Shropshire

Buried in the countryside high in the Clee Hills, Heath is just about the plainest, simplest church you will ever see. A favourite of both Professor Mary Beard and Dr Kate Williams.

This rather extraordinary parish church, set on a spacious green hill above the River Severn, stands in stark contrast to Shrewsbury's medieval streets and mainly Tudor townscape.

Ludlow possesses one of the great parish churches of England, and one of the largest, St Laurence's, is known, with good reason, as the Cathedral of the Marches.

A thousand years old, dedicated to St Lucia patron saint of light and eyesight; appositely working alongside the RNIB accessibility centre telling her fascinating story and the history of this ancient church.

St Oswald was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1085 and also in a tithe document in Shrewsbury the same year.

Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, owned most of Shropshire, and it was he who founded this Benedictine abbey in 1083, he is said to have been buried here when he died in 1094.

Visitors travel here to see the outstanding medieval wall paintings, especially the long, early 13th century frieze high on the north wall of the nave.

A pleasant hour's walk above the River Teme leads from Ludlow to St Mary's, which began life as a Norman priory church and still shares its riverside setting with the old Priory Gatehouse.

A beautifully proportioned cruciform church, St Peter’s has been serving the parish of Stanton Lacy since the early 11th century, it’s Saxon origins are still visible in the stonework.

A 600 year old treasure house of alabaster tombs, medieval carving, history and scandal, often described as ‘The Westminster Abbey of the Midlands’ with links to Shakespeare and Dickens.

Designed by Edward Pugin, son of Augustus Pugin, and was completed in 1856: amongst its glories is the stained glass.

In a tiny hamlet right on the Welsh border, is a very special church, black and white both inside and out, and wonderfully picturesque and rustic looking.