Shropshire (redirected from Shropshire, England)

Shropshire (shrŏp`shĭr, –shər), county (1991 pop. 401,600), 1,348 sq mi (3,491 sq km), W England. It is also sometimes called Salop. The county seat is Shrewsbury. The terrain to the north and east of the Severn, Shropshire's principal river, is level; toward the Welsh border and the south the land is hilly. The county is chiefly agricultural, but there are metal-products, engineering, electronics-manufacturing, and food-processing industries.

The ancient Watling Street and Offa's Dyke cross the county. In Anglo-Saxon times Shropshire was a part of the kingdom of Mercia. After the Norman Conquest it became an important part of the Welsh Marches and was the scene of much border conflict. There are ruins of many medieval castles and old monastic remains. The quiet beauty of the countryside is depicted in A. E. Housman's Shropshire Lad. Telford and Wreken, in E Shropshire, has been administratively independent of the county since 1998.

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Shropshire

Administrative (pop., 2001: 283,240), geographic, and historic county, western England. It is divided by the River Severn; its county seat is Shrewsbury. Remnants left by Neolithic, Bronze Age, and early Iron Age inhabitants have been found in the region. In the 1st century AD the Romans built a fortress at Viroconium, one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. The Saxon conquest brought the construction of Offa's Dyke, marking the England-Wales border. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, a double line of castles was established as fortification against the Welsh. In the 13th century the high quality of Shropshire wool brought prosperity to the region. In the early 18th century it became the greatest iron-producing area in England. Iron founding and agriculture remain important. The administrative county of Shropshire comprises five districts: Bridgnorth, North Shropshire, South Shropshire, and the boroughs of Oswestry and Shrewsbury and Atcham.

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Shropshire

1. a county of W central England: Telford and Wrekin became an independent unitary authority in 1998; mainly agricultural. Administrative centre: Shrewsbury. Pop. (excluding Telford and Wrekin): 286 700 (2003 est.). Area (excluding Telford and Wrekin): 3201 sq. km (1236 sq. miles)

2. a breed of medium-sized sheep having a dense fleece, originating from Shropshire and Staffordshire, England

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Shropshire 

a breed of semifine-wooled short-haired sheep bred for meat and wool. The breed was developed in the first half of the 19th century in Great Britain, in Shropshire and Staffordshire, by crossing dark-headed ewes with Southdown rams.

The animals are hornless. The rams weigh 80 to 120 kg, and the ewes, 70 to 90 kg. The wool is white (the face, ears, and legs are dark brown), of 54th to 56th quality; it measures about 10 cm in length and is characterized by softness and resilience. The maximum wool clip from rams is 4–6 kg, and from ewes 3–4 kg. The breed is characterized by high fertility: 150 to 170 lambs per 100 ewes. The sheep mature early and transmit their meat qualities well to offspring. They are adapted to various natural and climatic conditions.

The Shropshire sheep is raised in Great Britian, the USA, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries; in the USSR it was used to develop the Latvian Dark-head and Estonian Black-headed breeds.

REFERENCE

Ovtsevodstvo, vol. 2. Edited by G. R. Litovchenko and P. A. Esaulov. Moscow, 1972.

A. A. VENIAMINOV