Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth | |
---|---|
High Town from the River Severn | |
Coat of arms of Bridgnorth Motto: Fidelitas Urbis Salus Regis In the town's loyalty lies the King's safety [1] | |
Location within Shropshire | |
Population | 12,079 (2011)[2] |
OS grid reference | SO716927 |
Civil parish |
|
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRIDGNORTH |
Postcode district | WV15, WV16 |
Dialling code | 01746 |
Police | West Mercia |
Fire | Shropshire |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Bridgnorth is a town and
History
Bridgnorth is named after a bridge over the River Severn, which was built further north than an earlier bridge at
After the
Bridgnorth's
It is probable that
During the Civil War, Bridgnorth was one of the Midlands' main royalist strongholds, and in 1642 many royalist troops were garrisoned there. In 1646, Cromwell's Roundheads arrived with orders to take Bridgnorth for the Parliamentarians from the garrison led by Sir Robert Howard.[13] After a three-week siege, Cromwell was successful and he ordered that the castle be demolished.
Bridgnorth had an ironworks in Low Town run by Hazledine and Company which in 1808 built the locomotive Catch Me Who Can designed and promoted by Richard Trevithick. A plaque on the foundry's site commemorates this association.[14]
By 1824, the borough and liberties of Bridgnorth were well defined.[15]
The population of the municipal borough in 1841 was 6,198, and that of the town was 5,770.[16]
More than 255 men from the Bridgnorth area volunteered in the first months of the
Until 1961 the
In 1978, Bridgnorth was twinned with the French town of Thiers, and in 1992 it also twinned with the Bavarian town of Schrobenhausen, Germany[20] that had already twinned with Thiers a few years earlier. On 21 August 2003 Bridgnorth was granted Fairtrade Town status.[21]
Geography
The town is located in the Severn Valley, where the river passes through a relatively narrow valley with largely-wooded slopes. High Town, the part of the town sited on the west side of the Severn, is built on a notable promontory, at the southern end of which the castle was constructed, and is known as Castle Hill. Low Town is situated on lower-lying ground on the banks of the river. High Town is at an elevation of 65–68 metres (213–223 feet) above sea level, whilst Low Town is at 32–33 metres (105 feet).[22] The lie of the land of Low Town is less hilly but then rises steeply to its immediate east.
The West Midlands Green Belt covers the countryside to the east of the Severn and the settlement.
The civil parish includes Danesford, Oldbury and Quatford.[23]
Landmarks
Bridgnorth is home to a funicular railway that links the High and Low towns, the Castle Hill Railway, which is the steepest[5] and only inland railway of its type in England.[24] Additionally, within the High Town is Bridgnorth railway station on the Severn Valley Railway, which runs southwards to Kidderminster. The ruins of Bridgnorth Castle, built in 1101, are present in the town. Due to damage caused during the English Civil War, the castle is inclined at an angle of 15 degrees.[25]
High Town has two prominent
Bishop Percy's House on the Cartway was built in 1580 by Richard Forster and has been a Grade 1 listed building since 18 July 1949. It was one of the few properties of its type to survive the great fire of Bridgnorth in April 1646, and was the birthplace of
Other notable buildings in the town are the 17th century
The remains of an old hermitage can be seen from the high town, they are commonly called The Queens Parlor by locals. One local legend tells of its occupation in AD 925 by a hermit called Ethelred or Ethelwald, a grandson to Alfred the Great. This may not be such an unlikely story as Bridgnorth was founded in 912 by Alfred the Great's daughter Ethelfleda.
