A pair of academics who carried out work on a village outside Wem have been commended by Historic England, the national heritage body.

Dr George Nash and Alastair Reid received a major Heritage Lottery grant in 2015 for a project scientifically analysing 35 timber-framed houses and outbuildings in and around the hamlet of Tilley.

They have just been awarded a 'Certificate of Commendation' by Historic England for one of the largest dendrochronology (archaeological tree-ring dating) projects ever conducted in the UK. Th The dendrochronology was undertaken by Dr Andy Moir, while other scientific methods such as geophysical survey, point-cloud technology and drone imaging where also used in order to create a fascinating picture of the medieval and post-medieval development of this most hidden of settlements in north Shropshire.

Although the project was completed in 2018, there are still one or two loose ends such the publication of several books and erection of a display board which will illustrate to visitors the main discoveries of the project.

Dr Nash, who is also a town councillor, said: "We have gained so much information from our detailed study of the medieval and post-medieval houses of Tilley.

"Of course, we could not have achieved this without the consent of the house owners and for that we are eternally grateful.

"Although the award is given for the project, we dedicate the award to the people of Tilley and those home owners that had to endure the three of us crawling throughout their attics and rooms of each building survey."

Each year through the Angel Awards, Historic England, in association with Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber, award publicly-run projects associated with heritage. This year the Tilley Timber Project was short-listed for its contribution to heritage research.