Shropshire

Shropshire (pronounced ), alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated Shrops, is a in the  of. It borders to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties, with the population of the county  289,100 - making it the  in the. The borough of, included in Shropshire for ceremonial and geographical purposes, has been a unitary authority since 1998.

The is, which is culturally and historically the most important town in the area , although the  of , which was constructed around a number of older towns, is today the most populous. Other notable towns are, and. The area has become known as the. It is a, which covers ,  and a part of. There are additionally other notable historic industrial sites located around the county such as, and  as well as the.

The covers about a quarter of the county, mainly in the south. is one of the most famous natural landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the ,  and the. is another significant geographical and geological landmark, and the , 's longest river, runs through the county. Shropshire is landlocked, and with an area of 1,346 km2, is England's largest inland county.

Divisions and environs
The area under the control of the county council, or, is divided into five s. They are , , , and. is a unitary authority which forms part of the county for various functions such as but does not come under county council control. Oswestry, Shrewsbury & Atcham and Telford & Wrekin have the status of s. The county including Telford and Wrekin, the, borders , , Worcestershire, , and the of  and.

Local government reform
In a  supported proposals for new  to be set up in England in certain areas. Existing with small populations, such as,  and Shropshire, are favoured by the government to be covered by unitary authorities in one form or another (the county can either become a single unitary authority, or be broken into a number of unitary authorities). Existing unitary authority areas within these counties' (such as Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire) will not be affected and there will be no boundary changes.

Shropshire County Council, supported by South Shropshire District Council and Oswestry Borough Council, have proposed to the government that the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire become a single unitary authority (i.e. the would be abolished). The process would be similar to that of the in the early, when its districts were abolished, leaving a. The ceremonial county of Shropshire would therefore consist of two unitary authority areas - Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire. The new unitary authority of Shropshire would be one of the largest in England in terms of area.

There has been opposition to the proposals, on the grounds of loss of local democracy and abolishing councils rated as "excellent" or "good", chiefly from Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council. The proponents, however, feel that the move will save funds and allow the area to gain more regional prominence.

The proposal to create a Shropshire unitary authority, covering the area of the existing non-metropolitan county, is supported by the and April 2009 has been set as a target for the re-organisation to take place.

Part of the proposals include parishing and establishing a for the currently  of Shrewsbury. This would create one of the largest es in England, with a population of over 70,000.

History


The area now considered Shropshire was annexed to by King  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 and Chirbury.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, major estates in Shropshire were granted to Normans, including, who ordered significant constructions, particularly in Shrewsbury, the town of which he was. Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including and. 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 during the medieval period and was often embroiled in the power struggles between powerful Marcher Lords, the  and successive monarchs.

The county also contains a number of historically significant towns, including, and. Additionally, the area around in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the. The village of in Shropshire is the location of the lowest recorded temperature (in terms of weather) in England and Wales.

County extent
The border with Wales was defined in the - the hundreds of Oswestry (including ) and Pimhill (including ), and part of  had prior to the  formed various Lordships in the.

The present day ceremonial county boundary is almost the same as the historic one. Notably there has been the removal of several s and s. The largest of the exclaves was, which became part of Worcestershire in (now part of the  county), and the largest of the enclaves was Herefordshire's  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.

North Shropshire
Politically, North Shropshire is composed of Oswestry district, North Shropshire district, Shrewsbury and Atcham borough and the borough of Telford and Wrekin.

The North Shropshire Plain is an extension of the flat and fertile. It is here that most of the county's large towns, and population in general, are to be found. at the centre, to the north west,  to the north,  to the north east and  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 runs through the lower half of this area (from Wales in the west, eastwards), through Shrewsbury and down the, before heading south to.

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

The and  run from  (to the east of the county) across to Telford, around Shrewsbury parallel to the line of  an. 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.

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, and  area. museum and historical village is a major tourist attraction as well as the Iron Bridge itself. In addition, runs from.

South Shropshire

 * For information specifically on the, see .

Politically, the area is composed of South Shropshire district and Bridgnorth district. South Shropshire is more rural, with fewer settlements and no large towns, and its landscape differs greatly than 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, with a population of around 10,000 people, and. The  is located in the south-west, covering an area of 804 km²; it forms the only specifically protected area of the county. Inside this area is the popular, a large plateau of 536m and 516 metres high to the East of the , overlooking.

The is the main road through the area, running north to south, from Shrewsbury to. A railway line runs through the area on the same route as the A49 with stations at Church Stretton, and Ludlow. The (heritage) runs from Bridgnorth into.

Church Stretton is known as  due to its valley location and character. Nearby are the old mining and quarrying communities on the, notable geological features in the and  and fertile farmland in the. The drains this part of the county, before flowing into  to the South and joining the River Severn.

One of the Clee Hills, the, is the county's highest peak at 546 m.

South West Shropshire, or simply "Clun", is a little known and remote part of the county, with, and the. The small towns of and  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 town of.

Transport
Shropshire is connected to the rest of the United Kingdom via a number of road and rail links. Historically, rivers in the county and the 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.

Major roads in the county include the, sometimes referred to as the "Telford Motorway", which connects Telford to the rest of the motorway network, and more specifically to the. The 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, the and the.

There are a number of major railway lines running through the county, including the, the , the and the. The two train operating companies working in the county are and. A new company,, should commence services from Shropshire to , in spring 2008.

Shropshire is also the home of two major water supply s, the Elan Aqueduct running through South Shropshire carrying water from to  and the Vyrnwy Aqueduct running through North Shropshire delivering water from  to.

