The south-west and far west of the county are upland. TheShropshire Hills occupy most of the south-west and include theStiperstones,Clee Hills,Long Mynd plateau, and theWenlock Edge escarpment. Together withthe Wrekin, which stands isolated to the west of Telford, they have been designated anational landscape.[5][6] To their west is the uplandClun Forest, and in the far north-west of the county are theOswestry uplands.[7][8] The north of the county is a plain,[9] and the far north containsWhixall Moss, part of anational nature reserve.[10] The south-east is asandstone plateau which forms part of the catchment of theSevern, the county's major river;[11] it enters Shropshire in the west and flows through Shrewsbury before turning south-east and exiting into Worcestershire south of Bridgnorth.
Evidence ofNeolithic occupation of a religious form dating back before 2,000 BC, was discovered in 2017 in the grounds of a church, the medieval Church of the Holy Fathers inSutton, Shrewsbury, making it Britain's oldest place of worship.[18]
TheShropshire bulla ("bulla" is Medieval Latin for "a round seal", Classical Latin for "bubble, blob", plural bullae), also known as the Shropshire sun pendant, is a Late Bronze Age gold pendant found by a metal detectorist in 2018 in Shropshire.[19] AtMitchell's Fold there is a Bronze Age stone circle set in dramatic moorland onStapeley Hill.[20]
The area was once part of the lands of theCornovii, which consisted of the modern day counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, north Staffordshire, north Herefordshire, and eastern parts of Powys. This was a tribalCelticIron Age kingdom. Their capital in pre-Roman times was probably ahill fort onthe Wrekin. There is an important Iron Age Hill fort atOld Oswestry earthworks, this has been linked to whereKing Arthur’sGuinevere was born and called "theStonehenge of the Iron Age."[21]
Ruins ofViroconium bath house, (location now known as Wroxeter). This was once the 4th largest city in Roman Britain.
According to tradition,Caracticus made his last stand against the Romans in Shropshire.[22]Ptolemy's 2nd centuryGeography names one of their towns as beingViroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter), which became their capital underRoman 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 WelshKingdom of Powys; known in Welsh poetry as theParadise of Powys.
As 'Caer Guricon' it is a possible Shrewsbury was the site of the seat of theKingdom of Powys in the Early Middle Ages. This would date establishment of the town to the 500s CE underBrochwel Ysgithrog.[23][24] It is believed the area of Shrewsbury was settled in the 5th century by refugees from the nearby Roman City ofViroconium Cornoviorum, most physical evidence dates from the 7th century.[25]
Oswestry saw conflict in the early mediaeval period and is traditionally suspected to be the site of theBattle of Maserfield, whereOswald of Northumbria was defeated and killed by the forces of King Penda in 641 or 642 CE. Oswald was later regarded as a saint, withBede saying that the spot where he died came to be associated withmiracles, and people took dirt from the site, which led to a hole being dug as deep as a man's height.[26]
Around 680 CEMerewalh, a son of King Penda, founded a dual monastery for both monks and nuns at Much Wenlock.[27] One of his daughters,Milburga, went on to be appointed as its second abbess, and later was canonised with the site of her bones becoming a popular pilgrimage destination, with the modern pilgrimage route of the Abbesses' Way running from Wenlock Priory to Shrewsbury.[28]
King Offa ofMercia annexed the entirety of Shropshire over the course of the 8th century from Powys, with Shrewsbury captured in 778, withtwo dykes built to defend, or at least demarcate it from the Welsh.[29] King Offa converted the palace of the rulers of Powys into his first church, dedicated toSt Chad (a foundation that still survives in the town and operated on that initial site for over 1000 years, moving in 1792).[30]
Section ofOffa's Dyke near the Shropshire town ofClun, constructed after the Saxon annexation of the area in the 8th century AD
In later centuries,Vikings repeatedly invaded, with Wenlock Priory being destroyed in 874. To protect against this threat, fortresses were built atBridgnorth (912) andChirbury (913).[31]
