https://wikishire.co.uk/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=552.08&feedformat=atomWikishire - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T23:28:26ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.25.5https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Carrauntoohil&diff=32683Carrauntoohil2015-08-08T19:26:41Z<p>552.08: might be useful...</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox hill<br />
|name=Carrauntoohil<br />
|irish=Corrán Tuathail<br />
|county=County Kerry<br />
|range=MacGillycuddy's Reeks<br />
|picture=Carrantuohill.jpg<br />
|picture caption=Carrauntoohil (middle), south along the Hag's Glen<br />
|height=3,406 feet<br />
|os grid ref=V803844<br />
}}<br />
'''Carrauntoohil''' or '''Carrantuohill''' (/ˌkærənˈtuːl/) in [[County Kerry]] is the highest mountain in [[Ireland]], and consequently the [[county top]] of County Kerry. It is the central peak of Ireland's grandest mountain range, [[MacGillycuddy's Reeks]] and rises to 3,406 feet above sea level: one of nine tops in the Reeks to exceed 3,000 feet. The summit of Carrauntoohil is topped by a large metal cross a further 16 feet tall.<br />
<br />
==Name of the mountain==<br />
The mountain's name is from the Irish language in which it is called ''Corrán Tuathail'', and means "Tuathal's sickle" or "Tuathal's serrated mountain". However there can be no certainty: it is not mentioned in any surviving early Irish texts.<br />
<br />
PW Joyce proposed the "sickle" meaning as suggested by the view from the [[Hag's Glen]] of the long convex slope.<ref>Joyce, P W in ''Irish Names of Places'', vol I, p 6</ref> On the other hand, the mountains has distinct serrated ridges running high up its north face giving it a most distinctive face and perhaps giving its name.<br />
<br />
Isaac Weald's account (1812) names the mountain ''Gheraun-tuel'', which suggests "Tuathal's Fang'" (''géarán'')<br />
<br />
==Ascent==<br />
The mountain is most often climbed from the north-east, along the Hag's Glen and up the steep Devil's Ladder to the col between Carrauntoohil and [[Knocknapeasta]], and then northwest to the summit. The route has become more dangerous as wear from the passing of many feet has worn the stones loose.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kerrymountainrescue.ie/routes/devils_ladder.html |title=Devil's Ladder Route |publisher=Kerry mountain rescue |accessdate=2007-01-10}}</ref><br />
<br />
The top can be achieved without climbing equipment, with care given to the shifting ground, though the height of the mountain puts it off casual walkers.<br />
<br />
Another route takes in the next highest (""1,000&nbsp;m") summits of [[Beenkeragh]] and [[Caher]] in a horseshoe, starting from the west. The traverse from highest point to the second highest involves a light scramble.<br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
{{Commonscat}}<br />
*Computer generated summit panoramas:<br />
**[http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/IRL/Carrauntoohil-N.gif North]<br />
**[http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/IRL/Carrauntoohil-S.gif South]<br />
**[http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas.html index]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
*[http://www.mountainviews.ie/mv/index.php?mtnindex=1 Carrauntoohil] - Mountain Views |accessdate=2006-11-03}}</ref><br />
<br />
[[Category:Irish county tops]] [[Category:Furth Munros]]</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Talk:Hampshire&diff=32674Talk:Hampshire2015-08-08T16:14:59Z<p>552.08: /* Error message */</p>
<hr />
<div>==Error message==<br />
I keep getting the following message when trying to edit this article:<br />
<br />
A database query error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software.<br />
<br />
Query:<br />
SELECT ws_wiki FROM `wikishire_wiki_settings` WHERE ws_setting = 'wgDBname' AND ws_value = 'wikishir_wikidb' LIMIT 1<br />
Function: Phalanx::getWikiId<br />
Error: 1146 Table 'wikishir_wikidb.wikishire_wiki_settings' doesn't exist (localhost)<br />
<br />
[[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 06:48, 8 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It might depend on what you are adding. I did a minor edit this morning without triggering the error message. Phalanx is a spam blocking system; usually such a message is triggered by trying to add text it picks up as dodgy. (I once wrote an innocent sentence in an Essex article where the Phalanx system picked up the last three letters of "Essex" and the first three of "campus" and threw the edit out. Care is needed for that sort of random juxtaposition.) [[User:RB|RB]] ([[User talk:RB|talk]]) 07:35, 8 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Ah, it seems to be working now. I don't think it was anything to do with content; I got the same message even when just adding a comma. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 07:56, 8 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
:: For some reason it doesn't like it if I try to add anything to the beginning of an article, although it doesn't mind edits in the middle (not this particular article, but in general). For example, there are a number of county articles that don't mention anywhere what counties the county in question borders, but Phalanx is determined not to allow me to add them. All I'm trying to add are things like 'bordered by [[Maelor Saesneg|Flintshire]] and [[Cheshire]] to the north... bla bla', which I fail to see how even the most zealous spam filter could object to! [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 16:14, 8 August 2015 (UTC)</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Selkirkshire&diff=32673Selkirkshire2015-08-08T15:55:31Z<p>552.08: /* Towns and villages */</p>
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<div>{{Infobox county<br />
|name=Selkirkshire<br />
|map image=Selkirkshire Brit Isles Sect 3.svg<br />
|picture=Hare Moss - geograph.org.uk - 235749.jpg<br />
|picture caption=Hare Moss<br />
|area=267 square miles<br />
|population=17,757<br />
|county town=[[Selkirk]]<br />
}}<br />
The '''County of Selkirk''' is a [[Counties of the United Kingdom|shire]] in the Southern Uplands. The county borders [[Peeblesshire]] to the west, [[Midlothian]] to the north, [[Berwickshire]] to the north-east, [[Roxburghshire]] to the east, and [[Dumfriesshire]] to the south. It takes its name from its [[county town]], the royal burgh of [[Selkirk]].<br />
<br />
This is a gentle hill country, a green landscape, well wooded and well grazed on the open slopes and valleys. The chief landowner (once holding third of the shire) is the Duke of Buccleuch.<br />
<br />
The land between the Ettrick and the Tweed was formerly covered with forest to such an extent that the shire gained an alternative name; '''Ettrick Forest''', a royal hunting forest populated by the oak, birch and hazel and by red deer. King James V, however, would forego the sport to let the land for grazing, earning a better income, and thus vast stretches of woodland became pasture for sheep, leaving today little of the once mighty woodland.<br />
<br />
==The lie of the land==<br />
Almost the whole of Selkirkshire is hillside and its only low ground is in the dales watered by its larger rivers.<br />
<br />
===Hills===<br />
[[File:Upper Glen Sax and Dun Rig - geograph.org.uk - 1534824.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Upper Glen Sax and Dun Rig]]<br />
The hills of Selkirkshire are not the harsh forbidding slopes of northern shires but rounded and green. The highest hills are found in the extreme west and south-west.<br />
<br />
The highest hill, the [[county top]] is [[Dun Rig]] amongst the [[Manor Hills]], its gentle slopes reaching to 2,441 feet above sea level, on the border of [[Peeblesshire]]. The grandest peaks here are:<br />
*[[Dun Rig]], 2,441 feet<br />
*[[Black Law, Selkirkshire|Black Law]], 2,285 feet<br />
<br />
In the north, close by [[Midlothian]], is<br />
*[[Windlestraw Law]], 2,161 feet<br />
<br />
By the [[Dumfriesshire]] border stand:<br />
*[[Ettrick Pen]], 2,269 feet<br />
*Capel Fell, 2,223 feet<br />
*Wind Fell, 2,180 feet<br />
*Bodesbeck Law, 2,173 feet<br />
<br />
===Rivers and lochs===<br />
[[File:Yarrow Water - geograph.org.uk - 37708.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Yarrow]]<br />
The [[River Tweed]] crosses through the north of Selkirkshire for a few miles. The longest stretches of river in the county though are the Ettrick, 32 miles long and the [[Yarrow Water]] of 14 miles. The Yarrow is famed and the subject of poems and ballads.<br />
<br />
The main dales are those of the Tweed, the Yarrow and the Ettrick (Ettrickdale).<br />
<br />
Midlothian' stream, the [[Gala Water]] falls into the Tweed a little below [[Galashiels]].<br />
<br />
There are no great lochs in Selkirkshire but [[St Mary's Loch]] and adjoining it the [[Loch of the Lowes, Selkirkshire|Loch of the Lowes]] are big and remarkably prettily set. Many smaller waters are found in the southeast.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
While the Romans ruled south of [[Hadrian's Wall]], it is reported that the ''Gadeni'' tribe held Ettrick Forets, though little sign of settlement has been found of that time, and no Roman remains as there are in neighbouring shires. Nevertheless, at {{map|NT460384|Torwoodlee}}, northwest of Galashiels, are the ruins of the only example of a broch in the Middle Shires; 75 feet in diameter within an enclosed court of 40 feet in an enclosure of mounds and a ditch and a further an outer entrenchment. Of the sub-Roman priod to which the broch may relate, little is known. Some Arthurian connections are made; the battle of Coit Celidon (the Wood of Celidon) is said by some to refer to the Ettrick Forest, and by extension mayhap the Battle of Guinnion was in the valley of the Gala Water.<br />
<br />
The forest was ceded to Scotland at some time in the Middle Ages and became a Royal forest, hunted by the King and court. The first known sheriff was Andrew de Synton, appointed by William the Lion (who died in 1214). Under King Edward I of England, Selkirk's burgesses swore allegiance to King Edward and the forest was granted to the Earl of Gloucester. However Wallace too was here, concealing himself in the forest to organise his attacks on the King's forces, and Selkirk archers formed a body in his army when it invaded England. Later, the Earl of Pembroke assumed the hereditary sheriffdom. Under and after King Robert I (Robert the Bruce), the Earls of Douglas, and later Earls of Angus administered the county on behalf of the Crown, until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.<br />
<br />
Folk ballads written of the county commemorate the Battle of [[Philiphaugh]] in 1645, the 'Dowie Dens' at [[Yarrow]] and Tibbie Shiels at [[St Mary's Loch]].<br />
<br />
Selkirkshire was one of the unquiet border shires, wracked by the violence of the reivers. It was the vigorous King James V who took the matter in hand, appointing keepers to each district until in 1529 he could bring the ringleaders to justice at the end of a rope, amongst them William Cockburn of Henderland, Adam Scott of Tushielaw and the notorious Johnnie Armstrong. After the union of the crowns in 1603 the reivers were finally put down by Dunbar, for whom now there was no border to hinder the pursuit of justice.<br />
<br />
