Lyth Hill is situated within a public country park and is a popular area for walkers due to its spectacular panoramic views of the surrounding hills; Clee Hills, Wenlock Edge, the Wrekin, the Stretton Hills, Long Mynd and Stiperstones. The scrub and woodland support a variety of birds such as great – spotted woodpecker, wood warbler and tree pipit.
Lyth Hill was always a special place for Mary Webb. She explored the area with her father and always dreamed of living there one day. She was able to achieve this dream when in 1917, she and her husband Henry Webb moved in to Spring Cottage, a cottage of Mary’s design on the hill. She lived there until her death in 1927. The landscape was to provide inspiration for her poetry and prose, and it was here that she wrote Gone to Earth, House in Dormer Forest, parts of Seven for a Secret, Armour Wherein he Trusted and many of her poems and short stories. She was particularly inspired by Spring Coppice which she called The Little Wood. Her poem Green Rain expresses her joy in being in this enchanted landscape, her home of “colour and light”.
“Into the scented woods we’ll go
And see the blackthorn swim in snow.
High above, in the budding leaves,
A brooding dove awakes and grieves;
The glades with mingled music stir,
And wildly Laughs the woodpecker”…..Extract from Green Rain
Spring Cottage:
Mary and Henry’s home from 1917-1927. Sadly the subject of a recent application for demolition.
Spring Coppice:
Situated at the far end of the hill, a peaceful tranquil place, once coppiced for fuel and pit props but now a haven for wildlife. Mary called this The Little Wood and she was to spend many hours here absorbing its creative atmosphere to inspire her poems and prose.
Toposcope:
Recently erected denoting the panoramic view and including a short biography of Mary Webb
