76-547: Donnington Wood is part of the town of Telford in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire , England . First-class cricketer and coal miner Enoch Tranter (1842-1910), player for Lancashire , died at Donnington Wood. Jockey Sir Gordon Richards was born in Donnington Wood at Ivy Row, part of a new demolished row of cottages on whose site are the apartment blocks 'Gordon House' and 'Richards House'. A local pub in nearby Donnington
152-686: A UNESCO World Heritage Site . Places around the Ironbridge Gorge area, which were developed into the town itself, are internationally recognised as being "The Birthplace of Industry" being to a large extent constructed during the Industrial Revolution on the Shropshire Coalfield. The M54 motorway was completed in 1983, improving the town's road links with the West Midlands conurbation , Wolverhampton
228-656: A Watling Street but they are not on the route). Following the Viking invasions , the 9th-century Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum mentions Watling Street as a boundary. It is assumed that the pilgrims in Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales used the southeastern stretch of Watling Street when journeying from Southwark to Canterbury . The first turnpike trust in England was established over Watling Street northwest of London by an Act of Parliament on 4 March 1707 in order to provide
304-546: A bowling alley/arcade and a new multi-storey car park. Telford town centre lies about 16 miles (26 km) east/south-east of Shrewsbury and 20 miles (32 km) north-west of Wolverhampton . The town covers 7,803 hectares (30.13 square miles) and its southern and eastern parts, between the Severn Gorge and Donnington Wood , include the East Shropshire coalfield. North and north-west Telford lie beyond
380-620: A natural ford once crossed the Thames between Thorney Island (present-day Westminster ) and the Lambeth / Wandsworth boundary. Its location means that it is possible that Watling Street crossed it. Several factors may have slowed the river here, leading to the depositing of enough sediments to create a usable ford: The Romans began constructing paved roads shortly after their invasion in AD ;43. The London portion of Watling Street
456-534: A north–south artery road. The majority of bus services in the area are operated by Arriva Midlands from its garage at Stafford Park, which replaced the original Midland Red garage in Wellington. Banga Bus operate service 891 to Wolverhampton via Shifnal and Tettenhall , replacing the original service operated by Midland Red which was latterly operated by Arriva Midlands . Between 1 June 2021 and January 2022, Chaserider launched service X14 to Cannock and
532-485: A part of its Second Route ( Iter II ), which runs for 501 MP from Hadrian's Wall to Richborough: Some site in the middle section of this route is supposed by most historians to have been the location of G. Suetonius Paulinus 's decisive victory over Boudica 's Iceni in AD 61. The two routes of the Antonine Itinerary immediately following ( Iter III & IV ) list
608-479: A relatively low car ownership. In 2004 Telford & Wrekin council was awarded 'Beacon Status' for improving access to public transport. Being a new town with a planned transport infrastructure, the town features relatively few traffic problems, in comparison to the urban areas of Birmingham or medieval streets of Shrewsbury . The M54 reduces through-traffic on local roads, and the A442 Queensway acts as
684-416: A return on the investment required to once more pave the road. The section from Fourne Hill north of Hockliffe to Stony Stratford was paved at a cost of £ 7000 over the next two years. Revenue was below expectations; in 1709, the trust succeeded in getting a new act extending the term of their monopoly but not permitting their tolls to be increased. In 1711, the trust's debts had not been discharged and
760-595: A sixth-form college located in Wellington . In September 2017 the two colleges merged to form Telford College . There are four other sixth forms located at Haberdashers' Abraham Darby , Holy Trinity Academy , Madeley Academy and Thomas Telford School . Telford is home to The University of Wolverhampton Business School (UWBS) campus and the School of the Built Environment. Harper Adams University ,
836-567: A university specialising in land-based education is located 9.5 miles to the northeast at Edgmond , near Newport. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central . Television signals are received from the nearby Wrekin TV transmitter situated south east of Telford. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Shropshire , Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire , Greatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire and Capital North West & Wales . The Shropshire Star