Education
There are a number of
The town has two
There is a sixth form in Bridgnorth, Bridgnorth Sixth Form, which is run within Oldbury Wells School. A consultation was published which outlines consideration of no new student intake in September 2024 and potential closure in September 2025.[33] In September 2023, Telford College made a deal with both Bridgnorth secondary schools.[34]
Culture
There is a theatre, the Theatre on the Steps, and a 1930s cinema, the Majestic. The Northgate Museum contains many artefacts connected with the town and surrounding area. It was the first independent museum in Shropshire to be accredited by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.[35]
Sport and clubs
Bridgnorth Rowing Club occupies 'The Maltings' building on the edge of Severn Park, which was purchased by the club in 1983. Work to convert the malting building into the boat house started in 1993. It competes in events in the local region and further afield, including attending the annual Head of the River Race on the Thames in London, and hosts an annual regatta with racing along the length of the Severn Park.[citation needed]
Bridgnorth Army Cadets is the oldest Army Cadet detachment in Shropshire.[citation needed] The Army Cadet Force (ACF) in 2010 celebrated 150 years.
In 2007, Bridgnorth hosted the UK Downhill Street Race in cycling.
In January 2010, the Kidderminster branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts expanded to Bridgnorth, providing the town with a part-time performing arts school for people of ages between 6 and 18. The Kidderminster School is now named "Stagecoach Kidderminster & Bridgnorth".[citation needed]
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Wrekin[36] and the local relay TV transmitters.[37]
Local radio stations are
The town is served by the local newspaper, Shropshire Star (formerly Bridgnorth Journal).[39]
Transport
Roads
Bridgnorth grew initially as a market town at the centre of a system of local radial roads linking it with more rural, smaller settlements. Many of these roads crossed Bridgnorth at the point on the High Street where the town hall now stands. The River Severn historically also played a major role as a trading connection for the town, but is no longer generally navigable this far upstream.[citation needed]
Bridgnorth is connected to Shrewsbury and Stourbridge by the A458 road, Telford and Kidderminster by the A442 road, and Wolverhampton via the A454 road. The town is 11 miles (18 km) from the M54 motorway, at Telford.
The A458 passes to the south of the town centre on a by-pass, construction of which was started in 1982 and now serves to relieve the town centre of the congestion that once plagued it. The bypass also provided a second bridge across the Severn at Bridgnorth, which remains the only local alternative to the historic bridge that connects Low and High towns.
Buses
The town is served by buses to and from Telford, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Much Wenlock, Ironbridge, Shifnal and Kidderminster. These are operated by Arriva Midlands, Select Bus Services, and Diamond Bus.
Railway
Currently the closest towns with active railway stations on the National Rail network are Telford and Wolverhampton. However, Bridgnorth does still have a station on an active heritage line, the Severn Valley Railway. Bridgnorth station was not the northern terminus of this line when built, but the main intermediate station, being 181⁄4 miles from Hartlebury and 221⁄2 miles from Shrewsbury. The station, which was opened to the public by the SVR on 1 February 1862, was passed to Great Western Railway (GWR) and then eventually to British Railways in 1948. It closed to passengers after 101 years of service on 8 September 1963 and to freight traffic on 30 November 1963. Although thought by some to have been closed as part of the Beeching cuts, its planned closure pre-dated his report.
The neo-Jacobean station is the only listed railway station on the Severn Valley Railway. Necessitating that, any future plans to enhance visitor facilities will need to be carefully designed to be in keeping with the railway station's architecture and historic character.
The line now ends just north of the modern-day station, where the line formerly bridged Hollybush Road and passed through Bridgnorth Tunnel and on to the next station on the line, Linley. There exists an ongoing debate whether the railway should extend beyond its current limits north of Bridgnorth.[40]
Cliff railway
The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, also known as the Bridgnorth Funicular Railway or Castle Hill Railway, is a funicular railway which has operated in Bridgnorth for over 100 years. The line links the lower part of High Town to the upper part. The bottom entrance is adjacent to the River Severn while the top is adjacent to the ruins of Bridgnorth Castle.
Opened on 7 July 1892 to great fanfare and the proclamation of a public holiday, the line is one of four funicular railways in the
It is one of the steepest railways in the country and at least one source (the information panel outside the top station) claims it is both the steepest and shortest. It is the only functional inland funicular railway in England - there are about 15 more at English seaside towns.[41] Originally, the railway was powered by a simple system using water and gravity, but was converted in 1943–44 to run on electricity. Then, in 1955, new cars were installed on the railway; these were able to carry 18 passengers each and are still in use today. As of April 2024[update] return tickets cost £2.00 with discounts available for groups of 15 or more.[42] Single tickets are not available.
