In the latest installment of our ‘moving to’ series, we look at living in Bishop’s Castle, a small but thriving Shropshire market town just over a mile away from the English-Welsh border.

The town is known for its thriving agricultural community, but has recently become the location of choice for an alternative community of artists, writers, musicians and craftspeople.

• View more pictures of Bishops Castle in our gallery to your right

Popular annual celebrations include the Carnival and subsequent Beer Festival in July, the Michelmas Fair in September and regular displays from some of the town’s Morris Dancers.

Transport:

With the A488 running just past the town into Shrewsbury, it is possible to commute, but with a forty minute drive to Shrewsbury and almost an hour for Telford, Bishops Castle is undoubtedly a rural setting.

And with the nearest train station in Broome and only a limited bus service running to Shrewsbury on Mondays to Saturdays, having a car is definitely an advantage.

What the people say:

@jakeperks on Twitter: Their beer festival must be an annual highlight. Three Tuns and Six Bells… can’t go wrong!

Jenny Hudson of Norman Lloyd Estate Agents: “The best things about Bishops Castle are the friendly people, gorgeous area, nice little independent shops and good leisure facilities.

The rural setting is both an advantage and disadvantage – the only real drawback is the steep hill, which would be difficult for people in wheelchairs.”

Schools:

Primary: Bishop’s Castle Primary School had 139 students on its books and was given an overall score of ‘adequate’ on its last Ofsted inspection, with some ‘good’ elements.

Nearby are the small Norbury Primary School, which was rated as ‘good’ with some ‘outstanding’ elements and Lydbury North CofE which was scored as ‘adequate’, but faces the axe.

Secondary: The Community College in Bishop’s Castle is a large secondary school with a sixth form, but was last rated as ‘inadequate’ and in need of improvement by Ofsted. The sixth form was given an ‘adequate’ score.

Property prices:

The average house price paid in Bishops Castle over the last three years is £191,733. The average home value has decreased by 8.9% in that time, a monetary loss of £20,669.

For more market statistics on Bishops Castle, click here.

Search for a property:

Find a home in Bishop’s Castle

Did you know:

Bishops Castle boasts one of the only one-handed clocks in the country, at St John’s Church. Presumably residents were a bit more relaxed about the specific time back then.

Links:

• Bishops Castle news
• Bishops Castle local information
• Bishops Castle wikipedia
• Michaelmas Fair
• Visit South Shropshire – Bishops Castle