Shrewsbury

For other places with the same name, see Shrewsbury (disambiguation).

Shrewsbury
File:Old Shrewsbruy Market Halledit.jpg The Old Market Hall in the Square.
Population	70,560
OS grid reference	SJ491124
District	Shrewsbury and Atcham
Shire county	Shropshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SHREWSBURY
Postcode district	SY1, SY2, SY3
Dialling code	01743
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Shropshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Shrewsbury and Atcham

Shrewsbury (pronounced either [ˈʃɹuːzbɹi] or [ˈʃɹəʊzbɹi]) is the county town of Shropshire, West Midlands, England. Lying on the River Severn, it is home to 70,560 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement of the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham, which has a population of 95,850.

Shrewsbury is a historic market town with the town centre having a largely unaltered medieval street plan. The town centre features over 660 historic listed buildings, including several timber framed examples from the 15th and 16th centuries. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively, by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery.

Today, lying 9 miles east of the Welsh border, Shrewsbury serves as a commercial and cultural centre for the ceremonial county and a large area of mid-Wales. 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 a number of railway lines at Shrewsbury railway station.

History

Main article: History of Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury's name comes from the Anglo-Saxon Scrobbesburh (dative Scrobbesbyrig) = "fort in the scrub-land region" or "Scrobb's fort". Its Welsh name Amwythig means "fortified place".

Shrewsbury is popularly known as a medieval town, having been founded c.800 and it was during the "late Middle Ages" (14th/15th Centuries) in which the town was at its height in terms of national importance and wealth. 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.

Typical Tudor architecture on Butcher Row.

Market Street, behind the Old Market Hall with the Music Hall on the left.

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".

Shrewsbury has also played a unique part in Western intellectual history, by being the town in which the great naturalist Charles Darwin was born and raised.

See also:

• Pengwern - possible ancient town or kingdom based where Shrewsbury is now.
• Battle of Shrewsbury (1403) - fought a few miles north of the town centre, at Battlefield.
• Wroxeter - 5 miles SW of the town lies the (now ruined) Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum.

Population

The population of the town of Shrewsbury is a little over 70,000 although the population of the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham is higher, at just under 96,000. 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. 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. In 2000 and again in 2002, Shrewsbury unsuccessfully applied for city status.

Within the borough, but not part of the town of Shrewsbury, is the large village of Bayston Hill. This was once a much smaller village but has grown up to become a suburb of the town. It remains, however, a separate entity to the town, with its own parish council, etc. Bayston Hill lies some 3 miles 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 recent growth in the surrounding area. It is covered by the unparished town area of the borough and is included in a town ward.

Attractions

The Dingle, formerly a Quarry, now a scenic garden.

The church of St. Chads and Quarry recreational area (foreground).

Music Hall façade

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 town was also used as the set for the popular US television special "A Christmas Carol", which filmed many of its interior and exterior shots in and around Shrewsbury. The gravestone of Ebeneezer Scrooge used in production is still present in the graveyard of St. Chad's church.

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.

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. The town is known as the "Town of Flowers" and this was the motto printed onto many of the signs as you entered the town on major roads, although in 2007 the signs were replaced, instead branding the town as 'the birthplace of Charles Darwin'.

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 magnificent 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. In recent years, including 2005, Northern Pines has participated.

2006 also 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. .

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.

Transportation

File:NexusShrewsbury.JPG

Roushill, Shrewsbury

A map of Shrewsbury showing suburbs, surrounding villages, Rivers (blue), Roads (red) and Rail routes (green).

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". Its railway station is served by Arriva Trains Wales and Central Trains. Trains frequently run to Birmingham, Manchester, Chester, Telford, Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Crewe, Hereford and Wrexham.

Roads

Shrewsbury is connected to the national road network and nearby towns via a number of significant roads.

The A5 connects the town east towards Telford, where it becomes the M54, and northwest to Oswestry. The A5 once ran through the town centre, until a bypass was built in the 1930s. Subsequently, in 1992, a seventeen mile 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, 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.

Claremont Bank, with the SSFC campus to the left, and Frankwell in the distance.

