Snapshots taken on my visit to Shrewsbury town centre. These various shots were taken in 2011. Extract info from Wikipedia Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, the UK Parliament constituency of Shrewsbury and Atcham is home to some 102,234 inhabitants, whilst the town of Shrewsbury itself has a population of approximately 82,000 and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council. It is the second largest town in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, after Telford. Shrewsbury is an 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 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,[9][10] including Britain in Bloom in 2006. Today, 9 miles (14 km) 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, mainly on the outskirts. The A5 and A49 trunk roads cross near to the town, as do five railway lines at Shrewsbury railway station. The town was possibly the site of the capital of Powys, known to the ancient Britons as Pengwern, signifying "the alder hill";and in Old English 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 gradually evolved in three directions, into Sciropscire, which became Shropshire; into Sloppesberie, which became Salop/Salopia (an alternative name for both town and county), and into Schrosberie, which eventually became the town's name, Shrewsbury. Its Welsh name Amwythig means "fortified place". It is believed that Anglo-Saxon Shrewsbury was most probably a settlement fortified through the use of earthworks compromising a ditch and rampart, which were then shored up with a wooden stockade. Nearby is the village of Wroxeter, 5 miles (8 km) to the south-west, site of the now ruined Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum. 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 Shrewsbury area's regional importance in the Roman era was recently underlined with the discovery of the Shrewsbury Hoard in 2009. Medieval Shrewsbury Castle was the traditional seat of the borough council and was used, as such, for councillors' meetings until 1981. Shrewsbury is known as a town with significant medieval heritage, having been founded ca. 800 AD. It was in 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. 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.[13] In 1403 the Battle of Shrewsbury was fought a few miles north of the town centre, at Battlefield; it was fought between King Henry IV and Henry Hotspur Percy, with the King emerging victorious,[20] an event celebrated in William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5. You may also wish to view related links below www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQMWuRAOplQ www.youtube.com/watch?v=yev6X2nqyew www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIFKF6mN1Go www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOoQPxYK9WM www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQPldvibHPw www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_kGuBFSnEA www.youtube.com/watch?v=vykZ16kBsis www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5hx3ehsx0c www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9RwTv_cwTI www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RGSlMgMItU

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