In 914,[32][33][a]Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, fortified Shrewsbury, along with two other fortresses, atScergeat (a currently unknown location) andWeardbyrig,[b] Viking rides from the north traveling south were reachingBridgnorth at this time (910CE).[35] In the early tenth century, the relics ofSt Alkmund were translated to Whitchurch, this was also probably the work of Æthelflæd.[36]
There is evidence to show that by the beginning of the 900s, Shrewsbury was home to amint.[37]
Archaeological excavations at the site of Shrewsbury castle in 2019 have indicated that the castle itself may have been a fortified site in the time of the Saxons.[38]
After theNorman conquest in 1066, major estates in Shropshire were granted to Normans, includingRoger de Montgomerie and later his sonRobert de Bellême, who ordered significant constructions, particularly in Shrewsbury, the town of which he wasEarl.[39]
Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, includingLudlow Castle[40] andShrewsbury Castle.[41]
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 theDiocese of Hereford and that ofCoventry and Lichfield. Some parishes in the north-west of the county in later times fell under theDiocese of St. Asaph until thedisestablishment of theChurch in Wales in 1920, when they were ceded to the Lichfield diocese.[42]
The county was a central part of theWelsh Marches during the medieval period and was often embroiled in the power struggles between powerfulMarcher Lords, theEarls of March and successive monarchs.[43]
Ludlow Castle: one of the seats of the Council of the Marches, and a long-term focus of the court around successive Princes of Wales
From 1457,King Henry VI created for his son,Prince Edward, a Council to rule Wales and the Marches,Cheshire, andCornwall, which became the Council of the Marches.[44] Shropshire was governed via this council for several centuries.
According to historianJohn Davies, at its peak under SirHenry Sidney and for a period thereafter the Council:
represented a remarkable experiment in regional government. It administered the law cheaply and rapidly; it dealt with up to twenty cases a day andGeorge Owen stated that the 'oppressed poor' flocked to it.[45]
During theEnglish Civil War, Shropshire was aRoyalist stronghold, under the command of SirFrancis Ottley.[46] In the autumn of 1642,Charles I had a temporary capital at Shrewsbury, though he immediately moved to Oxford after the events of the Battle ofWem.[citation needed]Prince Rupert established his headquarters in the town on 18 February 1644, being welcomed by Shrewsbury's aldermen.[47][48]
In this period the county was also associated in divers places and ways with Arthurian legends, for instance at Hawkstone, where there is a legend that one of the caves of Hawkstone Park was the burial ground ofKing Arthur,[58] and the Arthurian story of the giants Tarquin and Tarquinus[59] is located, orWhittington Castle and linked to the Holy Grail since the 13th century.[60]Old Oswestry has been identified as a possible home of Guinevere.[61]Ludlow Castle site features heavily in the folk-story ofFulk FitzWarin, outlawed Lord ofWhittington, Shropshire and a possible inspiration for theRobin Hood legend.[62]
Parts of Shropshire in the ancient Forest of Arden
Parts of Shropshire are inside the ancientForest of Arden,[63] which was the part if theEnglish Midlands, that in antiquity and into the Early Modern Period was bounded by the Roman roads including to the North by theWatling Street and to the west by Wales. This forest was the Setting of Shakespeare'sAs You Like It,[64][65] and that play is acknowledged to potentially be a cultural monument toSir Rowland Hill, a prominent Tudor statesman and publisher of theGeneva Bible from the county.[66]
Shropshire was the original seat of prominence of the Cotton family who held theCotton Library before it was taken to found the British Library.[67]
The poetA. E. Housman used Shropshire as the setting for many of the poems in his first book,A Shropshire Lad.[69] Moreover, many ofMalcolm Saville's children's books are set in Shropshire. Additionally,D. H. Lawrence's novella,St. Mawr, is partially set in the Stiperstones area ofSouth Shropshire.[70]. TheClark Tracey Quintet, commissioned byJohn C. Williams’ Leasowes Bank Music Festival in Ratlinghope, recorded in 1987 the jazz album Stiperstones, inspired by the south Shropshire landscape.
Mary Webb is remembered with a bust in Shrewsbury.
The early 20th century novelist and poetMary Webb was born in Shropshire and lived most of her life there, and all her novels are set there, most notablyPrecious Bane, with its powerful evocation of the Shropshire countryside.[71] Aschool inPontesbury bears her name.
