Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Mary Webb's Shropshire home threatened with demolition

Mary Webb was a Shropshire novelist, poet and essayist. She died in obscurity in 1927, but shortly afterwards the prime minister Stanley Baldwin described her as a neglected genius and her work enjoyed a tremendous vogue. Charabancs appeared in the Stiperstones with 'Mary Webb Country' on their destination blinds.

As A.E. Housman studied the county's hills only from a distance, Mary Webb must count as Shropshire's greatest writer of modern times. So it is a shock to learn that the cottage she had built at Lyth Hill near Shrewsbury is threatened with demolition.

Details of the planning application are on the Shropshire Council website, where you can also register objections to it.

2 comments:

Frank Little said...

If it hadn't been for Mary Webb, we would never have had Cold Comfort Farm.

David said...

Oh dear. Going to earth then ?