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Shropshire Leasing

Did You Know?

Not only is Shropshire a first choice location for enterprise and one of England’s few remaining rural idylls, but it is also a county with a rich historical, architectural, geological, botanical and sporting past.

 The heart of Henry VIII’s older brother Arthur is buried in St Laurence Church in historic Ludlow beneath the chancel.  The rest of his body was interred at Worcester Cathedral in Shropshire.

The first-ever modern-day Olympic Games were held in Shropshire. To be precise, Much Wenlock in 1850. The brainchild of Dr Brookes, the games were originally designed to promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and its neighbourhood.

Shropshire, particularly the south of the county, is something of a magnet for geologists. There are more rocks of different ages here than any area of similar size in the world (dating from 700 to 200 million years ago). Places like Ludlow and Wenlock Edge have even given their names to geological periods.

Shropshire has provided locations for a number of films and TV over the years. Most recently ‘Time’ (2021) which was filmed at Shrewsbury Prison and prior to this: Atonement (2007) Stokesay Castle; The Chronicles of Narnia.

The fascinating heritage of the Industrial Revolution is recognised in the two world heritage sites that partly fall within the Shropshire unitary area: The Ironbridge Gorge and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, along with The Flaxmill Maltings, the world's first iron-framed building.

Salop is an old name for Shropshire, historically used as an abbreviated form for post or telegrams; it is thought to derive from the Anglo-French "Salopesberia".

The leopards' faces, referred to as "loggerheads" locally, are a traditional emblem for Shropshire and several of its towns. It is believed that the loggerheads derive from the Royal Arms of England.

Telford is the largest town in Shropshire, and one of the fastest-growing towns in the United Kingdom. It sits about 13 miles east of Shrewsbury and 30 miles north west of Birmingham.

The Shropshire accent is actually somewhere between Wales, Birmingham, Liverpool and West Country, with a touch of RP depending on where you live. The most common description is, ‘Oh you sound posher than I expected. And a bit like a farmer’.

Lord Hill's column, outside Shropshire County Council's headquarters at Shire Hall, Shrewsbury, is the tallest of its kind in the world. It stands at 133ft 6ins tall and is in the Doric style, as used by the ancient Greeks.

Boxer Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, was stationed in north Shropshire while serving as a US Army PT instructor during World War Two. Apparently people in the local pubs used to pay money to punch him in the stomach, but he was such a hardnut that the punches had no effect.