Much Wenlock Museum

The small town of Much Wenlock is an unlikely place to search for the origins of the modern Olympic Games. Yet here in 1850 Dr. William Penny Brookes founded the Wenlock Olympian Society and the town's annual Olympian Games. Learn more about this remarkable story within.

Much Wenlock grew up as tradesmen came to provide goods and services to the monastery. By the late medieval period, Much Wenlock was a bustling, prosperous market town. However, the origins of Much Wenlock go back further with Roman and prehistoric finds being uncovered in and around the town. At the museum you can see some of the discoveries.

As well as the origins of the modern Olympic movement, the museum also contains information on the evolution of modern geology and why the small town of Much Wenlock has proved such an inspiration for writers, composers and poets.