The Covenanters held many conventicles in the uplands, and their general, David Leslie, routed the Marquis of Montrose at Philiphaugh in 1645.<br />
<br />
==Towns and villages==<br />
[[File:Houses at Selkirk - geograph.org.uk - 695385.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Houses at Selkirk]]<br />
There are just two towns of any size in Selkirkshire:<br />
*[[Selkirk]] ''([[county town]])''<br />
*[[Galashiels]]<br />
<br />
Villages include:<br />
*[[Ettrickbridge]]<br />
*[[Philiphaugh]]<br />
<br />
===Parishes===<br />
{{parishliststart}}<br />
*[[Caddonfoot]]<br />
*[[Ettrick]]<br />
*[[Galashiels]]<sup>‡</sup><br />
*[[Kirkhope]]<br />
*[[Selkirk]]<sup>‡</sup><br />
*[[Yarrow]]<sup>†</sup><br />
{{parishlistend}}<br />
†: Extends into [[Peeblesshire]].<br />‡: Extends into [[Roxburghshire]].<br />Additionally the parishes of [[Innerleithen]] and [[Traquair]] in Peeblesshire and [[Ashkirk]] and [[Roberton]] in Roxburghshire extend in Selkirkshire.<br />
<br />
Selkirkshire has two outlying parts: the larger, locally in Roxburghshire, is bounded at the north by the [[Ale Water]], east of the village of [[Ashkirk]], and contains the small settlements of Whinfield and Synton. The other, locally in Peeblesshire, consists of the land that lies between the hills of Priesthope, Glede Knowe and Scawd Law.<br />
<br />
==Things to see in Selkirkshire==<br />
{{UKPlacesKey}}<br />
[[File:St Mary's Loch - geograph.org.uk - 689839.jpg|right|thumb|200px|St Mary's Loch]]<br />
*Bowhill House<br />
*Ettrick Forest<br />
*Hare Moss (maintained by Scottish Wildlife)<br />
*Megget Reservoir<br />
*[[St Mary's Loch]]<br />
*Torwoodlee Rings (Eye Castle)<br />
*[[Yarrow Water]]<br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
*[http://www.bordersfhs.org.uk/s_shire.asp Selkirkshire] – Borders Family History<br />
<br />
==Books==<br />
*Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland: Archaeology and historic buildings of Selkirkshire<br />
*Craig-Brown, T: ''History of Selkirkshire''<br />
*Lewis, Samuel: "Selkirkshire" from ''A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland'', 1846 (British History Online) [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43478#s47]<br />
*Douglas, Sir George: ''Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles'' (Edinburgh, 1899)<br />
*Reaveley, George: ''History of Galashiels'' (1875)<br />
Angus, William: ''Ettrick and Yarrow'' (1894)<br />
Crockett, W S: ''The Scott Country'' (Edinburgh, 1902)<br />
Russell, J: ''Reminiscences of Yarrow'' (2nd ed., 1894)<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{British county}}</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Gatehouse_of_Fleet&diff=32672Gatehouse of Fleet2015-08-08T15:27:55Z<p>552.08: /* In Literature */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox town<br />
|name=Gatehouse of Fleet<br />
|county=Kirkcudbrightshire<br />
|picture=Ann Street, Gatehouse of Fleet - geograph.org.uk - 67161.jpg<br />
|picture caption=Ann Street<br />
|os grid ref=NX59955648<br />
|latitude= 54.883333<br />
|longitude=-4.183333<br />
|population=<br />
|census year=<br />
|post town=<br />
|postcode=<br />
|dialling code=<br />
|LG district=Dumfries & Galloway<br />
|constituency=Dumfries & Galloway<br />
}}<br />
'''Gatehouse of Fleet''' is a town in [[Kirkcudbrightshire]]. It has existed only since the mid-18th century, although the area has been inhabited since much earlier. Much of its development was attributable to the entrepreneur James Murray's decision to build his summer home, Cally (now a hotel), there in 1765.<br />
<br />
Over the next hundred years, the town developed into a centre for industry, particularly cotton mills. The western approach to the town is dominated by the imposing Cardoness Castle. Gatehouse of Fleet is the birthplace of Victorian artist John Faed. The renowned inventor of clockwork mechanisms, Robert Williamson was also known to have set up a workshop in the town in 1778, which burned to the ground (and claimed his life) in 1794. <br />
<br />
The town takes its name from its location near the mouth of the river called the [[Water of Fleet]] which empties into [[Wigtown]] Bay at Fleet Bay, and its former role as the ''Gait House'' or "the House on the Road on the River Fleet" or toll booth of the late 18th century stagecoach route from [[Dumfries]] to [[Stranraer]], now the A75 road. It was a safe haven along this route, and travellers would often stop in the area rather than furthering the journey at night due to the high numbers of bandits and highwaymen at the time.<br />
<br />
The settlement of [[Anwoth]] is a mile to the east of Gatehouse of Fleet. It is the place where Samuel Rutherford was minister from 1627 to 1636.<br />
<br />
Gatehouse has the second oldest average population of towns in Scotland.<br />
<br />
==Sights about the town==<br />
[[File:Anwoth Old Kirk - geograph.org.uk - 62653.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Anwoth Old Kirk]]<br />
Garries Park is famous about the town and there is a restored mill next to the [[River Fleet]] called ''The Mill on the Fleet''.<br />
<br />
Along the road there is a beautiful castle, Cardoness Castle.<br />
<br />
Near the town are fine beaches at Carrick and Sandgreen, and the Cream o' Galloway visitor attraction. There is good rock climbing at the Clints of Dromore near the old Gatehouse of Fleet railway station.<br />
<br />
==In Literature==<br />
Dorothy L. Sayers stayed in the Anwoth Hotel in Gatehouse of Fleet in 1928, and her 1931 novel ''The Five Red Herrings'', taking place between a fictionalised version of the town, and the county seat of [[Kirkcudbright]], was dedicated to Joe Dignam, the hotel's then owner.<ref>Gatehouse of Fleet Comunity and Visitor Information http://www.gatehouse-of-fleet.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42:doroth-l-sayers-in-galloway&catid=3:history&Itemid=55</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
*[http://www.gatehouse-of-fleet.co.uk/index.html Gatehouse of Fleet website]</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Gatehouse_of_Fleet&diff=32671Gatehouse of Fleet2015-08-08T15:26:52Z<p>552.08: /* Sights about the town */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox town<br />
|name=Gatehouse of Fleet<br />
|county=Kirkcudbrightshire<br />
|picture=Ann Street, Gatehouse of Fleet - geograph.org.uk - 67161.jpg<br />
|picture caption=Ann Street<br />
|os grid ref=NX59955648<br />
|latitude= 54.883333<br />
|longitude=-4.183333<br />
|population=<br />
|census year=<br />
|post town=<br />
|postcode=<br />
|dialling code=<br />
|LG district=Dumfries & Galloway<br />
|constituency=Dumfries & Galloway<br />
}}<br />
'''Gatehouse of Fleet''' is a town in [[Kirkcudbrightshire]]. It has existed only since the mid-18th century, although the area has been inhabited since much earlier. Much of its development was attributable to the entrepreneur James Murray's decision to build his summer home, Cally (now a hotel), there in 1765.<br />
<br />
Over the next hundred years, the town developed into a centre for industry, particularly cotton mills. The western approach to the town is dominated by the imposing Cardoness Castle. Gatehouse of Fleet is the birthplace of Victorian artist John Faed. The renowned inventor of clockwork mechanisms, Robert Williamson was also known to have set up a workshop in the town in 1778, which burned to the ground (and claimed his life) in 1794. <br />
<br />
The town takes its name from its location near the mouth of the river called the [[Water of Fleet]] which empties into [[Wigtown]] Bay at Fleet Bay, and its former role as the ''Gait House'' or "the House on the Road on the River Fleet" or toll booth of the late 18th century stagecoach route from [[Dumfries]] to [[Stranraer]], now the A75 road. It was a safe haven along this route, and travellers would often stop in the area rather than furthering the journey at night due to the high numbers of bandits and highwaymen at the time.<br />
<br />
The settlement of [[Anwoth]] is a mile to the east of Gatehouse of Fleet. It is the place where Samuel Rutherford was minister from 1627 to 1636.<br />
<br />
Gatehouse has the second oldest average population of towns in Scotland.<br />
<br />
==Sights about the town==<br />
[[File:Anwoth Old Kirk - geograph.org.uk - 62653.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Anwoth Old Kirk]]<br />
Garries Park is famous about the town and there is a restored mill next to the [[River Fleet]] called ''The Mill on the Fleet''.<br />
<br />
Along the road there is a beautiful castle, Cardoness Castle.<br />
<br />
Near the town are fine beaches at Carrick and Sandgreen, and the Cream o' Galloway visitor attraction. There is good rock climbing at the Clints of Dromore near the old Gatehouse of Fleet railway station.<br />
<br />
==In Literature==<br />
Dorothy L. Sayers stayed in the Anwoth Hotel in Gatehouse of Fleet in 1928, and her 1931 novel ''The Five Red Herrings'', taking place between a fictionalised version of the town, and the county seat of [[Kirkcudbright]], was dedicated to Joe Dignam, the hotel's then owner.<ref>Gatehouse of Fleet Comunity and Visitor Information http://www.gatehouse-of-fleet.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42:doroth-l-sayers-in-galloway&catid=3:history&Itemid=55</ref><br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
*[http://www.gatehouse-of-fleet.co.uk/index.html Gatehouse of Fleet website]</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Talk:Hampshire&diff=32668Talk:Hampshire2015-08-08T07:56:03Z<p>552.08: </p>
<hr />
<div>==Error message==<br />
I keep getting the following message when trying to edit this article:<br />
<br />
A database query error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software.<br />
<br />
Query:<br />
SELECT ws_wiki FROM `wikishire_wiki_settings` WHERE ws_setting = 'wgDBname' AND ws_value = 'wikishir_wikidb' LIMIT 1<br />
Function: Phalanx::getWikiId<br />
Error: 1146 Table 'wikishir_wikidb.wikishire_wiki_settings' doesn't exist (localhost)<br />
<br />
[[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 06:48, 8 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It might depend on what you are adding. I did a minor edit this morning without triggering the error message. Phalanx is a spam blocking system; usually such a message is triggered by trying to add text it picks up as dodgy. (I once wrote an innocent sentence in an Essex article where the Phalanx system picked up the last three letters of "Essex" and the first three of "campus" and threw the edit out. Care is needed for that sort of random juxtaposition.) [[User:RB|RB]] ([[User talk:RB|talk]]) 07:35, 8 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Ah, it seems to be working now. I don't think it was anything to do with content; I got the same message even when just adding a comma. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 07:56, 8 August 2015 (UTC)</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Hampshire&diff=32667Hampshire2015-08-08T07:50:10Z<p>552.08: try again</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox county<br />
|name=Hampshire<br />
|map image=Hampshire Brit Isles Sect 5.svg<br />
|picture=Winchester Cathedral -west front-21July2008.jpg<br />
|picture caption=Winchester Cathedral<br />
|area=1,622 square miles<br />
|county town=[[Winchester]]<br />
|biggest town=[[Southampton]]<br />
|flower=dog rose<br />
