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Shrewsbury ( or ) is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is home to 70,689 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement of the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham, which has a population of 95,850. Consequently, it is the second largest town in the ceremonial county, after Telford.
Shrewsbury is a historic market town with the town centre having a largely unaltered medieval street plan. The town features over 660 historic listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th century and 16th century.
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Encyclopedia
Shrewsbury ( or ) is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is home to 70,689 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement of the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham, which has a population of 95,850. Consequently, it is the second largest town in the ceremonial county, after Telford.
Shrewsbury is a historic market town with the town centre having a largely unaltered medieval street plan. The town features over 660 historic listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th century and 16th century. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone castle fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively, by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. The town hosts one of the oldest and largest horticultural events in the country, Shrewsbury Flower Show, and is known for its floral displays, having won various awards since the turn of the 21st century, including Britain in Bloom in 2006.
Today, lying east of the Welsh border, Shrewsbury serves as a cultural and commercial centre for the ceremonial county and a large area of mid-Wales, with retail output alone worth over £299 million per year. There are some light industry and distribution centres, such as Battlefield Enterprise Park, located mainly on the outskirts. The A5 and A49 trunk roads cross here, as do five railway lines at Shrewsbury railway station.
History
The town was known to the ancient Britons as Pengwern, signifying "the alder hill"; and to the Anglo-Saxons as Scrobbesburh (dative Scrobbesbyrig), which has several meanings; "fort in the scrub-land region", "Scrobb's fort", "shrubstown" or "the town of the bushes". This name was gradually corrupted in three directions, into 'Sciropscire' which became Shropshire, into 'Sloppesberie', which became Salop/Salopia (the historical name for the county), and into 'Schrosberie' which eventually became the name of the county town, Shrewsbury. Its Welsh name Amwythig means "fortified place".
Shrewsbury is known as a town with significant medieval heritage, having been founded ca. 800 AD. It was during the late Middle Ages (14th/15th Centuries) when the town was at its height of commercial importance. This was mainly due to the wool trade, a major industry at the time, with the rest of Britain and Europe, especially with the River Severn and Watling Street as trading routes. It is believed that Henry VIII intended to make Shrewsbury a cathedral city after the formation of the Church of England, but the citizens of the town declined the offer.
Over the ages, the geographically important town has been the site of many conflicts, particularly between the English and Welsh. Shrewsbury was the seat of the Princes of Powis for many years, however, the Angles, under King Offa of Mercia, took possession of it in 778. The Welsh again besieged it in 1069, but were repelled by William the Conqueror. Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William, and built Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, taking the title of Earl. The 3rd Earl, Robert of Bellême was deposed in 1102, in consequence of taking part in the rebellion against Henry I. The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought in 1403 a few miles north of the town centre, at Battlefield. It was fought between King Henry IV and Henry Hotspur, with the King emerging victorious.
The town is home to the Ditherington Flax Mill, the world's first iron-framed building, which is commonly regarded as "the grandfather of the skyscraper". Its importance was officially recognised in the 1950s, resulting in it becoming a Grade I listed building. Shrewsbury in the Industrial Revolution was also located on the Shrewsbury Canal which linked it to the Shropshire Canal and wider canal network of Great Britain.
Shrewsbury has also played a unique part in Western intellectual history, by being the town in which the naturalist Charles Darwin was born and raised. Darwin later published his seminal text On the Origin of Species and developed the theory of natural selection. Nearby is the village of Wroxeter, to the south-west, where the now ruined Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum lies. Viroconium was the fourth largest civitas capital in Roman Britain. As Caer Guricon it may have served as the early Dark Age capital of the kingdom of Powys.
The town avoided bombing in World War II and so many of its ancient buildings remain intact and there was little redevelopment during the 1960s and 1970s, which arguably destroyed the character of many historic towns in the UK. However, a large area of half timbered houses and businesses was destroyed to make way for the Raven Meadows multi-story car park, and other historic buildings were demolished to make way for the brutalist architectural style of the 1960s. The town was saved from a new 'inner ring road' due to its challenging geography.
