Shropshire 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 the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, and Herefordshire to the south. A unitary authority of the same name was created in 2009, taking over from the previous county council and five district councils, now governed by Shropshire Council. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a separate unitary authority since 1998, but remains part of the ceremonial county.
The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. Charles told Samuel Pepys in 1680 that while he was hiding in the tree, a Parliamentarian soldier passed directly below it. The story was popular after the Restoration, and is remembered every year in the English traditions of Royal Oak Day.
Boscobel House is a Grade II* listed building in the parish of Boscobel in Shropshire. It has been, at various times, a farmhouse, a hunting lodge, and a holiday home; but it is most famous for its role in the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Today it is managed by English Heritage.
Shropshire was established during the division of Saxon Mercia into shires in the 10th century. It is first mentioned in 1006. After the Norman Conquest it experienced significant development, following the granting of the principal estates of the county to eminent Normans, such as Roger De Montgomery and his son Robert de Bellême.
Albrighton is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) northwest of Wolverhampton and 11.3 miles (18.2 km) northeast of Bridgnorth.
The Wrekin is a constituency in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, located in the county of Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. It has existed continuously since its creation by the Representation of the People Act 1918, and is named after a prominent landmark hill in the area, The Wrekin. The constituency has periodically swung back and forth between the Labour and Conservative parties since the 1920s, and has been held since 2005 by a Conservative MP, Mark Pritchard.
Moreton Corbet is a village in the civil parish of Moreton Corbet and Lee Brockhurst in Shropshire, England. The village's toponym refers to the Corbet baronets, the local landowners.
St Laurence's Church, Ludlow, is a Church of England parish church in Ludlow, Shropshire, England. It is a grade I listed building.
The Vernon family was a wealthy, prolific and widespread English family with 11th-century origins in Vernon, Normandy, France. Their extant titles include Baron Vernon and Vernon baronets of Shotwick Park.
Richard's Castle is a village, castle and two civil parishes on the border of the counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire in England. The Herefordshire section of the parish had a population of 250 at the 2011 Census. The Shropshire section of the parish had a population of 424 at the 2011 Census.
Sir Richard Vernon was an English landowner, MP and speaker of the House of Commons.
Richard Corbet was an English landowner and politician who represented Shropshire in the parliaments of 1558 and 1563.
George Vernon was and a prosperous and hospitable landowner and MP in Derbyshire, who came from a long line of wealthy landowners. He was the son of Richard Vernon and Margaret Dymoke. His family seat was at Haddon Hall, England's best preserved medieval manor house and today a major tourist attraction. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Derbyshire in 1542.
Roger Corbet (c.1501–1538) was an English politician and landowner of the Tudor Period. A member of the Shropshire landed gentry, he represented the Borough of Truro in the English Reformation Parliament.
The Collegiate Church of St Bartholomew, Tong is a 15th-century church in the village of Tong, Shropshire, England, notable for its architecture and fittings, including its fan vaulting in a side chapel, rare in Shropshire, and its numerous tombs. It was built on the site of a former parish church and was constructed as a collegiate church and chantry on the initiative of Isabel Lingen, who acquired the advowson from Shrewsbury Abbey and additional endowments through royal support. Patronage remained with the lords of the manor of Tong, who resided at nearby Tong Castle, a short distance to the south-west, and the tombs and memorials mostly represent these families, particularly the Vernons of Haddon Hall, who held the lordship for more than a century. Later patrons, mostly of landed gentry origin, added further memorials, including the Stanley Monument which is inscribed with epitaphs said to be specially written by William Shakespeare.
Sir Henry Vernon, KB, was a Tudor-era English landowner, politician, and courtier. He was the Controller of the household of Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII of England and heir to the throne until his untimely death.
Sir William Vernon of Haddon (1418–1467) was an English landowner, politician, and soldier who held the posts of Treasurer of Calais and Knight-Constable of England.
Nell Trent, also referred to as Little Nell, is a fictional character in the 1841 novel The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. The novel's main character, she is portrayed as infallibly good and virginal. An orphan, she leads her grandfather on their journey to save them from misery but gradually becomes weaker throughout the journey, and although she finds a home with the help of a schoolmaster, she sickens and dies before her friends in London find her. Her death has been described as "the apotheosis of Victorian sentimentality."