The A458 (Welshpool-Bridgnorth) runs through the town centre though, 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 stretch of road to the southeast of the town centre, called "London Road". Additionally, the A5124 is the most recently built section of the Shrewsbury bypasses 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 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 Minsterley Motors.

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

Frankwell Footbridge (foreground) and the Welsh Bridge (background).

Porthill Bridge, crossing the Severn, connecting Porthill with the Quarry area.

The town has many bridges, which cross the River Severn and the Rea Brook. A. E. Housman wrote of the area this verse, which mentions the bridges of the town:

High the vanes of Shrewsbury gleam

Islanded in Severn stream;
The bridges from the steepled crest,

Cross the water east and west.

Below are listed the major town bridges, travelling downstream along the River Severn:

• Frankwell Footbridge - modern pedestrian bridge (see Frankwell)
• Welsh Bridge - built in the 1790s to replace the ancient St George's Bridge
• Porthill Bridge - a pedestrian suspension bridge between the Quarry and Porthill, built in 1922.
• Kingsland Bridge - privately owned, toll bridge (near Shrewsbury School)
• Greyfriars Bridge - a pedestrian bridge connecting Coleham to the town centre
• English Bridge - historically called "Stone Bridge", and was rebuilt in the 1930s
• Shrewsbury railway station - is built partially over the river
• Castle Walk Footbridge - modern pedestrian bridge

Future

The main shopping district, Pride Hill.

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.

The town centre has two large indoor shopping centres - the 'Pride Hill' and 'Darwin' centres. The initial plan to merge them into the Castle Gate shopping complex experienced setbacks, and planning permission was withdrawn. However, the development of a new four storey link mall has begun as part of a new project by a different company, with construction being undertaken by local company Morris Property. In addition to connecting the two shopping centres, the new mall may also open onto the main shopping street Pride Hill.

The borough council have just completed a new sports village at Sundorne and the new livestock market at Battlefield. 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.

Administrative functions

A ward map; the Shrewsbury Urban area is shown in orange, within the larger Shrewsbury and Atcham district.

Shrewsbury is the administrative centre for both Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough and Shropshire County (which does not include the Telford and Wrekin borough, which is now a unitary authority). The 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 has no town council, the Mayor of Shrewsbury and Atcham being also the mayor of the town.

The town also serves as the administrative headquarters of the British Army's 5th Division, which has their administrative HQ at the Copthorne Barracks.

Local 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.

Politics

Shrewsbury is in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency and is the only large settlement in the constituency. Before 1997 Shrewsbury and Atcham's 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 Benjamin Disraeli.

Shrewsbury is twinned with Zutphen in The Netherlands.

Suburbs of the town

File:Shrewsburypanorama.JPG

Panorama over Shrewsbury from the grounds of Shrewsbury School, located in Kingsland.

See Suburbs of Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury has a large number of distinct 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 over recent years; now separated from the Meole Brace suburb by only a few fields and the A5 road.

Famous residents

Charles Darwin, Shrewsbury's most illustrious historical resident.

Darwin Gate sculpture at the top of Mardol.

• Leo Blair, father of former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
• Robert Cadman (1711–1739), early aviator. Buried in St Mary's Church
• Robert Clive ("Clive of India") was Mayor and Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury.
• Charles Darwin, biologist and evolutionary theorist, one of the most important thinkers of the nineteenth century and one of the greatest scientists of all time, was born in Shrewsbury on 12 February 1809 at The Mount House, and he was educated in the town at Shrewsbury School.
• Simon Gosling was born in Shrewsbury and lived there until 1994.
• Paul Gustafson, self publicist, author, biologist, naturalist, angler and teacher was born in Shrewsbury.
• John Gwynn, architect (1713-1786), was born and died in Shrewsbury. The town's English Bridge and the bridge at Atcham were both designed by him.
• Nick Hancock of 'They think it's all over' fame was a boarder in Ingrams House at Shrewsbury School but originally from Stoke-On-Trent
• Michael Heseltine was educated at Shrewsbury School.
• Ian Hunter (real name Patterson), lead singer of 70's pop group Mott the Hoople lived at 23a Swan Hill in the town centre and wrote a song of the same name. 23 Swan Hill was the police station and 23a the Sergeant's house: Hunter's father was the station Sergeant during his teenage years. Hunter's song "Irene Wilde" poignantly features the town's Barker Street bus station.
• Sandy Lyle, professional golfer, was born in Shrewsbury, although he represented Scotland in his professional career.
• Wilfred Owen, poet, lived and worked in Shrewsbury until the First World War.
• Michael Palin, writer, actor, and comedian. Most famous for being a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, and more recently his series of television travel documentaries. Attended Shrewsbury School.
• John Peel was a boarding student at Shrewsbury School
• Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, once Britain's richest man, was MP for Shrewsbury and lived in apartments at Shrewsbury Castle.
• Percy Thrower, gardener and broadcaster who presented various gardening programmes, including the BBC's Gardeners' World from 1969 until 1976.
• T'Pau, the 80s pop group came from Shrewsbury.
• Mary Webb (1881 - 1917). Author. Buried in Shrewsbury .
• Lange, International DJ and famed dance music producer, born in Shrewsbury
• Nick Conway actor probably best known for 'Billy' in the BBC sitcom Bread (TV series)