Shrewsbury won the West Midlands Capital of Enterprise award in 2004. The town has two expanding business parks - the Shrewsbury Business Park and the Battlefield Enterprise Park. There are many residential developments currently under construction in the town to cater for the increasing numbers of people wishing to live in the town and commute to Telford, Wolverhampton and Birmingham. In 2000 and again in 2002, Shrewsbury unsuccessfully applied for city status.
Governance
The Borough of Shrewsbury's first Charter was granted by King Henry I allowing the collection of rents. King Richard I granted another early charter in 1189 and from that time the town’s regional importance and influence increased, as well as its autonomy from the county of Shropshire. Further charters were granted in 1199 (King John), 1495 (Henry VII), 1638 (Charles I), and 1685 (James II). In 1974 a charter from Queen Elizabeth II incorporated the Borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham.
Shrewsbury is the administrative centre for both the Borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham and County of Shropshire (which does not include the Borough of Telford and Wrekin, a unitary authority area). Shropshire County Council have their headquarters in the Shirehall, on Abbey Foregate, and the Borough Council have their headquarters in The Guildhall, on Frankwell Quay. The Borough Council have moved from their old Guildhall, now known as "Newport House" (as it was before it became the Guildhall), on 19 March 2004.
Shrewsbury is in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency and is the only large settlement in the constituency. Before 1997 Shrewsbury and Atcham's Member of Parliament (MP) was Derek Conway, a Conservative. Paul Marsden of the Labour Party was elected to serve the constituency in Labour's 1997 landslide victory, the first time Shrewsbury had a Labour MP. Marsden defected to the Liberal Democrats following the Afghanistan war, deciding not to stand for election again. Following this, 2005 saw Labour lose a lot of votes to the Liberal Democrats, allowing Daniel Kawczynski of the Conservatives to be elected with a majority of 1,808. Previous MPs for Shrewsbury have included former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.
Shrewsbury is twinned with Zutphen in The Netherlands. The town also serves as the administrative headquarters of the British Army's 5th Division, which has its administrative HQ at the Copthorne Barracks.
Town Council
Shrewsbury was until recently an unparished area and so has no town or parish council(s), the Mayor of Shrewsbury and Atcham being also the mayor of the town. However as part of wider changes to local governance in Shropshire, the town was parished on 13 May 2008 with a single parish created covering the entire town and previously unparished area. Shrewsbury is the second most populous civil parish in England (only Weston-super-Mare has a greater population) with a population of over 70,000. It is planned that at the first meeting the parish council will declare itself a town council, with its chair as mayor. For the interim period before the first elections, the existing county councillors who represent electoral districts which cover Shrewsbury are the parish councillors. Current proposals are for town councillors to be elected from 17 wards which would be coterminous with Shropshire Council electoral districts. Earlier plans to locate the town council at Rowley's House have been altered and the town council will start with its headquarters and meeting place at the Guildhall, current headquarters of the borough council.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the former Shrewsbury Borough Council depicts three loggerheads, with the motto Floreat Salopia, a Latin phrase that can be translated to "may Shrewsbury flourish". The coat of arms is the same as that of the borough council of Shrewsbury and Atcham - Shrewsbury council's shield is the same but without the bridge (which is the Atcham Bridge). Shrewsbury Town FC historically have used the Loggerheads but now have a bespoke badge depicting a lion rather than a loggerhead.
Geography
Shrewsbury is located approximately to the west of Telford, west of Birmingham and the West Midlands Conurbation, and about north-west of the capital, London. More locally, the town is to the east of Welshpool, and Bridgnorth and Kidderminster are to the south-east. The border with Wales is to the west. The town centre is partially built on a hill whose elevation is, at its highest, 75 metres above sea level. The longest river in the UK, the River Severn, flows through the town, forming a meander around its centre.
