Wem is a market town in Shropshire, England, north of Shrewsbury and south of Whitchurch. The name of the town is derived from the Old English wamm, meaning a marsh, as marshy land exists in the area of the town. Over time, this form evolved into "Wem". As a caput of a barony and the centre of a large manor and parish Wem was a centre for justice and local government for centuries, and was the headquarters of the North Shropshire District Council until Shropshire became a unitary authority. From the 12th century revisions to the hundreds of Shropshire, Wem was within the North Division of Bradford Hundred until the end of the 19th century. According to Professor Richard Hoyle, Chairman of Victoria County History Shropshire, "Wem is an archetypal medieval-planned castle town and as such, can take its place alongside the best examples in England" History Prehistory and Roman The area now known as Wem is believed to have been settled prior to the Roman Conquest of Britain, by the Cornovii, Celtic Iron Age settlers: there is an Iron Age hillfort at nearby Bury Walls occupied over into the Roman period, and the Roman Road from Uriconium to Deva Victrix ran close by to the east at Soulton. Early Mediaeval The Wem Hoard, a collection of coins deposited in the post Roman period, was found in land in the Wem area in 2019. Norman and medieval periods Weme was an Anglo-Saxon estate, which transitioned into a planned Norman castle-town established after the conquest, with motte-and-bailey castle, parish church and burgage plots. The town is recorded in the Domesday Book as consisting of four manors in the hundred of Hodnet. The Domesday Book records that Wem was held by William Pantulf and comprised: Households: 4 villagers. 8 smallholders. 2 slaves. Land and resources: ploughland: 8 ploughlands. 1 lord's plough teams. 1 men's plough teams. Other resources: woodland 100 pigs. with an annual value to lord: 2 pounds in 1086; up to 1 pound 7 shillings in 1066. Pantulf fought at the Battle of Hastings under his superior lord Earl Rodger. Stafford Castle and Wem was granted to him with a further 28 manors in the area bounded by Clive, Ellesmere, Tilley and Cresswell, with some of the manors within this area belonging to other lords (Prees to the Bishop of Lichfield, and Soulton to the King's Chapel in Shrewsbury Castle,