Shropshire is widely believed to have been an influence forJ. R. R. Tolkien's landscape ofthe Shire inThe Lord of the Rings. Specifically, the Wrekin (as The Lonely Mountain) and Ellesmere (as Laketown) are said to have inspired the English fantasy writer.[72][73][74][75]
A surviving 1679 arbour in Shrewsbury (that of the Shoemakers Guild). Originally there were many of these for pageantry and performance in Kingsland.
Prior to theReformation, there are accounts of major festivals in the county.[85] The "first flowerings of English drama" in the Tudor period are considered to be in the town, according to the 18th centuryPoet laureate and scholarThomas Warton.Whitsuntide and mystery plays were performed in the founding years ofShrewsbury School underThomas Ashton; they attracted the attention ofQueen Elizabeth I.[86] Later this was expressed in the many arbours built in Shrewsbury for that town's particular tradition of pageantry and performance.[85]
William Wycherley was born atClive near Shrewsbury, although his birthplace has been said to be Trench Farm to the north near Wem later the birthplace of another writer,John Ireland, who was said to have been adopted by Wycherley's widow following the death of Ireland's parents.[91]
The playwrightGeorge Farquhar's 1706 playThe Recruiting Officer is set in Shrewsbury.[92]
A Collection of Ball-dances Perform'd at Court; all compos'd by Mr. Isaac, and writ down in characters, by John Weaver, dancing-master (1706)
The "father of English ballet",[93] as well as the originator of pantomime,[94]John Weaver, developed his art in Shrewsbury. A second generation dancing master in the town,[95] he founded English ballet, founded pantomime, and wrote on the philosophy, theology, statecraft and biology embedded in his era's understating of dance. Later in life he came to publish on the subject of dance, which he located in a wider understanding of his culture as representing a component ofPtolemaicharmony and an earnest part of the statecraft of his time.[96]
Inigo Jones was active in the county at the beginning of his career as an architect.
The first known architectural project ofInigo Jones is the Cotton monument in the Church of St Chad,Norton-in-Hales.[97]
There are a number of important buildings in the county.[98] The world's first iron-framed building was built in Shrewsbury at theFlaxmill Maltings: the techniques pioneered in that building were necessary preconditions forskyscrapers.
A rare Anglo-Saxon hall, which was a high status building from the Anglo Saxon period, and possibly a feasting hall or palace, was excavated at nearbyAttingham in 2018; the dating window is between 400 AD and 1066.[101]
The 1984 film version of Charles Dickens'A Christmas Carol was filmed in Shrewsbury. The 2005 sitcomThe Green Green Grass is set in Shropshire and was filmed near Ludlow.[76]
The 2007 filmAtonement was partly filmed in the county.[102]
The 2023 BBC adaptation ofBleak House was filmed partly in Shropshire.[103]
erminois, threepileazure, two issuant from the chief and one in base, each charged with aleopard's face
The arms were officially granted on 18 June 1896 and continued by the new authority in 2009.[104]
The heads are often referred to as "the loggerheads". This is thought to originate from the practice of carving a leopard head as amotif on the head of the log used as abattering ram.[105]
The Shropshire county flag is a banner of arms taken from its coat of arms. It was registered with theFlag Institute in March 2012.[106] It shows threeleopard heads ('loggerheads') on a gold and blue background.
The origin of the name is theOld EnglishScrobbesbyrigscīr, meaning "Shrewsburyshire", "the shire of the fortified place in the scrublands" (or "shrubs", the modern derivative). Salop is an old name for Shropshire, historically used as an abbreviated form for post or telegrams; it is thought to derive from the Anglo-French "Salopesberia".
It is nowadays normally replaced by Shrops, although Shropshire residents are still referred to as Salopians.[113]
Salop is also an alternative name for the county town, Shrewsbury,[113] which shares the mottoFloreat Salopia.
When acounty council for the county was first established in 1889, it was called Salop County Council.[114] Following theLocal Government Act 1972, Salop became the official name of the county. The name was not well-regarded locally,[115] and a subsequent campaign led by a local councillor, John Kenyon, succeeded in having both the county and council renamed as Shropshire in 1980.[116] This took effect from 1 April of that year.[117]
The border with Wales was defined in the 16th century – thehundreds of Oswestry (includingOswestry town) and Pimhill (includingWem) and part ofChirbury had prior to theLaws in Wales Act formed various Lordships in theWelsh Marches.
