Anchor is a remote

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in southwest

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England. The hamlet is the most westerly place in Shropshire.

Geography

Anchor lies only 400 yards away from the border with

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The B4368 road runs through the hamlet on its way between the towns of

Clun Clun is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills AONB, Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 United Kingdom census, census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populations for the t ...

(in England) to Newtown (in Wales). The road reaches an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of , making it the highest classified road in Shropshire. The point at which the B4368 crosses over the Nant Rhuddwr (a small watercourse that runs along this part of the English-Welsh border; also known as the Rhuddwr Brook in English) into Wales is known as Anchor Bridge. Anchor is also the most westerly settlement in England on the English-Welsh border, with the most westerly point of the border being approximately to the southwest. The tripoint of Shropshire,

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

and

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

is near this most westerly point, located at the confluence of the Nant Rhydyfedw and the Nant Rhuddwr. Anchor is on the western fringes of the

Clun Forest Clun Forest () is a remote, rural area of open pastures, moorland and mixed deciduous/coniferous woodland in the southwest part of the English county of Shropshire and also just over the border into Powys, Wales. It was once a Royal hunting for ...

and to the north and northwest lies the

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

plantation of Ceri Forest. The River Clun, which flows towards Newcastle-on-Clun and on to the

River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; ) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of Bucknell and continu ...

near

Leintwardine Leintwardine ( ) is a small to mid-size village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire. History Roman A popular misconception is that the Romans called the village ''Branogenium''. Branogenium i ...

, has its source just south of the hamlet, between Anchor and Bettws Hill Wood, in the marshy area near the pub. The hamlet lies at a

saddle point In mathematics, a saddle point or minimax point is a Point (geometry), point on the surface (mathematics), surface of the graph of a function where the slopes (derivatives) in orthogonal directions are all zero (a Critical point (mathematics), ...

, at the head of the Clun valley on one side and also alongside the Rhuddwr valley on the other side. Anchor lies in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Bettws-y-Crwyn and the

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council, known between 1980 and 2009 as Shropshire County Council and prior to 1980 as Salop County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire (district), Shropshire in t ...

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

of Clun.

Demographics

Two new houses were constructed in the early 2010s near the Anchor Inn, increasing the size of the settlement somewhat.

Features and attractions

At the main crossroads was the "Anchor"

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

CAMRA What Pub
Anchor, Anchor at , the highest pub in Shropshire following the closure of The Kremlin at Clee Hill Village. It had been a pub continuously since at least 1830, until the last landlord retired in 2020, and features in the

Mary Webb Mary Gladys Webb (25 March 1881 – 8 October 1927) was an English romance novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people whom she knew. Her ...

novel '' Seven for a Secret'' (1922) as the "Mermaid's Rest". The Anchor had an entry in both the

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founde ...

Good Beer Guide The ''Good Beer Guide'' is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), listing what it considers to be the best 4,500 real ale outlets (pubs, clubs, and off-licences) in the United Kingdom. Details The content of the ''Guid ...

'' 2015 and 2016. The local economy is mainly agricultural, with sheep and other livestock farms. There are a number of small, disused quarries in the area. The Anchor Show is held annually in August, just over the border in Wales by the Kerry Ridgeway, and is primarily a horse, pony and dog show. Static caravans, camping and stabling for horses are available at The Anchorage, just to the south of the Anchor pub.Welsh Border Country Holidays
- The Anchorage Nearby, to the southwest, is Bryn Amlwg Castle, the remains of an ancient castle.

References

External links

* {{Shropshire Hamlets in Shropshire Extremities of Shropshire Mountain passes of England