Bridgnorth is named after a bridge over the River Severn, which was built further north than an earlier bridge at Quatford.[4] The earliest historical reference to the town is in 895, when it is recorded that the Danes created a camp at Cwatbridge;[5] subsequently in 912, Æthelfleda constructed a mound on the west bank of the River Severn, or possibly on the site of Bridgnorth Castle, as part of an offensive against the Danes.[4][6] Earliest names for Bridgnorth include Brigge, Brug and Bruges, all referring to its position on the Severn.[7]
Bridgnorth's town walls were initially constructed in timber between 1216 and 1223; murage grants allowed them to be upgraded to stone between the 13th and 15th centuries.[10] By the 16th century, the antiquarianJohn Leland reported them in ruins and of the five gates, only one survives today.[citation needed]
Inscription on Bridgnorth Museum, commemorating the deliberate destruction of the town by royalist forces, commanded by Sir Thomas Wolryche of Dudmaston Hall
It is probable that Henry I granted the burgesses certain privileges, for Henry II confirmed to them all the franchises and customs which they had had in the time of Henry I.[11] King John in 1215 granted them freedom from toll throughout England except the city of London, and in 1227 Henry III conferred several new rights and liberties, among which were a gild merchant with a hanse. These early charters were confirmed by several succeeding kings, Henry VI granting in addition Assize of Bread and Ale and other privileges. The burgesses were additionally granted two fairs: a yearly fair on the feast of the Translation of St Leonard and the three following days was granted in 1359, and in 1630 Charles I granted them licence to hold another fair on the Thursday before the first week in Lent and two following days. The burgesses returned two members to parliament in 1295,[12] and continued to do so until 1867, when they were assigned only one member. The town was disfranchised in 1885.[6]
During the Civil War, Bridgnorth was one of the Midlands' main royalist strongholds, and in 1642 many royalist troops were garrisoned there. In 1646, Cromwell's Roundheads arrived with orders to take Bridgnorth for the Parliamentarians from the garrison led by Sir Robert Howard.[13] After a three-week siege, Cromwell was successful and he ordered that the castle be demolished.
The population of the municipal borough in 1841 was 6,198, and that of the town was 5,770.[16]
More than 255 men from the Bridgnorth area volunteered in the first months of the First World War. Their names were published in the Bridgnorth Journal on 26 December 1914 and those killed in action are remembered on the war memorial, sculpted by Adrian Jones, in the castle grounds.[17]
Until 1961 the Royal Air Force's initial recruit training unit was at RAF Bridgnorth, a station opened in 1939. During the Second World War, two women were killed in a German air raid in August 1940 when bombs hit neighbouring houses in High Town. In 2005, unverified German papers dating from 1941 were found, outlining new details about Operation Sea Lion, the military plans of Nazi Germany for an invasion of Britain. Two quiet Shropshire towns were mentioned in the documentation: Ludlow and Bridgnorth. Some experts believe that it was Hitler's intention to make Bridgnorth his personal headquarters in Britain, due to its central position in the UK, rural location, rail connections and airfield.[18][19]
In 1978, Bridgnorth was twinned with the French town of Thiers, and in 1992 it also twinned with the Bavarian town of Schrobenhausen, Germany[20] that had already twinned with Thiers a few years earlier. On 21 August 2003 Bridgnorth was granted Fairtrade Town status.[21]
Geography
The town is located in the Severn Valley, where the river passes through a relatively narrow valley with largely-wooded slopes. High Town, the part of the town sited on the west side of the Severn, is built on a notable promontory, at the southern end of which the castle was constructed, and is known as Castle Hill. Low Town is situated on lower-lying ground on the banks of the river. High Town is at an elevation of 65–68 metres (213–223 feet) above sea level, whilst Low Town is at 32–33 metres (105 feet).[22] The lie of the land of Low Town is less hilly but then rises steeply to its immediate east.
The West Midlands Green Belt covers the countryside to the east of the Severn and the settlement.