Hand-drawn map of Shropshire by Christopher Saxton from 1577
The present day ceremonial county boundary is almost the same as the historic one. Notably there has been the removal of severalexclaves andenclaves. The largest of the exclaves wasHalesowen, which became part ofWorcestershire in 1844 (and is now part of theWest Midlands county), and the largest of the enclaves was Herefordshire'sFarlow 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 ofShifnal (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.[118]
Geographically, Shropshire is divisible into two distinct halves – north and south. The county has a highly diversegeology. TheWest Midlands Green Belt extends into eastern Shropshire, covering an area north fromHighley, to the east of Bridgnorth, north to the eastern side of Telford, leaving Shropshire eastwards alongside the A5. This encompasses Shifnal,Cosford andAlbrighton, and various other villages parallelingDudley and Wolverhampton.[119]
Wem, traditionally the headquarters of government in North Shropshire, and home to the North Shropshire District Council while in existence
The North Shropshire Plain is an extension of the flat and fertileCheshire Plain. It is here that most of the county's large towns, and population, are to be found.Shrewsbury at the centre,Oswestry to the north west,Whitchurch to the north,Market Drayton to the north east, andNewport 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. TheRiver Severn runs through the lower half of this area (from Wales in the west, eastwards), through Shrewsbury and down theIronbridge Gorge, before heading south toBridgnorth.
The area aroundOswestry has more rugged geography than the North Shropshire Plain and the western half is over an extension of theWrexham Coalfield and there are also copper deposits on the border withWales. Mining of stone and sandaggregates is still going on inMid-Shropshire, notably onHaughmond Hill, nearBayston Hill, and around the village ofCondover. Lead mining also took place atSnailbeach and theStiperstones, but this has now ceased. Other primary industries, such as forestry and fishing, are to be found too.
The Wrekin is a prominent geographical feature located near Wellington in the east of the county.
TheA5 andM54 run fromWolverhampton (to the east of the county) across to Telford, around Shrewsbury parallel to the line ofWatling Street, anancient 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, wasIronbridge Power Station.
The new town of Telford is built partly on a former industrial area centred on theEast 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 theIronbridge,Coalbrookdale,Broseley andJackfield area.Blists Hill museum and historical (Victorian era) village is a major tourist attraction as well as the Iron Bridge itself. In addition,Telford Steam Railway runs fromHorsehay.
St Leonard's Church is a prominent historical landmark in Bridgnorth.
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. Farming is more pastoral than the arable found in the north of the county. The only substantial towns areBridgnorth, with a population of around 12,000 people,Ludlow andChurch Stretton. TheShropshire Hills AONB is located in the south-west, covering an area of 810 km2 (312 sq mi); it forms the only specifically protected area of the county. Inside this area is the popularLong Mynd, a large plateau of 516 m (1,693 ft) overlookingChurch Stretton and to its west, the 536 metres (1,759 ft) rocky ridge ofStiperstones.
The skyline ofLudlow, one of south Shropshire's market towns, dominated by its sizeable castle and church
TheA49 is the main road through the area, running north to south, from Shrewsbury toHerefordshire. A railway line runs through the area on the same route as the A49 with stations at Church Stretton,Craven Arms and Ludlow. The steam heritageSevern Valley Railway runs from Bridgnorth into Worcestershire along theSevern Valley, terminating atKidderminster.
Because of its valley location and character, Church Stretton is sometimes called Little Switzerland,[120] and is depicted inLittle Switzerland. Nearby are the old mining and quarrying communities on theClee Hills, notable geological features in theOnny Valley andWenlock Edge and fertile farmland inCorve Dale. TheRiver Teme drains this part of the county, before flowing into Worcestershire to the south and joining the River Severn.
One of the Clee Hills, theBrown Clee Hill, is the county's highest peak at 540 m (1,770 ft).[121] It is the13th highestcounty top in England.
Harper Adams University, where on 10 January 1982 the lowest temperature ever in England was recorded
Theclimate of Shropshire is moderate. Rainfall averages 760 to 1,000 mm (30 to 40 in), influenced by being in therainshadow of theCambrian Mountains from warm, moistfrontal systems of the Atlantic Ocean which bring generally light precipitation in Autumn and Spring.[123] 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 theWelsh Marches andMid-Wales. The flat northern plain in the north and east has a similar climate to that of the rest of theWest Midlands.
