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Shropshire ( or ), alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of Englandmarker. It borders Walesmarker to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km² (337/sq mi.) . The shire county and its districts were replaced by a unitary authority on 1 April 2009. The borough of Telford and Wrekin, included in Shropshire for ceremonial purposes, has been a unitary authority since 1998.

The county is centred around six main towns starting with the county town of Shrewsburymarker, which is culturally and historically important, although Telfordmarker, which was constructed around a number of older towns, most notably Wellingtonmarker, Dawleymarker and Madeleymarker, is today the most populous. The other main towns are Oswestrymarker in the north-west, Newportmarker to the east, Bridgnorthmarker in the south-east, and Ludlowmarker to the south. Whitchurchmarker and Market Draytonmarker in the north of the county are also of notable size.

The Ironbridge Gorgemarker area is advertised as the 'Birthplace of Industry', and is a UNESCOmarker World Heritage Site, covering Ironbridgemarker, Coalbrookdalemarker and a part of Madeleymarker. There are additionally other notable historic industrial sites located around the county such as Broseleymarker, Snailbeachmarker and Highleymarker as well as the Shropshire Union Canalmarker.

The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beautymarker covers about a quarter of the county, mainly in the south. The Wrekinmarker is one of the most famous natural landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the Clee Hillsmarker, Stiperstones and the Long Mynd. Wenlock Edgemarker is another significant geographical and geological landmark, and the River Severn, Great Britain's longest river, runs through the county, exiting into Worcestershire via the Severn Valleymarker. Shropshire is landlocked, and with an area of , is England's largest inland county.

The County flower is the round-leaved sundew

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 Wrekinmarker. Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography names one of their towns as being Viroconium Cornoviorummarker (Wroxetermarker), 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 Powysmarker; known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys. It was annexed to the Saxon kingdom of Merciamarker 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 Bridgnorthmarker 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 Castlemarker and Shrewsbury Castlemarker. The western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th Century. Also in this period, a number of religious foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the diocese of Hereford and that of Coventry and Lichfield. Some areas in later times fell under the diocese of St. Asaph until it ceased to exist in 1920.

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 Shrewsburymarker, Ludlowmarker and Oswestrymarker. Additionally, the area around Coalbrookdalemarker in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. The village of Edgmondmarker, near Newportmarker, 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 Shrewsburyshiremarker).

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 1888, 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.

County extent

The border with Wales was defined in the 16th century - the hundreds of Oswestry (including Oswestrymarker) and Pimhill (including Wemmarker), and part of Chirburymarker had prior to the Laws in Wales Act formed various Lordships in the Welsh Marches.

The present day ceremonial county boundary is almost the same as the historic one. Notably there has been the removal of several exclaves and enclaves. The largest of the exclaves was Halesowenmarker, which became part of Worcestershire in 1844 (now part of the West Midlands county), and the largest of the enclaves was Herefordshire's Farlowmarker in South Shropshire, also transferred in 1844, to Shropshire. Alterations have been made on Shropshire's border with all neighbouring English counties over the centuries. Gains have been made to the south of Ludlow (from Herefordshire), to the north of Shifnal (from Staffordshire) and to the north (from Cheshire) and south (from Staffordshire) of Market Drayton. The county has lost land in two places - to Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

Geography

Geographically, Shropshire is divisible into two distinct halves - North and South. The county has a highly diverse geology.

North Shropshire

Countryside of mid-Shropshire
The North Shropshire Plain is an extension of the flat and fertile Cheshire Plainmarker. It is here that most of the county's large towns, and population in general, are to be found. Shrewsburymarker at the centre, Oswestrymarker to the north west, Whitchurchmarker to the north, Market Draytonmarker to the north east and Newportmarker 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 Gorgemarker, before heading south to Bridgnorthmarker.

The area around Oswestrymarker has more rugged geography than the North Shropshire Plain and the western half is over an extension of the Wrexhammarker Coalfield and there are also copper deposits on the border with Walesmarker. Mining of stone and sand aggregates is still going on in Mid-Shropshiremarker, notably on Haughmond Hillmarker, near Bayston Hillmarker and around the village of Condovermarker. Lead mining also took place at Snailbeachmarker and the Stiperstones, but this has now ceased. Other primary industries, such as forestry and fishing, are to be found too.

The A5 and M54 run from Wolverhamptonmarker (to the east of the county) across to Telford, around Shrewsbury parallel to the line of Watling Streetmarker an ancient trackway. The A5 then turns 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 Ironbridge Power Stationmarker.

