North Shropshire was a local government district

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 in Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The district council was based at Edinburgh House, in Wem

Wem

Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the northern area committee of Shropshire Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem. Wem railway station is on the Shrewsbury to Crewe railway line...

. Other settlements included the towns of Ellesmere

Ellesmere, Shropshire

Ellesmere is a small market town near Oswestry in north Shropshire, England, notable for its proximity to a number of prominent lakes, the Meres.-History:...

, Market Drayton

Market Drayton

Market Drayton is a small market town in north Shropshire, England. It is on the River Tern, between Shrewsbury and Stoke-on-Trent, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" and earlier simply as "Drayton" ....

, Wem

Wem

Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the northern area committee of Shropshire Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem. Wem railway station is on the Shrewsbury to Crewe railway line...

 and Whitchurch

Whitchurch, Shropshire

Whitchurch is a market town in Shropshire, England on the border between England and Wales. It is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Shropshire. According to the 2001 Census, the population of the town is 8,673, with a more recent estimate putting the population of the town at 8,934...

, as well as the large villages of Shawbury

Shawbury

Shawbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Shropshire. The village is north east of the town of Shrewsbury, north west of Telford and north west of London. The village straddles the A53 between Shrewsbury and Market Drayton...

 and Baschurch

Baschurch

Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies in North Shropshire, north of Shrewsbury. Population: 1,475 . The village has strong links to Shrewsbury to the south-east, Oswestry to the north-west, and Wem to the north-east. Baschurch is twinned with the town of Giat...

. The district bordered onto Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 and Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

 as well as the Shropshire districts of Oswestry

Oswestry (borough)

Oswestry was a small local government district with borough status in Shropshire, England. It was the smallest of the five districts of Shropshire in terms of both population and land area....

, Shrewsbury and Atcham

Shrewsbury and Atcham

Shrewsbury and Atcham was, between 1974 and 2009, a local government district with borough status in Shropshire, England.Shrewsbury was the only town in the borough; Atcham, although itself only a village, was included in the name as a reflection of the incorporation into the borough of the former...

 and the unitary Telford and Wrekin

Telford and Wrekin

Telford and Wrekin is a unitary district with borough status in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. The district was created in 1974 as The...

.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

, by a merger of Market Drayton Rural District

Market Drayton Rural District

Drayton or Market Drayton was a rural district in Shropshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 under the name 'Drayton', from that part of the Market Drayton rural sanitary district which was in Shropshire .In 1966 the district was merged with the Market...

 and North Shropshire Rural District

North Shropshire Rural District

North Shropshire was a rural district in Shropshire, England from 1967 to 1974.It was formed in 1967 by a merger of most of the Ellesmere Rural District, Wem Rural District, along with the urban districts of Ellesmere, Wem and Whitchurch, and part of Whittington from Oswestry Rural District.The...

. As of 2008 it was entirely surrounded by borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

s (including the county borough

County borough

County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...

 of Wrexham

Wrexham (county borough)

Wrexham is a county borough centred on the town of Wrexham in north-east Wales. The county borough has a population of 130,200 inhabitants. Just under half of the population live either within the town of Wrexham or its surrounding conurbation of urban villages. The remainder living to the south...

).

The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2009 when the new Shropshire unitary authority was established, as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England

2009 structural changes to local government in England

Structural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a 'two-tier' system of counties and districts...

.

Settlements

The district council classified Wem, Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Ellesmere as the market towns of North Shropshire, while it gave the classification of "main service villages" to Baschurch, Cheswardine

Cheswardine

Cheswardine is a rural village and civil parish in north east Shropshire, England. The village lies close to the border with Staffordshire and is about 8 miles north of Newport and 5 miles south east of Market Drayton...

, Clive

Clive, Shropshire

Clive is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, United Kingdom.Clive is situated around the west side of Grinshill Hill, with many in a rural setting. Grinshill sandstone, from the nearby mine at Grinshill is used throughout the village for building material from walls and houses to the...