Being rural and inland, temperatures can fall more dramatically on clear winter nights than in many other parts of England. It was atHarper Adams University, inEdgmond, where on 10 January 1982 the lowest temperature weather record for England was broken (and is kept to this day): −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F).
The only major Met Office weather station in the county is located atShawbury, which is in the north, betweenShrewsbury andMarket Drayton.
Shropshire has a huge range of different types of rocks, stretching from thePrecambrian until theHolocene. In the northern part of the county there are examples ofJurassic,Carboniferous,Permian andTriassic. Centrally, Precambrian,Cambrian,Ordovician, Carboniferous and Permian predominate. And in the south it is predominantlySilurian andQuaternary. Shropshire has a number of areas with Silurian and Ordovician rocks, where a number ofshells,corals andtrilobites can be found. Mortimer Forest and Wenlock Edge are examples where a number offossils can be found.
ForEurostat purposes, the county (less the unitary district ofTelford and Wrekin) is aNUTS 3 region (code UKG22). The two Shropshire unitary areas (covering all of the ceremonial county), together with the authorities covering the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region.
Shropshire has nocities, but 22 towns, of which two can be considered major.Telford is the largest town in the county with a population of 138,241 (which is approximately 30% of the total Salopian populace); whereas thecounty town ofShrewsbury has a lower, but still sizeable population of 71,715 (15%). The other sizeable towns areOswestry,Bridgnorth,Newport andLudlow. The historic town ofWellington now makes up part of the Telford conurbation. The majority of the other settlements can be classed as villages or towns such asMuch Wenlock orWhitchurch. Several villages have larger populations than the smallest town,Clun. The largest of these,Bayston Hill, is the 10th most populous settlement in the county. The names of several villages close to the border are ofWelsh origin, such asGobowen andSelattyn.
The larger settlements are primarily concentrated in a central belt that roughly follows theA5/M54 roadway. Other settlements are concentrated on rivers, for example Bridgnorth andIronbridge on the Severn, or Ludlow on the Teme, as these waterways were historically vital for trade and a supply of water.[127]
The town ofTelford was created by the merger and expansion of older, small towns to the north and east ofThe Wrekin. These towns now have sizeable populations that now make up the population of Telford:Wellington (20,430),[128]Madeley (17,935),[129]Dawley (11,399)[130] andOakengates (8,517),[131][132] but the Telford and Wrekin borough towns incentive aims to make Oakengates into the largest of the towns.[133]
The county has fiveparliamentary constituencies. In the July 2024 General Election, two returned Conservative MPS, two Labour and one Liberal Democrat.
At the 2005 general election, four returned Conservative MPs, Telford, returned a Labour MP. This was a marked change from the 2001 general election result, where the county returned only one Conservative, three Labour and a Liberal Democrat MP to the House of Commons (see maps to the right) (Labour = Red, Conservatives = Blue andLiberal Democrats = Orange).
The current MPs of Shropshire, following the 2024 General Election, are:
Stuart Anderson, Conservative,South Shropshire (covering the formerLudlow and (the majority of) Bridgnorth districts; now co-extensive with the South area committee except for the part covered by The Wrekin constituency)
Mark Pritchard, Conservative,The Wrekin (coveringTelford and Wrekin borough, minus Telford, and including a small area of the former Bridgnorth district/South area committee)
Most of theceremonial county of Shropshire is covered for purposes of local government byShropshire Council, aunitary authority established in 2009.Telford and Wrekin is a unitary authority, withborough status, which forms part of the county for various functions such asLord Lieutenant but is a separate local authority from Shropshire Council. Many services are shared by both authorities, such as thefire and rescue service, and the two authorities co-operate on some projects such as mapping flood risk.
The new unitary authority for Shropshire,Shropshire Council, divides the county into three areas, each with its ownarea committee: North, Central and South. These area committees deal with town and country planning matters.
With the parishing of the formerlyunparished area of Shrewsbury in 2008, the entire ceremonial county is nowparished. 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, whilstBoscobel is the smallest parish in Shropshire by geographical area and by population, with just 12 residents according to the 2001 census.[135] The smaller parishes (with populations of less than 200) usually have a jointparish council with one or more neighbouring parishes, or in some instances, have aparish meeting (such as inSibdon Carwood). The urban area of Telford is divided into many parishes, each covering a particular suburb, some of which are historic villages or towns (such asMadeley). The parish remains an important sub-division and tier of local government in both unitary authority areas of Shropshire.
