Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm
Sat – 9:30am – 12:30pm
 

The market town of Craven Arms is located on the A49 carriageway between Shrewsbury and Hereford.

Craven Arms and surrounding Area

The town lies in the valley of the River Onny on the edge of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town benefits from a railway station linking north to Shrewsbury, Crewe and Manchester, and south to Ludlow, Hereford, Cardiff and Swansea as well as local bus links. The Heart of Wales railway line joins the Welsh Marches line at Craven Arms. Local amenities include, a Post Office, Nursery and Primary Schools, a Doctors Surgery and Dental Practice, two Public Houses, a large Supermarket and many convenience stores amongst other light commercial businesses.

The Craven Arms Hotel and 'Sheep and Steam' statue, photograph courtesy of local photographer, Jean Macdonald

Craven Arms is a relatively new town for Shropshire, originally being a small village called Newton on a map of 1695. The village grew when the railways came during the mid to late 19th century, making it the railway town it is today. Newton is still the name for the south-eastern part of the town, while the northern part is called Newington, which was another small village which existed prior to the town. The town took its name from the Craven Arms Hotel, situated on the junction of the A49 and B4368, Clun Road, which in turn was named after the Lords Craven, who owned nearby Stokesay Castle.

Stokesay Castle, photograph courtesy of local photographer, Jean Macdonald

There are three main visitor attractions in the Craven Arm, which are the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, a centre featuring exhibits about the county's geography; and Stella Mitchell's Land of Lost Content Museum, a collection of 20th century memorabilia and Stokesay Castle, a fortified manor house located just south of the town.