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#1732787047758912-663: Is The Iron Bridge , located in Ironbridge . It was the first bridge of its size in the world made out of cast iron . In the same area is the Ironbridge Gorge , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The most important landmark in the area is The Wrekin hill. There is also the Lilleshall Monument erected on Lilleshall Hill to the north-east, to the 1st Duke of Sutherland . Telford has a number of primary and secondary schools. These range from academies such as
988-485: Is 19 miles (31 km) south east and Birmingham is 28 miles (45 km) in the same direction. In the 2011 census, the town had a population of 142,723 while in 2017, the wider borough had an estimated population of 175,271. It is the most populous settlement in Shropshire, Shrewsbury is second and is 15 miles (24 km) to the west of the town. It is near Staffordshire : Stafford is 21 miles (34 km) to
1064-605: Is also published by the Shropshire star. However, the building was demolished in 2023, and moved to Telford Town Centre. There have been job losses, with the movement of 500 Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) jobs at the MoD base at Sapphire House , Telford town centre, to Bristol . The sugar beet factory at Allscott closed in 2007. In 2019 a joint venture called Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land installed itself in Telford, not far from Babcock DSG . Together they are responsible for
1140-511: Is listed as taking 24 Roman miles rather than 17. The more direct route north from Londinium (London) to Eboracum ( York ) was Ermine Street . The stations between Eboracum and Cataractonium ( Catterick ) were shared with Dere Street , which then branched off to the northeast. Durocobrivis ( Dunstable ) was the site of the path's intersection with the Icknield Way . The Maiden Way ran from Bravoniacum ( Kirkby Thore ) to
1216-671: Is on the original route.) Dere Street , the Roman road from Cataractonium ( Catterick in Yorkshire ) to Corstopitum (now Corbridge , Northumberland ) to the Antonine Wall , was also sometimes known as Watling Street. A third Watling Street was the Roman road from Mamucium ( Manchester ) to Bremetennacum ( Ribchester ) to Cumbria . Preston , Lancashire , preserved a Watling Street Road between Ribbleton and Fulwood , passing
1292-1091: Is restricted or banned. The name Watling Street is still used along the ancient road in many places, for instance in Bexleyheath in southeast London and in Canterbury , Gillingham , Strood , Gravesend , and Dartford in Kent . North of London, the name Watling Street still occurs in Hertfordshire (including St Albans ), Bedfordshire ( Dunstable ), Buckinghamshire ( Milton Keynes ), Northamptonshire ( Towcester ), Leicestershire ( Hinckley ), Warwickshire ( Nuneaton and Atherstone ) and in Staffordshire ( Cannock , Wall , Tamworth and Lichfield ). (There are Watling Streets in Shropshire ( Church Stretton ) and in Gwynedd ( Llanrwst ), but neither
1368-537: Is the administrative centre of Telford and Wrekin borough , a unitary authority which covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding settlements. The town is close to the county's eastern boundary, and near the River Severn . The notable hill near the town called The Wrekin is part of the Shropshire Hills , an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . To the south of the town is the Ironbridge Gorge ,
1444-612: Is the town's local weekly newspaper. Telford is situated at the terminus of the M54 motorway , a spur of the M6 linking the town with Wolverhampton and the West Midlands , and on the A5 road between Shrewsbury and Cannock . Telford Central railway station is situated on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line . The town also has Oakengates railway station and Wellington railway station on
1520-519: The A5 , A518 and A442 , which is commonly known as the Eastern Primary or EP , and is officially branded Queensway . Many of the new town's residents were originally from the West Midlands conurbation , which includes Wolverhampton , Birmingham, Dudley and Walsall . A majority of the council house tenants in Telford were rehoused from inner-city Birmingham. The rehousing affected existing communities, who were sometimes resentful of
1596-518: The A5 road . The route from Dover to London forms part of the A2 road . At various points along the historic route, the name Watling Street remains in modern use. The original Celtic and Roman name for the road is unknown, and the Romans may not have viewed it as a single path at all, since parts of it were assigned to two separate itineraries in one 2nd-century list . The modern name instead derives from
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#17327870477581672-852: The Challenger 2 Life Extension Project . Aqueduct, Brookside, Dawley Bank, Doseley, Hollinswood, Heath Hill, Horsehay , Lawley, Lawley Bank, Lightmoor, Little Dawley, Malinslee, Newdale, Old Park, Overdale, Randlay, Stirchley, Sutton Hill, The Rock, Tweedale, Woodside. Arleston, Donnington, Donnington Wood, Hadley, Hartshill, Haybridge, Ketley , Ketley Bank, Ketleybrook, Ketleyhill, Leegomery, Muxton, Priorslee , Priorslee Village, Red Lake, Snedshill, St Georges, Trench, Trench Lock, Wombridge, Wrockwardine Wood. Blists Hill , Coalbrookdale , Coalport , Dawley , Ironbridge , Jackfield , Madeley , Newport , Oakengates , Wellington , Admaston , Bratton , Dothill and Shawbirch . Hadley Castle, Halesfield, Hortonwood, Stafford Park The commercial centre of
1748-512: The McArthur Glenn West Midlands Designer Outlet. but was withdrawn due to low usage. A number of council contract services operate under the 'Travel Telford' brand, including Arriva Midlands service 99, Chaserider services 100, 102, 103 and 104 and Select Bus service 101. These were introduced to link local employment opportunities, schools and villages previously without bus services. Notably
1824-597: The Old English Wæcelinga Stræt , from a time when "street" ( Latin : via strata ) referred to any paved road and had no particular association with urban thoroughfares. The Waeclingas ("people of Waecla ") were a tribe in the St Albans area in the early medieval period with an early name of their city being "Waetlingacaester", which would translate into modern English as "Watlingchester". The original Anglo-Saxon name for
1900-612: The Reform UK party. The current MP since the election is Shaun Davies (Labour). Some suburbs, such as Wellington, are located in The Wrekin , which also has varying support between the Conservatives and Labour. Conservative Mark Pritchard was reelected as the latter seat's MP in 2024, and has now held the seat continuously since 2005. Telford is administratively part of the West Midlands region . In 1963 Dawley new town
1976-665: The Telford Langley School to City Technology Colleges like the Thomas Telford School . 8 miles (13 km) to the north are Adams' Grammar School and Newport Girls High School selective schools located in nearby Newport . Wrekin College , an independent co-educational boarding and day school, is located in the Wellington area of Telford. Further education was handled by Telford College of Arts and Technology (TCAT) and Telford New College ,
2052-673: The 100 (nicknamed 'Express 100') runs seven days a week and on evenings. Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England , running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter . The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity , Late Antiquity , and throughout the Middle Ages . It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of
2128-450: The 10th century, namely Wellington , Wrockwardine and Lilleshall . From the 13th century there was urban development in Wellington and Madeley , where Wenlock Priory founded a new town. Six monastic houses, founded in the 11th and 12th centuries, had large interests in the area's economic growth. They collectively acquired almost half of the area and profited from coal and ironstone mines and iron smithies on their estates. The area
2204-461: The American company Unimation and three firms from Japan: Nikon UK Ltd., which opened a warehouse at Halesfield in 1983; video-tape manufacturers Hitachi Maxell at Apley Castle in 1983; and office equipment manufacturers Ricoh , who took a 22-acre (89,000 m ) site for a factory at Priorslee next to the M54 , and formed the first in Telford's new enterprise zone. Consequently, from
2280-565: The B2068 road that runs from the M20 motorway to Canterbury. The route between Durovernum and the fortress and port at Regulbium ( Reculver ) on Kent's northern shore is not given in these itineraries but was also paved and is sometimes taken as a fourth terminus for Watling Street. The Sixth Route ( Iter VI ) also recorded an alternate path stopping at Tripontium ( Newton and Biggin ) between Venonis ( High Cross ) and Bannaventa ( Norton ); it
2356-796: The Confessor . A number of Old English names testify to route of Watling Street at this time: Boughton Street in Kent ; Colney Street in Hertfordshire ; Fenny Stratford and Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire ; Old Stratford in Northamptonshire; Stretton-under-Fosse and Stretton Baskerville in Warwickshire . (The three adjacent settlements of All Stretton , Church Stretton , and Little Stretton in Shropshire ; and Stretton Sugwas in Herefordshire have
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2432-636: The Dawley New Town Development Corporation, with the first homes on the new Sutton Hill housing estate being occupied in 1967. Initial planning and design concepts for Dawley New Town were produced by the Birmingham-based John Madin Design Group . The Minister proposed an extension of 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) in 1968 (taking in the historic area of Ironbridge Gorge ). The Dawley New Town (Designation) Amendment (Telford) Order
