I did a guided live-streamed tour of the Old Town with Ian from Heygo. Our walk started at The Parade Shopping Centre which used to house the Royal Salop Infirmary. Ian explained that Shrewsbury is a large market town and the county town of Shropshire, England. The town is situated on the River Severn, 240 km north-west of London. Shrewsbury is only 14 km east of the Welsh border. The town centre has a largely unspoilt medieval street plan which includes many black and white timbered buildings from the 15th and 16th centuries. The town is the birthplace of Charles Darwin. Darwin spent his childhood exploring the area around the River Severn and studying creatures in the Quarry Park. We soon reached St Mary's Church. The spire of St Mary's is one of the tallest in England and for over 500 years it has dominated the skyline of Shrewsbury's old town. The church is now the only complete medieval church in Shrewsbury. Ian managed to show us the grand stained glass window inside the church and he explained quite a lot about the architecture of the church. Then we saw a lovely black and white timbered house along St Mary's Place. We turned into Church St and saw the popular pub, The Loggerheads. The Loggerheads is a wonderfully unspoiled, historic pub with an 18th century brick shell which is believed to encase an earlier stone structure from the 1600s. The Loggerheads refers to the three leopard heads found upon Shrewsbury's coat of arms. At St Alkmund's Church, he showed us the iron windows and explained its significance. We also saw the historic Prince Rupert Hotel and The Abbot's House on Butcher Row. Grope Lane is a charming narrow alley. At the picturesque High Street, there are more black and white timbered buildings to admire. At the eastern end of the High Street stood Ireland's Mansion which was built in 1596 for wealthy wool trader Robert Ireland. The Halifax Bank's building is also outstanding. Our tour ended at Old Market Hall.

This is a redundant church in the centre of Shrewsbury town which now hosts a café, charity shop and art gallery. The building itself is still very much a church, with an incredibly ornate nave, pulpit etc. but most impressive are the stained glass windows - some have sections dating back to the 14th century, others such as those in the South aisle were recovered from European churches as far away as Cologne. Very interesting and worth a look.

There is a Stained Glass Exhibition at present (August 2023) in the church and worth popping into it is on until the end of the month, to celebrate; The Historic Stained Glass, a collection from Medieval Europe. British Glass from the 14th century. An Exhibition of artwork based on Jungian symbols.

As the only surviving medieval church building in Shrewsbury, St Mary's delivers a lot of history and architecture. It is apparently famous for its stained glass, but look out for the memorials too. The Norman arches show its age, which goes back to Saxon times. John Benbow, a famous officer in the Royal Navy, was born in the town but, though he died in Jamaica, has a lovely wall memorial with bust and fighting ship carved in marble. Well worth a quick visit when walking around the historic town.

I visited with my 2 year-old who is a big fan of historical buildings. He was impressed with the height of the building, the windows and spotting the sleeping knight. It was a fairly quick visit for us as we were waiting for someone nearby but I'm aware they had a laminated tour piece that was being handed out to others. The volunteers/staff were very informative and very lovely with my son whilst he gasped and pointed at everything. I thought it was a great idea when the one chap got out the mirror so my son could see the ceiling without having to bend his head back. I will come again when I have more time on my hands. I'm sure my son will be eager to return in the future too. The stained glass windows are some of the best I've seen ( and I've been to the familia sagrada in Barcelona!)

A very large, light, bright mediaeval church (over Saxon foundations of 965AD) justly famous for its magnificent (and still under-regarded??) stained glass. Especially of note is the magnificent Jesse Window of c. 1350 and the late mediaeval glass "bought in" in the early C19th from northern Europe. There is also a fine carved ceiling over the nave, dating to c. 1450 and other monuments of note. Absolutely worth a visit.

A local resident happened to mention this church to us and we popped in just before having to catch our train back home. The stained glass windows were utterly breathtaking. Well worth a visit, however short.

I found, through Ancesty.com, that i have a relative who was the Public Preacher at St Mary's from 1582 to 1592. His name was John Tomkys and he can be found on the list of clergymen in the church, although his name is misspelt....Tomkiss. So, I visited the church and it was well worth the visit.

What a wonderful place. The windows are very interesting and so beautiful. The cafe is lovely. We had tea, coffee, cakes, scones and teacakes; all of which were delicious. The atmosphere of the church is wonderful and the team of volunteers are so friendly and knowledgeable. Special thanks to the gentleman who showed us round and introduced us to the work of Margaret Rope. Will definitely visit again.

Old churches are living history, this one especially. Lots of history to see as you walk around, you can even get a hot or cold drink as you walk around. The oldest church in Shrewsbury.