Battlefield is a village and suburb of the town of Shrewsbury in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England. It is north of the town centre. The village is today split between three

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

- Shrewsbury, Astley and Pimhill.

Battle of Shrewsbury

It was roughly here that the

Battle of Shrewsbury The Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers ...

of 1403 took place. A church, commonly known as "Battlefield Church", but officially St. Mary Magdalene Church, was built in memory of the thousands who died. Today the Battlefield Heritage Park is a visitor attraction, commemorating and interpreting the battle site.

Modern day Battlefield

The A49 runs through Battlefield, on its way from Shrewsbury to Whitchurch, as does the Welsh Marches Line (the Shrewsbury to Crewe railway line). The A53 begins its route at Battlefield. Battlefield has two

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. ''The Red Lion'' is the elder pub, and ''The Two Henrys'' is to the north of the Battlefield roundabout, as is the church, which lies just off the A49. Also recently opened adjacent to the Two Henrys is a Spar Convenience store, which is the first in the UK to have a smoothie bar, and also Wi-fi networking.

Expansion of Shrewsbury

The town of Shrewsbury has over the past 10 years grown substantially in this area and the village is now part of the town. It is however split by a large Shrewsbury bypass roundabout ("Battlefield Roundabout"), one of the busiest in the county town. The new Shrewsbury livestock market and a small hotel and service station has been built just off the A53 near the Battlefield Roundabout. An industrial and business estate, the Battlefield Enterprise Park, has grown up in between the older Shrewsbury suburb of

Harlescott Harlescott is a suburb of the town of Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire. It is one of the most industrial parts of the town, and is the 5th most deprived ward in non-metropolitan Shropshire Neighbouring suburbs include Sundorne to the ea ...

and Battlefield. It is located on the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury and the village of Battlefield is nearby. A large part of the battlefield is, however, protected as a heritage site. Even so, the Battlefield Link Road (the A5124) runs straight through it and a car park has been built for visitors. The first businesses moved in during the mid-1990s, though the park became more established later that decade when the Battlefield Link Road, the A5124, was built. The park is near the A49 and A53 and it is also adjacent to the Welsh Marches Line.

Governance

Battlefield is as an electoral ward of Shrewsbury Town Council and also

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council is the local authority of Shropshire, in England, comprising the ceremonial county of Shropshire except Telford and Wrekin. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combi ...

. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,193.

References

External links