From the late 1990s the town has experienced severe flooding problems from the Severn and Rea Brook. In the autumn of 2000 large swathes of the town were underwater, notably Frankwell which was flooded three times in the space of six weeks. The Frankwell flood defences were completed in 2003, along with the new offices of the borough council. More recently, such as in 2005 and 2007, flooding has been less severe, and the defences have generally held back floodwaters from the town centre areas. However, the town car parks are often left to be flooded in the winter, which reduces trade in the town, most evidenced in the run up to Christmas in 2007.
The town is situated near Haughmond Hill, a site where Precambrian rocks, some of the oldest rocks in the county can be found, and the town itself is sited on an area of largely Carboniferous rocks. A fault, the Hodnet Fault, starts approximately at the town, and runs as far as Market Drayton.
Suburbs and surrounding settlements
Shrewsbury has a large number of suburbs and surrounding villages. As the town continues to expand, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between the suburbs, which are joined to the town, and the surrounding villages, which often join on to the suburbs.
An example of where this has happened is Bayston Hill, which has grown considerably in the last 20 years; now separated from the Meole Brace suburb by only a few fields and the A5 road. It remains, however, a separate entity to the town, with its own parish council, etc. Bayston Hill lies south of the town centre of Shrewsbury and on the A49 and near to the A5. The smaller village of Battlefield, this time to the north of the town, is also considered now as a suburb of the town due to growth in the surrounding area. It is covered by the parish of Shrewsbury.
Climate
The climate of Shrewsbury is similar to that of the rest of Shropshire, generally moderate. Rainfall averages 76 to 100 cm (30 to 40 in), influenced by being in the rainshadow of the Cambrian Mountains from warm, moist frontal systems of the Atlantic Ocean which bring generally light precipitation in Autumn and Spring. The nearest weather station is located at Shawbury.
Demography
| Shrewsbury & Atcham Compared |
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| 2001 UK Census | S'bury & Atch. | West Midlands | England | | Total population | 95,850 | 5,267,308 | 49,138,831 | | White | 98.5% | 86.2% | 87.0% | | Asian | 0.4% | 7.3% | 4.6% | | Black | 0.1% | 2.0% | 2.3% | | Over 65 years old | 17.2% | 16.0% | 15.9% | | Christian | 77.9% | 72.6% | 71.7% | | No Religion | 13.7% | 12.3% | 14.6% | |
According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of the town of Shrewsbury is 67,126. The same census puts the population of the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham at 95,850. In 1981 the population of the town was 57,731 and in 1991 the population of the town was 64,219. Shrewsbury is Shropshire's second largest town, after Telford. The population of the town centre (the area within the loop of the Severn) is approximately 1,300. In line with the rapid growth of town population, a 2005 report on prison population in the UK has found that the prison, HMP Shrewsbury, is the most overcrowded in England and Wales.
The 2001 census also indicates that the population of the town consists of 51.1% females, and 48.9% males, which echoes the trend of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough, and that of Shropshire as a whole. According to the same census, the ethnic composition of the town is largely white, at 98.5% of the total population. The next largest ethnic group is mixed race, at 0.5% of the town's population. 0.4% of the population is Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi, and 0.1% of the population is South Asian or British Asian. A further 0.1% is Black, Caribbean or African.
Historical population
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 |
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| Population | 31,280 | 34,158 | 38,263 | 40,480 | 41,858 | 43,818 | 46,261 | 48,704 | 51,146 | 50,678 | 52,181 |
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| Year | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1941 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | |
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| Population | 53,729 | 55,481 | 57,290 | 62,398 | 67,965 | 74,831 | 82,392 | 85,136 | 92,347 | 95,896 |
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| Population figures for Shrewsbury & Atcham borough. Source: | |
Economy
Throughout the Medieval period, Shrewsbury was a centre for the wool trade, and used its position on the River Severn to transport goods across England via the canal system. Unlike many other towns in this period, Shrewsbury never became a centre for heavy industry. By the early 1900s, the town became focused on transport services and the general service and professional sector, owing to its position on the A5 road, part of the strategic route to North Wales.
