South Shropshire was a local government district in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England, from 1974 to 2009. Its council was based in the town of

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

; the other towns in the district were

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

Cleobury Mortimer Cleobury Mortimer (, ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-east Shropshire, England, which had a population of 3,036 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. It was granted a market charter by King Henry ...

, Clun,

Bishop's Castle Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales–England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of ...

and

Craven Arms Craven Arms is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is sited on the A49 road and the Welsh Marches Line, Welsh Marches railway line, which link it north and south to the larger towns of Shrewsbur ...

. South Shropshire was the most rural district of one of the UK's most rural counties, the population of the district was 40,410 in 2001 spread out over 1,027 km² of forest, mountains,

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

s, hills and mixed quality farmland. It bordered the unitary authority of

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

in Wales, which it closely resembled, economically, socially, culturally and historically. 65% of the district's area is part of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, by the merger of the

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

s of Clun and Bishop's Castle and

. The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2009 when the new Shropshire unitary authority was established, as part of the

2009 structural changes to local government in England On 1 April 2009 structural changes to local government in England took place which reformed the local government of seven Non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties: Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, County Durham, Shropshire, Northumber ...

History

South Shropshire had many ancient monuments, with Mitchells Fold on the Welsh border being the most notable, and there is evidence of

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

quarrying in the Apedale. The area seems to have been settled by the Ordovices, an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

tribe of people in the last millennium BC, and was a stronghold of the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

chieftain Caractacus ( Caer Caradoc is said to be named after him). The area was probably part of the "Military" division of the Roman occupation and locals claim that the Romans mined lead in the north west of the district. In the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, the area was a battleground between the Welsh and the Anglo Saxon Kingdom of

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

and

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mer ...

, which is partially in the district, is a permanent reminder of the areas border status. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, South Shropshire was part of the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...

, a lawless area ruled by tyrannical feudal lords, who as

Marcher Lord A marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...

s had de facto independence from the King of England. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

the area was generally spared from fighting, although there was a small massacre at Hopton Castle and

Ludlow Castle Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the Ludlow, town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy (died 1085), Wal ...

was captured by Parliamentary troops. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, coal was mined around Clee Hill and lead was mined near the border with Wales, e.g. at Snailbeach. Church Stretton was a centre of textile manufacture and Ludlow thrived on the malting trade, while the rest of the area was populated by smallholders. The economy of the area was fragile, and most industry in the area had collapsed by 1900. The administrative area of South Shropshire was created on 1 April 1974 under the

as one of six non-metropolitan districts within

. It covered the area of two former districts: * Clun and Bishop's Castle Rural District (which included the rural borough of

) * Ludlow Rural District (which included the rural borough of

) The district and its council were abolished on 31 March 2009, with the area becoming part of the new

Shropshire Council Shropshire Council, known between 1980 and 2009 as Shropshire County Council and prior to 1980 as Salop County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Shropshire (district), Shropshire in t ...

unitary authority from 1 April 2009, as part of the

Geography

The District of South Shropshire covered an area of 1,028 square kilometres, or , which was roughly one third of the administrative county of Shropshire as of 2008. South Shropshire included mountains, valleys, hills, moors, forests and low grade farmland. The landscape is often rugged, with crags and rock outcrops very common, especially in the west and around the Clee Hills, and was for the most part gouged by glaciers during the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

. The area's many rock types made it particularly interesting to geologists, with Wenlock Edge being especially noteworthy. See the

Shropshire Hills AONB The Shropshire Hills National Landscape is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Shropshire, England. It is located in the south of the county, extending to its border with Wales. Designated in 1958, the area encompasses o ...

(Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) for more about the natural geography of the area.

Economics and demographics

Economically the district was largely dependent on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, partly due to the decline in the economic significance of farming and also the decline and subsequent end of local lead and coal mining industry. In addition to tourism, some

light industry Light industry are Industry (economics), industries that usually are less Capital intensity, capital-intensive than heavy industry, heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consum ...

did exist in the district, in the

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

and

areas, and in Burford, near

Tenbury Wells Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a small market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north-western extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Situated 6 miles southeast of Ludlow, its northern border ...

. Additionally, the local

demographics Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examin ...

show a large economic gap between affluent residents and poorer communities. Many of the affluent residents have moved into the area from other places, such as

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...

on their retirement. This continues an older trend whose root was initially in the imbalance of wealth associated with the farming economy previously prevalent in the area.

Energy policy

In May 2006, a report commissioned by British Gasbr>
showed that housing in South Shropshire produced the 13th highest average carbon emissions in the country at 7,156 kg of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

per dwelling.

Political control

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 2003 until its abolition in 2009 were:

Council elections

By-election results

References

{{Local government districts of England abolished in 2009 Council elections in Shropshire District council elections in England Districts of England established in 1974 English districts abolished in 2009 Former non-metropolitan districts of Shropshire