2508-561: The MOD contract from the Euston Park site, as well as a vast array of clients across the world from the Plaza building. Also Capgemini and Fujitsu employ a significant number of staff in the area, mainly supporting their governmental client, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) . The expansion in these job sectors provided a great asset to Telford's economic recovery after 1992. By August 2007,
2584-484: The Roman road ran along Old Dover Road , turning and running through the area of present-day Greenwich Park to a location perhaps a little north of the current Deptford Bridge. North of London, the road is designated mainly as the A5 between London and Shrewsbury . At various points along the route, the A5 leaves the Roman road to bypass settlements, but its historic route invariably remains evident even where motor traffic
2660-679: The Romans had already been used by the Britons for centuries. The main path led from Richborough on the English Channel to a natural ford in the Thames at Thorney Island , Westminster , to a site near Wroxeter , where it split. The western continuation went on to Holyhead while the northern ran to Chester and on to the Picts in Scotland. There is a longstanding tradition that
2736-566: The Thames. They did not return to Lundenburh (the City of London ) until forced to do so by the Vikings in the late 9th century. Over time, the graveling and paving itself fell into disrepair, although the road's course continued to be used in many places as a public right of way . "Watlingestrate" was one of the four roads ( Latin : chemini ) protected by the king's peace in the Laws of Edward
2812-529: The US, Europe, and Japan . The foreign firms required larger factories, and they began to be built at Stafford Park. By 1983 over 2,000 jobs in Telford were provided by around 40 (mostly American) foreign companies. In contrast to industry in the Black Country at the time, these new companies focused on high-technology industries rather than the heavy and metal-finishing industries. The new arrivals included
2888-760: The blue office towers ( Telford Plaza ), and the Windsor Life building. The Forge retail park and a large Odeon Cinema are also located in the area. Telford also houses one of the Midlands' few ice skating rinks near the Telford International Centre (TIC). The TIC comprises a number of exhibition halls and event spaces. It holds parties, conferences, concerts and was formerly the venue of the UK Snooker Championship. A major Shropshire landmark, also now part of Telford,
2964-464: The border with the unitary Shropshire Council (before the latter's creation in 2009 the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham ). Within the borough of Telford & Wrekin , the town is entirely parished . Telford has no single town council because of this. The town is also divided into Wards, within the Telford and Wrekin borough. These are used for electoral purposes and demographic surveys. Telford
3040-592: The bridgehead on the Thames to what would become Newgate on the London Wall before passing over Ludgate Hill and the Fleet and dividing into Watling Street and the Devil's Highway west to Calleva ( Silchester ). Some of this route is preserved beneath Old Kent Road . The 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary gives the course of Watling Street from " Urioconium " (Wroxeter) to " Portus Ritupis " (Richborough) as
3116-435: The changes. As a result some individuals still refuse to put Telford in their address, instead using the original local name (such as Wellington or Dawley) and often citing the existence of town Councils as support for the argument "you can't live in a town in a town”, e.g. Wellington (Town) Telford (Town). The new town's residents who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s earned the unwanted nickname 'overspill' from people living in
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3192-606: The coalfield's boundary fault on sandstone beds which, along with other Triassic formations, prevail over much of the North Shropshire plain. The town centre stands on a watershed, with land to the south draining towards the River Severn and to the north sloping gently down towards the Weald Moors. The town is dominated by the Wrekin , a large hill of 407 m (1335 ft), south-west of Wellington, straddling
3268-461: The creditors took over receivership of the tolls. In 1716, a new act restored the authority of the trust under the supervision of another group appointed by the Buckinghamshire justices of the peace. The trust failed to receive a further extension of their rights in 1736 and their authority ended at the close of 1738. In 1740, a new act named new trustees to oversee the road, which the residents of Buckinghamshire described as being "ruined". The road
3344-491: The east and Stoke-on-Trent is 25 miles (40 km) north east from the town. The town is polycentric, having been designated under the New Towns Acts in 1963 and 1968 and developed between the 1960s to the 1970s . Centred on a shopping centre and a public park , the new town is named after Thomas Telford , a civil engineer on many road, canal and rail projects in the county. It was originally designated under
3420-418: The end of the decade, only for it to rise to a similarly high figure again by 1992 as a result of the early 1990s recession . In recent years the local economy has matured, the median gross weekly earnings for full-time workers who work in Telford and Wrekin was £563 in 2019 (West Midlands £552.50 and England £591.40 ). Telford has attracted several large IT services companies, including EDS who support
3496-461: The evening there was no nightlife at all in the area, the only major local entertainment areas being in Oakengates and Wellington. The first phase of the town-centre development, named Southwater, was completed in 2014. The official opening ceremony, on 18 October 2014, included live music and fireworks. The area includes a refurbished library, various chain restaurants, Cineworld IMAX Cinema,
3572-416: The existing towns and villages. In 2007 a £250 million regeneration plan for the town centre was announced, which includes the pedestrianisation of the road surrounding the shopping centre and the creation of new cafés, bars and shops which would lead to 1,750 new jobs. The reason for the expansion is that the original 'centre' was only ever a shopping place with no real heart. As the 'centre' closed early in
3648-511: The fort at Epiacum ( Whitley Castle ) with its remarkable ramparts, and on to the Hadrian's Wall fort of Magnis (Carvoran) . By the time of the Saxon invasions , the Roman bridge across the Thames had presumably fallen into disrepair or been destroyed. The Saxons abandoned the walled Roman site in favour of Lundenwic to its west, presumably because of its more convenient access to the ford on
3724-421: The later 1970s, Telford began to attract high-technology firms and to diversify its industry, and the promotion of the Service industry also began to prosper, in the Telford Town Centre area. However, a deepening national recession meant that, despite the creation of new jobs, there were net job losses from 1979. Unemployment grew from 3.4 per cent in 1969 to over 8 per cent in 1972 and 22.3 per cent (almost double
3800-470: The level of statutorily homeless households in 2004/05 was above average for England. The Telford and Wrekin area is a popular commuter zone, containing some relatively rural areas in the North and West of the borough. These are popular with commuters to the West Midlands conurbation , due to the good transport links provided by the A5 / M54 . In 2011, the town was 91.9% white (88.5% White British), 4.7% Asian, 1.2% Black, 1.9% Mixed race and 0.2% other. At
3876-418: The location of the Romans' defeat of Boudica , though precisely where on the route is disputed. The Roman Antonine Itinerary lists sites along the route of Watling Street as part of a longer route of 500 Roman miles connecting Richborough with Hadrian's Wall via Wroxeter. The continuation on to Blatobulgium ( Birrens , Dumfriesshire ) beyond Hadrian's Wall in modern Scotland may have been part of
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#17327870477583952-423: The main Roman roads in Britannia (Roman-governed Great Britain during the Roman Empire ). The line of the road was later the southwestern border of the Danelaw with Wessex and Mercia , and Watling Street was numbered as one of the major highways of medieval England. First used by the ancient Britons, mainly between the areas of modern Canterbury and St Albans using a natural ford near Westminster ,
4028-436: The name Dawley New Town , Dawley being to the south of new-town's centre. As well as multiple villages and Dawley, the other constituent towns are Wellington , Madeley and Oakengates . Early settlement in the area was thought to be on the land that sloped up from the Weald Moors (an area north of the town centre) towards the line along which the Roman Watling Street was built. Farmland surrounded three large estates in
4104-418: The national average) in 1983; long-term unemployment rose even faster. Nevertheless, the rate of increase in unemployment was slowing down by 1983 and was making some progress against national and regional trends. Unemployment in Telford was still around the 20% mark – nearly double the national average at the time – as late as 1986. The Lawson Boom of the next three years saw that figure fall dramatically by