Fictional references

• The Brother Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters, aka Edith Pargeter, take Shrewsbury Abbey for their setting. In the stories, Shrewsbury and other places in Shropshire are portrayed regularly.
• Local author Carol Ewels has two children's books, including Jack the Cat, set in the town.
• 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.

Sport

• Shrewsbury Town are a Football League team currently playing in Football League Two. Their current manager is Gary Peters. 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 has recently relocated to the New Meadow stadium, a purpose 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.

• Shrewsbury is home a variety of established amateur sports clubs:
  • Shrewsbury Cricket Club
  • Shrewsbury Rugby Club
  • Shrewsbury Athletics Club
• There are three major golf courses:
  • Meole Brace Municipal Golf Course, in Shrewsbury
  • Shrewsbury Golf Club, based at Condover
  • Arscott Golf Club, Arscott, near Pontesbury

Professional golfer Sandy Lyle was born in Shrewsbury.

• The area also has a rich motorsports heritage, with 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.
• Shrewsbury Sports Village 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.
• Shrewsbury Wrestling Club (SWC) is another sports club of the town.

Education

Shrewsbury School is a private institution.

Shrewsbury Sixth Form College (SSFC)

Shrewsbury is home to Shrewsbury School, a public school, where Sir Philip Sydney, Charles Darwin, Michael Palin, John Peel, Nick Hancock and Michael Heseltine were educated. It is 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, a private girls' day school. However the majority of the town's children attend one of the seven comprehensive schools. These include:

• The Priory, formerly a grammar school for girls.
• Meole Brace School, which currently carries the status of Science College.
• The Corbet School
• The Wakeman School, geographically the school nearest the town, situated next to the English Bridge, alongside the Severn and adjacent to the Gay Meadow football ground. The site was previously 'Shrewsbury Technical School', attended by the famous war poet Wilfred Owen.
• The Grange
• Sundorne currently carrying the status of Sports College
• Belvidere currently carrying the status of Technology College
• The Mary Webb School serves many inhabitants of Shrewsbury, though actually located in the large village of Pontesbury, to the south-west.

Post-16 education is handled by Shrewsbury Sixth Form College and Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology. Recent proposals to co-locate the two colleges have met with fierce opposition , primarily from the students of the Sixth Form, who wish to remain in a central location, and business owners who fear a loss of weekday trade that would decimate the town's economy. Many college staff are also against the move.

Coat of arms

Floreat Salopia - Latin; "may Salop flourish" (Salop can mean both Shrewsbury and Shropshire).

The coat of arms is that of the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham - Shrewsbury's town shield is the same but without the bridge (which is the Atcham Bridge). Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury and Atcham, Shrewsbury Town FC and Shropshire all use the same loggerheads and motto.

External links

• Shrewsbury Biscuits
• Darwin Country - Shrewsbury Museums Service information site
• Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council
• Shrewsbury page on Shropshire Tourism
• Shrewsbury Forum
• Shrewsbury Food Guide
• The Mount Residents' Group Shrewsbury
• The Orthodox Church building is over 1,000 years old.
• Goodbye Gay Meadow