The ceremonial county prior to the 2009 local government restructuring, with just Telford & Wrekin as a unitary authority (shown yellow)
In 1974 thenon-metropolitan county of Salop was constituted, covering the entire county. After a local campaign, the council voted 48-5 to revert to Shropshire from 1 April 1980.[136] There was a two-tier system of local government, constituting acounty council (as the upper tier) and sixdistrict councils –Bridgnorth,North Shropshire,Oswestry,Shrewsbury and Atcham,South Shropshire andThe Wrekin. In 1998 The Wrekin became aunitary 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.
In 2006 a local government white paper supported proposals for newunitary authorities to be set up in England in certain areas. Existingnon-metropolitan counties with small populations, such asCornwall, Northumberland 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 three 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 theDCLG and 1 April 2009 was set as the date for the re-organisation to take place. The first elections to Shropshire Council took place on 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 includeparishing and establishing atown council for Shrewsbury. The parish was created on 13 May 2008 and is the second most populouscivil parish in England (onlyWeston-super-Mare has a greater population) with a population of over 70,000.
Shropshire Council was under Conservative control from the first election held in 2009 until that of 2025, when theLiberal Democrats took control;Telford and Wrekin Council has been underLabour control since 2011.
Shrewsbury's town centre contains the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside shopping centres, as well as more traditional historic retail areas.Telford Plaza inTelford Town Centre
Traditionally, agriculture has dominated the economy of Shropshire.[137] The area later became more service-oriented. The county town ofShrewsbury, the historic castle-dominatedLudlow, theInternational Olympic Movement's reputed birthplaceMuch Wenlock and the industrial birthplace ofIronbridge Gorge are the foremosttourist areas in Shropshire,[138] along with the restored canal-network which provides narrowboat holidays on theShropshire Union Canal and other canals in the region. The natural beauty of the county draws people to all areas. In 2024, Shropshire was listed on the ABTA's list of global destinations to watch for its 'beautiful landscapes, towns and villages'.[139]
Industry is mostly found inTelford,Oswestry,Whitchurch,Market Drayton and Shrewsbury, though small industrial estates have developed in most of the market towns as well as on former airfields in rural areas. In towns such as Whitchurch, much of the high street is predominantly composed of small independent business which specialise in handmade items or antiques. Shrewsbury is becoming[when?] a centre for distribution and warehousing, as it is located on a nodal point of the regional road-network.[140][141]
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 Centre.[143] Shrewsbury also has two medium-sized shopping centres, the indoor "Pride Hill" and"Darwin" centres (both located on Pride Hill),[144] and (prior to its demolition in 2024) a smaller, partially covered, "Riverside Mall". Shrewsbury's location as the nearest substantial town for those in a large area ofmid-Wales helps it draw in considerable numbers of shoppers, notably on Saturdays.
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,[148] with figures in millions of Britishpounds sterling.
The Shropshire Council area has a completelycomprehensive education system, whilst in the borough of Telford and Wrekin there are two selective schools, both of which are located inNewport—these are theHaberdashers' Adams School andNewport Girls' High School (both of which are ranked within the top thirty schools in the country). In Telford itself is theThomas Telford School, ranked as one of the best comprehensive schools in England.[153]
There are also two institutions of higher education in Shropshire, the Telford campus of theUniversity of Wolverhampton and inEdgmond, near Newport,Harper Adams University, which formerly offered mostly agriculture-based degrees but is expanding its range of provision. A third higher education institution was created in Shrewsbury in 2015, which is a campus of theUniversity of Chester.[155]
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 transport hub is Shrewsbury, through which many significant roads and railways pass and join.
Major roads in the county include theM54 motorway, which connects Shropshire to the rest of the motorway network, and more specifically to theWest Midlands county. TheA5 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–southA49, theA53 and theA41.
Charles Darwin, 1854Clive of India statue in Shrewsbury's SquareCaptain Matthew Webb, 1883Wilfred Owen, 1920 plateWilliam Penny Brookes, 1875Sir Rowland Hill, coordinator of the Geneva Bible and possible inspiration forAs You Like It, was from the county.