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 Ironbridgemarker, Coalbrookdalemarker and Jackfieldmarker area. Blists Hillmarker museum and historical (Victorian era) village is a major tourist attraction as well as the Iron Bridge itself. In addition, Telford Steam Railway runs from Horsehaymarker.

South Shropshire

For information specifically on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, see 'Shropshire Hills AONBmarker.
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 Bridgnorthmarker, with a population of around 12,000 people, Ludlowmarker and Church Strettonmarker. The Shropshire Hills AONBmarker is located in the south-west, covering an area of ; it forms the only specifically protected area of the county. Inside this area is the popular Long Mynd, a large plateau of and Stiperstones high to the East of the Long Mynd, overlooking Church Strettonmarker.

The A49 is the main road through the area, running north to south, from Shrewsbury to Herefordshiremarker. A railway line runs through the area on the same route as the A49 with stations at Church Stretton, Craven Armsmarker and Ludlow. The steam heritage Severn Valley Railwaymarker runs from Bridgnorth into Worcestershire along the Severn Valleymarker.

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 Hillsmarker, notable geological features in the Onny Valleymarker and Wenlock Edgemarker 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 Hillmarker, is the county's highest peak at . 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 Forestmarker, Offa's Dykemarker, the River Clunmarker and the River Onnymarker. The small towns of Clunmarker and Bishop's Castlemarker 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 Knightonmarker.

Climate

The climate of Shropshire is generally moderate. Rainfall averages 760 to 1,000 mm (30 to 40 in), influenced by being in the rainshadow of the Cambrian Mountainsmarker from warm, moist frontal systems of the Atlantic Ocean which bring generally light precipitation in Autumn and Spring. The hilly areas in the south and west are much colder in the winter, due to their high elevation, they share a similar climate to that of the Welsh Marches and Mid-Walesmarker. The flat northern plain in the north and east has a similar climate to that of the rest of the West Midlands.

Being rural and inland, temperatures can fall more dramatically on clear winter nights than in many other parts of England. It was at Harper Adams University Collegemarker, in Edgmondmarker, where on 10 January 1982 the lowest temperature weather record for England was broken (and is kept to this day): -26.1 °C.

The only Met Office weather station in the county is located at Shawburymarker, which is in the north, between Shrewsburymarker and Market Draytonmarker.


Geology

The rocks in Shropshire are relatively new, especially compared to the Cambrian mountains. Shropshire has a number of areas with Silurian and Ordivician rocks, where a number of shells, corals and Trilobites can be found. Mortimer Forest is an example where a number of fossils can be found.

Politics

Election results 2001
Election results 2005


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 to the Commons (see maps to the right).

The current MPs of Shropshire are:

In 2005 there was also a County Council election in which the Conservatives gained overall control of the shire county. Telford and Wrekin Borough Council remained at the time under Labour control but has since gone to no-overall control, with a Conservative executive. Being a rural county, there are a number of independent councillors on the various councils in the county.

The Conservatives gained complete control of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council in the May 2006 local elections.

Divisions and environs

see also: List of civil parishes in Shropshire

Most of the ceremonial county of Shropshire is covered for purposes of local government by Shropshire Council, a unitary authority established in 2009. Telford and Wrekin is a unitary authority, with borough status, which forms part of the county for various functions such as Lord Lieutenant but is a separate local authority from Shropshire Council. However many services are shared across both authorities, such as the fire and rescue service, and the two authorities co-operate on some projects such as mapping flood risk.

The ceremonial county borders Cheshiremarker, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshiremarker, and the Welsh preserved counties of Powysmarker and Clwyd.

The new unitary authority for Shropshire, Shropshire Council, divides the county into three areas, each with its own area committee - North, Central and South. These area committees, as well as relative staff, deal with local matters such as development control and licensing.

With the parishing of the formerly unparished area of Shrewsbury in 2008, the entire ceremonial county is now parished. The sizes of parishes varies enormously in terms of area covered and population resident. Shrewsbury is the most populous parish in the county (and one of the most populous in England) with over 70,000 residents, whilst Boscobelmarker is the smallest parish in Shropshire by geographical area and by population, with just 12 residents according to the 2001 census. The smaller parishes (with populations of less than 200) usually have a joint parish council with one or more neighbouring parishes, or in some instances, have a parish meeting (such as in Sibdon Carwoodmarker). The urban area of Telford is divided into many parishes, each covering a particular suburb, some of which are historic villages or towns (such as Madeleymarker). The parish remains an important sub-division and tier of local government in both unitary authority areas of Shropshire.