}}<br />
The '''County of Southampton''' (shortened to '''Hampshire''') is a [[Counties of the United Kingdom|shire]] on the south coast of [[Great Britain]], bordered by [[Berkshire]] to the north, [[Surrey]] and [[Sussex]] to the East, and [[Wiltshire]] and [[Dorset]] to the West. The main body of the county is separated from the [[Isle of Wight]] by the [[Solent]] and [[Spithead]]. The [[county town]] is [[Winchester]], capital of [[Wessex]] and of [[England]] until about 1100. <br />
<br />
Its place on the [[English Channel]] and the presence of several excellent natural harbours has given Hampshire a pre-eminent place in British sea-going endeavours from early times to the present.<br />
<br />
Hampshire has first place in the defence of the realm; [[Portsmouth]] is the home of the Royal Navy, [[Aldershot]] is the Army's biggest fixed camp and [[Farnborough]] has long been at the heart of the industries developing military aircraft. <br />
<br />
The origin of Hampshire's name is the City of [[Southampton]], know in Anglo-Saxon days as ''Hamwic'' or ''Hamtun'', hence ''Hamtunscir''. Hampshire has historically been referred to as ''Southamptonshire''<ref>{{cite book | last = Cox | first = Thomas | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Magna Britannia, Antiqua et Nova, A Survey of England, wherein to Camden's Topographical Account is added a more large History of Cities, Towns, Boroughs, Parishes and Places | publisher = | year = 1738 | location = | pages = | url = http://www.envf.port.ac.uk/hantsgaz/hantsgaz/hgandx_f.htm | doi = | id = | isbn = }}</ref><br />
<br />
Hampshire is a diverse county. The busy ports of Southampton and towns around the Solent process more overseas trade than any other place in Britain and have created a major urban area. Outside the cities though, rural Hampshire takes over, a land of farms and small villages.<br />
<br />
The county is a popular holiday destination, with tourist attractions and seaside resorts such as [[Bournemouth]], and national parks in both the [[New Forest]] in south-western Hampshire and the [[South Downs]], which intrude in the east.<br />
<br />
Hampshire has a long maritime history. Portsmouth, home of the Navy, and Southampton are two of England's largest ports, while the yachting fraternity gathers in towns all along the coast such as [[Fareham]], near Portsmouth, and [[Cowes]] on the Isle of Wight, the latter hosting "Cowes Week" each year.<br />
<br />
Hampshire's [[county flower]] is the dog rose.<ref>[[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC News]], 5 May 2004. ''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3684291.stm UK counties choose floral emblems]''.</ref><br />
<br />
==Geography==<br />
Hampshire's south coast is characterised by clay soils and gravel but protected from the erosion typical along the exposed parts of the south coast by the [[Isle of Wight]] and, in the west, by [[Isle of Purbeck]], part of Dorset, the sea has eaten into the land in the east to created the large convoluted lands of [[Portsmouth Harbour]] and its neighbours. These low, flat lands support heathland and woodland habitats, a large area of which form part of the [[New Forest]]. The Isle of Wight is though to have been separated from the mainland where softer rock has eroded away to form the [[Solent]].<br />
<br />
In the north and centre of the county the substrate is the Southern England Chalk Formation seen in [[Salisbury Plain]] and the [[South Downs]] and in Hampshire by hills with steep slopes where they border the clays to the south. A large area of the downs is now protected from further agricultural damage by the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The [[River Itchen|Itchen]] and [[River Test|Test]] are trout rivers that flow from the chalk through wooded valleys into Southampton Water. Nestled in a valley on the downs is [[Selborne]], and the countryside surrounding the village was the location of Gilbert White's pioneering observations on natural history recorded in "The Natural History of Selborne".<br />
<br />
[[Southampton Water]] is a gash deep into the land, producing deep natural harbour almost ten miles long.<br />
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The highest point in the county is [[Pilot Hill]], which reaches 938 feet, while its highest village is [[Bentworth, Hampshire|Bentworth]], near [[Alton, Hampshire|Alton]].<br />
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===The New Forest===<br />
[[File:New Forest ponies find shade in Bratley Wood - geograph.org.uk - 41358.jpg|right|thumb|150px|New Forest ponies in Bratley Wood]]<br />
{{Main|New Forest}}<br />
The New Forest takes up the greater part of south-western Hampshire between [[Southampton Water]] and [[Christchurch, Hampshire|Christchurch]] and [[Bournemouth]]. It is some 220 square miles of heath, mixed woodland and grass with a great variety of wildlife.<br />
<br />
The forest has been a protected environment since the days of William the Conqueror when it was declared a royal forest, but after the removal of the brutal mediaeval forest laws, the New Forest remained common land managed by the Court of Verderers. The New Forest became a National Park in 2005, to protect the landscape and wildlife, though it has added nothing practical to the protection the Forest already enjoyed.<br />
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Large areas of the New Forest are open common lands kept as grassland by grazing animals, including domesticated ponies, cattle and pigs. Several wild deer species roam here too.<br />
<br />
===The Isle of Wight===<br />
[[File:Isle of Wight Map.png|thumb|150px|Isle of Wight Map]]<br />
{{Main|Isle of Wight}}<br />
The Isle of Wight covers an area of 148 square miles. Slightly more than half of the island, mainly in the west, is designated as the Isle of Wight 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty'. The island is mainly farmland, with a number of small towns. Its coastline is 57 miles of coastline. The landscape of the island is remarkably diverse, leading to its oft-quoted description of "England in Miniature".<br />
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The island's highest point is [[St Boniface Down]], at 791 feet.<br />
<br />
West Wight is predominantly rural, with dramatic coastlines dominated by the famous chalk downland ridge, running across the whole island and ending in [[The Needles]] stacks — perhaps the most photographed aspect of the Isle of Wight. <br />
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[[File:Isle of Wight coastline.jpg|left|thumb|200px|The famous view at The Needles and Alum Bay]]<br />
The [[River Medina]] flows north into the [[Solent]], whilst the other main river, the [[Eastern Yar|River Yar]] flows roughly northeast, emerging at [[Bembridge]] Harbour at the eastern end of the island. There is another entirely separate river at the western end also called the [[Western Yar|River Yar]] flowing the short distance from [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight|Freshwater]] Bay to a relatively large estuary at [[Yarmouth, Isle of Wight|Yarmouth]]. To distinguish them, they may be referred to as the ''Eastern'' and ''Western'' Yar.<br />
<br />
Wight is known as one of the most important areas in Europe for dinosaur fossils. The eroding cliffs often reveal previously hidden remains.<br />
<br />
==Cities, towns, and villages==<br />
[[File:Uk-basingstoke.jpg|thumb|200px|New apartment blocks in the rapidly changing Basingstoke]]<br />
Hampshire's county town is [[Winchester]], a historic city that was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of [[Wessex]] and of England until the Norman conquest. The greatest towns though are the port cities of [[Southampton]] and [[Portsmouth]], which with [[Fareham]], [[Gosport]] and [[Havant]] have effectively grown together into a conurbation that stretches along the coast.<br />
<br />
The three cities of Hampshire each now hosts a university: the University of Southampton and Southampton Solent University (formerly ''Southampton Institute''); the University of Portsmouth; and the University of Winchester (formerly known as ''University College Winchester; King Alfred's College'').<br />
<br />
Hampshire lies outside the [[green belt]] area of restricted development around [[London]], but has good railway and motorway links to the capital, and in common with the rest of the south-east has seen the growth of dormitory towns since the 1960s. [[Basingstoke]], in the north of the county, has grown from a country town into a business and finance centre.<br />
<br />
===Cities===<br />
* [[Southampton]]<br />
* [[Portsmouth]]<br />
* [[Winchester]]<br />
<br />
===Other larger towns===<br />
* [[Aldershot]]<br />
* [[Andover]]<br />
* [[Basingstoke]]<br />
* [[Bournemouth]]<br />
* [[Carisbrooke]]<br />
* [[Christchurch, Hampshire|Christchurch]]<br />
* [[Cowes]]<br />
* [[Eastleigh]]<br />
* [[Farnborough]]<br />
* [[Fareham]]<br />
* [[Gosport]]<br />
* [[Havant]]<br />
* [[Newport, Isle of Wight|Newport]]<br />
* [[Ryde]]<br />
* [[Waterlooville]]<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The chalk downland of the South Downs and southern edges of Salisbury Plain were settled in the Neolithic, and these settlers built hill forts such as [[Winklebury]] and may have farmed the valleys of Hampshire. Hampshire was part of an area named ''Gwent'' or ''Y Went'' by the Celts, which also covered areas of Somerset and Wiltshire. In the Roman invasion of Britain, Hampshire was one of the first areas to fall to the invading forces. The southern portion of the county known as ''the Meon'' and in particular the valley of the [[River Hamble]] was occupied by Jutish tribes from perhaps as early as 495. Later [[Wessex|West Saxon]] migrants absorbed the Jutish tribes within Wessex after 530.<br />
<br />
Some scholars believe there is evidence to show the traditional county boundaries of Hampshire may date back to the years of the original West Saxon settlement in c. 519. It is likely that both [[Winchester]] and [[Silchester]] would have fallen to the West Saxons between the years 508 and 514. A later thrust up the Hampshire Avon towards [[Old Sarum]] in 519 appears to have been checked by the Britons at Charford. The historian Albany Major in ''Early Wars of Wessex'' makes the case that the borders of Hampshire today probably match those of the first West Saxon kingdom established by Cerdic and his son. Evidence of this comes from the border between Hampshire and Berkshire which follows generally the line of the Roman road that ran east and west through Silchester, but it is deflected in the north in a rough semicircle in such a way as to include the whole of the district around the town. He argues that the capture of Silchester, of which no record has been passed down to us, was not the work of [[Mercia]]n Angles but of the West Saxons probably striking north from Winchester and possibly acting in concert with a separate force making its way up the Thames Valley towards [[Reading]]. Silchester was left desolate after its fall and it is most improbable that any regard would have been paid to its side of the border had the fixing of the county boundary been made at a later period.<ref>Major, Albany F ''Early Wars of Wessex'' (1912, 1978) p.17</ref><br />
