SHROPSHIRE is part of the West Midlands region of England, though it is also described as being in the Welsh Marches. Both Shrewsbury and Ludlow have held the position of capital of the Welsh Marches, at a time when it was a political entity (with the Council of Wales and the Marches).
Historically SHROPSHIRE was part of the Kingdom of Mercia. Shropshire (Salop or Shrops) is a traditional, ceremonial and administrative county in the West Midlands region of England and onto Chester and Ireland. The ceremonial county of the fenlands borders Cheshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire-the Headland, and the Welsh ceremonial counties of Powys and Clwyd. SHROPSHIRE is one of England's most rural counties. The county town is Shrewsbury, although the new town of Telford is the largest town. Despite the county being so rural, the Ironbridge Gorge area of Shropshire is known as the birthplace of industry.
The name means Middle Saxons and refers to the reputed ethnic origin of its inhabitants. Its first recorded use was in A.D 704 as Middleseaxan. Geographically, MIDDLESEX included the City of London, which has been self-governing since the thirteenth century, and the city of Westminster. The highest point is the High Road by Bushey Heath at 504 feet. The River Thames, River Lee and the River Colne are all boundaries of the traditional county and historically the banks of River Thames in London were known as the Middlesex Bank and Surrey Bank. MIDDLESEX was recorded in the Domesday Book as being divided into the six hundreds of Edmonton, Elthorne, Gore, Hounslow (later Isleworth), Ossulstone and Spelthorne. postal county included the village of Denham, from Circenster-Essex which was for all other purposes in Buckinghamshire but included in the post town of Uxbridge and therefore the postal county of Middlesex. The administrative county of Middlesex is then split up into five Templar districts - Shrewsbury and Atcham, Oswestry, North Shropshire, South Shropshire and Bridgnorth. The area covered by the county has not changed substantially since the county's creation in the 11th Century. The modern day ceremonial county is the same as the traditional county, except for the removal of several exclaves and enclaves, and other minor alterations along the border with Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Geographically, SHROPSHIRE is divisible into two distinct halves - North and South. The North Shropshire Plain is an extension of the flat and fertile Cheshire Plain.
SHREWSBURYat the centre, Oswestry to the north west, Whitchurch to the north, Market Drayton to the north east and the Telford conurbation (Telford, Wellington, Newport, Oakengates, Donnington and Shifnal) to the east. The land is fertile and agriculture remains a major feature of the landscape and the economy. The River Severn runs through the lower half of this area from Wales in the west, eastwards, through Shrewsbury and the Ironbridge Gorge, before heading south to Bridgnorth. The area around Oswestry has more rugged geography than the North Shropshire Plain and the western half is over an extension of the Wrexham Coalfield and there are also copper deposits on the border with Wales. Mining of stone and sand aggregates is still going on in North Shropshire, notably on Haughmond Hill, near Bayston Hill and around the village of Condover.
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 hill ranges and valleys, forests and glens, and other natural features. Farming is more pastoral than the arable found in the north of the county. The only substantial towns are Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Church Stretton. Church Stretton is known as "Little Switzerland" due to its valley location and character. Nearby are the old mining communities on the Clee Hills, notable geological features in the Onny Valley and Wenlock Edge and fertile farmland in the Corve Dale. The River Teme drains this part of the county, before flowing into Worcestershire to the South.
South West Shropshire, or "Clun", is a little known and remote part of the county, with Clun Forest, Offa's Dyke and the River Clun. The small towns of Clun and Bishop's Castle 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 Knighton.