Local government 1974-2009

The ceremonial county prior to the 2009 local government restructuring, with just Telford & Wrekin as a unitary authority (shown yellow)


In 1974 the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire was constituted, covering the entire county. There was a two-tier system of local government, constituting a county council (as the upper tier) and six district councils - Bridgnorthmarker, North Shropshiremarker, Oswestrymarker, Shrewsbury and Atchammarker, South Shropshiremarker and The Wrekin. In 1998 The Wrekin became a unitary authority, administratively separate from the county council, and became Telford and Wrekin. The two-tier structure remained in the remainder of the county and was the least populated two-tier area in England.

Oswestry and Shrewsbury & Atcham were each granted borough status in 1974. Telford and Wrekin became a borough in 2002.

2009 restructuring

see also: 2009 structural changes to local government in England

In 2006 a local government white paper supported proposals for new unitary authorities to be set up in England in certain areas. Existing non-metropolitan counties with small populations, such as Cornwallmarker, Northumberlandmarker and Shropshire, were favoured by the government to be covered by unitary authorities in one form or another (the county either becoming a single unitary authority, or be broken into a number of unitary authorities). For the counties in the 2009 reorganisation, existing unitary authority areas within the counties' ceremonial boundaries (such as Telford and Wrekin) were not to be affected and no boundary changes were planned.

Shropshire County Council, supported by South Shropshire District Council and Oswestry Borough Council, proposed to the government that the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire become a single unitary authority. This was opposed by the other 3 districts in the county, with Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council taking their objection to the High Court in a judicial review.

The proposal to create a Shropshire unitary authority, covering the area of the existing non-metropolitan county, was supported by the DCLGmarker and 1 April 2009 was set as the date for the re-organisation to take place. The first elections to Shropshire Council will not take place however until 4 June 2009, with the former Shropshire County Council being the continuing authority and its councillors became the first members of the new Shropshire Council on 1 April.

Part of the proposals include parishing and establishing a town council for Shrewsbury. The parish was created on 13 May 2008 and is the second most populous civil parish in England (only Weston-super-Maremarker has a greater population) with a population of over 70,000.

Transport

See also: Railways of Shropshire
New Marton Top Lock, on the Llangollen Canal near Ellesmere
Shropshire is connected to the rest of the United Kingdom via a number of road and rail links. Historically, rivers and later canals in the county were used for transport also, although their use in transport is now significantly reduced. The county's main transportation hub is Shrewsbury, through which many significant roads and railways pass and join.
Right
Canals in the United Kingdom today serve primarily for leisure purposes and three British Waterways canals run through Shropshire: the Shropshire Union Canalmarker (from north of Adderleymarker to near Knightonmarker), the Llangollen Canalmarker (from Chirk Aqueduct to Grindley Brookmarker) and the Montgomery Canal (from its beginning at Frankton Junctionmarker to Llanymynechmarker). In addition, the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal potentially could be restored in thefuture.

Major roads in the county include the M54 motorway, which connects Shropshire to the rest of the motorway network, and more specifically to the West Midlands county. The A5 also runs through the county, in an east-west direction. The road formerly ran through Shrewsbury, although a large dual-carriageway bypass has since been built. Other major trunk roads in the county include the north-south A49, the A53 and the A41.

There are a number of major railway lines running through the county, including the Welsh Marches Line, the Cambrian Line, the Shrewsbury to Chester Line and the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line, as well as heritage railways including the well established Severn Valley Railwaymarker. The two train operating companies working in the county are London Midland and Arriva Trains Wales. A new company, Wrexham & Shropshire, commenced services from Shropshire to London Marylebone stationmarker, in spring 2008.

Two major water supply aqueducts run across Shropshire; the Elan aqueduct running through South Shropshire carrying water from Elan Valleymarker to Birminghammarker and the Vyrnwy Aqueduct running through North Shropshire delivering water from Lake Vyrnwymarker to Liverpoolmarker.