The town is the location of the borough and county councils, and a number of retail complexes, both in and out of the town centre, and these provide significant employment. Four in five jobs in the town are in the service industry. Within this sector, the largest employers are the administration and distribution sectors, which includes retail, food and accommodation. Shrewsbury is home to two small shopping centres, the Darwin and Pride Hill centres, which house many high street retailers such as Marks & Spencer, TK Maxx and Boots. There is also the large Meole Brace Retail Park to the south, and the Harlescott Retail Park to the north. Major supermarkets in the town are the 2007-opened environmentally friendly Tesco Extra at Harlescott, Morrisons on Whitchurch Road, ASDA on Old Potts Way and Sainsbury's at Meole Brace.
The visitor economy of Shrewsbury and Atcham was worth about £115 million in 2001, with approximately 2,500 people employed directly in the visitor industry and 3,400 indirectly. There were about 3.1 million day and staying visitors to the borough in 2001, with 88% being day visitors and 12% being staying visitors; staying visitors accounted for 42% of spending. Shrewsbury's position of being the only sizable town for a large area, especially to the west in Mid-Wales, allows it to attract a large retail base beyond that of its resident population. This is not only evident in the retail sector, but also in the healthcare sector, where the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital has the only A&E department westwards until Aberystwyth, approximately away.
In terms of social and economic deprivation, according to the Overall Index of Multiple Deprivation of 2004, one Super Output Area (SOA) in the town is in the bottom 15% of all areas nationally. This area is located in the ward of Harlescott. A further four SOAs fall into the bottom 30% nationally, these being located in the wards of Monkmoor, Sundorne, Battlefield and Heathgates, and Meole Brace. The most affluent areas of the town are located to the south, surrounding Shrewsbury School. Areas such as Kingsland and Porthill tend to have higher house prices than average.
Landmarks
The historic town centre still retains its medieval street pattern and many narrow streets and passages. Some of the passages, especially those which pass through buildings from one street to the next, are called “shuts” (a suggestion is that this is because they were once shut at night). Many specialist shops, traditional pubs and local restaurants can be found in the hidden corners, squares and lanes of Shrewsbury. Many of the street names have also remained unchanged in centuries and there are some more unusual names, such as Butcher Row, Longden Coleham, Dogpole, Mardol, Frankwell, Roushill, Grope Lane, Gullet Passage, Murivance, The Dana, Portobello, Bear Steps, Shoplatch and Bellstone.
The Public Library is situated on Castle Hill. Above the are two statues bearing the inscriptions "Philomathes" and "Polumathes". These portray the virtues "Lover of learning" and "Much learning" to convey the lesson that it is good to gain knowledge through a love of learning.
The town was also used as the set for the popular 1984 movie, A Christmas Carol, which filmed many of its interior and exterior shots in and around Shrewsbury. The gravestone prop of Ebenezer Scrooge (played by George C. Scott) that was used in the movie is still present in the graveyard of St. Chad's Church.
In the centre of the town lies The Quarry. This 29 acre (120,000 m²) riverside park attracts thousands of people throughout the year and is enjoyed as a place of recreation. Shrewsbury is known as the "Town of Flowers" and this was the motto printed onto many of the signs on entrance to the town via major roads, although in 2007 the signs were replaced, instead branding the town as 'the birthplace of Charles Darwin'.
The British Army's Light Infantry has been associated with Shrewsbury since the 17th century when the first regiments were formed and many more regiments have been raised at Shrewsbury before being deployed all over the world from the American Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, after several major reorganisations, the Light Infantry Brigade now forms part of the regiment known simply as The Rifles. Shrewsbury's Copthorne Barracks, spiritual home of the Light Brigade, still houses the Headquarters of the British Army's 5th Division.
