Shifnal is an old coaching town of Georgian and timber-framed streets east of Telford, on what was once the London-to-Holyhead road. Dickens knew the area — his grandmother kept house at nearby Tong — and drew on the town for The Old Curiosity Shop; Little Nell is said to be buried at Tong church, a few miles off. Shifnal station sits right in the middle of town.
