Shrewsbury is a large market town and the county town of Shropshire, England. The town is on the River Severn and the 2011 census recorded a population of 71,715; the town centre has a largely-unspoilt medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone fortification, Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery; the town is where he spent 27 years of his life. Located 9 miles east of the Welsh border, Shrewsbury serves as the commercial centre for Shropshire and mid-Wales, with a retail output of over £299 million per year and light industry and distribution centres, such as Battlefield Enterprise Park, on the outskirts; the A5 and A49 trunk roads come together as the town's by-pass, five railway lines meet at Shrewsbury railway station. The town is located 150 miles north-west of London; the town was the early capital of the Kingdom of Powys, known to the ancient Britons as Pengwern, signifying "the alder hill".

This name evolved in three directions, into Sciropscire, which became Shropshire. Its Welsh name Amwythig means "fortified place". Over the ages, the geographically important town has been the site of many conflicts between the English and Welsh; the Angles, under King Offa of Mercia, took possession in 778. Nearby is the village of 5 miles to the south-east; this was once the site of the fourth largest cantonal capital in Roman Britain. As Caer Guricon it is a possible alternative for the Dark Age seat of the Kingdom of Powys; the importance of the Shrewsbury area in the Roman era was underlined with the discovery of the Shrewsbury Hoard in 2009. Shrewsbury's known history commences in the Early Middle Ages, having been founded c. 800 AD. It is believed that Anglo-Saxon Shrewsbury was most a settlement fortified through the use of earthworks comprising a ditch and rampart, which were shored up with a wooden stockade. There is evidence to show; the Welsh were repelled by William the Conqueror. Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William, built Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, taking the title of Earl.

He founded Shrewsbury Abbey as a Benedictine monastery in 1083. The 3rd Earl, Robert of Bellême, was deposed in 1102 and the title forfeited, in consequence of rebelling against Henry I and joining the Duke of Normandy's invasion of England in 1101. In 1138, King Stephen besieged the castle held by William FitzAlan for the Empress Maud during the period known as the Anarchy, it was in the late Middle Ages. This success was due to wool production, a major industry at the time, the wool trade with the rest of Britain and Europe, with the River Severn and Watling Street acting as trading routes; the Shrewsbury Drapers Company dominated the trade in Welsh wool for many years. Despite its commercial success, Shrewbury was not immune from the effects of the Black Death. Records suggest the plague arrived in the spring of 1349, was devastating. Examining the number of local church benefices falling vacant due to death, 1349 alone saw twice the vacancies as the previous ten years combined, suggesting a high death toll in Shrewsbury.

In 1403 the Battle of Shrewsbury was fought a few miles north at Battlefield. Shrewsbury's monastic gathering was disbanded with the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as such the Abbey was closed in 1540. However, it is believed that Henry VIII thereafter intended to make Shrewsbury a cathedral city after the formation of the Church of England, but the citizens of the town declined the offer. Despite this, Shrewsbury thrived throughout the 17th centuries; as a result, a number of grand edifices, including the Ireland's Mansion and Draper's Hall, were constructed. It was in this period that Edward VI gave permission for the foundation of a free school, to become Shrewsbury School. During the English Civil War, the town was a Royalist stronghold and only fell to Parliament forces after they were let in by a parliamentarian sympathiser at the St Mary's Water Gate. After Thomas Mytton captured Shrewsbury in February 1645; this prompted Prince Rupert to respond by executing Parliamentarian prisoners in Oswestry.

Shrewsbury Unitarian Church was founded in 1662. By the 18th century Shrewsbury had become an important market town and stop off for stagecoaches travelling between London and Holyhead on their way to Ireland. Local soldier and statesman Robert Clive was Shrewsbury's MP from 1762 until his death in 1774. Clive served once

State Route 257 is a primary state highway in the U. S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 18.04 miles from SR 902 and SR 924 near Briery Branch east to Interstate 81 near Mount Crawford. SR 257 connects I-81 and U. S. Route 11 with Bridgewater and Dayton, between which the highway runs concurrently with SR 42; the state highway provides access to Bridgewater College and connects Dayton with the western Rockingham County communities of Briery Branch and Montezuma. SR 257 begins at the intersection of SR 902 and SR 924 within George Washington National Forest west of Briery Branch; the state highway heads northeast as Briery Branch Road, which crosses Hone Quarry Run and follows Briery Branch east through its gap in Narrow Back Mountain. SR 257 veers away from the creek, exits the national forest, enters the Shenandoah Valley; the state highway heads southeast to the community of Briery Branch, where the highway has a pair of right-angle turns at disjoint sections of SR 731, which heads south as Community Center Road and north as Daniel Cupp Road.

SR 257 continues east to Ottobine, where the highway turns southeast at its four-way intersection with SR 613 and SR 742. The state highway continues as Ottobine Road. SR 257 crosses the Dry River. SR 257 passes through Stemphleytown before entering the town of Dayton, where the highway becomes Mason Street; the state highway intersects Main Street, which heads north as SR 42 Business, has a short concurrency with the business route east to SR 42. SR 257 runs concurrently with SR 42 along the four-lane divided highway south out of Dayton. At the northern town limit of Bridgewater, the road becomes a three-lane road with center turn lane and its name changes to Main Street. In downtown Bridgewater, SR 257 turns east onto two-lane Dinkel Avenue, which passes through the campus of Bridgewater College. SR 257 intersects US 11 just north of the town of Mount Crawford; the state highway continues east as four-lane divided Friedens Church Road to its eastern terminus at a diamond interchange with I-81.

Friedens Church Road continues east as SR 682. The entire route is in Rockingham County. Virginia Highways Project: VA 257

Blair Drummond is a small rural community 5 miles north-west of the city of Stirling in the Stirling district of Scotland, predominantly located along the A84 road. Lying to the north of the River Forth, the community is within the registration county of Perthshire. A former resident of Blairdrummond House was enlightenment thinker Lord Kames whose wife inherited the house in 1766. Lord Kames began the transformation of the carse area of Blair Drummond. Blair Drummond House was rebuilt in 1868-72 by James Campbell Walker and again by James Bow Dunn after a fire in 1921-23 and is now a home for adults with learning disabilities run by the Camphill Movement. Four gold Iron Age torcs, known as the Stirling torcs, were found in Blair Drummond in 2009 and are now in the Museum of Scotland. Blair Drummond has a local authority primary school - Kincardine in Mentieth Primary School, a Church of Scotland church, a community hall, rebuilt in 2005. Blair Drummond is the location of the Blair Drummond Safari Park, a caravan park housed in the old walled garden of Blair Drummond House.

Many of the residents of Blair Drummond are farmers, although others commute to Stirling and Glasgow. Blair Drummond is in the Stirling council area. Other communities bordering Blair Drummond are Gargunnock, Deanston and Dunblane. A community council covers both Thornhill and Blair Drummond, the 2001 census for the area covered by the Thornhill and Blairdrummond Community Council put the population for the areas at 1,109. Henry Home, Lord Kames - 18th century Scottish philosopher and writer Henry Home-Drummond George Stirling Home Drummond William Downie Stewart Sr - 19th century New Zealand politician Vision of Britain - Blair Drummond Historic Environment Scotland. "Blair Drummond"