Between 1962 and 1992 there was a hardened nuclear bunker, built for No 16 Group Royal Observer Corps Shrewsbury, who provided the field force of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation and would have sounded the four minute warning alarm in the event of war and warned the population of Shrewsbury in the event of approaching radioactive fallout. The building was manned by up to 120 volunteers who trained on a weekly basis and wore a Royal Air Force style uniform. After the break up of the communist bloc in 1989, the Royal Observer Corps was disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995. However, the nuclear bunker still stands just inside Holywell Street near the Abbey as a lasting reminder of the cold war, but is now converted and used as a veterinary practice.
The tourist information centre is at the Music Hall on The Square in the town centre. The three main museums are Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery (located at Rowley's House), Shrewsbury Castle (which houses the Shropshire Regimental Museum) and the Coleham Pumping Station. Also, there is the Gateway arts and drama centre and there are also various private galleries and art shops around the town. Another notable feature of the town is Lord Hill's Column, the largest free-standing Doric column in the world.
Religious sites
There are many church denominations represented in Shrewsbury, housed in a range of buildings, including Shrewsbury Abbey, founded by Roger de Montgomery in 1083. The Orthodox Church's main building, which is located on Wenlock Road to the east, is over 1,000 years old. Shrewsbury is home to the Roman Catholic Shrewsbury Cathedral, located by Town Walls, as well as two other parishes in Harlescott and Monkmoor, within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury.
There are several Anglican Churches in Shrewsbury. Other denominations, such as methodists and baptists are represented alongside newer church groups, which include: Elim pentecostal and two Newfrontiers churches. Shrewsbury Evangelical Church meets in the St Julian's Centre at the Wyle Cop end of Fish Street.
Many community projects in Shrewsbury are based in, or have been started by local churches, including the Isaiah 58 project, which is the primary work amongst homeless people in the town. Basics Bank is another example, based at The Barnabas Centre, which provides debt relief for local people. Churches Together in Shrewsbury is seeking to continue its long term commitment to helping homeless people through The Ark project.
One of the , facing St Alkmond's Church, is noted as being the location of John Wesley's first preaching in Shrewsbury. The records the date as March 16th 1761. (However, it is not completely accurate to describe Wesley as "the founder of Methodism" since he only organised that branch of Methodism which was to become the strongest amongst the various offshoots of the Evangelical Awakening of the 18th century.)
Culture
Events and venues
Shrewsbury is home to one of the largest and oldest horticultural events in the UK - the annual Shrewsbury Flower Show. A two day event, the Flower Show takes place in mid-August, has been running for more than 125 years, and attracts around 100,000 visitors each year. Set in the Quarry park, there are a multitude of events, exhibitions and displays, with a fireworks display at the end of each day. The town is well known for its flower displays, and has won numerous awards in recent years.
Shrewsbury is also home to one of the region's main agricultural shows - the West Mid Show. This is held every year, usually in May, at the Shropshire Agricultural Showground on the outskirts of town at Coton Hill. The town is host to the Shrewsbury International Music Festival, when musical groups from all over the world come to perform for about a week for local residents, and give a final concert in the Abbey. The festival is organized by WorldStage Tours. 2006 saw the first Shrewsbury Folk Festival, after the event moved to the town from nearby Bridgnorth. Held annually over the August Bank Holiday, the event is very popular, with people travelling from across the UK to attend. In 2006 much of the event was held in the Quarry, with other related festivities happening around the town. For 2007 the event moved to the West Midlands Showground on the other side of the river. A new annual arts festival - the Shrewsbury Summer Season - was established in 2004 and runs each year from June to August with an extensive programme of music, visual arts, theatre and spectacle.
There are some very old public houses, which have been continuously open as pubs, such as the Golden Cross (established 1428 - the oldest pub in the town), the Dun Cow and the King's Head.
