Editing Shropshire (section)

=== County extent ===
The border with Wales was defined in the 16th century – the [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]] of Oswestry (including [[Oswestry]] town) and Pimhill (including [[Wem]]) and part of [[Chirbury]] had prior to the [[Laws in Wales Act]] formed various Lordships in the [[Welsh Marches]].

[[File:Salopia Atlas.jpg|thumb|250px|Hand-drawn map of Shropshire by Christopher Saxton from 1577]]

The present day ceremonial county boundary is almost the same as the historic one. Notably there has been the removal of several [[exclave]]s and [[enclave]]s. The largest of the exclaves was [[Halesowen]], which became part of [[Worcestershire]] in 1844 (and is now part of the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] county), and the largest of the enclaves was Herefordshire's [[Farlow, Shropshire|Farlow]] in South Shropshire, also transferred in 1844, to Shropshire. Alterations have been made on Shropshire's border with all neighbouring English counties over the centuries. Gains have been made to the south of Ludlow (from Herefordshire), to the north of [[Shifnal]] (from Staffordshire) and to the north (from Cheshire) and south (from Staffordshire) of Market Drayton. The county has lost land in two places – to Staffordshire and Worcestershire.<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/bound_map_page.jsp?first=true&u_id=10210367&c_id=10001043 Vision of Britain] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001030212/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/bound_map_page.jsp?first=true&u_id=10210367&c_id=10001043|date=1 October 2007}} – Ancient county boundaries</ref>

[[File:Welsh Bridge, Shrewsbury.jpg|thumb|[[River Severn]], seen here in [[Shrewsbury]], is the primary watercourse in the county.]]

Geographically, Shropshire is divisible into two distinct halves – north and south. The county has a highly diverse [[Geology of Shropshire|geology]]. The [[West Midlands Green Belt]] extends into eastern Shropshire, covering an area north from [[Highley]], to the east of Bridgnorth, north to the eastern side of Telford, leaving Shropshire eastwards alongside the A5. This encompasses Shifnal, [[Cosford, Shropshire|Cosford]] and [[Albrighton, Bridgnorth|Albrighton]], and various other villages paralleling [[Dudley]] and Wolverhampton.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wmra.gov.uk/documents/WMRA%20Green%20belt%5B1%5D.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=15 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111220941/http://www.wmra.gov.uk/documents/WMRA%20Green%20belt%5B1%5D.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref>