Whitchurch, Shropshire

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Infobox England place with map Whitchurch is a small town in the north of the county of Shropshire, England. It was originally founded by the Romans and was during Roman times called Mediolanum. It is a crossroads for roads from Nantwich, Chester and Shrewsbury, among others, and has a railway station on the line from Crewe down the English side of the Welsh border towards Cardiff (the Welsh Marches Line). It is twinned with Neufchatel-en-Bray.

It is the home of the famous JB Joyce tower clocks company, whose clocks can be found around the world in places such as Singapore and Kabul.

The current name comes from the phrase White church, referring to an old church from Norman times made from white stone. The current church of St. Alkmunds stands on the site of the Norman church. It also been known during its history as Album Monasterium and Blancminster.

In recent years there has been a substantial increase in local housing. The three-mile A41/A49 £13.7m bypass opened in July 1992.

Whitchurch has only one set of traffic lights but a good selection of shops including Tesco, WH Smith, Iceland and Somerfield.

Its Cottage Hospital is threatened with closure in 2006.

Template:Shropshire-geo-stub