Colwall lies on the western slopes of the Malvern Hills, near the market town of Ledbury. The large village comprises Colwall Stone, Upper Colwall and Colwall Green. On the Herefordshire Beacon, in the south-eastern corner of the parish, is the Iron Age `British Camp'. At the time of Domesday Book the bishop of Hereford's manor covered the whole parish, but shortly afterwards Barton Colwall manor was created to endow a prebend in the cathedral. Between the 15th and 17th centuries resident gentry established themselves on other estates, which came to characterise the pattern of landownership. Until the 19th century Colwall's economy was predominantly agricultural, including cultivation of orchards and hops. From the mid 19th century the northern part of the parish was transformed by the development of the spa at neighbouring Malvern, and by the arrival of the railway in 1861, following the construction of tunnels under the Malvern Hills by local engineer Stephen Ballard. Mineral water from Colwall springs was bottled commercially, and in 1892 Schweppes opened a bottling plant at Colwall Stone. Colwall's rural location, natural springs and beautiful scenery attracted visitors to the numerous inns, hotels and boarding houses. Others settled in the parish, occupying new houses including notable arts and crafts villas. In the 21st century the parish continues to attract both visitors and new residents.

The township of Wem lies on the North Shropshire Plain, about nine miles north of Shrewsbury. The centre of a much larger medieval manor and parish, the township consists of the small medieval market town and its immediate rural hinterland. Anglo-Saxon settlements existed in the area but the town developed from a Norman foundation, with a castle, parish church, market and water mill. The urban area of the township, `within the bars', was distinguished from the rural, `without the bars'. Burgages were laid out, with a customary borough-hold tenure, but the borough never attained corporate status. Isolated from the main regional transport routes, Wem developed as a local centre of government and trade in agricultural produce, especially cheese. It was thrust onto the national stage in 1642 when Parliamentarians defeated a Royalist attack and held the town for the duration of the Civil War. The `great fire' of 1677 then destroyed most of the medieval buildings in the town centre, leading to its predominantly Georgian and Victorian appearance today. The decline in agricultural employment and the withdrawal of services and industries from small market towns like Wem in recent decades is a challenge, met by the advantage of the railway station to residents who work elsewhere but choose the town as a place to live.