River Severn - The Shropshire Severn
Great Britain 1:50 000 Scale Colour Raster Mapping Extracts © Crown copyright Ordnance Survey. All Rights Reserved. Educational licence 100045616.
Contents
The Shropshire Severn
Leaving the Welsh Border and the confluence with the River Vyrnwy the river meanders across the flood plain north-west of Shrewsbury.
Welsh Border to Montford Bridge
Montford Bridge to Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury to Atcham
At Atcham the river is joined from the north by the River Tern which drains the north east of the county. The A5 Watling Street bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and is one of a number over the River Severn. Telford was employed as the County Surveyor for Shropshire.
Atcham to the Ironbridge Gorge
The Ironbridge Gorge was a birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The gorge is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums.
Ironbridge and the Lower Gorge
The famous cast iron bridge, the work of local ironmaster Abraham Darby III, was opened on New Year's Day 1781. It has a span of 100ft and a clearance of 60ft above the water.
Ironbridge to Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth marks the northern limit of the Abberley and Malvern Hills European Geopark. The underlying rocks at Bridgnorth are a Permian Sandstone formed 299 million years ago in desert conditions 20 degrees north of the equator on the Pangea continent.
Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade
There are no public road bridges between here and Bewdley. Severn Trent have recently built a private bridge to access their waterworks. The only crossing for walkers is the passenger ferry at Hampton Loade.
Hampton Loade to the Worcestershire Border
The recently opened footbridge at Highley/Alveley is the only public crossing for miles. It is next to the demolished Miner's Bridge. Highley(1878-1940) and Alveley(1936-1969) collieries exploited the Brooch Seam with shafts 279m and 344m deep. The coal supplied the power stations at Ironbridge and Stourport-on-Severn being transported by rail on what is now the Severn Valley Railway.
For the last mile or so the the centre of the river marks the county boundary with Shropshire on the West bank and Worcestershire on the East bank.
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