Towns and villages

Shropshire has no cities, but 22 towns, of which 2 can be considered major. Telfordmarker is the largest town in the county with a population of 138,241 (which is approximately 30% of the total Salopian populace); whereas the county town of Shrewsburymarker has a lower, but still sizeable population of 70,560 (15%). The other sizeable towns are Oswestrymarker, Bridgnorthmarker, Newportmarker and Ludlowmarker. The historic town of Wellingtonmarker now makes up part of the Telford conurbation. The majority of the other settlements can be classed as villages or small towns. The larger settlements are primarily concentrated in a central belt that roughly follows the A5/M54 roadway. Other settlements are concentrated on rivers, e.g. Ironbridgemarker on the Severn, as these waterways were historically vital to trade.
Ceremonial county of Shropshire
Telford and Wrekin shown within



Towns (by population):

Telfordmarker (138,241)

Shrewsburymarker (70,560)

Wellingtonmarker (34,430)

Oswestrymarker (15,613)

Bridgnorthmarker (12,212)

Newportmarker (10,814)

Ludlowmarker (10,500)

Market Draytonmarker (10,407)

Whitchurchmarker (8,907)

Shifnalmarker (7,094)

Bayston Hillmarker (5,247)

Wemmarker (5,142)

Broseleymarker (4,912)

 Church Strettonmarker (4,186)

Pontesburymarker (3, 500)

 Ellesmeremarker (3,223)

Much Wenlockmarker (2,605)

Craven Armsmarker (2,289)

 Preesmarker (2,688)

 Bishop's Castlemarker (1,630)

 Ruyton-XI-Townsmarker (1,500)

 Baschurchmarker (1,475)

 Clunmarker (642)

Colour Key:
Rivers
Motorways
'A' Roads
Settlements
centre
centre
centre
Newport


Economy

Shrewsbury's town centre contains the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside shopping centres, as well as more traditional historic retail areas.
The economy of Shropshire was traditionally dominated by agriculture. However, in more recent years it has become more service orientated. The county town of Shrewsburymarker, the historic castle-dominated Ludlowmarker and the industrial birthplace of Ironbridge Gorgemarker are the foremost tourist areas in Shropshire, along with the reclaimed canal network which provides canal barge holidays on the Shropshire Union Canalmarker and linked canal networks in the region, although the natural beauty of the county draws people to all areas.

Industry is mostly found in Telfordmarker, Oswestrymarker, Whitchurchmarker, Market Draytonmarker and Shrewsbury, though small industrial estates can be found in and Church Strettonmarker and Newportmarker where the main industrial factory Audco, closed in 1982. The town has then started to move more towards a agricultural and tourist industry much like Ludlowmarker, though industry is starting to build up along the outskirts of the town on the A41 road, because of its possession on the route between Wolverhamptonmarker, Birminghammarker, Staffordshire and the north. Shrewsbury is becoming a centre for distribution and warehousing, as it is located on a nodal point of the regional road network., .

In Telford, a new rail freight facility has been built at Donningtonmarker with the future goal of extending the line to Staffordmarker, this is hoped it would open the freight teminal up to the East Midlands and the north, plus also re-connect Newportmarker to the rail network , .

Telford and Shrewsbury are the county's two main retail centres, with contrasting styles of shopping - Shrewsbury's largely historic streets and Telford's large modern mall, Telford Shopping Centremarker. Shrewsbury also has two medium-sized shopping centres, the indoor 'Pride Hill' and 'Darwinmarker' centres (both located on Pride Hill), and a smaller, partially covered, 'Riverside Mall'. Shrewsbury's situation of being the nearest substantial town for those in a large area of mid-Walesmarker helps it draw in considerable numbers of shoppers, notably on Saturday.

Well-known companies in Shropshire include Müller Dairy Ltd in Market Draytonmarker. The RAF have two bases at RAF Cosfordmarker and RAF Shawburymarker, and the charity PDSA has its head office in Priorsleemarker, Telford.

In February 2009 NOM Dairy completed construction of it’s brand new state of the art DAIRY in Shropshire. Spending £60m in it’s new facility in the first stage of the project as well as creating a jobs boost for the Shropshire economy. The new dairy has been designed with a low carbon footprint, consistency of quality and natural recipe production at the forefront of the project teams minds.

Statistics

Below is the chart of regional gross value added for the non-metropolitan county (that is, excluding Telford & Wrekin) of Shropshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling.

