Although the origins of the town's name are a little obscure, the earliest reference we have is in latin when a charter granting lands to Wenlock Priory was signed 'in civitas Scrobbensis'. (In Old English the letters Scr - were pronounced as Shr.) ie in the defended community of Shrewsbury.

 

Although there was no one spelling which was used exclusively in the middle ages, we do know that the Normans had no letter combination Scr/Shr in their language and couldn't get their tongues around it. As a result the Old English Scrobbesbyrig became Saropesberie and then Salopesberie (they couldn't roll their R's either!)

 

This is the root of the name we know today. Note that the second syllable is an 'o' sound. In time the Old English reasserted itself in middle English pronunciation and Shropesberie / Shrobesberie was the usual basis of the name in the medieval period.

 

It was only as bureaucracy increased in the 17th century that a single variation of the name was adopted for legal purposes which is essentially the Shrewsbury we know today (note that in middle English Shrew was pronounced Shrow) although no doubt the majority of people wrote it phonetically as they always had done.

 

Through the middle ages the name was usually written in legal documents, such as the Royal charters, in latin, as Salopia, and this is technically still the case.

 

The Borough (and County) coats of arms bear the words 'Floreat Salopia' meaning specifically 'may Shrewsbury flourish'

 

 

Although the post office tried in vain to have us call Shropshire 'Salop' the reason they were able to was because Shropshire is 'the county of Salop' ie the 'County belonging to Shrewsbury'.

 

Many local people, amongst the many variations on the pronunciation of the town's name, still refer to their home town as Salop. A browse through the business pages of the local paper will reveal many firms using the name 'Salop' or one of its variations. 

There is no definitive answer to this one.

Over recent years there has been much debate locally about the pronounciation of Shrewsbury, even lifelong residents don't agree. 

Some people prefer the historical Shrowsbury (sounds like 'throw'), while others prefer Shrewsbury (sounds like 'threw').

The council does not offer an 'official' pronounciation.

 

An opinion poll conducted in 2003 by our local evening newspaper, the Shropshire Star, found that 70% of respondants preferred 'Shrewsbury' over 'Shrowsbury', click the link below to see the results of the poll.

We are aware of a number of other places around the world also called Shrewsbury, click on the link below to find out more.