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Clun
Clun Bridge over the River Clun
Clun  Clun shown within Shropshire
Population	642 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SO302808
Parish	Clun and Chapel Lawn
Unitary authority	Shropshire
Ceremonial county	Shropshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CRAVEN ARMS
Postcode district	SY7
Dialling code	01588
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Shropshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Ludlow
List of places: UKʉۢ Englandʉۢ Shropshire

Clun

The town's name is taken from that of the River Clun (Welsh: Colunwy), which flows from west to east through the settlement. The Clun Valley is dominated by agriculture, though some areas of woodland remain. The River Unk joins the Clun just to the west of the town.

The A488 and B4368 roads cross in the town of Clun. Craven Arms, Bishop's Castle (6 miles (10 km) to the north) and Ludlow are the neighbouring Shropshire towns, and Knighton, which is in Wales, is 7 miles (11 km) to the south. Nearby is Offa's Dyke and the Offa's Dyke Path. Clun Forest is to the west of the town, further upstream of the Rivers Unk and Clun. The Jack Mytton Way passes through the town as does the Shropshire Way and further significant historic routes pass through the area.

The town centre on the north bank of the River Clun lies 185 m above sea level while the oldest part of the settlement, by St George's church on the south bank, is a little more elevated, at 193 m. Between the two, Clun Bridge (181 m above sea level) carries the A488 and B4368 routes across the river.

In addition to Clun Bridge there is also a ford further downstream, at Waterloo, which has recently been made usable to most motor vehicles, and a third crossing point, a footbridge just upstream of Clun Bridge, connects the town's main car park to the castle grounds.

The population of the parish of Clun and Chapel Lawn was 1086 as measured by the 2001 census, of which the population of the town itself was 642. This is a population normally associated with that of a village. It is said that the population of the town is now smaller than it was during the flourishing days of the wool trade in England centuries ago. The town is the smallest town in Shropshire and is smaller than many villages in the county. It is also the only town in Shropshire never to have had a railway line or station.

the Norman Clun Castle, now only a ruin but with grounds which are used for the May fair

the fifteenth century Clun Bridge (basically a packhorse bridge), most of which is still the original stone despite being a road bridge today used by all vehicles

Trinity Hospital, almshouses built in 1614, on Hospital Lane

a museum in the Town Hall, on the corner of The Square and High Street

The main streets in the town are Enfield Street, The Square, High Street, Ford Street, Bridge Street and Church Street. Along these streets are a number of shops, including butchers, antique shops, a hair salon, a convenience store and a newsagent. There is also a post office and two tea rooms. On the Craven Arms Road there are a number of businesses (mostly at "The Green Industrial Estate"), including "Clun Garage", as well as the local fire station.

There were three pubs in the town until recently - the Sun Inn^[2], the White Horse Inn^[3], and the Buffalo Head Hotel ("the Buffalo"). However, the Buffalo has been closed since about 2004, but has not yet been converted into another use. Subsequently The Sun closed in January 2009 but re-opened on the 12 June 2009^[4].

The town has a primary school ("St George's"), a community centre (the "Memorial Hall") and there is also a Youth Hostel at Clun Mill, just to the north of the town.

For visitors and tourists there is a car park on the B4368 Newcastle Road, near Clun Bridge, where there are public toilets.

Over the three days of the first May bank holiday every year, the Green Man festival is held. On the bank holiday Monday the Green Man enters Clun to battle the spirit of winter at Clun Bridge and a May fair is held in the grounds of Clun Castle with a May Queen.

The first Saturday in August every year sees the Clun Carnival take place with a procession through the town's streets and a fete at the playing fields to the north of the town.

The first weekend in October sees the Clun Valley Beer Festival^[5] which takes place in the seven open pubs of the valley (from Anchor to Aston on Clun).

Clun is also a term used sometimes for the extreme southwest part of the county of Shropshire. Shropshire Council has an electoral division called Clun which covers Clun and the surrounding parishes. From the 2009 elections this electoral division will continue to exist, though will be slightly smaller. The electoral division returns one councillor to the council. The term "Clun Valley" is also used for the villages and communities along the River Clun - such as Anchor, Newcastle and Aston on Clun.

Noted playwright John Osborne lived near Clun and is buried at St. George's Church and his tombstone is located to the right of the main building entrance.

The Duke of Norfolk is Baron of Clun.

The Earl of Powis is the Lord of the Manor.

Ida Gandy, wife of a country GP locally in the 1930s wrote 'An Idler On The Shropshire Borders' in the 1970s based on her travels locally.

War cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather, creator of the "Old Bill" cartoons, resided at Cresswell House in Clun during part of WWII. At this time he was contributing to the American Forces newspaper "Stars & Stripes".

In A Shropshire Lad, A.E. Housman wrote the verse:

In Douglas Adams' book The Meaning of Liff, Clun is listed as "a leg that has gone to sleep that you have to drag around behind you".

E.M. Forster visited Clun, which subsequently featured as Oniton in his novel Howard's End (1910).

Sir Walter Scott is believed to have stayed in The Buffalo Inn while writing The Betrothed and The Talisman, published jointly as Tales of The Crusaders in 1825. Clun castle is supposed to have inspired Scott's Garde Doleureuse in that work.