Wonderful Wolverley

Wonderful Wolverley

1st June 2010

Staffs and Worcs Canal

The Wolverley most boaters know extends no further than the Lock Inn located, unsurprisingly enough, right beside Wolverley Lock. This is a shame because the village is well worth a visit.

Wolverley Church

The red brick church sitting on top of its very own sandstone outcrop was an obvious starting point which was reached after a brisk 10 minute walk past the village putting green - true, this village has its very own putting green down by the river.

The church is quite an imposing structure with foundations that seem much older than its more contemporary walls.The grandure of the place suggests significant wealth in the not to distant past, maybe connected to the coming of the canal? Local historians can no doubt shed some light on this. 

Wolverley rock houses

But the church is only the beginning of the unusual features of this little village, which raised more questions than answers. As we walked down from the church we realised that the road and houses were carved fron solid rock. Clearly this was a community of rock house dwellers like Kinver further up the valley. Futher exploration of the pub car park revealed yet more rock houses which we could enter and explore.

The village square was dominated by the old Court House with a construction date in the 1500's, which later became a school. These have left a legacy of lovely buildings which are now exclusive homes.

The Old Court House

We had a pint in the Queens Head whilst a band set up for the evening before wandering over to the Lock Inn for a final nightcap. We asked about the history of the village but the bar staff seemed to have little grasp of their surroundings.

The Lock at Wolverley

If you find yourself moored at Wolverley take a walk into the village and see it for yourself.