Craven Arms

File:The Craven Arms from the A49 - geograph.org.uk - 1982647.jpg

Craven Arms is a relatively new town (for Shropshire), being only a small village called Newton on a map of 1695. The settlement grew when the railway station came during the mid to late 19th century, making it a railway town. Newton or Newtown is still the name for the southeastern part of the present day town, while the northern part is called Newington or New Inn (another small village which existed prior to the town). The town takes its name from the Craven Arms Hotel, which was situated on the junction of the A49 and B4368 roads, which in turn is named after the Earls of Craven (who owned nearby Stokesay Castle).

The civil parish of Craven Arms was formed in 1987 by the merging of two older parishes: Stokesay and Halford. These two older entities continued as parish wards; however, a review of the governance of the parish in 2012 concluded that these two wards would be abolished from May 2013.[http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/democracy.nsf/open/4B88F7B616B89A59802578E100532A51 Shropshire Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119011139/http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/democracy.nsf/open/4B88F7B616B89A59802578E100532A51 |date=19 January 2012 }} Governance Review - Craven Arms Small parts of the settlement overlap into neighbouring Wistanstow and Sibdon Carwood parishes.

Nearby towns are Bishop's Castle, Clun, Church Stretton and Ludlow, of which the last is the most substantial with 10,000 inhabitants.

The River Onny flows to the town's east and just over the river is the small village of Halford. To the south is the small village of Stokesay, while to the north is the village of Wistanstow.

Wenlock Edge is located to the north-east of the town and runs in a northeasterly direction, towards Much Wenlock.

Craven Arms railway station lies at the junction of the Welsh Marches Line and the Heart of Wales Line, {{convert|32|km|mi|disp=flip}} south of Shrewsbury. All passenger trains calling at the station are operated by Transport for Wales, who also manage it. Most services run along a route between {{rws|Carmarthen}}, {{rws|Cardiff Central}}, {{rws|Hereford}}, Shrewsbury, {{rws|Crewe}} and {{rws|Manchester Piccadilly}}; there are also irregular trains north to {{rws|Holyhead}} and south-west to {{rws|Llandrindod}}.{{Cite web |title=Timetables |work=Transport for Wales |date=10 December 2023 |access-date=19 April 2024 |url= https://tfw.wales/service-status/timetables |quote=}}

Minsterley Motors operate two bus routes which connect Craven Arms with Ludlow, Church Stretton, Shrewsbury and Pontesbury.{{Cite web |title=Craven Arms Bus Services |work=Bus Times |date=2024 |access-date=19 April 2024 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/craven-arms |quote=}}

File:Craven Arms 2011.JPG

File:Stokesay Castle, Shropshire (28621371194).jpg]]

There are two main visitor attractions in the Craven Arms civil parish. In the town there is the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, a centre featuring exhibits about the county's geography;{{cite web |title=Welcome to the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre |url=https://www.shropshirehillsdiscoverycentre.co.uk/ |website=Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre |publisher=Grow Cook Learn |access-date=6 January 2022}} and Stokesay Castle which is a fortified manor house located within the parish, just south of the town. Stella Mitchell's Land of Lost Content Museum, a collection of 20th-century memorabilia,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/aug/12/unusual-museums-britain-ben-le-vay|title=Unusual museums … way out days out|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 August 2011|accessdate=10 August 2021}} also stood in the town until closed in 2023.

File:St Thomas' Church, Halford.jpg

Craven Arms is home to several churches. The Anglican parish church is the grade II listed church of St Thomas, outside the town in the village of Halford.{{NHLE|num=1269927 |desc=Church of St Thomas|access-date=6 January 2022}}{{cite web |title=Craven Arms: Show results |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/search/?lat=52.44008400000001&lon=-2.8332799&place=Craven+Arms+SY7%2C+UK&text= |website=A Church Near You |access-date=6 January 2022 |language=en |quote=Halford: St Thomas ... This is the parish church}} The grade I listed Church of St John the Baptist, Stokesay is south of the town near Stokesay Castle.{{NHLE|num=1269934 |desc=Church of St John the Baptist|access-date=6 January 2022}} St Andrews Community Church in the town centre is "non-denominational, evangelical & charismatic",{{cite web |title=Home page |url=https://standrewscc.org.uk/ |publisher=St Andrews Community Church |access-date=6 January 2022 |language=en}} and there is a Methodist church,{{cite web |title=Craven Arms |url=https://www.shropshireandmarches.org.uk/churches/central-area/craven-arms.html |publisher=Shropshire & Marches Methodist Circuit |access-date=6 January 2022 |language=en}} and a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall. A small Islamic centre is in the town on Newton Street.{{cite web |title=Our Masjid |url=https://sites.google.com/euroqualityfoundation.org/cravenarmsic-org/about |website= |publisher=Craven Arms Islamic Centre |access-date=6 January 2022}} It is the only mosque for the surrounding Shropshire Hills. The other nearest mosques are in Shrewsbury and Telford.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

The town has recently{{when|date=August 2020}} gone through a phase of expansion and this looks set to continue with the (2009 abolished) South Shropshire District Council stating that they wished to see the town become the district's second main market town (after Ludlow) by 2026. Much of the recent housing development is on the west side of the town, whilst commercial development is taking place more on the northern end. Development potential towards the east is restricted by the floodplain of the River Onny, whilst to the south lies the historically important Stokesay Castle.

The town centre itself has seen some notable developments in recent years, with new commercial buildings built on Dale Street by the A49 road. Additionally, to the immediate south of the town centre is the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre which opened in 2001 and some new housing.

• Brian Farley (1927 in Craven Arms – 1962) an English professional footballer who played for Chelmsford City and Tottenham Hotspur.

• Bruce Chatwin wrote On the Black Hill whilst staying at Cwm Hall near the town.{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2004/06/12/pwrit12.xml | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912144015/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2004/06/12/pwrit12.xml | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 September 2012 | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Writer's retreat on the black hill | date=12 June 2004 | access-date=30 April 2010}}
• The film Atonement was filmed in part at Stokesay Court, three miles south of Craven Arms.{{cite news | author= Daily Telegraph| title=Joe Wright: a new movie master | work= The Daily Telegraph| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/08/24/bf-atonement-124.xml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014030553/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/08/24/bf-atonement-124.xml | url-status=dead | archive-date=14 October 2007 | access-date=24 August 2007 | location=London | date=24 August 2007}}

• Listed buildings in Craven Arms

• {{Official website|https://visitcravenarms.co.uk/}}

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{{Shropshire}}

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Category:Market towns in Shropshire

Category:Towns of the Welsh Marches

Category:Railway towns in England

Category:Towns in Shropshire

Category:Civil parishes in Shropshire