, Cockshutt

Cockshutt, Shropshire

Cockshutt is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.-Cockshutt-cum-Petton:Cockshutt-cum-Petton is the name of the combined parish council of the two historic, single-village parishes of Cockshutt and Petton. These two villages, as well as the hamlet of English Frankton, make up the main...

, Dudleston Heath, Hadnall

Hadnall

Hadnall is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the A49, some 9 km north-north-east of Shrewsbury. The Welsh Marches Line runs just outside the village and there was once a railway station. Today, Hadnall has a primary school, a successful village shop, a pub and a two...

, Hinstock

Hinstock

Hinstock is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.It appeared in the Domesday book survey as "Stoche" ; the present version of its name was created in the mediaeval period by prefixing Middle English hine .Hinstock is approximately halfway between the market towns of Newport and Market...

, Hodnet

Hodnet, Shropshire

Hodnet is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. To the northeast of the village is the nearby town of Market Drayton.-Attractions and facilities:...

, Prees, Shawbury, Tilstock, Welshampton

Welshampton

Welshampton is a small village located on the A495 road in Shropshire, England, near to the town of Ellesmere. It is adjacent to the villages of Lyneal and Colemere which comprise part of the so-called 'North Shropshire Lake District', all of which is within walking distance of Welshampton...

 and Woore

Woore

Woore is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Shropshire. It had a population of 1,411 in the 2001 census. The name means "boundary" in ancient celtic and this fits nicely with the fact that it is on the boundary with both the counties of Cheshire and Staffordshire.The...

. There are many other smaller villages and hamlets.

Infrastructure

The main roads in the district are the A41

A41 road

The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...

, A49

A49 road

The A49 is a major road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. It runs north from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire via Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, then continues through central Cheshire to Warrington and Wigan before terminating at its junction with...

 and the A53

A53 road

The A53 is a primary route in northern England, that runs from Buxton in Derbyshire to Shrewsbury in Shropshire.-Route of Road:The A53 begins in the centre of Buxton off the A6 road, before meeting the A515 road at a roundabout. Out of the town, it has a junction with the A54 road before...

. There are no motorways.

There are four railway stations in the district - Yorton

Yorton railway station

Yorton railway station serves the villages of Yorton and Clive in Shropshire, England. It is 11.5 km north of Shrewsbury on the Welsh Marches Line towards Crewe. It has two platforms. Trains only stop here upon request....

, Wem

Wem railway station

Wem railway station serves the town of Wem in Shropshire, England. The station is 17 km north of Shrewsbury on the Welsh Marches Line line to Crewe....

, Prees

Prees railway station

Prees railway station serves the village of Prees in Shropshire, England, although the actual village is a mile to the east of the station. The station is north of Shrewsbury on the Welsh Marches Line towards Crewe....

 and Whitchurch - all on the Welsh Marches Line

Welsh Marches Line

The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...

. The Shrewsbury to Chester Line

Shrewsbury to Chester Line

The Shrewsbury to Chester Line, also known as the Severn–Dee Line , was built in 1846 as the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway...

 runs through the district too, but the station at Baschurch has closed. The Shropshire Union Canal

Shropshire Union Canal

The Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union system and lie partially in Wales....

 goes through the district too, passing Market Drayton at one point. The Ellesmere Canal

Ellesmere Canal

The Ellesmere Canal was a canal in England and Wales, originally planned to link the Rivers Mersey, Dee, and Severn, by running from Netherpool to Shrewsbury. The canal that was eventually constructed was very different from what was originally envisioned...

/Llangollen Canal

Llangollen Canal

The Llangollen Canal is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire....

 is the other canal in the district.

See also

• North Shropshire constituency - the name of the UK Parliament
  Parliament of the United Kingdom
  The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
  
   constituency which covers the former North Shropshire district and also the former Oswestry
  Oswestry (borough)
  Oswestry was a small local government district with borough status in Shropshire, England. It was the smallest of the five districts of Shropshire in terms of both population and land area....
  
   borough.
• Parishes in North Shropshire - the main subdivisions used within the district.

External links

• Shropshire Tourism Information on North Shropshire - facts, history, attractions
• shropshirelive.com - News and information for Shropshire