Shropshire
Webpages concerning "Shropshire"
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Wikipedia-Article "Shropshire"
| Shropshire | |
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| Geography | |
| Status: | Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan county |
| Region: | West Midlands |
| Area: - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area |
Ranked 13th 3,487 km² Ranked 14th 3,197 km² |
| Admin HQ: | Shrewsbury |
| ISO 3166-2: | GB-SHR |
| ONS code: | 39 |
| NUTS 3: | UKG22 |
| Demographics | |
| Population - Total (2004 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop. |
Ranked 42nd 449,000 129 / km² Ranked 34th 288,000 |
| Ethnicity: | 97.3% White 1.2% S.Asian |
 Badge of Shropshire County Council |
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| Politics | |
| Shropshire County Council http://www.shropshire.gov.uk |
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| Executive: | Conservative |
| MPs: | Mark Pritchard, Philip Dunne, Daniel Kawczynski, Owen Paterson, David Wright |
| Districts | |
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Shropshire (abbreviated Salop or Shrops) is a traditional, ceremonial and administrative county in the West Midlands region of England. The ceremonial county borders Cheshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and the Welsh ceremonial counties of Powys and Clwyd.
Shropshire is one of England's most rural counties. The county town is Shrewsbury, although the new town of Telford is the largest town. Also in this rural county is Coalbrookdale, where the Industrial Revolution started, Ironbridge, where the world's first iron bridge was constructed and Ditherington, where the world's first iron framed building was built. (See the "cradle of industry" section below).
An estimate of the population of the administrative county of Shropshire for 2006 is put at 288,846 - making the county the smallest two-tier administrative county in England. For this reason it has been suggested by some that the county become a unitary authority, similar to that of the Isle of Wight, where the district councils were abolished leaving only the county council. However the size and diversity of the county so far rules this possibility out. The government's plans of regional assemblies in England, which would have meant a unitary system of local government, has also been put on hold.
The origin of the name Shropshire is the Old English "Scrobbesbyrigscir" (Shrewsburyshire). However, the Normans who ruled England after 1066 found both "Scrobbesbyrig" and "Scrobbesbyrigscir" difficult to pronounce so they softened them to "Salopesberia" and "Salopescira" and Salop is the abbreviation of these.
When a council for the county was set up in 1888, it was called 'Salop County Council'. The name was never popular, and the council renamed itself 'Shropshire County Council' in 1980. However, the term "Salopian", derived from "Salop", is still used to mean "from Shropshire". The latin motto of "Floreat Salopia" (may Shropshire/Shrewsbury flourish) is also used for Shropshire and Shrewsbury on crests and emblems.
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The county today
The ceremonial county of Shropshire is now split up into the administrative county of Shropshire and the unitary authority of Telford and Wrekin. Shropshire, the administrative county, is then split up into five districts - Shrewsbury and Atcham, Oswestry, North Shropshire, South Shropshire and Bridgnorth. The administrative county is then further sub-divided into parishes, except for the town of Shrewsbury. The area covered by the county has not changed substantially since the county's creation in the 11th Century. The modern day ceremonial county is the same as the traditional county, except for the removal of several exclaves and enclaves. The largest of the exclaves was Halesowen, which became part of Worcestershire in the 19th Century, and the largest of the enclaves was Farlow in South Shropshire.
Cradle of industry
Quite why this remote, rural county on the Welsh border became the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution is mystifying to many people. The reason, however, is mainly due to Shropshire's diverse geology. Shropshire is the "geological capital" of the UK, as just about every rock type in Northern Europe is found within its borders, as are coal, lead, copper and iron ore deposits. In addition to this, the River Severn flows through the county and has been used for the transportation of goods and services for centuries.
Geography
Geographically, Shropshire is divisible into two distinct halves - North and South.
North Shropshire
Politically - Oswestry district, North Shropshire district, Shrewsbury and Atcham borough and the (unitary authority) borough of Telford and Wrekin.
The North Shropshire Plain is an extension of the flat and fertile Cheshire Gap. It is here that most of the county's large towns, and population in general, are to be found. Shrewsbury at the centre, Oswestry to the north west, Whitchurch to the north, Market Drayton to the north east and the Telford conurbation (Telford, Wellington, Newport, Oakengates, Donnington and Shifnal) to the east. The land is fertile and agriculture remains a major feature of the landscape and the economy. The River Severn runs through the lower half of the Northern area, through Shrewsbury and the Ironbridge Gorge, before heading south to Bridgnorth.
