Town (pop., 1995 est.: 63,000), borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham, administrative and historic county of Shropshire, England.
It is the county seat of Shropshire . Located on the English-Welsh border, Shrewsbury is encircled by the River Severn . Founded in the 5th century AD by the Welsh kingdom of Powys , it became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia at the end of the 8th century. An 11th-century grant to Roger de Montgomery, who founded its abbey, made it one of the first English earldoms. Prosperity came to the area in the late Middle Ages after centuries of fighting with the Welsh ended and trading in Welsh wool and flax began. The town was the birthplace of Charles Darwin .