History of the wetlands

Cudwell Meadow Home

Located to the south of Church Stretton, World’s End Wetlands is 11 hectares of ancient wetland that has similar fauna and flora to the North Shropshire meres and mosses. It is thought that a post ice-age lake contained by Brockhurst Hill drained south along what is now Ludlow Road.

Over time, the lake silted and became a raised peat bog, which through ecological succession and human activity developed into the mixed habitats detailed on the 1840 tithe map: eel pools, wet meadows and alder wet woodland.

1841 Tithe Map

Today, habitats are more terrestrial: rough grassland, rush meadow, swamp, wet willow scrub and ditches. These habitats are home to water vole, visiting otter, invertebrates and amphibians and occasional water birds, in particular snipe and a range of resident and migratory songbirds and raptors.