View from Low Town towards High Town and St Mary Magdalene's
Bishop Percy's House on the Cartway was built in 1580 by Richard Forster and has been a Grade 1 listed building since 18 July 1949. It was one of the few properties of its type to survive the great fire of Bridgnorth in April 1646, and was the birthplace of Thomas Percy (Bishop of Dromore), author of 'Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'.[6][28][29]
The remains of an old hermitage can be seen from the high town, they are commonly called The Queens Parlor by locals. One local legend tells of its occupation in AD 925 by a hermit called Ethelred or Ethelwald, a grandson to Alfred the Great. This may not be such an unlikely story as Bridgnorth was founded in 912 by Alfred the Greats Daughter Ethelfleda.
There are a number of primary schools in Bridgnorth, including: Castlefields County Primary School, two Church of England schools, St Mary's and St Leonard's; the Roman Catholic St John's school; and, in addition, the Morville and Brown Clee schools.[32]
There is a sixth form in Bridgnorth, Bridgnorth Sixth Form, which is run within Oldbury Wells School. A consultation was published which outlines consideration of no new student intake in September 2024 and potential closure in September 2025.[33] In September 2023, Telford College made a deal with both Bridgnorth secondary schools.[34]
There is a theatre, the Theatre on the Steps, and a 1930s cinema, the Majestic. The Northgate Museum contains many artefacts connected with the town and surrounding area. It was the first independent museum in Shropshire to be accredited by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.[35]
Sport and clubs
The Old Market Hall building at the top of Bridgnorth's High Street
Bridgnorth Town F.C. was the football club based in Bridgnorth. They joined the Worcestershire Combination in 1938 and twice reached the 5th round of the FA Vase. They won the championship of the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division in 2008. Affiliated to the club was the junior section known as "Bridgnorth Town Juniors". The teams ranged from under 8s to under 16s and competed in the Telford Junior League. After folding, the club was effectively replaced by "phoenix club" A.F.C. Bridgnorth.
Bridgnorth Spartans Juniors Football Club run junior and adult teams. These teams include boys' teams, ranging from Under-8s to Under-15s, girls' teams and women's teams. Home games are played at Oldbury Wells School.[citation needed]
Bridgnorth Rowing Club occupies 'The Maltings' building on the edge of Severn Park, which was purchased by the club in 1983. Work to convert the malting building into the boat house started in 1993. It competes in events in the local region and further afield, including attending the annual Head of the River Race on the Thames in London, and hosts an annual regatta with racing along the length of the Severn Park.[citation needed]
Bridgnorth Golf Club is home to an 18-hole course
Bridgnorth Army Cadets is the oldest Army Cadet detachment in Shropshire.[citation needed] The Army Cadet Force (ACF) in 2010 celebrated 150 years.
In 2007, Bridgnorth hosted the UK Downhill Street Race in cycling.
In January 2010, the Kidderminster branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts expanded to Bridgnorth, providing the town with a part-time performing arts school for people of ages between 6 and 18. The Kidderminster School is now named "Stagecoach Kidderminster & Bridgnorth".[citation needed]
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Wrekin[36] and the local relay TV transmitters. [37]
The town is served by the local newspaper, Shropshire Star (formerly Bridgnorth Journal). [39]
Transport
The Arriva Midlands 436 bus service to Shrewsbury enters Bridgnorth through Northgate
Roads
Bridgnorth grew initially as a market town at the centre of a system of local radial roads linking it with more rural, smaller settlements. Many of these roads crossed Bridgnorth at the point on the High Street where the town hall now stands. The River Severn historically also played a major role as a trading connection for the town, but is no longer generally navigable this far upstream.[citation needed]
The A458 passes to the south of the town centre on a by-pass, construction of which was started in 1982 and now serves to relieve the town centre of the congestion that once plagued it. The bypass also provided a second bridge across the Severn at Bridgnorth, which remains the only local alternative to the historic bridge that connects Low and High towns.
