Wem High Street - No 71

Year Owner/Occupier Property Useage 1850 - - 1880 George Rutter Butcher 1890 George Rutter Butcher 1901 William Rutter Butcher 1930 Henry Benjamin Rutter Butcher (Also J Lea, Unemployment exchange) 1940 H Rutter Butcher 1940 H Rutter Rate collector (at 71a) 1953 H Rutter Butcher 1970s-1995 W.T.Smith Butcher 2011 King of Spice Restaurant

Invoice for H Rutter. Note the price of a leg of lamb!"

Magnificent 17th century half-timbered building on the inside of the Castle Mound corner. The windows are 19th and 20th Century 2 and 3 light casements. In 2012, this formed 1 shop, but it has been separated in the past.

In 1934, Herbert Rutter ran an accounting business . He was also the assessor and collecor of taxes for Wem and Baschurch districts, clerk to the parish councils of Wem Rural and Loppington and collector of rates for Loppington and Lee Brockhurst.

The shop has not changed greatly over the last century. This picture from the Shropshire Archives collection shows it around 1975. No 73 was then an antiques shop.