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 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 motto for Shropshire is "Floreat Salopia" (Latin: "let Shropshire flourish").[1]
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
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.
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%.[2]
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.[3] 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.