Ellis Peters' Shropshire

by Ellis Peters, Roy Morgan (Photographs)

Shropshire is Ellis Peters' county -- the beautiful border country that is the real world of her medieval mysteries. In this evocative book, the author takes us into the heart of the county which has been so much a part of her and her writing. Here she vividly describes the Roman Road on the flank of the Long Mountain with its grand stormy view of the river below that she walked so often while writing The Heaven Tree and its sequels. She tells of her connections with the town of Shrewsbury, the setting of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul featured in the Brother Cadfael novels. She traces the history of the country through its border castles, Georgian country houses and old Elizabethan town houses, old monasteries and the modern office blocks of a newly-created town and in doing so recounts her personal connection with the county of her birth, from her childhood spent near Coalbrookdale to her later years in Madeley, Telford.

Genres: History, Mystery, Nonfiction, Travel, British Literature

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

A pseudonym used by Edith Pargeter.

Edith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM was a prolific author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both historical and modern. Born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), she had Welsh ancestry, and many of her short stories and books (both fictional and non-fictional) were set in Wales and its borderlands.

During World War II, she worked in an administrative role in the Women's Royal Naval Service, and received the British Empire Medal - BEM.

Pargeter wrote under a number of pseudonyms; it was under the name Ellis Peters that she wrote the highly popular series of Brother Cadfael medieval mysteries, many of which were made into films for television.

Reviews

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I really enjoy Ellis Peters/Edith Pargeter's writing. I did take a long while to finish this book, picking up and reading through two of her light detective Felse books whilst this one was still waiting to be finished. I found it a book of several parts. Although purporting, as Chapter 1 is entitled "Not" (to be) "an Autobiography", that first part revealed a lot about her childhood and early years in the landscape in which she grew up.
She moves on to describe the hills, the Shropshire towns and then the Iron Age influences. Then follows a long chapter describing the country houses and residences of the county. Despite finding her descriptions in some of her books, of the architecture of various periods, fascinating, I found this chapter with only a few photographs grouped together at its end, difficult, dry reading. I am sure it would have benefitted greatly from more illustrations, scattered strategically through it.
The last three chapters, dealing with local heroes, later developments in Shropshire, and then finally how her landscape has influenced her writing, much easier to read again. The short glimpse into her work and how it grew from her surroundings, was marvellous, and I'd have been happy for it to be considerably expanded.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This panegyric to Shropshire, the author's birthplace and locale of Elizabeth Pargeter/Ellis Peter's many novels, while quite lovingly written with beautiful photographs, would have been much improved by maps. In addition, it needed small inset photographs for those places she describes in detail that do not have larger photographs to illustrate them. Clearly, the text and photographs were separately commissioned. Inspirational for a leisurely visit to the area but regrettable for its original publisher's omissions.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was disappointing. I was expecting at least a map that tied together all of the Brother Cadfael mysteries. The pictures were nice, though.

[Judy Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book second-hand, thinking that it would give me ideas for places to visit once the COVID-19 lockdown is raised allowing us to visit our second home in Shropshire again – a prospect that seems to be fading into the ever more distant future! I was also hoping for information about the locations that inspired the Brother Cafael books.
It is good on history, and is especially interesting regarding the twentieth century history in which the author and her brother played significant roles, but not totally satisfactory as a guide book and there are no cross-references to incidents in Brother Cadfael’s fictional life. It is segmented thematically, rather than geographically, which means that the reader is constantly moving around to different locations comparing, say, ruined abbeys from all across the county. The book does not contain a map, so I often needed to refer to Google Maps or the ordnance survey.
It was written in 1992, which to me feels quite recent. However, I realised early on that it has become dated when it compared Shrewsbury unfavourably with Ludlow because the latter has a by-pass that keeps traffic out of the town. I’ve often driven past Shrewsbury on the by-pass, which a brief search on the internet informed me was built in 1992!
It was an interesting read, but not quite what I was hoping for when I bought it.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not what you would call a thrilling page turner. It is more like reading a love letter that you found in a remaindered book. It is full of remeberances and and tidbits of history. Some of it national, some of it personal mirroing the influence of the shire.
This book is a liesure read. The text flows from clean and simple to elaborate and elegant.
This is a book to slowly read through, not rushing, but meandering through, stopping and taking time enjoying Shropshire.
This is not a book that I would plan to read again, but it is one that I might revisit just to enjoy the journey.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful trip down memory lane by Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter), the author of the Brother Cadfael and Inspector Felse series. It's filled with excellent pictures and text that cover a good portion of the county of Shropshire and bordering Wales. And along the way Peters shares a lot of memories of her life spent in this part of England. An excellent way to get to know the author and the inspiration for many of her books.

[John Bastin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating treatise and collection of wonderful photographs of Shropshire, England, the home of Edith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM, pseudonym Ellis Peters, the author of the Cadfael stories. Here is Cadfael's home and the setting for the collection of books. A very interesting read if you're a fan of Cadfael.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tour of the county of Shropshire and its towns. The color photographs add to the descriptions, but this isn't what I expected. I had the idea that it would be the countryside but then links to the books. There is none of that until the very last couple of pages when she talks about how the area where she grew up comes through in all her writing.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable verbal tie of the history, geography and some culture and people of this western English county. Thanks to this coupled with to google maps, I was able to “visit” many of the places mentioned and perhaps will in a future trip. Peters really is an excellent writer.

[Libraryassistant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to love this, my ancestors came from Shropshire and the book even mentions the the name place. It’s a charming book in its own right, of course. I may have to read it again.

[Susan Jo Grassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed reading books by Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael and Detective Felse) for years. In her stories she describes the Shropshire District so beautifully that I just had to get this book. I was not disappointed. The photos were fantastic and the dialogue was lovingly written by one who really appreciated the area. If ever I am fortunate enough to make a trip to Great Britain I will definitely make a point of spending lots of time in Shropshire.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but interesting book by Ellis Peters about Shropshire. Shrewsbury, where most of the Cadfael are centered, plays a small part in the book. Peters discusses some of the sites and famous people from Shropshire, although she does make a small mistake about Rowland Hill. This was not quite the book I envisioned because there aren't many pictures, and I had hoped for more about Cadfael; but it was still informative.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A world brought to life by a beautiful writer.