There are a significant number of sporting clubs and facilities in Shropshire, many of which are found inShrewsbury andTelford 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.
There are numerous semi-professional football clubs in the lower leagues. Along with this, in the lower tiers, Salopian clubs use the unofficial derby name 'El Shropico' when playing teams from the county, first used for a game betweenMarket Drayton Town andShawbury United in August 2016, who started the El Shropico name, which has since been used also by Whitchurch Alport & Shifnal Town. Thegoverning body in the county is theShropshire Football Association, who organise a number of county-wide cup competitions, including theShropshire Senior Cup. In 2020 theShropshire County Football League was created, replacing theShropshire Premier League. As of the 2025–26 football season[update] the following Shropshire clubs play in these English leagues (the highest team of each club shown only):
The historicWenlock Olympian Society Annual Games (begun 1850) are held annually inMuch Wenlock during the second weekend in July. A four-day festival, the Games include cricket, volleyball, tennis, bowls, badminton, triathlon, 10k road race, track and field events, archery, five-a-side football, veteran cycle events, clay pigeon shooting and a golf competition.
The countyhas a number of private and publicgolf courses, including theChurch Stretton Golf Club, situated on the slopes of theLong Mynd. It is the oldest 18-hole golf course in Shropshire, opened in 1898, and one of the highest in the United Kingdom. There is one notable horse racingracecourse in Shropshire, near Ludlow, theLudlow Racecourse.
One of the biggest one-day events in Shropshire and the biggest one-day cycle race in the UK is theShropshire Star Newport Nocturne, founded 1970; held every four years, it is Britain's only floodlit cycle race.[165]
^Clarkson, Tim (2018).Æthelflæd: The Lady of the Mercians. Edinburgh, UK: John Donald.ISBN978-1-910900-16-1.
^abMatthew Blake and Andrew Sargent (2018).'For the Protection of all the People': Æthelflæd and her Burhs in Northwest Mercia. Keele University.
^Meijns, Brigitte (2010). "The Policy on Relic Translations of Baldwin II of Flanders (879–918), Edward of Wessex (899–924), and Æthelflæd of Mercia (d.924): A Key to Anglo-Flemish Relations". In Rollason, David; Leyser, Conrad; Williams, Hannah (eds.).England and the Continent in the Tenth Century. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. p. 476.ISBN9782503532080.
^Lambert, Tim."Saxon and Medieval Shrewsbury".A Short History of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. A World History Encyclopaedia.Archived from the original on 15 March 2012.
^Saint Erkenwald, edited by Clifford Peterson (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977), pp. 23–6.
^Friedrich Knigge,Die Sprache des Dichters von "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", der sogenannten "Early English Alliterative Poems"", und de "Erkenwalde" (Marburg: Elwert, 1885), pp. 118–20.
^Saint Erkenwald, edited by Clifford Peterson (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977), pp. 23–4.
^"Forest of Arden". 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved8 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Cadfael Literature/ITV.com Cadfael Classic TV Profile"Archived copy". Archived fromthe original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved21 August 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^abWodehouse, Pelham Grenville; appendices by Richard Usborne; ill. by Ionicus (1977).Sunset at Blandings. London: Chatto & Windus. p. 195.ISBN0701122374.
^Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (28 November 2006).Buy Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. Harper Collins.ISBN978-0060853983.
^An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire, pp.31-32, 94.
^Besant, Sir Walter (1904).London in the Time of the Tudors. Adam and Charles Black.
^"John Weaver".Oxford Reference. Retrieved11 March 2023.
^Lee, Sidney, ed. (1885–1900).Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 60. Smith, Elder and Co., London. p. 91.Article by William George Dimock Fletcher.
^Williams, Ann (2003).Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King. London: Hambeldon & London. pp. 77–78.ISBN1-85285-382-4.
^ab"Shropshire County Council".Shropshirehistory.com. Archived fromthe original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved2 September 2018.The term Salopian, derived from Salop, is still used to mean 'from Shropshire' and Salop can also mean the county town of Shrewsbury.
^"Shropshire County Council".Shropshirehistory.com. Archived fromthe original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved2 September 2018.One of the reasons why Salop was unpopular was the fact that if you add the letter "E" and make it "Salope", this is a French word and means "B*tch or Loose Woman".
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