Shropshire
| Shropshire | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | England |
| Borders | Cheshire Denbighshire Flintshire Herefordshire Montgomeryshire Radnorshire Staffordshire Worcestershire |
Shropshire, or the County of Salop (abbreviated Salop or Shrops.), is a county of western England, on the border with Wales. Forming a part of the historic Welsh Marches region, it borders Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire and Herefordshire to the south, bordering the Welsh counties of Radnorshire to the south west, Montgomeryshire to the west and Denbighshire to the north west. It is largely agricultural. The county town is the historic town of Shrewsbury. The largest town by urban area in Shropshire is Telford, a new town and the only settlement in Shropshire with a population of over 100,000. Just south of that lies Ironbridge, named for the world's first cast-iron bridge over the River Severn built in 1779, which partly confirmed Shropshire as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. Other notable towns include Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Oswestry and Whitchurch.
The traditional county is broadly co-extensive with the combined area of two council areas (see section); both of which form a part of the West Midlands statistical region.
The motto for Shropshire is "Floreat Salopia" (Latin: "let Shropshire flourish").[1]
Contents
Name
The name Shropshire is derived from Old English Scrobbesbyrigscir, literally meaning "Shrewsbury-shire".
Both the county and its county town Shrewsbury are known in Latin as Salopia, which spawned the English alternative name for the county, Salop. Salopia ultimately derives from the Old French (brought to England in 1066 AD following the Norman conquest) name for Shrewsbury, which was Salopesberie.
In Welsh, the county is known as Sir Amwythig, a calque of the English name (with Shrewsbury being known as Amwythig in Welsh).
History
Evidence for Bronze Age (c. 3300 – c. 1200 BC) activity in present-day Shropshire includes stone circles such as Mitchell's Fold on Stapeley Hill, within the parish of Chirbury and Brompton.
The lands that would become Shropshire lay at the heart of the territory of the Brittonic Celtic tribe the Cornovii, according to Ptolemy's Geography of c. 100 AD; a tribe whose territory comprised parts of the modern West Midlands, North West England and north-east Wales. The tribe's capital is thought to have been at The Wrekin.
Following the end of Roman administration in Great Britain in the early 5th century, present-day Shropshire may have formed a part of the neo-Brittonic Kingdom of Powys, but the immediately post-Roman era of British history is obscure, so this is far from certain.
Britain was settled by, and came under political dominance from, Germanic-speaking peoples from present-day Germany and Denmark in the early-mid 5th century. Cheshire, much of Shropshire and northern Wales formed a part of the territory of the Wreocensæte (an Old English name meaning "Wrekin-dwellers"), a people of early Anglo-Saxon England. The territory had been absorbed by the Anglian kingdom Mercia in the time of King Offa (reigned 757-796 AD). It is likely that, around this time, Shrewsbury was established as a fortified burh.
In the early 10th century, much of Mercia was conquered by Edward the Elder of the House of Wessex. At an uncertain date, Mercia was divided into shires (which would form the basis of many traditional counties), with Shropshire being the sole Mercian shire to not derive its name from its principal town.
Following the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and subsequent Norman conquest of England, the main estates in Shropshire were bestowed upon Norman landowners, the most notable being Roger de Montgomery, the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, a title which still exists in the 21st century and one of the oldest extant peerages.
The Black Death bubonic plague pandemic reached Shropshire in c. 1349 and the village of Nash (near Wrockwardine, approximately 2 miles north of the Wrekin) was apparently wiped out in its entirety; the 1349 manorial income for Nash states that the village was unable to pay any tax because "because the inhabitants are dead".
At the beginning of the English Civil War (1642-1651), Shropshire was a primarily royalist county and was of critical strategic importance; it was a gateway to royalist Wales, the north-western counties and thereby the port links with Ireland. Many parts of Shropshire would be captured by the Parliamentarians, starting with Wem, which was garrisoned by Parliament in September 1643 and Tong Castle (near Shifnal) on 28 December that same year. One of the few castles held by Parliament initially was Hopton, which was seized by Royalists on 13 March 1644. By 9 July 1646, the final Royalist garrison in Shropshire at Ludlow surrendered to Parliament.