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Study of the borders between Hampshire and Wiltshire also seem to suggest the West Saxons' westward advance was checked by about 519AD. This would corroborate the date given in the ''Annales Cambriae'' for the crucial British victory at the Battle of [[Mons Badonicus]] in 517AD which is believed to have stopped further Anglo-Saxon encroachments in south-west and midland Britain for at least a generation. <br />
<br />
Hampshire was one of the first Saxon shires, recorded in 755 as ''Hamtunscir'', but for two centuries represented the western end of Saxon England, as advances into [[Dorset]] and [[Somerset]] were fought off by the Britons. The name is derived from the port of [[Southampton]] which was known previously as simply "Hampton". After the Saxons advanced further west Hampshire became the centre of the Kingdom of [[Wessex]], and many Saxon kings are buried at [[Winchester]]. A statue in Winchester celebrates the powerful King Alfred, who stabilised the region in the 9th century.<br />
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After the Norman Conquest the county was favoured by Norman kings, who established the [[New Forest]] as a hunting forest. The county was recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] divided into 44 hundreds. From the 12th century the ports grew in importance, fuelled by trade with the continent, wool and cloth manufacture in the county, and the fishing industry, and a shipbuilding industry was established.<br />
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Over several centuries a series of castles and forts were constructed along the coast of the [[Solent]] to defend the harbours at Southampton and Portsmouth. These include the Roman [[Portchester Castle]] which overlooks [[Portsmouth Harbour]], and a series of forts built by Henry VIII including [[Hurst Castle]], situated on a sand spit at the mouth of the Solent, [[Calshot Castle]] on another spit at the mouth of Southampton Water, and [[Netley Castle]]. Southampton and Portsmouth remained important harbours when rivals, such as [[Poole]] and [[Bristol]] declined, as they are amongst the few locations that combine shelter with deep water. Southampton has been host to many famous ships, including the ''Mayflower'' and the ''Titanic'', the latter being staffed largely by natives of Southampton.<br />
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Hampshire played a large role in the Second World War due to its large Royal Navy harbour at Portsmouth, the army camp at [[Aldershot]] and the military [[Netley Hospital]] on Southampton Water, as well as its proximity to the army training ranges on [[Salisbury Plain]] and the [[Isle of Purbeck]]. Supermarine, the designers of the Spitfire and other military aircraft, were based in Southampton, which led to severe bombing of the city. Aldershot remains one of the British Army's main permanent camps. [[Farnborough, Hampshire|Farnborough]] is a major centre for the Aviation industry.<br />
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==See also==<br />
[[Flag of Hampshire]]<br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
*[http://byrobb.tripod.com/wah/ Walks Around Hampshire]<br />
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire BBC Hampshire]<br />
*[http://www.visitorworld.co.uk/attractions/hampshire Hampshire Visitor Attractions]<br />
*[http://ww2.portsmouth-college.ac.uk/portsmouth/Portsmouth-from-the-Air/Western_Rd 93 Vintage Photographs of Portsmouth from the Air]<br />
*[http://www.historicfarnborough.co.uk Historic Farnborough]<br />
*[http://www.hampshire-matters.co.uk ''HampshireMatters'' - Local community site]<br />
*[http://www.winchester.gov.uk Winchester City Council]<br />
*[http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/Petersfield-Liss.aspx Days out in Hampshire]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
*Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. "[http://59.1911encyclopedia.org/H/HA/HAMPSHIRE.htm Hampshire]"<br />
*Draper, Jo. 1990. ''Hampshire''. Wimborne: Dovecote Press. ISBN 0-946159-82-3<br />
*''Pigot & Co's Atlas of the Counties of England'', 1840. London: J Pigot & Co.<br />
<br />
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<div>{{Infobox county<br />
|name=Shropshire<br />
|map image=Shropshire Brit Isles Sect 5.svg<br />
|picture=Shrewsbury 5 1900.jpg<br />
|picture caption=<br />
|area=1,343 square miles<br />
|population=441,498<br />
|county town=[[Shrewsbury]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Shropshire''' (abbreviated '''Salop''' or '''Shrops.''') is a [[Counties of the United Kingdom|shire]] in the west of the Midlands. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 337 a square mile according to the 2001 census.<br />
<br />
The county has six main towns, each separate, of which the [[county town]] is [[Shrewsbury]], an ancient town full of history, reflected in its buildings.<ref>[http://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/shrewsbury/ Shrewsbury - Tourist Information & Accommodation] for Shrewsbury, Shropshire.</ref> The largest town though is [[Telford]], a new town built from scratch and named after the [[Dumfriesshire]] engineer Thomas Telford. Nevertheless in its urban area it has taken in a number of older towns, most notably [[Wellington, Shropshire|Wellington]], [[Dawley]] and [[Madeley, Shropshire|Madeley]].<ref>[http://www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk/telford.php Wrexham & Shropshire: Telford].</ref> [[Oswestry]] stands in the north-west of the shire and [[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]] in the east. Two towns stand on dramatic defensive hills topped with castles; [[Bridgnorth]] above the [[River Severn|Severn]] guards the south-east of the county and [[Ludlow]] above the [[River Teme]] to the south. In northern Shropshire are [[Whitchurch, Shropshire|Whitchurch]] and [[Market Drayton]].<br />
<br />
==Landscape==<br />
[[File:Lyth Hill 01.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Countryside of mid-Shropshire.]]<br />
[[File:SevernFromCastleCB.JPG|thumb|right|220px|The Severn at Shrewsbury]]<br />
The [[River Severn]], Britain's longest river, courses through the heart of Shropshire and creates a broad, green valley with vast meadows. It curls around the ancient town of Shrewsbury and later squeezes through Coalbrookdale to the [[Ironbridge]] Gorge where it once fuelled the start of the industrial revolution, then runs south through the county into [[Worcestershire]] on its long course to the sea. In contrast to the meadowlands of the Severn, Shropshire is also struck with dramatic hills, such as the [[Long Mynd]] and an enigmatic hill on its own in the midst of the shire, [[the Wrekin]].<br />
<br />
The Ironbridge Gorge area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering [[Ironbridge]], Coalbrookdale and a part of [[Madeley, Shropshire|Madeley]].<ref>http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/371 Ironbridge Page on UNESCO World Heritage website</ref> There are, additionally, other notable historic industrial sites located around the county, such as [[Broseley]], [[Snailbeach]] and [[Highley]] as well as the [[Shropshire Union Canal]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/2002/09/iarecordings.shtml BBC - Shropshire - Features - Industrial Archeology].</ref><br />
<br />
The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about a quarter of the county, mainly in the south.<ref>[http://www.shropshirehillsaonb.co.uk/ Shropshire Hills AONB]</ref><br />
<br />
[[The Wrekin]], 1,335 feet high, is one of the most famous natural landmarks in the county,<ref>[http://www.shropshirerocks.org/shropshiregeologicaltrail/thewrekinandercall shropshirerocks.org: The Wrekin & The Ercall]</ref> though the highest hills are the [[Clee Hills]] running up hard against to the boundaries with [[Montgomeryshire]] and [[Radnorshire]],<ref>[http://www.shropshirerocks.org/shropshiregeologicaltrail/browncleehill shropshirerocks.org: Brown Clee Hill]</ref> in which the county's highest point is found: {{getmap|SO5937586706|Brown Clee Hill}} at 1,772 feet. Other high hills in western Shropshire are [[Stiperstones]] (1,759 feet)<ref>[http://www.shropshirerocks.org/shropshiregeologicaltrail/thestiperstones shropshirerocks.org: The Stiperstones]</ref> and the [[Long Mynd]] (1,693 feet at Pole Bank).<ref>[http://www.shropshirerocks.org/shropshiregeologicaltrail/thelongmynd shropshirerocks.org: The Long Mynd]</ref><br />
<br />
[[Wenlock Edge]] is another significant geographical and geological landmark; a long limestone escarpment which runs 15 miles between [[Craven Arms]] and [[Much Wenlock]].<ref>[http://www.shropshirerocks.org/shropshiregeologicaltrail/wenlockedge/ shropshirerocks.org: Wenlock Edge]</ref> In the low-lying northwest of the county and overlapping the border into Flintshire is the Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve, one of the most important and best preserved bogs in Britain.<br />
<br />
===Northern Shropshire===<br />
The North Shropshire Plain is an extension of the flat and fertile Cheshire Plain. It is here that most of the county's large towns, and population in general, are to be found. [[Shrewsbury]] at the centre, [[Oswestry]] to the north west, [[Whitchurch, Shropshire|Whitchurch]] to the north, [[Market Drayton]] to the north east, and [[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]] and the Telford conurbation (Telford, Wellington, Oakengates, Donnington and Shifnal) to the east. The land is fertile and agriculture remains a major feature of the landscape and the economy. The [[River Severn]] runs through the lower half of this area (from Wales in the west, eastwards), through Shrewsbury and down the [[Ironbridge Gorge]], before heading south to [[Bridgnorth]].<br />
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The area around [[Oswestry]] has more rugged geography than the North Shropshire Plain and the western half is over an extension of the [[Wrexham]] Coalfield and there are also copper deposits on the western border. Mining of stone and sand aggregates is still going on in Mid-Shropshire, notably on Haughmond Hill, near Bayston Hill and around the village of [[Condover]]. Lead mining also took place at [[Snailbeach]] and the [[Stiperstones]], but this has now ceased. Other primary industries, such as forestry and fishing, are to be found too.<br />
[[File:The Wrekin.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The Wrekin standing over the east of the county]]<br />
<br />
Most of Shropshire's modern commerce and industry is found along the A5 road and the M54 motorway, the two roads forming a major transport route running from [[Wolverhampton]] in [[Staffordshire]] across to Telford, around Shrewsbury parallel to the line of [[Watling Street]]. The A5 then turns northwest to Oswestry, before heading north into [[Denbighshire]]. Telford new town is found where the M54 disgorges onto the A5. The county's railways meet at Shrewsbury.<br />
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The new town of Telford is built partly on a former industrial area centred on the East Shropshire Coalfield as well as on former agricultural land. There are still many ex-colliery sites to be found in the area, as well as disused mine shafts. This industrial heritage is an important tourist attraction, as is seen by the growth of museums in the [[Ironbridge]], [[Coalbrookdale]], [[Broseley]] and [[Jackfield]] area. Blists Hill museum and historical (Victorian era) village is a major tourist attraction as well as the Iron Bridge itself. In addition, Telford Steam Railway runs from [[Horsehay]].<br />