Construction of Theatre Severn, a new entertainment complex in Frankwell, was commissioned in September 2006. Actual construction began on the site in April 2007 when the Borough Council appointed a contractor. The design will feature a prominent glass curve and steel frame. The site is positioned next to the Guildhall, alongside the namesake River Severn. The new complex is to replace the existing theatre, the Shrewsbury Music Hall. The Music Hall will then be refurbished, and take on the role of Rowley's House Museum, which will then be closed for renovation for the foreseeable future.
Cultural references
The town appears in the Brother Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters, aka Edith Pargeter. The novels take Shrewsbury Abbey for their setting, with Shrewsbury and other places in Shropshire portrayed regularly, and have made Medieval Shrewsbury familiar to a wide worldwide readership.
The local author, Carol Ewels has written two children's books, including Jack the Cat, which are set in the town. Also, the children's author Pauline Fisk writes about a town called Pengwern, which is based entirely on Shrewsbury, in books including Midnight Blue, and Sabrina Fludde. Frank Cottrell Boyce, another children's author, writes briefly about Shrewsbury in his book Millions.
Media
Two newspapers are published for Shrewsbury - the Shrewsbury Chronicle, and the local edition of the county's Shropshire Star. There are presently three radio stations that specifically serve either the Shrewsbury area or encompass it as part of a Shropshire-wide broadcast. They include: Beacon Radio, part of the wider network of radio stations owned by GCap Media; BBC Radio Shropshire, which is based in Shrewsbury; and, as of September 2006, The Severn, which broadcasts live from Abbey Foregate.
Sports
Shrewsbury is home to a variety of established amateur, semi-professional and professional sports clubs, including Shrewsbury Town, a Football League team currently playing in Football League Two. Shrewsbury Town's achievements include winning The Welsh Cup 6 times, a record for an English club, a sustained run in the old Second Division in the 1980s and victory in the Conference National Playoff Final 2004. The club relocated to the Prostar Stadium in 2007, to a purposely built site located near Meole Brace. Prior to this, the club played at the Gay Meadow stadium, situated just outside of the town centre, for a 97 year period from 1910 to 2007.
There is also a local rugby club, Shrewsbury Rugby Club. The River Severn in the town is used for rowing by both Pengwern Boat Club and the Shrewsbury School Boat Club. Shrewsbury Sports Village, a new sports centre, was recently opened in the Sundorne district of the town, with the aim of providing a wider and improved range of sports facilities for townspeople. There are also a number of motorsports and golf facilities (including Meole Brace Municipal Golf Course) in the area. The local motorsports heritage includes the Loton Park Hillclimb and Hawkstone Park Motocross Circuit situated near Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury Motocross Club has staged motocross events in the area for over 30 years.
Education
Shrewsbury is home to Shrewsbury School, a public school, located on a large commanding site ("Kingsland") just south of the town centre overlooking the loop of the Severn. The school was once located in the town centre, in the buildings that are now the main county library on Castle Street. Opposite it on the other side of the river is Shrewsbury High School, an independent girls' day school.
The long established Prestfelde School is an independent preparatory school, located on London Road, close to the Lord Hill column. As part of the Woodard Schools group, it is affiliated to the largest group of Church of England schools in the country. Whilst originally a school for boys only it diversified and, in the late 1990s, started also accepting girls between the ages of three and thirteen. The school is set in of grounds on the outskirts of the town.. The town's other long-established boys' preparatory school, Kingsland Grange (located on Old Roman Road in Kingsland), in 2007 merged with the junior department of Shrewsbury Girls' High School, sharing the two sites with some classes remaining all-boys or all-girls, but others switching to a co-ed format..
However, the majority of the town's pupils attend one of the eight comprehensive schools. The Priory School, formerly a grammar school for girls, generally has the best GCSE exam results in the town. Meole Brace School currently carries the status of Science College; The Grange and The Wakeman the status of Arts College; Sundorne the status of Sports College and Belvidere has the status of Technology College.