Year Regional Gross Value Added Agriculture Industry Services
1995 2,388 238 618 1,533
2000 2,977 177 739 2,061
2003 3,577 197 843 2,538


With the statistics for the borough of Telford and Wrekin included, the following represents the ceremonial county:

Year Regional Gross Value Added Agriculture Industry Services
1995 4,151 266 1,483 2,403
2000 5,049 197 1,512 3,340
2003 5,947 218 1,693 4,038


Education

Shropshire has a completely comprehensive education system, with thirteen independent schools, including the prestigious Shrewsbury Schoolmarker, which the famed Charles Darwin attended. In the ceremonial county, the Telford and Wrekin borough has two selective schools, Castle House School and two independent schools. Newport Girls' High Schoolmarker and Adams' Grammar Schoolmarker(both of which are ranked within the top 30 schools in the country), All are located in Newportmarker. Thomas Telford School in Telford is also a notable school and is one of the best comprehensive schools in England.There is considerable rivalry between many of the counties schools. In Shrewsbury for example, the Priory and Meole Brace schools maintain a long-standing sporting rivalry whilst on a wider scale Wrekin Collegemarker and Ellesmere Collegemarker remain rivals, as do Shrewsbury School and Adams' Grammar School.

There are also two universities in Shropshire, the Telford campus of Wolverhampton University and in Edgmondmarker, near Newportmarker, Harper Adams University Collegemarker, which offers mostly agricultural-based degrees.

Shropshire has the highest educational attainment in the West Midlands region.

Places of interest





Shrewsbury Castle


Attingham Park Mansion




Famous people



Cultural references

  • Shropshire has been depicted and mentioned in a number of works of literature. The poet A. E. Housman used Shropshire as the setting for many of the poems in his first book, A Shropshire Lad, and many of Malcolm Saville's children's books are set in Shropshire. Additionally, D. H. Lawrence's novella, St. Mawr, is partially set in the Longmynd area of South Shropshiremarker.
  • In Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Jonathan Strange is from the county, and some parts of the book are set there. Another fictional character from Shropshire is Mr Grindley, from Charles Dickens' Bleak House. P. G. Wodehouse's fictional Blandings Castle, the ancestral home of Clarence, the ninth Earl of Emsworth, is located in Shropshire. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack pretends to live in rural Shropshire, to mask his double life.
  • The 1856 plantation literature novel White Acre vs. Black Acre by William M. Burwell features two Shropshire farms acting as an allegory for American slavery - White Acre Farm being the abolitionist Northern United States, and Black Acre Farm being the slaveholding Southern United States.
  • Tolkien's the Shire is thought to correspond to the West Midlands region of England, including Shropshire, as argued by Tom Shippey.
  • The county has also appeared in film: the 1984 film version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was filmed in Shrewsbury. Appearances in television have included the county being used as a setting in both Coronation Streetmarker, the ITV1 soap; and also in the BBC's The Fast Show, for a Ted and Ralph special. The 1985 television programme Blott on the Landscape was filmed mainly in South Shropshire, notably in Ludlow. The 2005 sit-com The Green Green Grass is set in Shropshire and is filmed near Bridgnorth. Deduce, You Say is a 1956 Warner Bros. cartoon short of the Looney Tunes series, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, with musical arrangements by Milt Franklyn. It features Daffy Duck as the dim-witted detective Dorlock Homes (a parody of Sherlock Holmes) and Porky Pig as his sidekick Watkins (based on Dr. Watson), as they attempt to locate and apprehend the dangerous "Shropshire Slasher". Australian soap Home and Away was filmed in and around Ironbridge during the late 1990s, when several characters ventured to England.
  • Shrewsbury Abbeymarker of Shropshire features in the Cadfael Mysteries; Brother Cadfael is a member of the community at the Abbey.
  • In music, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote "On Wenlock Edge" in 1907.
  • Shropshire has also been mentioned in the American sitcom Friends. In the episode "The One with Joey's Dirty Day", Rachel's British boss says to her "My niece, you see, is in town from London. Well, Shropshire really, but you know."
  • In 2008, Müller released a new advert featuring their Shropshire-based factory, using 'Ain't Got No, I Got Life' by Nina Simone as musical score, and emphasising the closeness of supply from the surrounding area of its factory in Market Draytonmarker ("24 hours from farm to yoghurt").
  • In the novel A Room With a View, Charlotte Bartlett states that the romantic Italian landscape reminds her of the country around Shropshire, where she once spent a holiday at the home of her friend Miss Apesbury.
  • In series two of British comedy Green Wing, after assisting him to burn a corpse and and a motorhome, the character Joanna declares to Dr. Statham that they need to go somewhere where no-one would think of looking. One of Statham's suggestions is Oswestrymarker.
  • In the Irene Adler series of books by Carole Nelson Douglas, the character Penelope (Nell) Huxleigh was raised by her parson father in Shropshire.


