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Shropshire

Shropshire (abbreviated Salops) is an county in the West Midlands of England, bordering Cheshire, Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Powys, and Wrexham.

It is one of England's most rural counties. The current county town is Shrewsbury, but was traditionally Ludlow, whose castle was once a royal residence and the seat of the Council of Wales and the Marches, and the largest town is by far the major industrial centre and New Town of Telford. It also contains Coalbrookdale, where the Industrial Revolution started and Ironbridge, where the world's first iron bridge was constructed.

The county is sub-divided into districts - Bridgnorth, North Shropshire, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Atcham, South Shropshire. It used to contain Telford and Wrekin, which is now a separate unitary authority.

Table of contents
1 Cradle of Industry
2 Geography
3 Towns and villages
4 Places of interest
5 Famous People
6 List of Councils
7 List of M.P's
8 Did you know?

Cradle of Industry

Quite why a remote, rural county on the Welsh border, was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, mystifies many people. However the reasons for this, suprising fact, is geology. Shropshire is the geological "capital" of the U.K, as just about every rock type in Northern Europe is found within its borders, as are coal, lead and iron ore deposits. Add to this the fact that the River Severn flows through the county providing easy transportation, and it is suddenly much easier to explain.

Geography

Geographically, Shropshire is divisible into several distinct areas:

Towns and villages

Places of interest

Famous People

List of Councils

List of M.P's

+Marsden was elected as a Labour member, but defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2001, over a "disagreement" over the military action in Afghanistan. He has since been sucessfully sued by the Shrewsbury and Atcham CLP over the "misappropriation" of Labour Party equipment.

Did you know?

That the Shropshire Regiment burned down the White House in the War of 1812?