The Wakeman School, which is geographically the nearest school to the town, situated next to the English Bridge, was previously known as 'Shrewsbury Technical School', which was attended by the famous war poet Wilfred Owen. Additionally, there are two other establishments located out of the town which serve the town's students. The Corbet School, located to the north at Baschurch; and Mary Webb School, located in the large village of Pontesbury, to the south-west.
Post-16 education is handled by Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, which has some of the best A-Level results in the country, and Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology, which handles primarily vocational courses. Proposals from 2007 to co-locate the two colleges have met with fierce opposition, from the fear that town centre trade will suffer from the loss of the student population, as well as the reduced access to the London Road site, which lacks the rail and bus stations of Shrewsbury town centre.
Transport
Shrewsbury is the county's public transportation hub and has extensive road and rail links to the rest of the county and country.
Rail
Five railway lines connect the town to most corners of Shropshire and the town is regarded as the "Gateway to Wales". Shrewsbury railway station is served by Arriva Trains Wales and London Midland. Trains frequently run north to Chester, Manchester, Crewe and Wrexham, south to Hereford and Cardiff, west to Aberystwyth, and east to Birmingham via Telford and Wolverhampton. Heart of Wales Line trains operate from this station to Swansea. On 28 April 2008 open access service provider Wrexham & Shropshire commenced services to London. This restored the county's direct rail link to London; previously Shropshire was the only English county without a dedicated service to the capital.
The main station building is itself a landmark for its architectural style. It includes a clock tower, imitation Tudor chimneys, and carved heads in the frames of every window. There is a small police post located at the left-hand end of the building.
Roads
Shrewsbury is connected to the national road network and nearby towns via a number of significant roads.
The A5 connects the town northwest to Oswestry, and east towards Telford, where it becomes the M54. The A5 once ran through the town centre, until a bypass was built in the 1930s. Subsequently, in 1992, a seventeen mile (27 km) dual carriageway was completed at a cost of 79 million pounds to the south of the town, and was made to form part of the A5 route. This dual carriageway was built further out of the town to act as a substantial link to Telford, as well as a bypass for the town.
The A49 also goes to Shrewsbury, joining the A5 at the south of the town, coming from Ludlow and Leominster. At this point, the road merges with the A5 for three miles (5 km), before separating again to the east of the town. From there it runs north, passing Sundorne, then Battlefield, before heading out towards Whitchurch. At Battlefield, the A53 route begins and heads northeast towards Shawbury and Market Drayton then onwards towards Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent.
The A458 (Welshpool-Bridgnorth) runs through the town centre, entering in the west and leaving to the southeast. The A528 begins in the town centre and heads north, heading for Ellesmere. The A488 begins just west of the town centre in Frankwell and heads out to Bishop's Castle, Clun and Knighton crossing the border in the southwest of Shropshire.
Major roads within the town include the A5112, A5191 and A5064. The A5191 goes north-south via the town centre, while the A5112 runs north-south to the east of the town centre. The A5064 is a short, one mile (1.6 km) stretch of road to the southeast of the town centre, called "London Road". Additionally, the A5124, the most recent bypass, was completed in 1998, and runs across the northern edge of the town at Battlefield (connecting the A49/A53 to the A528), though it did exist before as Harlescott Lane (which has since become unclassified).
Buses
Bus services in the town are operated by Arriva Midlands and serve most parts of the town, congregating at the town's bus station adjacent to the Darwin Shopping Centre and a short stroll from the railway station. Arriva also operate county services both independent of and on behalf of Shropshire County Council. There are other bus companies operating around the Shrewsbury area, including Boultons of Shropshire, Minsterley Motors and Tanat Valley Coaches with the latter operating services crossing from over the Welsh border from nearby towns including Llanfyllin, Montgomery, Newtown and Welshpool.
