60-491: Oakengates is a constituent town of Telford and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin , Shropshire, England. The towns parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census. The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" but is derived from the Ancient Brythonic name for the valley which was Usc-con, meaning The Lake(Usc(water) and the confluence(Cond) of two streams (see Cartlidge), and from
120-546: 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
180-597: A considerable manufacturing sector well into the 20th century and one of the products of this can still be seen at the Museum of Power in Langford, Essex . This has, still in working order, what is believed to be the last steam engine built and installed by the Lilleshall Company Ltd . It was commissioned on 13 January 1931. The present Church of England parish church of Holy Trinity was built in 1854, when
240-534: 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
300-432: A period Trench Lane. This byway connected the towns of Newport and Wellington and was a well known route by 1288. Trench road was the southern boundary of the village of Horton and the northern boundary of Wrockwardine Wood . Hence Trench was split into the two townships. Trench Farm was located along this road and by 17th Century the road developed with various shops and public houses appearing. Following World War I
360-479: 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
420-590: A separate ecclesiastical parish had been created from parts of the older parishes of Wombridge and Shifnal . Oakengates has Telford Theatre , which was originally opened in 1968 as Oakengates' Town Hall by champion jockey Sir Gordon Richards , after whose Derby-winning horse is named one of its rooms, the Pinza Suite. Nearby are the town council's headquarters and the United Reformed/Methodist church. Oakengates' main public open space
480-595: 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 ,
540-567: 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
600-663: 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
660-621: Is Hartshill Park, originally created as the Oakengates Sports and Recreation Ground. by levelling a coal mine spoil heap. Opened in 1927, it remains a valuable facility including bowling green and tennis courts. In 1928 the present park gates were unveiled as a war memorial to local men who died serving in World War I whose names are listed on the gate piers, the World War II casualties being listed on outlying pillars. Before
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#1732775585130720-585: Is a town in Shropshire , England. It 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
780-664: 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
840-507: Is near Staffordshire : Stafford is 21 miles (34 km) to 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
900-674: 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
960-519: 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
1020-852: 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
1080-512: 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
1140-612: 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
1200-665: 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 ,
1260-411: The West Midlands conurbation , Wolverhampton 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
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#17327755851301320-485: The Wombridge Canal , 75 feet (23 m) higher in elevation and part of the east Shropshire canal network. The Trench Inclined Plane ceased operations in 1921 having been built in 1793. It was the last working canal inclined plane . The area is believed to get its name from a clearing in woodland (Horton Wood). Trench Road is an ancient byway and was previously known as Trench Way (before 18th Century) and for
1380-409: The 100 (nicknamed 'Express 100') runs seven days a week and on evenings. Trench, Shropshire Trench is a suburb of Telford in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire , England . It is to the north of the town and north of town of Oakengates . It was once the site of an inclined plane connecting the now-abandoned Shrewsbury Canal and a smaller canal,
1440-461: 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
1500-636: 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
1560-561: 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,
1620-863: The Old Norse gata, path; see gh- in Indo-European roots. meaning boundary or Road. So Usc-con gait is at the Road at the vale of Usc-con. The Vales and Gates of Usc-Con: 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. 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
1680-503: The Roman Watling Street was built. Farmland surrounded three large estates in 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
1740-529: 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
1800-655: The area and profited from coal and ironstone mines and iron smithies on their estates. The area 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
1860-457: The area of Trench started to develop. Woodhouse Crescent had been built by the early 1920s, the area from Trench Road going south (between present Wombridge Road and Church Road) was an army camp and then during the 1960s and 70s the area from Trench Road to Teagues Bridge Lane had turned into a housing estate. This Shropshire location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This United Kingdom canal-related article
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1920-760: 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,
1980-464: 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
2040-435: 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
2100-606: 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
2160-462: The county. It was originally designated under 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
2220-418: 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
2280-461: 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,
2340-416: 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
2400-533: The field of ferrous metallurgy this was a major step forward in the production of iron as a raw material for the Industrial Revolution. In 1701 he placed his brother in charge of the blast furnace, at Wombridge to which Isaac Hawkins supplied a large quantity of coal and ironstone, which suggests that they already smelted iron with coke there - a major technological breakthrough which is now solely commemorated at nearby Coalbrookdale . The town had
2460-781: The formation of the District of The Wrekin (Telford) and later the Borough of Telford and The Wrekin, the Urban District of Oakengates comprised Oakengates, Wrockwardine Wood , St. George's , Priorslee , Snedshill , The Nabb , Wombridge and Trench , and always had a Labour council. Oakengates Athletic F.C. , which in 2018 merged into Wellington Amateurs , played in the Shropshire County Premier Football League . Telford Telford ( / ˈ t ɛ l f ər d / )
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2520-546: 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
2580-522: 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
2640-418: 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
2700-412: 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
2760-610: 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
2820-625: The south of the town is the Ironbridge Gorge , 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
2880-479: 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
2940-524: 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
3000-582: 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
3060-601: 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
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#17327755851303120-484: 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
3180-499: 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
3240-515: 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
3300-555: Was also served by the Coalport Branch Line and had a second station called Oakengates Market Street railway station which closed in 1952. It is now Station Hill with only the goods shed still standing. Shadrach Fox ran the Wombridge Iron Works in Oakengates and with Abraham Darby was involved in experiments on methods of producing pig iron in a blast furnace fuelled by coke rather than charcoal. In
3360-492: 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. The Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton railway line runs through the town and there is a station and a tunnel (Oakengates Tunnel). Oakengates
3420-424: 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
3480-409: 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
3540-595: 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
3600-519: 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
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