Is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west, Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south-east and Herefordshire to the south.
The county's population and economy is centred on five towns: the county town of Shrewsbury, which is culturally and historically important and is located in the centre of the county; Telford, a new town in the east which was constructed around a number of older towns, most notably Wellington, Dawley and Madeley, which is today the most populous; and Oswestry in the north-west, Bridgnorth just to the south of Telford, and Ludlow in the south. The county has many further market towns, including Whitchurch in the north, Newport just to the north-east of Telford, and Market Drayton in the north-east of the county.
The Ironbridge Gorge area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale and a part of Madeley. There are, additionally, other notable historic industrial sites located around the county, such as at Shrewsbury, Broseley, Snailbeach and Highley as well as the Shropshire Union Canal.
The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about a quarter of the county, mainly in the south.Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated
counties, with the population density of the Shropshire Council area
being just 91/km2 (337/sq mi).
The Wrekin is one of the most famous natural landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the Clee Hills, Stiperstones and the Long Mynd. Wenlock Edge is another significant geographical and geological landmark
In the low-lying northwest of the county (and overlapping the border with Wales) is the Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve, one of the most important and best preserved bogs in Britain.
The River Severn, Great Britain's longest river, runs through the county, exiting into Worcestershire via the Severn Valley. Shropshire is landlocked, and with an area of 3,487 square kilometres (1,346 sq mi), is England's largest inland county.
History
The area was once part of the lands of the Cornovii,
which consisted of the modern day counties of Cheshire, Shropshire,
north Staffordshire, north Herefordshire and eastern parts of Powys.
This was a tribal Celtic iron age kingdom. Their capital in pre-Roman times was probably a hill fort on The Wrekin. Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography names one of their towns as being Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter), which became their capital under Roman rule
and one of the largest settlements in Britain.
After the Roman
occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was
in the eastern part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys; known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys.
It was annexed to the Saxon kingdom of Mercia by King Offa in the eighth century, at which time he built two significant dykes there to defend his territory against the Welsh or at least demarcate it.
In subsequent centuries, the area suffered repeated Danish invasion, and fortresses were built at Bridgnorth and Chirbury.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, major estates in Shropshire were granted to Normans, including Roger de Montgomerie, who ordered significant constructions, particularly in Shrewsbury, the town of which he was Earl.
Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to
defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region,
including Ludlow Castle and Shrewsbury Castle. The western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the
14th Century.
The county was a central part of the Welsh Marches during the medieval period and was often embroiled in the power struggles between powerful Marcher Lords, the Earls of March and successive monarchs.
The county also contains a number of historically significant towns, including Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Oswestry. Additionally, the area around Coalbrookdale in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. The village of Edgmond, near Newport, is the location of the lowest recorded temperature (in terms of weather) in England and Wales.
Etymology
The origin of the name "Shropshire" is the Old English "Scrobbesbyrigscīr" (literally Shrewsburyshire).
Salop is an old abbreviation for Shropshire, sometimes used on
envelopes or telegrams, and comes from the Anglo-French "Salopesberia".
It is normally replaced by the more contemporary "Shrops" although
Shropshire residents are still referred to as "Salopians".
When a county council for the county was first established in 1889, it was called Salop County Council. Following the Local Government Act 1972,
Salop became the official name of the county, but a campaign led by a
local councillor, John Kenyon, succeeded in having both the county and
council renamed as Shropshire in 1980.
Geography
Geographically, Shropshire is divisible into two distinct halves – North and South. The county has a highly diverse geology.
The West Midlands green belt
extends into eastern Shropshire, covering an area north from Highley,
to the east of Bridgnorth, north to the eastern side of Telford, leaving
Shropshire eastwards alongside the A5. This encompasses Shifnal,
Cosford and Albrighton, and various other villages paralleling Dudley
and Wolverhampton.
North Shropshire
The North Shropshire Plain is an extension of the flat and fertile Cheshire Plain. 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 Newport
and the Telford conurbation (Telford, Wellington, 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 this area (from Wales in the west, eastwards), through Shrewsbury and down 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 Mid-Shropshire, notably on Haughmond Hill, near Bayston Hill and around the village of Condover. Lead mining also took place at Snailbeach and the Stiperstones, but this has now ceased. Other primary industries, such as forestry and fishing, are to be found too.
The new town of Telford is built partly on a former industrial area
centred on the East Shropshire Coalfield as well as on former
agricultural land. There are still many ex-colliery sites 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, Broseley 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
South Shropshire is more rural, with fewer settlements and no large
towns, and its landscape differs greatly from that of North Shropshire.
The area is dominated by significant hill ranges and river valleys,
woods, pine forests and "batches", a colloquial term for small valleys
and other natural features.
Farming is more pastoral than the arable
found in the north of the county. The only substantial towns are Bridgnorth, with a population of around 12,000 people, Ludlow and Church Stretton.
The Shropshire Hills AONB is located in the south-west, covering an area of 808 km2 (312 sq mi); it forms the only specifically protected area of the county. Inside this area is the popular Long Mynd, a large plateau of 516 m (1,693 ft) and Stiperstones 536 metres (1,759 ft) high to the East of the Long Mynd, overlooking Church Stretton.
View from the Long Mynd
Because of its valley location and character, Church Stretton is sometimes referred to as Little Switzerland. Nearby are the old mining and quarrying 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 and joining the River Severn.
One of the Clee Hills, the Brown Clee Hill, is the county's highest peak at 540 metres (1,772 ft). This gives Shropshire the 13th tallest hill per county in England.
South West Shropshire is a little known and remote part of the county, with Clun Forest, Offa's Dyke, the River Clun and the River Onny.
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 border town of Knighton.
The Packhorse Bridge at Clun. © DavidKennard Photography
The House on Crutches. Bishop's Castle
More to follow .....