Shrewsbury has a Park and Ride bus scheme in operation and three car parks on the edge of town are used by many who want to travel into the town centre. The three car parks are located at Harlescott (to the north, colour-coded orange), Oxon (to the west, colour-coded brown) and Meole Brace (to the south, colour-coded green). It is proposed that a fourth one be built to the east of the town, at either Emstrey or Preston.
Bridges
The town has many bridges, which cross the River Severn and the Rea Brook. Frankwell footbridge is a modern pedestrian footbridge between Frankwell and the town centre spanning the River Severn. Downstream is the Welsh Bridge, which was built in the 1790s to replace the ancient St George's Bridge. Further along is the Porthill Bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge running between The Quarry and Porthill, built in 1922. The next bridge along the river is the Kingsland Bridge, a privately owned toll bridge, and the subsequent bridge is the Greyfriars Bridge, a pedestrian bridge between Coleham and the town centre. Following the Greyfriars Bridge is the English Bridge, historically called "Stone Bridge", which was rebuilt in the 1930s, and beyond it is the railway station, which is partly built over the river. After the station is the Castle Walk Footbridge, another modern pedestrian footbridge.
A. E. Housman wrote of the area this verse, which mentions the bridges of the town:
Notable people
There have been a number of notable Salopians, and people otherwise associated with the town of Shrewsbury, including Charles Darwin, a biologist and evolutionary theorist, one of the most important thinkers of the nineteenth century, who was born in Shrewsbury on 12 February 1809 at The Mount House, and was educated in the town at Shrewsbury School.
People with political associations also have connections with the town. Leo Blair, the father of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, is a resident of the town. Former residents have included Michael Heseltine, a Conservative politician who was educated at Shrewsbury School, and Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, who was once Britain's richest man, and was MP for Shrewsbury. He lived in apartments at Shrewsbury Castle. Robert Clive was MP for Shrewsbury, and also the mayor.
Ian Hunter (or Ian Patterson), the lead singer of the 70's pop group Mott the Hoople, was a resident of 23a Swan Hill in the town centre, and wrote a song of the same name. Also a resident of the town was John Peel, a DJ and radio presenter, who was educated at Shrewsbury School. Another DJ from the town is Lange, a producer of dance music, who was born in Shrewsbury. The 1980s pop group T'Pau was formed in the town and the band's vocalist Carol Decker was born and educated in the town, along with other members of the band.
Shrewsbury has also been home to contributors to literature. Prior to the First World War, the poet Wilfred Owen lived in the town. The romantic novelist Mary Webb is buried there. Michael Palin, the writer, actor and comedian attended Shrewsbury School. Other actors with associations with the town include Nick Hancock, presenter of They Think It's All Over, who, like Palin, was educated at Shrewsbury School. Nick Conway is another actor connected to the town, and was born in it in 1962.
Sporting Salopians include Danny Guthrie, a footballer who was born in Shrewsbury; and Joe Hart, an under-21 international footballer, born in the town, and educated at Meole Brace School. Sandy Lyle, a professional golfer, was also born in the town.
Other notable people of the town include Robert Cadman, a performer and steeplejack, who is buried in the town, at St. Mary's Church. Simon Gosling, a designer was born in the town, and was resident there until 1994. John Gwynn, an 18th century architect, who designed the English Bridge and the bridge at Atcham was born in the town. Percy Thrower, the gardener and broadcaster was a resident of Shrewsbury.
Flight Lieutenant Eric Lock DSO, DFC and Bar was born in nearby Bayston Hill and was educated at Prestfelde public school on London Road. Lock became internationally recognised as a high scoring fighter ace of the Royal Air Force during World War II with twenty six victories before his death in combat at the age of twenty one. He was the RAF's most successful British-born pilot during the Battle of Britain, shooting down 16.5 German aircraft in a period of just a few weeks.
The forerunner of Private Eye was a school magazine edited by Richard Ingrams, Willie Rushton, Christopher Booker and Paul Foot at Shrewsbury School in the mid-1950s.
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