Shropshire, said DH Lawrence, was “one of those places where the spirit of aboriginal England still lingers, the old savage England”. A century on, there may not be much of that spirit left, but property prices in the north of the county still lag behind those of adjoining Cheshire and Worcestershire, partly because there is no direct rail link to London.

That may be about to change. The Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway company (WSMR) has sought permission to run five three-hour services to and from London Marylebone on weekdays. The Office of Rail Regulation is expected to rule on the application in May or June: a “yes” could mean the service starting in December, giving the area, and property prices in particular, a boost.

“History shows that places that haven’t had through services to London, then get them, begin to develop in all sorts of exciting ways,” says John Nelson, WSMR’s director.

The flat area north of Shrewsbury, through which the proposed service will run, does not have the dramatic scenery of Shropshire’s rugged south. Nor is there a gastro equivalent of Ludlow, which draws foodies and architecture buffs alike.

But it does offer tranquillity and space (Shropshire is one of England’s least densely populated counties), good public and private schools, and undervalued housing. Land Registry figures reveal that the value of the average house transaction in north Shropshire is £199,938 — almost £50,000 less than in the south.

“North Shropshire has always been regarded as the poor relation,” says Martyn Haden, a partner at the Lane Fox estate agency in Shrewsbury. “The south is prettier and historically more favoured. But we are finding the influence of Cheshire has arrived.” Clive, Grinshill and Weston, three “star villages” several miles north of Shrewsbury, are already attracting serious “outsider” money, and a direct rail link would intensify this. In Weston, the Vineyard, a five-bedroom house with stables and 30 acres, sold for £1.1m last May, £150,000 more than its asking price.

Further north, Ellesmere, a charming town on the edge of one of the largest natural lakes in England outside the Lake District, and less than 15 minutes’ drive from Gobowen, a stop on the proposed service, is also popular. Haden says that an eight-bedroom, Grade II-listed Georgian farmhouse went on sale there last year for £950,000, but was snapped up for £1.2m by a local buyer, who held out against bidders from London.

In October, Brian Allaker, a City financial and tax adviser, paid £625,000 for a six-bedroom slice of Wilbraham Manor, a former country house at Petton Hall, Burlton, seven miles from Ellesmere and 11 miles from Shrewsbury, which has been split into three homes.

“We looked from Wiltshire west of Salisbury, and from Hereford up to Shropshire,” says Allaker, 64, who plans to retire there in August. “From our bedroom window, we look over uninterrupted farmland. We can walk from the garden straight into fields.”

Allen Gittins, a director at Halls estate agency, says four-bedroom farmhouses are still available in north Shropshire for about £400,000; something similar in the south would cost more than £550,000. Low population density has some drawbacks, however: “There are not many villages with amenities, such as a pub or a post office.”

It is the towns and villages west of Ellesmere that probably have most to gain from the new link to London. The pretty Welsh border town of Oswestry is paradise for first-time buyers, with two-bedroom terraced houses starting at £105,000 and early-Victorian four-bedroom end-of-terraces selling from just under £300,000.

Figures from Halifax show that prices there have risen only 14% in the past three years, compared with 22% in Shrewsbury and 28% in Wrexham, 15 miles north.

The opening of the WSMR service would give a boost.

Stops further north, such as Ruabon, Chirk and Wrexham, just over the Welsh border, are also undervalued. But because they are near Chester, which already has a two-hour Virgin service to London Euston, the uplift from the new rail link may not be as noticeable.

Shrewsbury itself, which will be a 2½ hour train ride from London, will also benefit. Property rarely comes on the market in its ancient centre, which has England’s finest collection of Tudor buildings.

“Within the loop of the River Severn, there are some attractive period townhouses, which fetch £450,000-£500,000,” says Guy Bielby, a partner at Halls. “Once you get outside that, but still within walking distance of the town, there are four-bedroom Victorian detached houses available for about the same price.”

It is a mark of how jealously locals guard the charms of north Shropshire that even estate agents admit they fear the unwanted attention that a successful and frequent railway service could bring to this often overlooked fringe of England.

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