4180-437: The old path. A section of Watling Street still exists in the City of London close to Mansion House underground station on the route of the original Roman road which traversed the River Thames via the first London Bridge and ran through the City in a straight line from London Bridge to Newgate . The sections of the road in Central London possess a variety of names, including Edgware Road and Maida Vale . At Blackheath ,
4256-419: The road was later paved by the Romans . It connected the ports of Dubris (Dover), Rutupiae ( Richborough Castle ), Lemanis ( Lympne ), and Regulbium ( Reculver ) in Kent to the Roman bridge over the Thames at Londinium (London). The route continued northwest through Verulamium (St Albans) on its way to Viroconium Cornoviorum ( Wroxeter ). Watling Street is traditionally cited as having been
4332-412: The same census the population of the town was 142,723 and had an area of 46.2 kilometers with the population estimated to be 147,105 in 2016. During the economic crisis of the late 1960s (with unemployment doubling nationally during the second half of the decade), unemployment in the then-new town was initially high. However, in 1967 Halesfield Industrial Estate was founded on the south-eastern edge of
4408-486: The same line. All three stations are serviced by trains from Transport for Wales Rail , West Midlands Railway , and Avanti West Coast . In May 1998, Virgin Trains West Coast introduced a service from Shrewsbury to London Euston . It was withdrawn in 2000. A service to Walsall was introduced from Wellington via Wolverhampton but proved to be unprofitable and was withdrawn by London Midland in December 2008. A new service from Wrexham General to London Marylebone
4484-439: The same route, leading some scholars to call this Watling Street as well, although others restrict it to the southern leg. In the early 18th century, England's first turnpike trust was established to pave the route through Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire . In the early 19th century, the course between London and the Channel was paved and became known as the Great Dover Road . The route from London to Wroxeter forms much of
4560-491: The section of the route between Canterbury and London was Casingc Stræt or Key Street, a name still borne by a hamlet on the road near Sittingbourne . This section only later became considered part of Watling Street. Watling Street has been used as a boundary of many historic administrative units, and some of these are still in existence today, either through continuity or the adoption of these as by successor areas. Examples include: The broad, grassy trackway found by
4636-410: The south such as a part of Ironbridge and Broseley , while part of the Telford Urban Area, are administered by Shropshire Council . Telford is the only settlement within the Telford parliamentary constituency , which was held by Labour from its creation in 1997 until the 2015 general election . It was then held by Lucy Allen who stood down ahead of the 2024 general election after defecting to
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#17327870477584712-409: The stations from Londinium to " Portus Dubris " ( Dover ) and to " Portus Lemanis " ( Lympne ) at the north eastern edge of the Romney Marsh , suggesting that they may have been considered interchangeable terminuses. They only differ in the distance to Durovernum : 14 and 17 Roman miles , respectively. The route to Lemanis was sometimes distinguished by the name "Stone Street" ; it now forms most of
4788-407: The success story of Telford's economy had seen unemployment shrink to 3.3% – a fraction of its peak 15 years earlier. However, the subsequent recession meant that unemployment in the area had risen to 5% by February 2011, although this was still well below the national average. The Shropshire Star evening newspaper was based in Ketley. There is a free local paper the Telford Journal which
4864-407: The then Wrekin District Council. Telford was now 25 years old and was firmly established as one of the most important towns in the region. There is a Retail Park called Wrekin Retail Park in Wellington. In 1983, after fierce opposition and three public enquiries, the M54 motorway was completed, connecting the town to the M6 and thence the rest of the UK's motorway network. Other major roads are
4940-407: The time were Dawelloak and Wrekin Forest City. Most of the infrastructure was constructed from the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, with the major housing and commercial development occurring over three decades up to the early 1990s when the Development Corporation was wound up to be replaced by the Commission for New Towns , later English Partnerships, and most of the property was handed over to
