Oakengates

Oakengates
Shropshire
Location
Grid reference:	SJ696109
Location:	52°41’42"N, 2°27’4"W
Data
Population:	8,517
Post town:	Telford
Postcode:	TF2
Dialling code:	01952
Local Government
Council:	Telford and Wrekin
Parliamentary constituency:	Telford

Oakengates is a town in Shropshire which now forms part of the new town of Telford. The parish's population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census.

The town's name has nothing to do with 'Oak' or 'Gates' but is apparently derived from the ancient British name for the valley which was Usc-con, from Usc menaing "water" and the Cond for "confluence", and from the Old Norse gata menaing "street" of "way", so "Usccon Way". This at least is the leading theory. A history of Oakengates was written by local historian Reverend J E G Cartlidge whose name is commemorated in the name of the retirement home Cartlidge House.

The Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton railway line runs through the town and there is a station and a tunnel (Oakengates Tunnel).

In the late 18th century the Ketley Canal was constructed to carry coal and ironstone from Oakengates to Ketley works. The canal has long since fallen into disuse and little trace of it can be found today. The first boat lift in Britain was an experimental one built at Oakengates in 1794 by Robert Weldon of Lichfield. A full-scale version was to be built on the Somerset Coal Canal at Rowley Bottom near Combe Hay, but the lift jammed and failed while being demonstrated and the construction was abandoned.

Oakengates has Telford's main theatre. Nearby are the town council's headquarters and the United Reformed/Methodist church.

Sport

• Football: Oakengates Athletic FC