Currently the closest towns with active railway stations on the National Rail network are Telford and Wolverhampton. However, Bridgnorth does still have a station on an active heritage line, the Severn Valley Railway. Bridgnorth station was not the northern terminus of this line when built, but the main intermediate station, being 181⁄4 miles from Hartlebury and 221⁄2 miles from Shrewsbury. The station, which was opened to the public by the SVR on 1 February 1862, was passed to Great Western Railway (GWR) and then eventually to British Railways in 1948. It closed to passengers after 101 years of service on 8 September 1963 and to freight traffic on 30 November 1963. Although thought by some to have been closed as part of the Beeching cuts, its planned closure pre-dated his report.
The neo-Jacobean station is the only listed railway station on the Severn Valley Railway. Necessitating that, any future plans to enhance visitor facilities will need to be carefully designed to be in keeping with the railway station's architecture and historic character.
The line now ends just north of the modern-day station, where the line formerly bridged Hollybush Road and passed through Bridgnorth Tunnel and on to the next station on the line, Linley. There exists an ongoing debate whether the railway should extend beyond its current limits north of Bridgnorth.[40]
The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, also known as the Bridgnorth Funicular Railway or Castle Hill Railway, is a funicular railway which has operated in Bridgnorth for over 100 years. The line links the lower part of High Town to the upper part. The bottom entrance is adjacent to the River Severn while the top is adjacent to the ruins of Bridgnorth Castle.
It is one of the steepest railways in the country and at least one source (the information panel outside the top station) claims it is both the steepest and shortest. It is the only functional inland funicular railway in England - there are about 15 more at English seaside towns.[41] Originally, the railway was powered by a simple system using water and gravity, but was converted in 1943–44 to run on electricity. Then, in 1955, new cars were installed on the railway; these were able to carry 18 passengers each and are still in use today. As of 2021, a return ticket is offered at £2.00. Single tickets are not offered for purchase.
The railway allows people to easily get between the two parts of High Town as the only other way down is down 200 steps or by using roads which drastically increase the journey. The terminals at the upper and lower part of the railway are currently used as tea-rooms and guest houses.
The railway was temporarily closed in December 2022 due to damage to a retaining wall. Further damage was discovered during repairs and as of August 2023 the railway remains closed.
Walking and cycling
One of the long flights of steps that lead up to High Town
Bridgnorth is on National Route 45 of the Sustrans National Cycle Network, which is named the Mercian Way.
The long-distance trail called the Geopark Way begins in the town.
Every year since 1967, a sponsored walk has been held in Bridgnorth.[42] Since 2017 this has been organised by the Bridgnorth Lions Club.[42]
Economy
On the eastern side of the town is a large aluminium works, founded in the 1950s.[43]
Governance
The town council has sixteen members, with four elected from each of the four wards that cover the civil parish (named Castle, Morfe, East, and West).[44] Castle ward includes Oldbury, while Morfe ward includes Danesford and Quatford.[23]
Local government and services are otherwise provided by Shropshire Council and the town elects four of its members — one electoral division comprises East and Morfe wards together with Astley Abbotts, and the other comprises West and Castle wards together with Tasley.[45] From 1974 until 2009, there was also Bridgnorth District Council, a tier of local government between the county and town councils.
Notable Townsfolk
Active up to 1900
Francis Moore
Richard Baxter (1615–1691) English puritan divine,[46] called by Dean Stanley “the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen”
^Parliamentary Writs Alphabetical Digest, vol. II, London: National Archives, 1834
^Hillaby, Joe; Hillaby, Caroline (2013). The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 59–60, 103–110. ISBN9780230278165.
^The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol III, (1847), London, Charles Knight, p.804
^Francis, Peter (2013). Shropshire War Memorials, Sites of Remembrance. YouCaxton. pp. 108–109. ISBN978-1-909644-11-3.
^"Hitler's secret Shropshire plans". BBC. 19 April 2005. Retrieved 2 January 2010.. The airfield was mentioned in 2005 by an auctioneer's consultant, unaware that nearby RAF Bridgnorth, created in 1939 as a recruit training depot, never had an airfield; but German war planners might have assumed all major RAF depots had airfields.
^Percival, Tony (1999). Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998. A.C.S. Publications, Nottingham. p. 10. ISBN1-902171-17-9.Published under Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
^Mate, C.H., ed. (1907). Shropshire, Historical Descriptive, Biographical: Part II - Biographical. p. 197.