<br />
===Southern Shropshire===<br />
[[File:Shropshire Long Mynd.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Long Mynd near Church Stretton]]<br />
South Shropshire is more rural, with fewer settlements and no large towns, and its landscape differs greatly from that of North Shropshire. The area is dominated by significant hill ranges and river valleys, woods, pine forests and "batches", a colloquial term for small valleys and other natural features. Farming is more pastoral than the arable found in the north of the county. The only substantial towns are [[Bridgnorth]], with a population of around 12,000 people, [[Ludlow]] and [[Church Stretton]]. The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty spreads across the south-west, covering 310 square miles: it is the only specifically protected area of the county. Inside this area is the popular [[Long Mynd]] and [[Stiperstones]] to the East of the [[Long Mynd]], overlooking [[Church Stretton]].<br />
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Because of its valley location and character, Church Stretton is sometimes referred to as a ''Little Switzerland''. Nearby are the old mining and quarrying communities on the [[Clee Hills]], notable geological features in the [[River Onny|Onny Valley]] and [[Wenlock Edge]] and fertile farmland in the Corve Dale. The [[River Teme]] drains this part of the county, before flowing into [[Worcestershire]] to the South and joining the River Severn.<br />
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The [[Clun Forest]] in south-western Shropshire against the Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire boundary is a little known and remote part of the county. Through it runs a portion of [[Offa's Dyke]] and also the [[River Clun, Shropshire|River Clun]] and the [[River Onny]]. The small towns of [[Clun]] and [[Bishop's Castle]] are in this area. The countryside here is very rural and is in parts wild and forested. To the south of Clun, the town of [[Knighton, Radnorshire|Knighton]] stands across the boundary of Herefordshire with Radnorshire. Its Welsh name ''Tref-y-Clawdd'' means "Town on the Dyke".<br />
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===Geology===<br />
The rocks in Shropshire are relatively new, especially compared to the Cambrian mountains. Shropshire has a number of areas with Silurian and Ordivician rocks, where a number of shells, corals and trilobites can be found. Mortimer Forest is an example where a number of fossils can be found.<br />
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==Name of the shire==<br />
'''Shropshire''' is original name for the county descending from the Old English "''Scrobbesbyrigscir''", meaning "Shrewsburyshire".<br />
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'''Salop''' is an alternative name sometimes used as an abbreviation for Shropshire. "Salop" comes from the Latinised "Salopesberia". "Salop" has become a rare usage, but Shropshire residents are still referred to as "Salopians".<br />
<br />
When a new "county council" was established in 1975, it was to be called "Salop County Council", but the council renamed its administrative area "Shropshire", not least because they hoped to meet European counterparts and knew what ''salope'' means to French ears.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
The lands of Shropshire were during the Iron Age part of the lands of the ''Cornovii'', who spread over Cheshire, Shropshire, northern Staffordshire, northern Herefordshire and eastern parts of the Cambrian mountains. Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' names one of their towns as being ''Viroconium Cornoviorum'' ([[Wroxeter]]), which became the tribal capital under Roman rule and one of the largest settlements in Britain. Wroxeter is now a small village but preserves an ancient name. ''Viroconium'' took its name from the Wrekin, which looms over the landscape, and whose slopes might have been the town's original location.<br />
<br />
After the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was in the eastern part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys; known in Welsh poetry as the ''Paradise of Powys''. The kingdom's capital was Pengwern, which Gerald of Wales identifies as Shrewsbury. Gerald, writing in the twelfth century, says that Powys anciently has six cantrefs, of three were taken by the English and became Shropshire. <br />
<br />
In 641 King Oswald of the Northumbrians was slain in battle by Penda of Mercia at ''Maserfelþ'' or ''Maes Cogwy'', and his body dismembered. Here then was founded the abbey of ''Oswaldes treow''; [[Oswestry]], which grew from pilgrimage and those seeking the healing qualities attributed to the well here. It was about this time that lowland Powys was annexed to the Kingdom of the Mercians by King Wulfhere in, a moment recalled by the poetry of Llywarch Hen:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><poem>High may the mountain be<br />
I care not that I herd my cattle there.<br />
Thin seems my cloak.<br />
. . . <br />
Gone are my brethren from the lands of the Severn<br />
Around the banks of Dwyryw</poem></blockquote><br />
<br />
In the next century King Offa fixed the border in the eighth century, building two significant dykes there to mark the bounds of the kingdom and defend his territory against the Welsh princes. The Mercian ''Tribal Hidage'' names one of the Mercian's underkingdoms as ''Wrocensæte''; the people of the Wrekin, who had seven thousand hides<ref>''W(r)ocen sætna is syfan þusend hida'' Tribal Hidage</ref>, which "Wrokenset" was the precursor of today's county.<br />
<br />
In subsequent centuries, the area suffered repeated Danish invasion. In the reconquest, fortresses were built at [[Bridgnorth]] and [[Chirbury]].<ref>[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Shropshire 1911encyclopedia.org Article on Shropshire]</ref><br />
<br />
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, major estates in Shropshire were granted to Normans, including Roger de Montgomerie, who ordered significant constructions, particularly in Shrewsbury, the town of which he was Earl.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9067535/Roger-de-Montgomery-1st-earl-of-Shrewsbury http://www.britannica.com]</ref> Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including Ludlow Castle<ref>http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/shropshire/Ludlow_Castle.html</ref> and Shrewsbury Castle.<ref>[http://www.shrewsburymuseums.com/castle Shrewsbury Museums Service - Shrewsbury Castle & The Shropshire Regimental Museum]</ref> The western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th Century. Also in this period, a number of religious foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the diocese of Hereford and that of Coventry and Lichfield. Some areas in later times fell under the diocese of St. Asaph until it ceased to exist in 1920.<br />
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The county was a central part of the Welsh Marches during the Middle Ages and was often embroiled in the power struggles between powerful Marcher Lords, the Earls of March and successive kings.<ref>[http://www.secretshropshire.org.uk/Content/Learn/Castles/MWar.asp Secret Shropshire]</ref><br />
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Henry VIII's parliament abolished the marcher lordships and the western border of Shropshire was settled. Until 1688 however Wales, Herefordshire and Shropshire were administered separately from the rest of England, but the Council of Wales and the Marches, which had functions here similar to those exercised by the Privy Council in London. The capital was [[Ludlow]] and the Lord President of Wales dwelt at Ludlow Castle.<br />
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The Welsh language continued to be spoken in parts of Shropshire, notably Oswestry, into the twentieth century.<br />
<br />
The county now contains a number of historically significant towns, including [[Shrewsbury]], [[Ludlow]] and [[Oswestry]]. The area around Coalbrookdale is seen as highly significant to world history, this was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution, and one of the products of the forges set up here, the Iron Bridge still spans the Severn at the village it created; [[Ironbridge]].<br />
[[File:Ironbridge002.JPG|right|thumb|200px|The Iron Bridge]]<br />
<br />
==Towns and villages==<br />
[[File:Old Shrewsbruy Market Hall -England.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Shrewsbury]]<br />
[[File:OswestryMarket.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Oswestry]]<br />
[[File:High Town, Bridgnorth.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Bridgnorth]]<br />
[[Telford]] is the largest town in the county with a population of 138,241; some 30% of the county's total. [[Shrewsbury]], once one of the great towns of the realm, has population of about half the size. The other sizeable towns are [[Oswestry]], [[Bridgnorth]], [[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]] and [[Ludlow]]. The historic town of [[Wellington, Shropshire|Wellington]] now makes up part of the Telford conurbation. The majority of the other settlements can be classed as villages or small towns.<br />
<br />
Shropshire's largest towns and villages by population are:<br />
<br />
*[[Telford]] ''(138,241)''<br />
*[[Shrewsbury]] ''(70,560)''<br />
*[[Halesowen]] ''(55,273)'' (detached, locally situate in [[Worcestershire]])<br />
*[[Oswestry]] ''(15,613)''<br />
*[[Bridgnorth]] ''(12,212)''<br />
*[[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]] ''(10,814)''<br />
*[[Ludlow]] ''(10,500)''<br />
*[[Market Drayton]] ''(10,407)''<br />
*[[Whitchurch, Shropshire|Whitchurch]] ''(8,907)''<br />
*[[Shifnal]] ''(7,094)''<br />
*[[Bayston Hill]] ''(5,247)''<br />
*[[Wem]] ''(5,142)''<br />
*[[Broseley]] ''(4,912) <br />
*[[Church Stretton]] ''(4,186)''<br />
*[[Albrighton]] ''(4,157)''<br />
*[[Pontesbury]] ''(3,500)''<br />
*[[Ellesmere]] ''(3,223)''<br />
*[[Much Wenlock]] ''(2,605)''<br />
*[[Craven Arms]] ''(2,289)''<br />
*[[Prees, Shropshire|Prees]] ''(2,688)''<br />
*[[Bishop's Castle]] ''(1,630)''<br />
*[[Ruyton-XI-Towns]] ''(1,500)''<br />
*[[Baschurch]] ''(1,475)''<br />
*[[Clun]] ''(642)''<br />
<br />
==Things to see in Shropshire==<br />
[[File:Shrewsbury Castle 2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Shrewsbury Castle]]<br />
<br />
{{UKPlacesKey|E}}<br />
*{{i-House}} [[Attingham Park]], [[Atcham]]<br />
*{{i-House}} Benthall Hall, [[Broseley]]<br />
*[[Blists Hill]], [[Madeley, Shropshire|Madeley]]<br />
*{{i-House}} [[Boscobel House]]<br />
*{{i-Museum}} Broseley Pipe Museum, [[Broseley]]<br />
*Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, [[Bridgnorth]]<br />
*[[Brown Clee Hill]]<br />
*{{i-House}} [[Burford, Shropshire|Burford House]]<br />
*[[Caer Caradoc]], near. [[Church Stretton]]<br />
*Chetwynd Park, [[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]]<br />
*[[Long Mynd]] and the [[Carding Mill Valley]]<br />
*{{i-Castle}} [[Clun Castle]]<br />
*[[Flounders' Folly]], near [[Craven Arms]]<br />
*[[Haughmond Hill]], near [[Shrewsbury]]<br />
*[[Haughmond Abbey]]<br />
*Hawkstone Park<br />
