The Cut Visitor Centre

Our centre offers visitors real peace and quiet and a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of Shrewsbury. Surrounded by roads and car parks, Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s headquarters appears from the outside about as peaceful and wildlife-friendly as a traffic island.  But step inside and you will discover an oasis of nature, lots of history and a rare sense of tranquillity.

The wildlife garden is free to explore. Additional charges for events, activities and the Natural Play Area apply.

Explore our shop, where you can purchase wildlife items and gifts or wander around our wildlife gardens for inspiration or to just sit and enjoy the bird song.

Opening hours

Monday to Friday 10am-4pm 
Sunday 9.30am-12.30pm

Address

Shropshire Wildlife Trust, 193 Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6AH

Tel: 01743 284 280

The visitor centre is a ten minute walk from Shrewsbury train station and 100m from a Park and Ride bus stop at Old Potts Way. We are situated on Abbey Foregate Pay & Display car park.

Our fantastic Natural Play Area is a unique outdoor play area within the gardens of our visitor centre, With lots to explore children can get muddy and discover the joys of outdoor wild play in a completely safe environment. Make the muddiest mud pie, crawl through creepy tunnels play in the sand pit, and go on a bug hunt. 

Wildlings
Wednesdays 10:30am - 12:30pm ; Organised activities with a Play Leader ; £6.50/child ; Book now.

Open Play Sessions
Weekdays 10:00am - 3:30pm
Sundays 9:30am - 12:30pm

Our Natural Play Area can be hired privately and for parties outside of these hours and on weekends and bank holidays. Please enquire for details by emailing us at roombooking@shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.

Fully accessible paths allow you to discover our small but diverse wildlife garden. The structure of the garden is formal, but in summer you will find plants spilling over the edges, running riot up woven arches, breaking and softening the straight lines of the flower beds. Once part of the Abbey the site is full of history, it is the perfect place to escape all year round. 

The site originally belonged to Shrewsbury Abbey until it succumbed to Henry VIII’s order for the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540. One of the three wings of the infirmary buildings still stands in the garden and old foundations can be seen.

In the 1860s, the land was bought up for the development of the Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway, replaced by sidings and platforms for a railway that opened in 1866 and went bankrupt by the end of the same year.

Between 1977 and 1994 Ellis Peters published a series of books based on Brother Cadfael, a detective monk from Shrewsbury Abbey. The site was developed into a visitor centre based on this character. The near-derelict site was restored; its grounds contaminated by decades of use as a British Rail engineering shed were made safe and a medieval herb garden was established.

Since then it has been Shropshire Wildlife Trust's headquarters, with staff offices based in the buildings. The Visitor Centre shop and gardens are available for the public to browse and enjoy and we often hold events here, The gardens are tended by a dedicated group of volunteers,