Editing Shropshire (section)

===South Shropshire===
{{For|further information about the [[Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty]]|Shropshire Hills AONB}}

[[File:St Leonard's, Bridgnorth, Shropshire.JPG|thumb|left|St Leonard's Church is a prominent historical landmark in Bridgnorth.]]

South Shropshire is more rural, with fewer settlements and no large towns, and its landscape differs greatly from that of North Shropshire. The area is dominated by significant hill ranges and river valleys, woods, pine forests and "batches", a colloquial term for small valleys. Farming is more pastoral than the arable found in the north of the county. The only substantial towns are [[Bridgnorth]], with a population of around 12,000 people, [[Ludlow]] and [[Church Stretton]]. The [[Shropshire Hills AONB]] is located in the south-west, covering an area of {{convert|312|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|order=flip}}; it forms the only specifically protected area of the county. Inside this area is the popular [[Long Mynd]], a large plateau of {{convert|1693|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} overlooking [[Church Stretton]] and to its west, the {{convert|1759|ft|m|order=flip}} rocky ridge of [[Stiperstones]].

[[File:A frosty Ludlow.jpg|thumb|right|The skyline of [[Ludlow]], one of south Shropshire's market towns, dominated by its sizeable castle and church]]

The [[A49 road|A49]] is the main road through the area, running north to south, from Shrewsbury to [[Herefordshire]]. A railway line runs through the area on the same route as the A49 with stations at Church Stretton, [[Craven Arms]] and Ludlow. The steam heritage [[Severn Valley Railway]] runs from Bridgnorth into Worcestershire along the [[Severn Valley (England)|Severn Valley]], terminating at [[Kidderminster Town railway station|Kidderminster]].

Because of its valley location and character, Church Stretton is sometimes called Little Switzerland,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/town/church-stretton.html|title=Map of Church Stretton - Accommodation, Shops and More|last=Tourism|first=Shropshire|access-date=16 August 2016|archive-date=26 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426003526/https://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/town/church-stretton.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and is depicted in ''[[Little Switzerland (landscape)|Little Switzerland]]''. Nearby are the old mining and quarrying communities on the [[Clee Hills]], notable geological features in the [[River Onny|Onny Valley]] and [[Wenlock Edge]] and fertile farmland in [[Corve Dale]]. The [[River Teme]] drains this part of the county, before flowing into Worcestershire to the south and joining the River Severn.

One of the Clee Hills, the [[Brown Clee Hill]], is the county's highest peak at {{convert|540|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book |last= Bathurst |first= David |year= 2012 |title= Walking the county high points of England |location= Chichester |publisher= Summersdale |isbn= 978-1-84-953239-6 |pages= 182–191}}</ref> It is the [[List of English counties by highest point|13th]] highest [[Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles#County tops|county top]] in England.

South West Shropshire is a markedly rural part of the county, with [[Clun Forest]], [[Offa's Dyke]], the [[River Clun, Shropshire|River Clun]] and the [[River Onny]]. The small towns of [[Clun]] and [[Bishop's Castle]] are in this area. To the south of Clun is the Welsh border town of [[Knighton, Powys|Knighton]].