*{{i-Castle}} [[Hopton Castle]], near [[Craven Arms]]<br />
*[[Ironbridge Gorge]]<br />
*[[Kynaston's Cave]], [[Nesscliffe]]<br />
*Langley Chapel near [[Shrewsbury]]<br />
*The [[Long Mynd]], [[Church Stretton]]<br />
*{{i-Castle}} [[Ludlow Castle]]<br />
*[[Mitchell's Fold]], [[Chirbury]]<br />
*{{i-Castle}} [[Moreton Corbet Castle]]<br />
*[[Newport Guildhall]], [[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]]<br />
*[[Offa's Dyke Path]]<br />
*[[Puleston Cross]], [[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]]<br />
*{{i-Abbey}} [[Shrewsbury Abbey]], [[Shrewsbury]]<br />
*{{i-Castle}} [[Shrewsbury Castle]]<br />
*The [[Shropshire Hills]]<br />
*[[Shropshire Union Canal]]<br />
*[[Snailbeach]] near [[Shrewsbury]]<br />
*South Telford Heritage Trail, [[Telford]]<br />
*St Laurence Church, [[Ludlow]]<br />
*[[The Stiperstones]], near [[Pontesbury]]<br />
*[[Stokesay Castle]], nr [[Craven Arms]]<br />
*[[Sunnycroft]], [[Wellington, Shropshire|Wellington]]<br />
*{{i-HR}} [[Telford Steam Railway]]<br />
*[[Titterstone Clee Hill]], near [[Ludlow]]<br />
*[[Wenlock Edge]]<br />
*[[Wenlock Priory]]<br />
*[[White Ladies Priory]]<br />
*{{i-Castle}} [[Whittington Castle]]<br />
*[[The Wrekin]] (and Ercall)<br />
*[[Wroxeter]]<br />
<br />
==Place in literature==<br />
For the place of Shropshire in literature, pride of place must go to A E Houseman' ''A Shropshire Lad'', a collection of beautiful poems reflecting many aspects of the life of man and of rural life.<br />
<br />
*''A Shropshire Lad'', the most famous work by A E Housman, uses Shropshire as the setting for many of its poems.<br />
*''St Mawr'', a novella by D H Lawrence, is partially set in the [[Long Mynd]] area of southern Shropshire.<br />
*In Susanna Clarke's ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'', Jonathan Strange is from the county, and some parts of the book are set there.<br />
*P G Wodehouse's fictional Blandings Castle, the ancestral home of Lord Emsworth, is in Shropshire. Also from Shropshire is Psmith, a character in a series of Wodehouse's novels.<br />
*In ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' by Oscar Wilde, Jack pretends to live in rural Shropshire, to mask his double life<br />
*''White Acre vs. Black Acre'' a 1856 plantation literature novel by William M Burwell features two Shropshire farms acting as an allegory for American slavery - ''White Acre Farm'' standing for the abolitionist Northern States, and ''Black Acre Farm'' for the slaveholding Southern States.<br />
*The ''Brother Cadfael'' mysteries by Ellis Peters often feature Shrewsbury Abbey and Shropshire generally; Brother Cadfael is a monk of the Abbey.<br />
*In the novel ''A Room With a View'', Charlotte Bartlett states that the romantic Italian landscape reminds her of the country around Shropshire, where she once spent a holiday at the home of her friend Miss Apesbury.<br />
*In music, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote "On Wenlock Edge" in 1907.<br />
*The county has often appeared in film, whether to conjure up a Victorisn toen (Shrewsbury used for London in for example ''A Christmas Carol'' (1984), or the rural idyll of its countryside, as used in ''Blott on the Landscape'' or the 2005 sit-com ''The Green Green Grass''.<br />
<br />
==Sport==<br />
Shropshire has one of five National Sports Centres, at Lilleshall Hall just outside [[Newport, Shropshire|Newport]] in [[Lilleshall]]. The 1966 England National football team trained here for two weeks before their success in that year's World Cup.<br />
<br />
The area also has a rich motorsport heritage, with the Loton Park Hillclimb and Hawkstone Park Motocross Circuit situated near Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury Motocross Club has staged motocross events in the area for over 30 years. There is additionally an ice hockey club in the county, the Telford Tigers.<br />
<br />
One of the biggest one day events in Shropshire and the biggest one day cycle race in Britain is the Shropshire Star Newport Nocturne. Held every four years, it is Britain's only floodlit cycle race.<ref>http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/roa/News2007/20070814_Newport_Nocturne.asp</ref><br />
<br />
The historic Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games are held annually in [[Much Wenlock]] during the second weekend in July. A four-day festival, the Games include cricket, volleyball, tennis, bowls, badminton, triathlon, 10k road race, track and field events, archery, five-a-side football, veteran cycle events, clay pigeon shooting and a golf competition.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
*{{dmoz|Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/England/Shropshire}}<br />
*[http://www.shropshirelive.com shropshirelive.com] - News and information for Shropshire<br />
*[http://www.Wenlock-Olympian-Society.org.uk] - Wenlock Olympian Society<br />
<br />
{{British county}}</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Uffington&diff=32498Uffington2015-08-05T12:27:41Z<p>552.08: /* The White Horse */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox town<br />
|name=Uffington<br />
|county=Berkshire<br />
|picture=Aerial view from Paramotor of Uffington White Horse - geograph.org.uk - 305467.jpg<br />
|picture caption=The White Horse of Uffington<br />
|os grid ref=SU3089<br />
|latitude=51.61<br />
|longitude=-1.56<br />
|population=715<br />
|census year=2001<br />
|post town=Swindon<br />
|postcode=SN7<br />
|dialling code=01367<br />
|LG district=Vale of White Horse<br />
|constituency=Wantage<br />
|website=[http://www.uffington.net/index.html Uffington.net]<br />
}}<br />
'''Uffington''' is a village in north-western [[Berkshire]], famous for the Uffington White Horse carved into the chalk of the hillside above the village.<br />
<br />
Uffington lies in the [[Vale of White Horse]], which is named after the Uffington White Horse and through which runs the [[River Ock]]. The village is 4 miles south of [[Faringdon]], in open country, amongst the [[Berkshire Downs]].<br />
<br />
==The village==<br />
[[File:Uffington from the SW - geograph.org.uk - 12112.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Uffington from the downs]]<br />
The village is one of chalk-block houses and thatch, at the foot of the [[White Horse Hills]]. Like most parishes in the Vale, Uffington parish is long and thin, running north-south, so that it includes both low-lying arable land and grazing upland on the [[Berkshire Downs]]. The River Ock forms most of its northern boundary. The western boundary runs up across Dragon Hill, Whitehorse Hill, Uffington Down and the gallops on Woolstone Down before turning north again as the eastern boundary across Kingston Warren Down and Ram's Hill, almost to Fawler and partially along Stutfield Brook.<br />
<br />
==The White Horse==<br />
[[File:Uffington Horse, White Horse Hill - geograph.org.uk - 26019.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The White Horse on the hill]]<br />
The White Horse of Uffington shines out in chalk-white from the hill above the village. This enigmatic and much debated hil figure is one of the United Kingdom's best-known archaeological sites<br />
<br />
The White Horse is 374 feet long and cut out of the turf on White Horse Hill on the [[Berkshire Downs]], just south of the village of Woolstone. Its origin and purpose are unknown. The leading theories contend that it was cut in the Bronze Age, Some suggest, for want of any other suggestion, that it might have been a religious totem of some kind. A popular theory since the Victorian period is that it was cut by the men of Wessex after the Battle of Ashdown, the location of which is unknown but thought to have been fought nearby.<br />
<br />
Other recent theories suggest that the figure might not be a horse at all but a wolf or some other creature, as it is not a lifelike representation of any beast, but for a figure cut by those who could not see the whole effect from the air, it is a remarkable piece of work, more in the spirit of a galloping horse than any realistic portrayal might be.<br />
<br />
In G. K. Chesterton's allegorical epic poem of 1911, ''The Ballad of the White Horse'', the horse long predates the victory at Ashdown, but Alfred is then portrayed as being responsible for initiating the custom of the scouring of the horse:<br />
<br />
And it fell in the days of Alfred,<br><br />
In the days of his repose,<br><br />
That as old customs in his sight<br><br />
Were a straight road and a steady light,<br><br />
He bade them keep the White Horse white<br><br />
As the first plume of the snows.<br><br />
<br />
And right to the red torchlight,<br><br />
From the trouble of morning grey,<br><br />
They stripped the White Horse of the grass<br><br />
As they strip it to this day. <br><br />
<br />
Later, when the Danes invade again, the originally pagan white horse has become rehabilitated as a symbol of English freedom and of Christian civilisation.<br />
<br />
"And I go riding against the raid, <br><br />
And ye know not where I am; <br><br />
But ye shall know in a day or year, <br><br />
When one green star of grass grows here; <br><br />
Chaos has charged you, charger and spear, <br><br />
Battle-axe and battering-ram. <br><br />
<br />
"And though skies alter and empires melt, <br><br />
This word shall still be true: <br><br />
If we would have the horse of old, <br><br />
Scour ye the horse anew. <br><br />
<br />
"One time I followed a dancing star <br><br />
That seemed to sing and nod, <br><br />
And ring upon earth all evil's knell; <br><br />
But now I wot if ye scour not well <br><br />
Red rust shall grow on God's great bell <br><br />
And grass in the streets of God." <br><br />
<br />
In ''A Hat Full of Sky'' by Terry Pratchet the ancient figure is carved in the Chalk (on Discworld, but an image of the Berkshire Downs) and Tiffany ponders being told "T'ain't what a horse ''is'', it's what a horse ''be''".<br />
<br />
==The Ridgeway and ancient mounds==<br />
To the south of the Horse are a number of associated burial mounds and there are others further south. Dragon Hill adjoins that on which the horse is carved and might once have been associated withit. It is a small natural hillock with an artificially flattened top. Above these stands Uffington Castle, an Iron Age hill fort (overlying a Bronze Age predecessor) where some of this tribe may have lived.<br />
<br />
Just to the south of the hill fort, the ancient trackway thought to be Britain's oldest road, called [[the Ridgeway]], passes through the parish. Ram's Hill seems to have been a Bronze Age cattle ranching and trading centre.<br />
<br />
==Parish church==<br />
[[File:Uffington Church - geograph.org.uk - 1458584.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The tower of St Mary's]]<br />
The parish church is St Mary's and is known as ''The Cathedral of the Vale''.<br />
<br />
St Mary's has the rare feature of a hexagonal tower.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
A Victorian theory was that the Battle of Ashdown took place in the downs here in 871 and that the White Horse was created as a memorial by King Alfred's men, though few hold to that now, albeitr that the sound of battle might have been close by. Uffington does, however, appear in mid-10th century boundary charters. Abingdon Abbey owned the manor throughout the Middle Ages and King Edward I visited their grange there.<br />
<br />