The railway allows people to easily get between the two parts of High Town as the only other way down is down 200 steps or by using roads which drastically increase the journey. The terminals at the upper and lower part of the railway are currently used as tea-rooms and guest houses.
The railway was temporarily closed in December 2022 due to damage to a retaining wall and further damage was discovered during repairs. The railway reopened on 4th March 2024.[43]
Walking and cycling
Bridgnorth is on National Route 45 of the Sustrans National Cycle Network, which is named the Mercian Way.
The long-distance trail called the Geopark Way begins in the town.
Every year since 1967, a sponsored walk has been held in Bridgnorth.[44] Since 2017 this has been organised by the Bridgnorth Lions Club.[44]
Economy
On the eastern side of the town is a large aluminium works, founded in the 1950s.[45]
Governance
The
Local government and services are otherwise provided by
Notable Townsfolk
Active up to 1900
- Dean Stanley“the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen”
- Edward Synge (1621 in Bridgnorth-1678) Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Church of Ireland
- Francis Moore (1657–1715), physician and astrologer, originator of Old Moore's Almanack.[49]
- Elizabeth Jeffries (1727–1752) was an English woman [50] executed for murder
- Thomas Percy (1729–1811) was Bishop of Dromore,[51] County Down, Ireland
- Mary Martha Sherwood (1775-1851), children's author, lived at Bridgnorth between 1795 and her marriage in 1803, in a house in the High Street.[52]
- William Macmichael (1783–1839) physician and medical biographer,[53] author of The Gold-Headed Cane (1827)
- Samuel Bache (1804–1876) was an English Unitarian minister [54]
Active after 1900
- Henry Southwell CMG VD (1860-1937), Church of England clergyman, later Bishop of Lewes 1920/1926, was from Bridgnorth, where his family lived at Woodlands Hall.[55]
- Henry Cope Colles (1879 in Bridgnorth-1943) music critic and lexicographer[56]
- Sir Terence O'Connor KC, MP (1891–1940) a Conservative Party politician, MP for Luton 1924/1929 and Nottingham Central 1930/1940 and Solicitor General 1936/1940
- John Dudley North (1893–1968), CBE, HonFRAeS, MIMechE, was chairman and managing director of Boulton Paul Aircraft
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- Thomas Orde Lawder Wilkinson VC (1894–1916) Canadian and British Army officer,[58] posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
- Elizabeth Dilys Powell, CBE (1901–1995) journalist [59] who wrote for The Sunday Times for over fifty years, best known as a film critic.
- Air Commodore Cathcart Wight-Boycott CBE DSO and bar MA (1910–1998) fighter pilot [60] during WW2 and then a senior RAF officer.
- Ross Antony (born 1974) musical actor,[61] singer, TV entertainer in Germany.
- .
- George Helon (born 1965) Freeman of the City of London, author, businessman and historian.
- Dominic Sandbrook (born 1974) historian, author,[63] columnist and TV presenter.
Sport
- Richard Colley (1833-1902) first-class cricketer for Oxford University and county player for Oxfordshire and Shropshire,[64] retired to Bridgnorth where he died.[65]
- Ken Armstrong (born 1959) former footballer, about 170 pro appearances, injured, became NHS manager in Tayside.[66]
- Trevor Meredith (born 1936) footballer, 270 pro appearances, mainly for Shrewsbury Town.
- Gareth Mumford (born 1973) cricketer[67]
- Craig Parnham (born 1973) field hockey defender and coach,[68] represented GB in the 2000 & 2004 Summer Olympics.
- Wrexham F.C.
Old Bridgnorth School
Twin towns
Bridgnorth is
Closest cities, towns and villages
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