Wem Moss

About the reserve

If you like big spiders this is the place for you! Here in this gorgeous peat bog lives the great raft spider, a six-inch monster that walks across water in search of prey. This is as ancient a piece of wilderness as you will find in Shropshire, a miraculous relic circled with trees beyond which the modern world gets on with intensive agricultural production.

Wem Moss is an outstanding example of a lowland raised bog, a wildlife habitat that exists in Britain today in just tiny remnant fragments. Ninety-four per cent of its former range has been destroyed or degraded by drainage, intensive peat cutting, grazing, forestry and pollution, leaving just 503 hectares of unspoilt raised bog in England.

All three British species of sundew – fascinating carnivorous plants – are found here, along with the starry golden spikes of bog asphodel, the fragrant bog myrtle and bog rosemary.

The Trust wages a continuous battle with encroaching bushes and trees, which, if left unchecked, consume millions of gallons of water, causing the bog to dry out.

Warning! There are adders on the Moss and so it is essential to wear wellingtons or walking boots. It’s rough walking and no place for a picnic!  

Directions: Wem Moss lies between Wem and Ellesmere. Park in Northwood, and take the north-bound track from the eastern edge of the village. The track takes you over a footbridge, through some trees and on to the reserve.