Sport

Hawkstone Motocross Circuit.
There are a significant number of sporting clubs and facilities in Shropshire, many of which are found in Shrewsbury and Telford in addition to a number of clubs found locally throughout the county. Shropshire is home to a variety of established amateur, semi-pro and professional sports clubs.

The county is home to one of five National Sports Centres. Situated at Lilleshall Hallmarker just outside Newportmarker in Lilleshallmarker, this is where the 1966 England National football team trained for two weeks prior to their success in the World Cup of 1966

Some of the main football clubs in the county include Shrewsbury Town Football Club, AFC Telford United Football Club and The New Saints Football Club in Oswestrymarker. A former football club is Telford United Football Club. The county has one American football team, Shropshire Revolution, which was founded in 2006, and is a club in the British American Football League. Former teams in the county have included the Wrekin Giants, which ran from 1985 to 1989 and the Shropshire Giants which ran in 1989. Shropshire has a number of rugby clubs, including Newport Rugby Union Football Club, the highest-leveled team in the county, playing in the National League 3 Midlands.
The area also has a rich motorsports heritage, with the Loton Park Hillclimbmarker and Hawkstone Park Motocross Circuitmarker situated near Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury Motocross Club has staged motocross events in the area for over 30 years. There is additionally an ice hockey club in the county, the Telford Tigersmarker.

Also every four years there is the Shropshire Star Newport Nocturne, which is Britain's only floodlit cycle race.

See also



References

  1. Blandings: English Counties - broken link
  2. SHROPS - What does SHROPS stand for? Acronyms and abbreviations by the Free Online Dictionary
  3. http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/factsfigures.nsf/viewAttachments/SSER-7U2EJQ/$file/m03-005-key-facts-about-Shropshire.pdf
  4. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/downloads/UK_LADUACty.pdf statics.gov website
  5. Shrewsbury - Tourist Information & Accommodation for Shrewsbury, Shropshire
  6. Wrexham & Shropshire :: Telford
  7. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/371 Ironbridge Page on UNESCO World Heritage website
  8. BBC - Shropshire - Features - Industrial Archeology
  9. Shropshire Hills AONB
  10. shropshirerocks.org: The Wrekin & The Ercall
  11. shropshirerocks.org: Brown Clee Hill
  12. shropshirerocks.org: The Stiperstones
  13. shropshirerocks.org: The Long Mynd
  14. shropshirerocks.org: Wenlock Edge
  15. Shropshire Council
  16. http://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/plantlife-discovering-plants-county-flowers-england-shropshire.htm website
  17. 1911encyclopedia.org Article on Shropshire
  18. http://www.britannica.com
  19. http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/shropshire/Ludlow_Castle.html
  20. Shrewsbury Museums Service - Shrewsbury Castle & The Shropshire Regimental Museum
  21. Secret Shropshire
  22. Climate in Wales
  23. About Shropshire Calverhall Village
  24. County's name change colonel dies BBC News
  25. Vision of Britain - Ancient county boundaries
  26. http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/factsfigures.nsf/viewAttachments/SSER-7U2EJQ/$file/m03-005-key-facts-about-Shropshire.pdf page 2
  27. http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/news/election/ BBC Shropshire website Retrieved 10 September, 2007
  28. National Statistics Bridgnorth district parishes
  29. Shrewsbury and Newport Canal Trust
  30. Shropshire Routes to Roots | Sources and collections | Trade directories
  31. The new town of Telford officially contains the market town of Wellington. However, for the purposes of showing spacial town dispersion and generally where the most populated areas are (on the map), Wellington is listed separately. The Telford population figure still includes the population of Wellington.
  32. http://www.discovershropshire.org.uk
  33. Shropshire Towns - Towns in Shropshire, Shrewsbury, Ironbridge, Ludlow, Bridgnorth, Oswestry
  34. http://www.british-towns.net/en/level_2_display_ByL1.asp?GetL1=142 'Gateway to Wales'
  35. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldhansrd/text/90720-0002.htm
  36. http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/06/17/call-to-reopen-railway-line/
  37. Telford Shopping Centre
  38. Darwin Shopping Centre
  39. Müller | Faqs
  40. RAF - Stations
  41. PDSA - Contact Us
  42. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
  43. includes hunting and forestry
  44. includes energy and construction
  45. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
  46. GCSE: Top comprehensive schools - The Times
  47. Defra UK; ERDP - West Midlands ERDP Regional Chapter
  48. Cadfael Literature/ITV.com Cadfael Classic TV Profile http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/crime/Cadfael/default.html


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