History of Shrewsbury

The town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire,western England, has a history that extends back at least as far as the year 901, but it could have been first settled earlier.

It replaced the large Roman fortified town of Viroconium Cornoviorum only 5 miles to the southeast[clarification needed] at modern day Wroxeter.

[4] Within the river loop Roman coins and pottery have been found, potentially indicating either small scale settlement or a route across the meander.

Natural fords existed across the River Severn near to the present day English and Welsh Bridges which would have permitted travel across the meander.

Where the English Bridge is, the confluence of the Rea Brook with the Severn creates a wide, shallow area of water which was readily fordable.

[5] The Normans built a wooden fort at Shrewsbury,[6] but in 1069, an alliance of Welshmen and the men of Cheshire laid siege to it.

A force led by Brian of Brittany and William fitz Osbern was sent to relieve the garrison, but before they arrived, the rebels had burned the town and dispersed.

The castle was built on a defensive site occupying the only land entry into Shrewsbury, the rest of the town being enclosed by a loop in the River Severn.

In 1283 Edward I held a Parliament, the first to include a House of Commons,[10][11] at Shrewsbury Abbey to decide the fate of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last free Welsh ruler of Wales.

Later, after the formation of the Church of England, it is believed that the town was offered the status of cathedral city by Henry VIII, as the part of a proposed "Diocese of Shropshire".

[citation needed] As a result, a number of grand edifices, including the Ireland's Mansion (built 1575) and Draper's Hall (1658), were constructed.

Located near the Abbey on Holywell Street, the protected and atomic-bomb hardened Nuclear reporting blockhouse was jointly built by the Home Office and MOD in 1962 and operated continuously until 1992, and is now a veterinary practice.