By the 17th century, the area was dominated by the Earls of Craven from Ashdown House and the church suffered during the Civil War because of their Royalist sympathies.<br />
<br />
The common lands of Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone were enclosed in 1776.<ref>Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 543-551</ref><br />
<br />
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), author of ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', was born in the village. The village school mentioned in the book still exists: now it is ''Tom Brown's School Museum'' and has exhibits on Thomas Hughes, the Uffington White Horse, and other local subjects. The large village hall is named the ''Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall''.<br />
<br />
Sir John Betjeman lived in the village in the 1930s.<br />
<br />
==Amenities==<br />
Uffington United Football Club<ref>[http://www.uffingtonunitedfc.co.uk/Welcome.html Uffington United FC]</ref> plays in North Berks Football League Division Four.<ref>[http://www.nbfl.co.uk/tables/tab4.htm North Berks Football League]</ref> Uffington Cricket Club<ref>[http://ebasic.easily.co.uk/05600A/04C007/ Uffington Cricket Club]</ref> plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association Division Four.<ref>[http://www.oxfordshirecricketassociation.org.uk/tables/tables.asp?Division=4 Oxfordshire Cricket Association]</ref> Uffington has also a badminton club and a tennis club.<ref>[http://www.uffington.net/Clubs%20&%20Associations.htm Uffington.net, Clubs & Associations]</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Page |editor1-first=W.H. |editor1-link=William Henry Page |editor2-last=Ditchfield |editor2-first=P.H. |editor2-link=Peter Ditchfield |series=Victoria County History |title=A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4 |year=1924 |publisher=|location=|pages=543–551}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |authorlink=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Berkshire |date=1966 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=|pages=243–245}}<br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
*[http://www.thomashughesmemorialhall.co.uk/ Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall]<br />
*[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/uffington.html Royal Berkshire History: Uffington]<br />
*[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/uffington.html Royal Berkshire History: Uffington Church]<br />
*[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/archaeology/white_horse.html Royal Berkshire History: The Uffington White Horse]<br />
*[http://museum.uffington.net Tom Brown's School Museum]<br />
*[http://whitehorsedc.moderngov.co.uk/mgParishCouncilDetails.asp?ID=308&J=1 Vale of White Horse District Council: Uffington Parish Council]</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Uffington&diff=32497Uffington2015-08-05T12:26:27Z<p>552.08: /* The White Horse */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox town<br />
|name=Uffington<br />
|county=Berkshire<br />
|picture=Aerial view from Paramotor of Uffington White Horse - geograph.org.uk - 305467.jpg<br />
|picture caption=The White Horse of Uffington<br />
|os grid ref=SU3089<br />
|latitude=51.61<br />
|longitude=-1.56<br />
|population=715<br />
|census year=2001<br />
|post town=Swindon<br />
|postcode=SN7<br />
|dialling code=01367<br />
|LG district=Vale of White Horse<br />
|constituency=Wantage<br />
|website=[http://www.uffington.net/index.html Uffington.net]<br />
}}<br />
'''Uffington''' is a village in north-western [[Berkshire]], famous for the Uffington White Horse carved into the chalk of the hillside above the village.<br />
<br />
Uffington lies in the [[Vale of White Horse]], which is named after the Uffington White Horse and through which runs the [[River Ock]]. The village is 4 miles south of [[Faringdon]], in open country, amongst the [[Berkshire Downs]].<br />
<br />
==The village==<br />
[[File:Uffington from the SW - geograph.org.uk - 12112.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Uffington from the downs]]<br />
The village is one of chalk-block houses and thatch, at the foot of the [[White Horse Hills]]. Like most parishes in the Vale, Uffington parish is long and thin, running north-south, so that it includes both low-lying arable land and grazing upland on the [[Berkshire Downs]]. The River Ock forms most of its northern boundary. The western boundary runs up across Dragon Hill, Whitehorse Hill, Uffington Down and the gallops on Woolstone Down before turning north again as the eastern boundary across Kingston Warren Down and Ram's Hill, almost to Fawler and partially along Stutfield Brook.<br />
<br />
==The White Horse==<br />
[[File:Uffington Horse, White Horse Hill - geograph.org.uk - 26019.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The White Horse on the hill]]<br />
The White Horse of Uffington shines out in chalk-white from the hill above the village. This enigmatic and much debated hil figure is one of the United Kingdom's best-known archaeological sites<br />
<br />
The White Horse is 374 feet long and cut out of the turf on White Horse Hill on the [[Berkshire Downs]], just south of the village of Woolstone. Its origin and purpose are unknown. The leading theories contend that it was cut in the Bronze Age, Some suggest, for want of any other suggestion, that it might have been a religious totem of some kind. A popular theory since the Victorian period is that it was cut by the men of Wessex after the Battle of Ashdown, the location of which is unknown but thought to have been fought nearby.<br />
<br />
Other recent theories suggest that the figure might not be a horse at all but a wolf or some other creature, as it is not a lifelike representation of any beast, but for a figure cut by those who could not see the whole effect from the air, it is a remarkable piece of work, more in the spirit of a galloping horse than any realistic portrayal might be.<br />
<br />
In G. K. Chesterton's allegorical epic poem, ''The Ballad of the White Horse'', the horse long predates the victory at Ashdown, but Alfred is then portrayed as being responsible for initiating the custom of the scouring of the horse:<br />
<br />
And it fell in the days of Alfred,<br><br />
In the days of his repose,<br><br />
That as old customs in his sight<br><br />
Were a straight road and a steady light,<br><br />
He bade them keep the White Horse white<br><br />
As the first plume of the snows.<br><br />
<br />
And right to the red torchlight,<br><br />
From the trouble of morning grey,<br><br />
They stripped the White Horse of the grass<br><br />
As they strip it to this day. <br><br />
<br />
Later, when the Danes invade again, the originally pagan white horse has become rehabilitated as a symbol of English freedom and of Christian civilisation.<br />
<br />
"And I go riding against the raid, <br><br />
And ye know not where I am; <br><br />
But ye shall know in a day or year, <br><br />
When one green star of grass grows here; <br><br />
Chaos has charged you, charger and spear, <br><br />
Battle-axe and battering-ram. <br><br />
<br />
"And though skies alter and empires melt, <br><br />
This word shall still be true: <br><br />
If we would have the horse of old, <br><br />
Scour ye the horse anew. <br><br />
<br />
"One time I followed a dancing star <br><br />
That seemed to sing and nod, <br><br />
And ring upon earth all evil's knell; <br><br />
But now I wot if ye scour not well <br><br />
Red rust shall grow on God's great bell <br><br />
And grass in the streets of God." <br><br />
<br />
In ''A Hat Full of Sky'' by Terry Pratchet the ancient figure is carved in the Chalk (on Discworld, but an image of the Berkshire Downs) and Tiffany ponders being told "T'ain't what a horse ''is'', it's what a horse ''be''".<br />
<br />
==The Ridgeway and ancient mounds==<br />
To the south of the Horse are a number of associated burial mounds and there are others further south. Dragon Hill adjoins that on which the horse is carved and might once have been associated withit. It is a small natural hillock with an artificially flattened top. Above these stands Uffington Castle, an Iron Age hill fort (overlying a Bronze Age predecessor) where some of this tribe may have lived.<br />
<br />
Just to the south of the hill fort, the ancient trackway thought to be Britain's oldest road, called [[the Ridgeway]], passes through the parish. Ram's Hill seems to have been a Bronze Age cattle ranching and trading centre.<br />
<br />
==Parish church==<br />
[[File:Uffington Church - geograph.org.uk - 1458584.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The tower of St Mary's]]<br />
The parish church is St Mary's and is known as ''The Cathedral of the Vale''.<br />
<br />
St Mary's has the rare feature of a hexagonal tower.<br />
<br />
==History==<br />
A Victorian theory was that the Battle of Ashdown took place in the downs here in 871 and that the White Horse was created as a memorial by King Alfred's men, though few hold to that now, albeitr that the sound of battle might have been close by. Uffington does, however, appear in mid-10th century boundary charters. Abingdon Abbey owned the manor throughout the Middle Ages and King Edward I visited their grange there.<br />
<br />
By the 17th century, the area was dominated by the Earls of Craven from Ashdown House and the church suffered during the Civil War because of their Royalist sympathies.<br />
<br />
The common lands of Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone were enclosed in 1776.<ref>Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 543-551</ref><br />
<br />
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), author of ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', was born in the village. The village school mentioned in the book still exists: now it is ''Tom Brown's School Museum'' and has exhibits on Thomas Hughes, the Uffington White Horse, and other local subjects. The large village hall is named the ''Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall''.<br />
<br />
Sir John Betjeman lived in the village in the 1930s.<br />
<br />
==Amenities==<br />
Uffington United Football Club<ref>[http://www.uffingtonunitedfc.co.uk/Welcome.html Uffington United FC]</ref> plays in North Berks Football League Division Four.<ref>[http://www.nbfl.co.uk/tables/tab4.htm North Berks Football League]</ref> Uffington Cricket Club<ref>[http://ebasic.easily.co.uk/05600A/04C007/ Uffington Cricket Club]</ref> plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association Division Four.<ref>[http://www.oxfordshirecricketassociation.org.uk/tables/tables.asp?Division=4 Oxfordshire Cricket Association]</ref> Uffington has also a badminton club and a tennis club.<ref>[http://www.uffington.net/Clubs%20&%20Associations.htm Uffington.net, Clubs & Associations]</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Page |editor1-first=W.H. |editor1-link=William Henry Page |editor2-last=Ditchfield |editor2-first=P.H. |editor2-link=Peter Ditchfield |series=Victoria County History |title=A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4 |year=1924 |publisher=|location=|pages=543–551}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |authorlink=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Berkshire |date=1966 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=|pages=243–245}}<br />