The area around Oswestry has more rugged geography than the North Shropshire Plain and the western half is over an extension of the Wrexham Coalfield and there are also copper deposits on the border with Wales. Mining of stone and sand aggregates is still going on in North Shropshire, notably on Haughmond Hill, near Bayston Hill and around the village of Condover. Other primary industries, such as forestry and fishing, are to be found too.
The A5 and M54 run from Wolverhampton (to the east of the county) across to Telford, around Shrewsbury and then north west to Oswestry, before heading north into Wales in the Wrexham area. This is an important artery and the corridor is where most of Shropshire's modern commerce and industry is found, notably in Telford new town. There are also a number of railway lines crossing over the area, which centre at Shrewsbury. To the south west of Telford, near the Ironbridge Gorge, is Buildwas Power Station.
The new town of Telford is built on a former industrial area centred on the East Shropshire Coalfield. There are still many colliery heaps to be found in the area, as well as disused mine shafts. This industrial heritage is an important tourist attraction, as is seen by the growth of museums in the Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale and Jackfield area. Blists Hill museum and historical (Victorian era) village is a major tourist attraction as well as the Iron Bridge itself.
South Shropshire
Politically - South Shropshire district and Bridgnorth district; Ludlow constituency.
South Shropshire is more rural, with fewer settlements and no large towns, and its landscape differs greatly than that of North Shropshire. The area is dominated by hill ranges and valleys, forests and glens, and other natural features. Farming is more pastural than the arable found in the north of the county. The only substantial towns are Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Church Stretton.
The A49 is the main road through the area, running north to south, from Shrewsbury to Herefordshire. A railway line runs through the area on the same route as the A49 with stations at Church Stretton, Craven Arms and Ludlow. Infrastructure is generally quite poor in the south of the county, but this is due mainly to the low population density. The Severn Valley Railway runs from Bridgnorth into Worcestershire.
Church Stretton is known as "Little Switzerland" due to its valley location and character. Nearby are the old mining communities on the Clee Hills, notable geological features in the Onny Valley and Wenlock Edge and fertile farmland in the Corve Dale. The River Teme drains this part of the county, before flowing into Worcestershire to the South.
South West Shropshire, or simply "Clun", is a little known and remote part of the county, with Clun Forest, Offa's Dyke and the River Clun. The small towns of Clun and Bishop's Castle are in this area. The countryside here is very rural and is in parts wild and forested. To the South of Clun is the Welsh town of Knighton.
Towns and villages
See the list of places in Shropshire.
Shropshire has no cities, but 21 towns (of which 5 can be considered to be major - Shrewsbury, Telford, Oswestry, Bridgnorth and Ludlow) and hundreds of villages.
See also the Category: Towns in Shropshire and Category: Villages in Shropshire.
Places of interest
- Attingham Park, (Atcham)
- Blists Hill, (preserved 19th century industrial/victorian age community)
- Boscobel House, (on border with Staffordshire)
- Brown Clee Hill, (highest peak in Shropshire)
- Burford House
- Caer Caradoc, (near Church Stretton)
- Cardingmill Valley, (Church Stretton)
- Flounder's Folly, near Craven Arms
- Haughmond Hill, (forest park on the edge of Shrewsbury with the medieval Haughmond Abbey ruins)
- Hawkstone Park, (large rural park and follies in north Shropshire)
- Hopton Castle, (scene of a Civil War massacre)
- The Ironbridge, (the world's first iron bridge)
- Langley Chapel
- The Long Mynd, (means "long mountain", overlooks Church Stretton)
- Ludlow Castle
- Mitchell's Fold, (a bronze age stone circle)
- Moreton Corbet Castle
- Offa's Dyke Path, a long distance footpath
- Shropshire Hills AONB
- Shropshire Union Canal
- Snailbeach, (a historic lead mining village)
- The Stiperstones, (mountainous ridge near Pontesbury, including the "Devil's Chair")
- Stokesay Castle
- Titterstone Clee Hill, (hill near Ludlow, ex-coalmining and famed for the unusual accent of the locals)
- Wenlock Edge, (a long wooded ridge and the geological capital of the UK)
- Whittington Castle
- Wroxeter, (a ruined Roman city and legionary fortress)
Famous people
- Robert Clive "Clive of India"
- Lords and Ladies Craven (of Stokesay Castle)
- Abraham Darby
- Charles Darwin
- William Farr
- Chris Hawkins (of Loppington), radio presenter, DJ, and celebrity
- George Jeffreys of Wem, (infamous judge)
- Len Murray, (former head of the T.U.C)
- Wilfred Owen
- Edmund Plowden (1518-1585)—legal scholar and theorist
- Sir Edmund Plowden (1590-1659)—Proprietor, Earl Palatine and Governor of New Albion
- Barbara Pym
- Morris Telfod Author of "A Salopian Odyssey", philosopher, traveller and bingo enthusiast.
