Essential Hotels > England > Shropshire > Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is a strikingly historic town on the Wales-England border and is full of elegance and beauty. It is nestled in a little loop of the River Severn and, importantly, is the county town of Shropshire, giving insight into its regional importance. In Shrewsbury town centre there are many traditional and historical structures, so much so that there are in excess of 600 listed buildings in the area that fit in well with the idyllic cobbled alleys and squares. A number of these buildings are black and white timbered and date back to Tudor and Georgian times.

Among the most prominent of Shrewsbury’s list of delights are Shrewsbury Castle and Shrewsbury Abbey while Shrewsbury Cathedral also showcases plenty about the town’s past as well as its present. Many visitors flock to the town to visit the aforementioned buildings and the castle even plays host to the Shropshire Regimental Museum. Other well known places to visit in the area include St Alkmund’s Church which has a 15th century spire and St Mary’s Church which has a particularly high tower. The Old Market Hall in the centre, meanwhile, pays testament to the town’s role as a market town since 1190 when the market was first instituted. The central point of Shrewsbury is the Square which hosts a number of events and markets throughout the year.

Shrewsbury has its origins in the fifth and sixth centuries and by the eighth century it was named Scrobbesbyrig under Saxon rule. In the 11th century the castle and abbey were both founded and several other names were used for the town during this period of history. Over time Shrewsbury fought a number of wars with the nearby Welsh, repeatedly having to fight off onslaughts. Some years later, in 1403, the particularly bloody Battle of Shrewsbury took place, and 6,000 people were killed in just three hours. During the Tudor and Elizabethan eras prosperity in this region of England was gained through Welsh wool and flax; it did largely miss out on the early benefits of the Industrial Revolution that came out of nearby Ironbridge. Also of historic note: Charles Darwin was born and educated in the town of Shrewsbury and the town was used as a backdrop for the 1984 version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, aspects that provide added tourism value to this Shropshire town.