Shropshire, or Salop, a "West Midland county of England, on the Welsh border, bounded by the counties of Cheshire, Stafford, Worcester, Hereford, Radnor, Montgomery, and Denbigh. It measures 50 miles by 41, and has an area of 844,565 acres or 1319 sq. m. The Severn, entering from Montgomeryshire, winds 55 miles across the interior, dividing Shropshire into two pretty equal portions, and being joined here by the Tern, whilst a lower tributary, the Teme, traces much of the southern boundary. Ellesmere (116 acres) is the largest of several lakes. The northern and eastern portion, to the left of the Severn, is level with the exception of the isolated Wrekin (1320 feet). The south-western portion is rugged and mountainous, and in the Clee Hills attains 1805 feet. Coalbrookdale is the chief of five coalfields, and the mineral wealth also includes iron, lead, limestone, and freestone. The soil is variable, but generally fertile and well cultivated, so that only about one-seventh of the whole area is waste, whilst woods and plantations cover 71 sq. m. and orchards 4000 acres. Much attention is paid to live-stock. The county is divided into 14 hundreds and 253 civil parishes. It contains the parliamentary borough of Shrewsbury, the county town, and the municipal boroughs of Bishop's Castle, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Oswestry, and Wenlock. It returns four members for the Oswestry, Newport, Wellington, and Ludlow divisions. Clive was a native; and historic scenes or antiquities, other than those noticed in the articles on the different towns, are Acton-Burnell, Boscobel, Wroxeter, Watling Street, and Offa's Dyke. Pop. (1801) 169,248; (1841) 225,820; (1871) 248,111; (1901) 239,321. See works by C. Hulbert (2 vols. 1837), E. Lloyd (1844), R. W. Eyton (12 vols. 1853-60), J. C. Anderson (1864), Mrs F. C. Acton (1868), M. E. C. Walcott (1879), Miss G. Jackson (Dialect, 1879-81), and Miss C. Burne (Folklore, 1883-85).