- T'Pau, pop group
- Sir Philip Sidney
- Mary Webb (1881-1927), authoress
- Matthew Webb, (first man to swim the English Channel)
- Billy Wright
Also, British poet A.E. Housman used Shropshire as the setting for many of the poems in his first book, A Shropshire Lad.
Politics
Shropshire has five constituencies, four of which returned Conservative MPs at the 2005 general election and one, Telford, returned a Labour MP. This is a marked change from the 2001 general election result, where the county returned only one Conservative, three Labour and a Liberal Democrat MP (see maps below).
- David Wright, Labour, Telford
- Owen Paterson, Conservative, North Shropshire (covering the North Shropshire district and Oswestry borough)
- Philip Dunne, Conservative, Ludlow (covering the South Shropshire and Bridgnorth districts)
- Daniel Kawczynski, Conservative, Shrewsbury and Atcham
- Mark Pritchard, Conservative, The Wrekin (covering Telford and Wrekin borough, minus Telford and including a small area of Bridgnorth district)
In 2005 there was also a County Council election and the Conservatives gained overall control of the administrative county. Telford and Wrekin Unitary Authority remains under Labour control. Being a rural county, there are a number of independent councillors on the various councils in the county.
The Conservatives also control Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council.
Shropshire Portal - links to the councils of the county
Trivia
Oswestry Football Club played in the Welsh League.
Shropshire holds the record for the coldest temperature recorded in England and Wales (weather wise). This was set on January 10, 1982, in Edgmond at -26.1 C. The following day the coldest daytime maximum temperature recorded in England occurred in the county, at -11.3 C.
Shrewsbury has the tallest town crier in the world, at 7ft 2in, and now also the tallest MP in the United Kingdom - Daniel Kawczynski is 6ft 8.5in tall.
The ceremonial county of Shropshire is the United Kingdom's largest inland (surrounded entirely by land) county.
There are 697 [1] public houses in the county. See Category:Public houses in Shropshire.
The 1985 television programme Blott on the Landscape was filmed mainly in South Shropshire, notably in Ludlow. The recently begun 2005 sit-com The Green Green Grass is set in Shropshire and is filmed near Bridgnorth.
See also
- List of civil parishes in Shropshire
- History of Shropshire
- Railways of Shropshire
- Shropshire Star
- Etymological list of counties
- Geology of Shropshire
External links
- Secret Shropshire - Document archives relating to Shropshire are being made available online, over 10,000 images including maps, photographs of scenery, buildings, famous people and natural history, sketches, and writings.
- BBC Shropshire - A Salopian Odyssey - Morris Telford - A Salopian Odyssey.
- Shropshire Star - Local newspaper.
- BBC Shropshire history - BBC Shropshire's history page.
- Fords in Shropshire - Listing of all fords in Shropshire, including photos.
- Pubs in Shropshire - A growing database on the public houses of the county, from the Shropshire Star.
- Shropshire aerial photos - Fantastic website with many photos of places in Shropshire, taken from the air
- Inside Shropshire - historical and other information on Shropshire
- Shropshire - Shropshire article in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
- History of Shropshire - Domesday Book, 1750-1875
| Districts of the West Midlands |  |
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Birmingham | Bridgnorth | Bromsgrove | Cannock Chase | Coventry | Dudley | East Staffordshire | Herefordshire | Lichfield | Malvern Hills | Newcastle-under-Lyme | North Shropshire | North Warwickshire | Nuneaton and Bedworth | Oswestry | Redditch | Rugby | Sandwell | Shrewsbury and Atcham | Solihull | South Shropshire | South Staffordshire | Stafford | Staffordshire Moorlands | Stoke-on-Trent | Stratford-on-Avon | Tamworth | Telford and Wrekin | Walsall | Warwick | Wolverhampton | Worcester | Wychavon | Wyre Forest |
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Counties with multiple districts: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire |
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