Geograph - photograph every grid square

Shrewsbury retains a number of 'shuts' or alleyways which provide convenient shortcuts and which enable pedestrians to get around the centre of the town in an almost bygone world behind and between the busy shopping streets. These narrow passages date back to the Middle Ages when the town must have been a veritable rabbit warren: many have disappeared in the course of redevelopment and those that remain deserve to be preserved. The origin of the name is obscure but, it has been suggested that, unlike closed cul-de sacs, these alleys, being open both ends, allow the pedestrian to 'shoot' rapidly from one street to another. 'Shut' could also be a contraction of 'shortcut' which is what it usually is!


Draper's Court is not strictly speaking a shut but may once have been; it is now a private passage leading off Claremont Street into a cobbled yard. Note the old gulley to drain off surface water on the right.