In the mid-late 18th century, Shropshire arguably became the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. This is in part due to the county being the "geological capital" of the UK, as almost every rock type in northern Europe is found within the county, as are deposits such as coal, lead, copper and iron ore. The Iron Bridge which lends its name to the nearby village of Ironbridge and Ironbridge Gorge was constructed on the River Severn in 1779 was the first bridge made entirely of cast iron in the world. The bridge was built to link Broseley, which had emerged as an industrial centre in 1709, with the coal mining village of Madeley and the growing industrial centre of Coalbrookdale. In addition, the River Severn has long been used for the transport of goods by boat. The first iron-framed building was the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings which, completed in 1797, is credited as a forerunner to modern skyscrapers.
The modern Olympics, first held in Athens, Greece in 1896, had its roots in the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock in the 1850s. William Penny Brookes (1809-1895) established what would become the Much Wenlock Olympian Society in 1850. The hope was to introduce miners from nearby Ironbridge to the benefits of sporting competition. The games hosted at Much Wenlock are considered a key forerunner to the revival of the Olympics; whilst the Parisian Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) is generally credited for the revival of the games, de Coubertin had visited Much Wenlock in 1890 and taken influence from its example.[2] When the 2012 Olympic games were held in London, its mascot was named Wenlock after the Shropshire town.
During World War II (1939-1945), Shropshire was not heavily bombed due to its lack of large settlements. However, Bridgnorth was notably bombed on 29 August 1940, with 2 deaths.[3] Shrewsbury experienced bombing on three nights in the same year; 1 and 26 September and 10 October. Shropshire was a common destination for evacuee children from larger cities. For example, in 1939, around 3,300 children and 900 mothers were evacuated from Birkenhead to Oswestry. RAF Atcham (around 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury) was primarily used during WWII by the US Air Force.
Detached
An exclave, over 15 miles to the east of Bridgnorth (the nearest town within the main body of Shropshire), of the county exists largely in the urban Black Country. The land, which consisted of the medieval manor of Hala, was gained from neighbouring Worcestershire. The principal settlement of the exclave is Halesowen.
Within that exclave exist several enclaves, including the settlements of Cradley and Lutley, which were still aligned with their original county Worcestershire. Warley is located partially within the exclave of Shropshire, and partially within an enclave of Worcestershire; the respective parts are historically referred to as Warley Salop and Warley Wigorn.
Administration
Much of the county proper is administered by two unitary authorities. Shropshire Council (although the traditional county is legally distinct from the council area), which covers by far the largest area, and Telford and Wrekin Council, whose area is smaller but more densely populated.
There is a county for the purposes of lieutenancy called Shropshire, comprising the two unitary authority areas above, with similar (but not identical) boundaries to the county proper (from which it is also legally distinct). Both the council area and the county for the purposes of lieutenancy in which "Shropshire" features in the name contain small areas of Cheshire, Herefordshire and Staffordshire, whilst a small area of Shropshire (namely the village of Heath) is under Hereford Council.
Between the years 1888 and 1974, the council that covered Shropshire was known as Salop County Council. The Salop County Council name was also used by the post-1974 council, which eventually became Shropshire County Council, until 1980.
Demographics
Religion
The county for the purposes of lieutenancy to which Shropshire lends its name was more Christian than the UK at large as of 2021, with around 53% of Salopians identifying as Christian as opposed to the nationwide figure of 46%.[4]
Language
Around 97% of Salopians identified English as their first language in 2021, compared to the UK average of 91%.
Shropshire, being a county of the Welsh Marches, historically had a significant Welsh-speaking population. As of 2021, 0.09% of residents in the Shropshire Council area identified their primary spoken language as Welsh (the joint-highest for any council area in England) as did 0.04% of residents in Telford and Wrekin.[5] In 2021, Welsh was the third most spoken first language in the Shropshire Council area after English and Polish (0.5%).
Transport
The county has only one motorway: the M54, which links Telford to Wolverhampton in Staffordshire and, via the M6 motorway, to Birmingham and the south of England. The A49 road forms a rural, north-south road across the county linkingv via Shrewsbury, Whitchurch in the north of the county to Warrington in Lancashire, and Ludlow in the south to Hereford and Leominster. Another major road in Shropshire is the A5 which, broadly following the Roman London-Holyhead road Walting Street, links Shropshire with North Wales and also serves traffic to Chester and Liverpool.
