Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, at .

It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn. Bridgnorth is named after a bridge over the River Severn, built further north than an earlier bridge at Quatford. It is the seat of the Bridgnorth district. As of the 2001 census the district's population was 52,497. The population of the town of Bridgnorth is 11,742.

Low Town is home to the Severn Valley Railway, which runs southwards to Kidderminster. Low Town is connected to the High Town by the steepest inland cliff railway in the Britain, the Castle Hill Railway.

High Town is dominated by Bridgnorth Castle and St Mary's church, the latter designed by Thomas Telford. Other notable buildings in the town are the seventeenth century Bridgnorth Town Hall, a surviving town gate, and Daniel's Mill, a watermill.

History

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The Castle, originally built in 1190 by Robert de Belleme (later Earl of Shrewsbury) was besieged four times in its history, last by the Roundheads in 1646 during the English Civil War when Bridgnorth was a Royalists stronghold. Parliamentary forces used an artificial hill (Panpudding Hill) across from the castle in order to bombard it and also tunnelled deep into the cliff underneath Bridgnorth castle in order to plant explosives and blow it up. The threat from this tunnelling (along with dwindling supplies) caused the Royalists to surrender Bridgnorth. Although the castle survived the siege, it was blown up by the Roundheads in 1647 to prevent its future use by the Royalists should they have retaken the town. The only part that remains, part of the great tower, leans at an angle greater than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

During the siege, a large part of the town was set on fire. As a result of the fire, there are no verified images or detailed accounts of the actual layout or even the appearance of Bridgnorth Castle before its destruction.

Other

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On August 21, 2003, Bridgnorth was granted Fairtrade Town status.

As well as a number of primary schools, the town has two secondary schools: Oldbury Wells School and The Endowed School. These serve the town and its outlying villages.

It is popular with Black Country tourists and drinkers because of, amongst many other things, its 27 (mostly traditional) pubs, including 'The Fosters Arms', 'The Golden Lion', The Bell & Talbot, 'The Railwayman's Arms','The Shakespeare', 'The Black Horse', 'The Bandon Arms' and 'The Black Boy'.

The design of the 18th century St.Mary's Church appears to have inspired two 19th century Dublin churches- St.Stephen's on Mount Street and the presently closed St.Paul's on Arran Quay. The latter 's cupola is similar to that of St.Mary's- but built some 40 years later. //www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/quays/arran/stpauls.html | //www.irelandposters.com/dublin/mount_street.html

Nazi HQ of Britain?

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In 2005, German papers from 1941 were discovered outlining a possible Nazi invasion of the United Kingdom. There is a lot of detail about two Shropshire towns in the documentation — Ludlow and Bridgnorth. Some experts now believe that it was Hitler's intention to make Bridgnorth his HQ in Britain, due to its central, but rural, location and its now disused airfield.

External links

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• Bridgnorth Spartans Junior Football Club
• local guide bridgnorth-unlimited.org
• Bridgnorth Visitor Guide
• Bridgnorth Photo Gallery
• Shropshire Tourist Board article
• BBC Shropshire article
• Bridgnorth Folk Festival

Towns on the River Severn | Towns in Shropshire | Locations featured in Time Team

Cwatbrycg, Scrobbesbyrgscīr | Bridgnorth | Bridgnorth | Bridgnorth