Towns and villages
Shropshire has no cities, but 22 towns, of which 2 can be considered major. 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 has a lower, but still sizeable population of 70,560 (15%). Other substantial settlements include, and. The majority of settlements can be classed as villages. Towns and villages are primarily concentrated in a central belt that roughly follows the / roadway. Other settlements are concentrated on rivers, i.e. on the Severn, as these waterways were historically vital to trade.

Economy
The economy of Shropshire was traditionally dominated by agriculture. However, in more recent years it has become more service orientated. The county town of, the historic castle-dominated and the industrial birthplace of  are the foremost tourist areas in Shropshire , along with the reclaimed canal network which provides canal barge holidays on the  and linked canal networks in the region, although the natural beauty of the county draws people to all areas.

Industry is mostly found in, , , and Shrewsbury, though small industrial estates can be found in other, rural towns such as  and. 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 is being built at.

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,. Shrewsbury also has two medium-sized shopping centres, the indoor 'Pride Hill' and '' 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 helps it draw in considerable numbers of shoppers, notably on Saturday.

Well-known companies in Shropshire include in. The RAF have two bases at and , and the charity  has its head office in , Telford.

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.

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

Education
Shropshire has a completely comprehensive education system, with thirteen independent schools, including the prestigious, which the famed attended. In the ceremonial county, the Telford and Wrekin borough has two selective schools and two independent schools.

Secondary education
The average number of pupils achieving five good GCSEs at grades A-C in England including Maths and English is 45.8%. For Shropshire it is 50.3, which is very good and the highest in the whole of the for traditional counties (although excluding low-performing Telford will artificially boost Shropshire's average significantly). Every district is above the England average. Around 3500 school pupils take GCSEs each year in Shropshire, with the Oswestry district only having two schools and the Shrewsbury and Atcham district having the largest school population. Year sizes are mostly under two hundred; some counties have typical year sizes between 2-300. The best school at GCSE is in, followed by the  and  in Shrewsbury. Bottom place is shared by two schools in Shrewsbury - the and the Wakeman School, however, it should be noted that these results can be skewed as there is no method to distinguish which schools use the GNVQ system (1 GNVQ = 4 GCSEs) and which do not. As such, The Wakeman, which uses no GNVQs, may appear worse than it actually is results-wise.

Below are the GCSE results as percentages, for each district/borough of the county:
 * 55.4
 * 51.7
 * 51.1
 * 50.9
 * 47.1
 * 39.6

Further education
At, results in Shropshire are above the average for England. The best performing school in the shire county is Concord College, a selective, independent institution. is the highest scoring non-independent establishment. 

Telford and Wrekin, although producing some lower than average GCSE results in general, has three superlative schools - two selective ( and ) and a  that produce results much better than any state or independent school in Shropshire; the score of the high school exceeding that of Concord College in 2006. Overall, Telford has slightly lower results than Shropshire at A level, although performs at the England average.

Places of interest







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Famous people

 * "Clive of India"
 * (of )
 * early industrialist
 * emminent naturalist
 * , guitarist with
 * epidemiologist and early bio-statistician
 * (of ), radio presenter, DJ, and celebrity
 * of, (infamous judge)
 * , sculptor of the Quadriga at Hyde Park Corner
 * , ornithologist
 * , (former head of the T.U.C)
 * , author
 * leading First World War poet
 * (1913-1995), author
 * (1518-1585)&mdash;legal scholar and theorist
 * Sir (1590-1659)&mdash;Proprietor, Earl Palatine and Governor of
 * novellist
 * Morris Telford Author of "A Salopian Odyssey", philosopher, traveller and bingo enthusiast.
 * , 1980s pop group
 * Sir prominent Elizabethan
 * (1881-1927), author
 * , (first man to swim the )
 * , Captain of Wolves and England
 * (1474-1534) -
 * 'Mad Jack' Mytton, Regency rake, MP, gambler and horseman.
 * dramatist and playwright famous for
 * Sculptor, only artist in Shropshire who has shown his work at the in London and recognised internationally.

Politics


Shropshire has, 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:
 * , Labour, (covering the town of )
 * , Conservative, (covering the  district and  borough)
 * , Conservative, (covering the  and (the majority of) Bridgnorth districts)
 * , Conservative, (covering the borough of )
 * , Conservative, (covering  borough, minus Telford, and including a small area of Bridgnorth district)

In 2005 there was also a County Council election in which the Conservatives gained overall control of the shire county. Telford and Wrekin Unitary Authority remains under Labour control. 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.

Cultural references

 * Many of 's children's books are set in Shropshire.
 * A character from the "" episode "Prison to Prison" is named "Shropshire Slasher."
 * The 1985 television programme ' was filmed mainly in South Shropshire, notably in Ludlow. The recently begun  ' is set in Shropshire and is filmed near Bridgnorth.
 * The 1984 film version of Charles Dicken's '' was filmed in Shrewsbury. Scenes from the film are still displayed inside Goldsmith's the jewellers in the Square.
 * Shrewsbury based football photographer Matthew Ashton published a book in 2007 about, the old home of.
 * Shropshire was also used as a setting for soap
 * Shropshire was also used as a setting for the BBC's Fast Show for a special
 * fictional, the ancestral home of , is located in Shropshire.
 * In Jack pretends to live in rural Shropshire, to mask his double life.
 * Poet used Shropshire as the setting for many of the poems in his first book,.
 * Composer wrote 'On Wenlock Edge' in 1907.
 * is an informal name for the county used by many of its inhabitants

Sport
There are a number of significant sporting clubs and facilities in Shropshire, many of which are found in, in addition to a number of clubs found locally throughout the county. Below are some of the more major sporting entities of the county:
 * Football Club
 * Football Club
 * International Motocross Circuit
 * Ice Hockey Club
 * Rugby League Club
 * American Football Team