Church Stretton, Shropshire 4.94

Church Stretton is a small town in Shropshire, England, 13mi south of Shrewsbury and 15mi north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.The town was nicknamed Little Switzerland in the late-Victorian and Edwardian period because of its landscape and became a health resort. The local geology includes some of the oldest rocks in England and a notable fault is named after the town.Today, Church Stretton is a busy market town in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.HistoryPeople have lived in the Stretton Gap for thousands of years; an Iron Age hillfort on Caer Caradoc overlooks the town. The name "Stretton" is derived from the Old English words stræt meaning "Roman road" and tun meaning "settlement"; a Roman road, Watling Street runs through the Stretton Gap, though the town were not historically located on this road – during the "Dark Ages" the settlements grew a short distance away from the old thoroughfare, for defensive purposes. Today the modern A49 road, which was constructed on its current alignment through the Stretton Gap in the late 1930s, runs along a similar course to the Roman Road. The Roman road was historically known as Botte Street.