Shuts of Shrewsbury No 21 - Plough Shut

Mardol Head - (The Square)

This is a dying shut. It's been dying for a long time but the end I'm affraid looks near. Called Plough Shut because of the "Plough Inn" which once stood on The Square, this was a shut that ran from Mardol Head to The Square. However for at least 150 years the shut has been a dead end with only the Mardol Head entrance freely open to the public. The pub became known as the "Old Plough" but this has now recently closed and is now a clothes shop (why do we need so many clothes shops?!) and so the shut has no use anymore (it was still used by the pub for access).



This is a photo I took just after the Old Plough closed, about 2 months ago, on Mardol Head. The sign for the pub is still there, but the pub is well and truely closed. If you walk down the shut now you end up at a dead end in the midst of the buildings between The Square and Mardol Head. It is still a public right of way, though it has no purpose to anyone now. It will probably remain open as a fire escape for some of the nearby buildings. But it's slow death, which began when the shut was closed off on The Square circa 150 years ago, is coming near to an end.

Previously known as the Throughway (when you could walk right through it).

I have a copy of the 1972 Shrewsbury Chronicle on the first page of which there is a cute story about the then-new sign that the local government posted at the entrance to the shut, saying "Plough Shut" -- and the sensation it caused (temporary drop in business at the Plough, followed by international attention).
If anyone in the Shrewsbury area needs this 1972 paper, I would be happy to ship it to you, gratis.

I lived in Shrewsbury off and on, 1967-73, doing research on the 19th century poor laws for a graduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2004, after over thirty years away, I happily returned to Shropshire with my wife, and we stayed at the Tudor House on Fish Street, not far from my old haunts, especially the Yorkshire House. And the Plough on occasion.

Your town is marvelous, and you should all be very much indeed, Proud (Salopians). I follow the Shropshire Star on the internet almost daily.

I tune in to the Shrewsbury Forum on occasion, too.

Regards, Vince Walsh (living in the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania area).

Thanks for that Vince. Sadly, I think the Plough Shut is nearing the end of its days... :(

hello,
is the offer still open?,I think that I have emailed you
s.g.d.

The pub board to the right of the entrance has gone, as has the street sign "Plough Shut"! The sign above the entrance remains, though I suspect not for long. This shut sure is dying before our very eyes. Hopefully new shuts will appear around town to replace it - examples are St. Austin's Passage and Blower's Repository.