Shropshire

Shropshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Borders	Cheshire Denbighshire Flintshire Herefordshire Montgomeryshire Radnorshire Staffordshire Worcestershire

Shropshire, sometimes known as Salop, is a county of western England, on the border with Wales and for statistical purposes classed as part of the West Midlands. 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, Montgommeryshire 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, just south of which 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 motto for Shropshire is "Floreat Salopia" (Latin: "let Shropshire flourish").

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).

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.

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.