played less of a pivotal role as the need to protect the border here waned as the political situation stabilised and it became simply a small market town with typical agricultural interests. By the 16th century, however, things changed again in the town. By this time much of Cleobury Mortimer’s economy was centred around the iron ore deposits in the immediate area. This was particularly exploited by the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, to whom the town was given by Queen Elizabeth I.
Dudley was responsible for putting Cleobury Mortimer’s iron industry on the map and created various furnaces and forges to produce pig iron and wrought iron. Although Cleobury Mortimer at one point stood ahead of the field in the iron industry the town’s industrialisation never really took off in later years as transport links to and from the town were not great. By the 18th century Cleobury Market was once again best known for its agricultural interests rather than industrial ones.
Cleobury Mortimer lies close to the Clee Hills and the Wyre Forest which makes it a good location for walkers, hikers and nature lovers. History lovers should also take a look at the town’s church (St Mary’s) which dates back to the 12th century. This church is well known locally for having a crooked spire.