5016-429: The town is Telford Town Centre, located off Junction 5 of the M54 motorway , completed in the 1980s. It is home to the administrative headquarters of Telford & Wrekin Council, which are now based at Addenbrook House on Ironmasters Way, after moving from the old Civic Offices (dating from the mid-1970s) in December 2012. The large Telford Shopping Centre (and the accompanying Town Park ), various office blocks, such as
5092-499: The town – the first real answer to Telford's unemployment problems. Other large estates followed, in 1973 with Stafford Park just east of the town centre and in 1979 with Hortonwood , to the north, helping ease the unemployment crisis in a decade which saw an almost unbroken rise in unemployment. In total, half a million square metres of factory space were provided between 1968 and 1983, making Telford an attractive investment area. By 1976, Telford had begun to recruit industry from
5168-515: Was 147,980 according to the 2011 census . At the 2001 census, the urban area had 138,241 people. The built-up area includes Broseley which lies outside the Borough of Telford and Wrekin and also includes the towns of Dawley , Oakengates , Wellington and Madeley . Telford has a younger than average population, and a higher rate of teenage pregnancy than the national average, as well as relatively high levels of income deprivation with 15% of residents living in low income households. In addition
5244-503: Was again paved in the early 19th century at the expense of Thomas Telford . He operated it as a turnpike road for mail coaches from Ireland . To this purpose, he extended it to the port of Holyhead on Anglesey in Wales. During this time, the section southeast of London became known as the Great Dover Road . The tolls ended in 1875. Much of the road is still in use today, apart from a few sections where it has been diverted. The A2 road between Dover and London runs over or parallel to
5320-424: Was created politically – but its attempts to make a cohesive town from the fusion of other independent towns: Wellington , Madeley , Hadley , Oakengates , Dawley , Ironbridge and Donnington have largely been successful. Despite this, the town has much clearer divisions than in other older towns, such as nearby Shrewsbury, which have developed into one consolidated urban area over time. Some small settlements to
5396-409: Was intended to take 50,000 people from the West Midlands conurbation and so to grow to a town of 70,000 or more. By 1968 Telford was intended to take an additional 50,000 and grow to a town of 220,000 or more by 1991. By 1983, however, Telford's population was just under 108,000, and it was generally thought that it might not reach 120,000 by the late 1980s. The population of Telford's built-up area
5472-651: Was launched by Wrexham & Shropshire in 2008. The venture however proved unprofitable and ceased to operate on 28 January 2011, leaving Shropshire as the only English county without a direct train link to London. Virgin Trains re-launched a direct Shrewsbury to London Euston service in December 2014. In addition, there are three further stations isolated from the national network, Spring Village, Lawley and Horsehay & Dawley, at Telford Steam Railway , situated at Horsehay . Telford's rapidly growing population still has
5548-519: Was made on 29 November 1968, extending the New Town area by 10,143 acres (4,105 ha) of "land lying within the urban districts of Oakengates and Wellington and the rural districts of Shifnal and Wellington". The Order also renamed the new town Telford, after the Scottish-born civil engineer Thomas Telford , who in 1787 became Surveyor of Public Works for Shropshire. Other suggested names at
5624-419: Was named after him: "The Champion Jockey". This was replaced firstly by a Netto supermarket which itself in 2011 became a Morrisons ' supermarket, which then turned into a Home Bargains shop in 2015. This Shropshire location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Telford Telford ( / ˈ t ɛ l f ər d / ) is a town in Shropshire , England. It
5700-479: Was rediscovered during Christopher Wren 's rebuilding of St Mary-le-Bow in 1671–73, following the Great Fire . Modern excavations date its construction to the winter from AD 47 to 48. Around London, it was 7.5–8.7 m (25–29 ft) wide and paved with gravel. It was repeatedly redone, including at least twice before the sack of London by Boudica 's troops in 60 or 61. The road ran straight from
5776-555: Was the site of the 1821 Cinderloo Uprising , which saw 3,000 people protest against the lowering of wages for those working in the local coal industry. The protests resulted in the deaths of three striking colliers. The New Town was first designated on 16 January 1963 by the Conservative administration as Dawley New Town , covering 9,100 acres (37 km ) of Dawley , Wenlock , Oakengates , Wellington Rural District and Shifnal Rural District . Development started, guided by
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