Wellington Town Council

The Friendly market town of Wellington is much older that it might first appear, having been founded by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century as a religious centre prior to the arrival of Christianity.   By Domesday (1086) there was a village with a priest;  Earl Roger Montgomery had taken over as Lord of the Manor from the Mercian Earl Edwin.  Later and for many centuries, Wellington was the chief settlement of the hundred (equivalent of Wrekin District).  Trade fairs were held annually.

A market developed and was confirmed by King Henry lll's charter in 1244, with a new market square and shopping streets being laid out.  This situation has lasted for over 750 years although the market has moved from the Square in Victorian times and a new Company subsequently purchased the Charter Rights from the lord of the manor and built a hall in Market Street.  Nowadays the market days are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; there are also stalls outside the Victorian Hall.
 
With control passing to Christian Mercia in the 8th century a cross was erected on the temple site, eventually being replaced by a church.  This was severely damaged in the Civil War and replaced by the present All Saints Church in 1790.  Since then Wellington's religious function has broadened to include another Anglican church, several Methodist chapels, a Roman Catholic church, Union Free (Baptist and Congregational), Latter Day Saints (Mormons), an Apostolic church, Spiritualists and a Muslim Mosque.

Laurens Otter reminds us that there was a terrible outbreak of plague in the 6th century.  He suggests that, with the evacuation of the Roman city of Viroconium which 'the outbreak must have caused, the Romanised Celts were replaced as rulers by Saxon mercenary soldiers whose ancestors had been in the area for many centuries.  Viroconium, the capital, was abandoned as too dangerous, which caused the setting up of a fresh capital or wardine at Wrockwardine and a temple settlement at Wellington.

There was a free grammar school in 1543, probably in the church; this became a charity day school by 1799, housed north of the church on the Green (the old market place) where the NatWest Bank is now situated.  In the 19th and 20th centuries schools blossomed and diversified with Methodist, Catholic and Boarding schools joining privately owned schools.  Wellington has developed into an important educational centre, including primary and secondary, private and state schools, Wrekin College, New College and Telford College of Arts and Technology.  Students flock into Wellington daily.

In 1849 the railway came and Wellington immediately became an important junction with lines to Shrewsbury, Crewe, Stafford, Wolverhampton and to South Wales via Much Wenlock.  Now the M54 Motorway is also just as important a link as the railway.

Being on the edge of the East Shropshire coalfield, but surrounded on 3 sides by fertile farmland, Wellington became the chief town of its area for its livestock market and its wool sales.  It also developed into the local shopping,' banking, professional, transport and trading centre.

With the advent of Telford built on the farmland between the towns and villages of the Wrekin area, Wellington's way of life was to change dramatically.  Wellington has managed to retain its identity complementing the Telford Town centre and through the continued housing development at its fringes and the thriving Wellington Market.  It continues as a successful and important part of the Wrekin community.

Find out how Wellington got its name