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Changing face of Shropshire

2. Salop and Salopians

Who is a Salopian?

Have you ever wondered who or what a Salopian is? Do these pictures help you to discover?

Clive of India, Governor of Bengal
[Shropshire Archives]

Colour photograph of Richie Woodhall, wearing boxing gloves and an England vest.

Richie Woodhall, boxer
[Reproduced with kind permission of Shropshire Newspapers]

Black and white portrait of Wilfred Owen in uniform.

Wilfred Owen, war poet
[Oswestry Library]

One common theme ties these three people together: they all come from Shropshire, which makes them Salopians.

You can discover writers from the West Midlands at the Literary Heritage site (opens in a new browser window).

Salop or Shropshire?

Up until 1980, Shropshire was known as Salop; so it was natural to call some one from Salop, a Salopian. The term Salopian dates back from then.

Where does the word 'Salop' come from?

The Normans originally called the area we know today as Shropshire, 'Scrobbesyrigscir'. This was quite a difficult word to pronounce, so the Normans softened the word to 'Salopesara'. This developed eventually into Salop.

Who is a Salopian today?

Particularly since the end of World War Two, many people have been welcomed into Shropshire. Today, Shropshire is a diverse community made up of people from many different ethnic backgrounds. The table below gives some population details for the whole of the county of Shropshire.

Group	Percentage
White	97.9
Black or Minority Ethnic Group	2.1
(Source: Office for National Statistics, 1991 census)

The Borough of Telford and Wrekin in particular has a diverse population. You can view a table of ethnic groups in Telford and Wrekin (Opens in a new window). Look at the table, and answer the following questions:

List the different ethnic groups that live in the Borough of Telford and Wrekin
How do you think Shropshire's population has changed since World War One? Why?
Discuss what problems you think these ethnic groups face by living in Shropshire.

Meeting other cultures

Towns in England often have a 'twin' town in a different country. For example, Wellington in Shropshire is twinned with Chatenay-Malabry in France. As the picture on the right shows, inviting people from other countries to visit the local area is an important aspect of Shropshire life.

Why do you think it is important that we mix with people from other cultures and nationalities?

A black and white photograph of ten or so dignitaries meeting with the Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand [Opens in new window: image size 12kb]

Councillors from Wellington, England meet with Sir William Appleton, a former Lord Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand
Larger image, in a new window [12kb]

Continue

Now find out how you can research the changing nature of the population in your area of Shropshire: Next

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Page created October 2003 and last updated 30 July 2007

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