Shifnal, Shropshire, England, United Kingdom

Early medieval | Transport | Pubs, restaurants and hotels | Sports

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Shifnal is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of the county town of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of the city of Wolverhampton. It is near the M54 motorway (Junction 4).

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Early medieval The town, also once known as "Idsall" (relating to potential Roman links), most probably began as an Anglian settlement, established by the end of the 7th century.

Sir Frank Stenton considered that "Scuffanhalch", along with "Costesford" (Cosford) and "Stretford", formed part of a list of places which had once been connected with Medeshamstede; and the charter purports to have been issued by King Æthelred of Mercia, during much of whose reign the bishop of Mercia was Sexwulf (or "Saxwulf"), founder and first abbot of Medeshamstede.

The first part of the name "Shifnal" is reckoned to be a personal name, "Scuffa", while the second part, from "halh", means a valley, thus describing the town's topography.

Unusually, the name of the town has alternated through the centuries between Idsall and Shifnal. Idsall is mentioned in a 9th-century charter as "Iddeshale", meaning "Idi's nook" or corner. A nook is said to be an area of land of approximately 20 acres (81,000 m²). It is often conjectured that the two names of Idsall and Shifnal were names of settlements on the east and west sides respectively of Wesley Brook, a brook which runs through the town, and is a tributary of the River Worfe. In the 19th century, J. C. Anderson, in his Shropshire its Early History and Antiquities, wrote that Idsall means "Hall of Ide", and that Shifnal is "Hall of Sceafa".

A Key to English Place-names has an entry for Shifnal that reads 'Scuffa's nook of land'. It was also known as Iddeshale, 'Idi's nook of land'.

The oldest part of the town is said to be the area around St Andrew's Church, Church Street and Innage Road where excavations have turned up evidence of ancient buildings.

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Transport Buses are provided by Arriva Midlands and Banga Buses providing links to Telford, Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth.

The main railway station is on the Shrewsbury-Wolverhampton Line with services to Shrewsbury, Telford, Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street.

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Pubs, restaurants and hotels The Park House Hotel, to the south of the town, is a major landmark in the town, and a venue for weddings and conferences. It was originally two separate late 17th century country houses on the edge of Shifnal. Shifnal Grammar School occupied one of the houses for some years from the 1850s. From the 1880s up to the 1950s it was the home of successive Shifnal doctors.

Naughty Nell's public house, a restored 16th century coaching inn, originally known as the Unicorn, claims to have been the home of Nell Gwyn and her renowned bedchamber. It had been known by her name for some time. The building was sold in auction in 2011 and is now vacant.

The Jerningham Arms opposite, built in 1705 as a coaching inn, closed in the late 1990s/early 2000s and was turned into flats. The Royal George closed in 2015 and was converted into a Co-op supermarket. The Beehive, on Curriers Lane, closed in early 2017: the pub was demolished and replaced with housing in mid-2021. The Bells pub on Church Street re-opened in 2019 after a lengthy closure.

The Anvil pub, on Aston Road, reopened in October 2018 after being bought and refurbished by Dudley-based Black Country Ales: shortly afterwards Seven on Broadway was refurbished and renamed The Crown & Anchor Inn. The Kings Yard, a micro-pub launched by the former landlord of the White Hart, opened in early 2021.

The White Hart, which dates back to the 18th century and is a popular CAMRA award-winning pub, has remained closed since the end of the Covid 19 lockdown. Its future is uncertain.

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Sports There are several sporting facilities in Shifnal, including the Idsall Sports Centre, which is attached to Idsall School; the school, in the past, receiving a number of prominent football celebrities from the nearby FA School of Excellence at Lilleshall.

The town is also home to sporting clubs which play sports including: • Table tennis • Rugby • Football • Tennis • Cricket • Basketball.

Shifnal Town FC currently compete in the Midland League Premier Division, whilst Shifnal United are in the lower Mercian Regional Football League (Premier Division).

Shifnal formerly had a squash club and swimming pool for 35 years, but these have closed, replaced with a housing development.

Shifnal Golf Club goes back to as early as 1913. Initially its course was nine holes on Lodge Hill, to the south of the town, where seven winds are said to meet. The clubhouse was then a room in a private house, Sunnyside. By the outbreak of the Second World War the course had grown to 18 holes: but in 1941 the government ordered that almost all the new holes should be ploughed over for food production. In 1963 the club moved to north Shifnal, to the Georgian country house of Decker Hill and 113 surrounding acres, bought for £25,500. The new 18 hole course was completed in late 1966.

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Europe/London/Shropshire 
<b>Europe/London/Shropshire</b>
Image: Adobe Stock Kev303 #266181785

Shifnal has a population of over 6,776 people. Shifnal also forms part of the wider Shropshire County which has a population of over 498,073 people. Shifnal is situated 6 km east of Telford.

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Shifnal has links with:

🇫🇷 Machecoul, France
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

  • Ernest George |

    🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Architect/Painter Ernest George is associated with Shifnal. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (R.E.) in 1881

Antipodal to Shifnal is: 177.627,-52.665

Locations Near: Shifnal -2.373,52.665

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Telford -2.449,52.675 d: 5.2  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wolverhampton -2.133,52.583 d: 18.6  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Stafford -2.117,52.807 d: 23.4  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kidderminster -2.271,52.389 d: 31.4  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Stourbridge -2.148,52.458 d: 27.6  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dudley -2.089,52.508 d: 25.9  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Cannock -2.006,52.706 d: 25.1  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rowley Regis -2.047,52.488 d: 29.6  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle-under-Lyme -2.228,53.011 d: 39.7  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Shrewsbury -2.751,52.707 d: 25.9  

Antipodal to: Shifnal 177.627,-52.665

🇳🇿 Dunedin 170.474,-45.884 d: 19100.7  

🇳🇿 Christchurch 172.617,-43.517 d: 18932.6  

🇳🇿 Canterbury 171.58,-43.543 d: 18906.8  

🇳🇿 Invercargill 168.373,-46.413 d: 19052.6  

🇳🇿 Wellington 174.767,-41.283 d: 18731.3  

🇳🇿 Hutt 174.917,-41.217 d: 18725.8  

🇳🇿 Lower Hutt 174.917,-41.217 d: 18725.8  

🇳🇿 Queenstown 168.658,-45.033 d: 18944  

🇳🇿 Upper Hutt 175.05,-41.133 d: 18718.2  

🇳🇿 Porirua 174.84,-41.131 d: 18715.5  

Bing Map

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