<br />
==Outside links==<br />
*[http://www.thomashughesmemorialhall.co.uk/ Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall]<br />
*[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/uffington.html Royal Berkshire History: Uffington]<br />
*[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/uffington.html Royal Berkshire History: Uffington Church]<br />
*[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/archaeology/white_horse.html Royal Berkshire History: The Uffington White Horse]<br />
*[http://museum.uffington.net Tom Brown's School Museum]<br />
*[http://whitehorsedc.moderngov.co.uk/mgParishCouncilDetails.asp?ID=308&J=1 Vale of White Horse District Council: Uffington Parish Council]</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Talk:Morayshire&diff=32372Talk:Morayshire2015-08-04T12:17:15Z<p>552.08: </p>
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<div>I wonder if anyone can tell me why, on the 'interactive map', someone has clearly taken great trouble to display Cromartyshire accurately (even to the extent of remembering the division of Gruinard Island), but completely left out enormous portions of both Morayshire and Nairnshire (a smaller one of which is in the Black Isle), not to mention the detached portions of Banffshire situate on the East coast; all of these are much bigger than many of the tiny bits of Cromarty that have been included.<br />
To whoever is responsible, may I congratulate you on your excellent and painstaking portrayal of Cromartyshire, but also ask if these other Scottish counties could receive similarly accurate treatment? And the ones in England and Wales, too, for that matter. Unfortunately, I have no idea how the map works, or where it gets its data from; but I am very happy to assist in any way I can if someone were to tell me how. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 10:22, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:That is a good question. We had a good head-scratch over detached parts and referred to the [[Association of British Counties]] and the [[Historic Counties Trust]] about areas "locally situate" within a neighbouring county, and how they were considered before 1846. There is another optional layer to switch detached parts on, on the dropdown at the top of the map, which for Moray is [http://wikishire.co.uk/map/#Morayshire/centre=57.511,-3.382/zoom=10/base=colour_detached here]. [[User:RB|RB]] ([[User talk:RB|talk]]) 11:20, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Ah, thank you! I didn't notice that menu. I must say the map now looks quite superb. I was just looking at the Historic Counties Trust Maps on google earth, and marveling at their detail. I only mentioned it because, with Cromarty so detailed, it seemed unbelievable that the very same map put Dudley in Staffordshire. But now I see what you've done; you want to show Cramartyshire in its own right, but otherwise retain the Historic Counties Trust's standard 'A'? I do, however, think that there are a few more detached parts (such as Dudley, and Shipston-on-Stour, for example), that continued to be administered as part of their historic county well into the 20th century, and which, to this day, retain a strong local connections to that county, that perhaps deserve to appear on the default map. The HCT's two standards don't differentiate between the parts on the 1844 act's schedule and subsequent administrative changes to the parts not on the schedule (many of which are still well within living memory).<br />
::Anyway, please excuse my misunderstanding; I have quite literally only just discovered this site. Do keep up the good work! [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 12:05, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
::One little snag: it tells me 'Morayshire: Area: 492 sq mi.' on both maps. Obviously the areas with and without the detached parts ought to be somewhat different. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 12:16, 4 August 2015 (UTC)</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Talk:Morayshire&diff=32371Talk:Morayshire2015-08-04T12:16:23Z<p>552.08: </p>
<hr />
<div>I wonder if anyone can tell me why, on the 'interactive map', someone has clearly taken great trouble to display Cromartyshire accurately (even to the extent of remembering the division of Gruinard Island), but completely left out enormous portions of both Morayshire and Nairnshire (a smaller one of which is in the Black Isle), not to mention the detached portions of Banffshire situate on the East coast; all of these are much bigger than many of the tiny bits of Cromarty that have been included.<br />
To whoever is responsible, may I congratulate you on your excellent and painstaking portrayal of Cromartyshire, but also ask if these other Scottish counties could receive similarly accurate treatment? And the ones in England and Wales, too, for that matter. Unfortunately, I have no idea how the map works, or where it gets its data from; but I am very happy to assist in any way I can if someone were to tell me how. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 10:22, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:That is a good question. We had a good head-scratch over detached parts and referred to the [[Association of British Counties]] and the [[Historic Counties Trust]] about areas "locally situate" within a neighbouring county, and how they were considered before 1846. There is another optional layer to switch detached parts on, on the dropdown at the top of the map, which for Moray is [http://wikishire.co.uk/map/#Morayshire/centre=57.511,-3.382/zoom=10/base=colour_detached here]. [[User:RB|RB]] ([[User talk:RB|talk]]) 11:20, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Ah, thank you! I didn't notice that menu. I must say the map now looks quite superb. I was just looking at the Historic Counties Trust Maps on google earth, and marveling at their detail. I only mentioned it because, with Cromarty so detailed, it seemed unbelievable that the very same map put Dudley in Staffordshire. But now I see what you've done; you want to show Cramartyshire in its own right, but otherwise retain the Historic Counties Trust's standard 'A'? I do, however, think that there are a few more detached parts (such as Dudley, and Shipston-on-Stour, for example), that continued to be administered as part of their historic county well into the 20th century, and which, to this day, retain a strong local connections to that county, that perhaps deserve to appear on the default map. The HCT's two standards don't differentiate between the parts on the 1844 act's schedule and subsequent administrative changes to the parts not on the schedule (many of which are still well within living memory).<br />
::Anyway, please excuse my misunderstanding; I have quite literally only just discovered this site. Do keep up the good work! [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 12:05, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
::One little snag: it tells me 'Morayshire: Area: 492 sq mi.' on both maps. Obviously the area with and without the detached parts ought to be considerably different. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 12:16, 4 August 2015 (UTC)</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Talk:Morayshire&diff=32370Talk:Morayshire2015-08-04T12:05:14Z<p>552.08: </p>
<hr />
<div>I wonder if anyone can tell me why, on the 'interactive map', someone has clearly taken great trouble to display Cromartyshire accurately (even to the extent of remembering the division of Gruinard Island), but completely left out enormous portions of both Morayshire and Nairnshire (a smaller one of which is in the Black Isle), not to mention the detached portions of Banffshire situate on the East coast; all of these are much bigger than many of the tiny bits of Cromarty that have been included.<br />
To whoever is responsible, may I congratulate you on your excellent and painstaking portrayal of Cromartyshire, but also ask if these other Scottish counties could receive similarly accurate treatment? And the ones in England and Wales, too, for that matter. Unfortunately, I have no idea how the map works, or where it gets its data from; but I am very happy to assist in any way I can if someone were to tell me how. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 10:22, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:That is a good question. We had a good head-scratch over detached parts and referred to the [[Association of British Counties]] and the [[Historic Counties Trust]] about areas "locally situate" within a neighbouring county, and how they were considered before 1846. There is another optional layer to switch detached parts on, on the dropdown at the top of the map, which for Moray is [http://wikishire.co.uk/map/#Morayshire/centre=57.511,-3.382/zoom=10/base=colour_detached here]. [[User:RB|RB]] ([[User talk:RB|talk]]) 11:20, 4 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Ah, thank you! I didn't notice that menu. I must say the map now looks quite superb. I was just looking at the Historic Counties Trust Maps on google earth, and marveling at their detail. I only mentioned it because, with Cromarty so detailed, it seemed unbelievable that the very same map put Dudley in Staffordshire. But now I see what you've done; you want to show Cramartyshire in its own right, but otherwise retain the Historic Counties Trust's standard 'A'? I do, however, think that there are a few more detached parts (such as Dudley, and Shipston-on-Stour, for example), that continued to be administered as part of their historic county well into the 20th century, and which, to this day, retain a strong local connections to that county, that perhaps deserve to appear on the default map. The HCT's two standards don't differentiate between the parts on the 1844 act's schedule and subsequent administrative changes to the parts not on the schedule (many of which are still well within living memory).<br />
::Anyway, please excuse my misunderstanding; I have quite literally only just discovered this site. Do keep up the good work! [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 12:05, 4 August 2015 (UTC)</div>552.08https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Talk:Morayshire&diff=32353Talk:Morayshire2015-08-04T10:22:26Z<p>552.08: Why are large portions of Morayshire and Nairnshire ommitted from the map?</p>
<hr />
<div>I wonder if anyone can tell me why, on the 'interactive map', someone has clearly taken great trouble to display Cromartyshire accurately (even to the extent of remembering the division of Gruinard Island), but completely left out enormous portions of both Morayshire and Nairnshire (a smaller one of which is in the Black Isle), not to mention the detached portions of Banffshire situate on the East coast; all of these are much bigger than many of the tiny bits of Cromarty that have been included.<br />
To whoever is responsible, may I congratulate you on your excellent and painstaking portrayal of Cromartyshire, but also ask if these other Scottish counties could receive similarly accurate treatment? And the ones in England and Wales, too, for that matter. Unfortunately, I have no idea how the map works, or where it gets its data from; but I am very happy to assist in any way I can if someone were to tell me how. [[User:552.08|552.08]] ([[User talk:552.08|talk]]) 10:22, 4 August 2015 (UTC)</div>552.08