Shelton, Shropshire

Possible Roman Road

The 1861 six-inch OS map ^[2] shows a footpath just south of the lunatic asylum as "site of Roman road". On later OS maps the marking was dropped from this location.

Domesday book

Shelton appears in the Domesday book as ‘Saltone’, with 4 households.^[3]

The Shelton Oak

The Shelton Oak (see watercolour ^[4]) was a long lived oak tree which, by tradition, Owain Glyndŵr climbed to view the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.^[5][6] An oak tree which died in the 1940s (see photograph ^[7]), and the remnants of which were removed for road widening in the 1950s, was said to be the Shelton Oak.

In the 1880s an acorn from the Shelton Oak was planted in the Dingle in The Quarry, the main park in Shrewsbury. Shropshire Council is to plant an acorn from that tree in the Mytton Oak Remembrance Park.^[8]

A young oak tree located by the side of the modern junction, where the footpath from the end of Merlin Road emerges onto the main road, has a plaque at its base which reads:

Near this site once stood the Shelton Oak from which according to a tradition recorded in the late 18th century Owen Glyndŵr viewed the Battle of Shrewsbury on 31st July 1403. This tree was planted by the Mayor of Shrewsbury Councillor Mrs Jean Marsh on 27th January 1981 and was presented by Major W Manners MBE.

The Oak, Shelton (inn)

An inn called The Oak (see photograph^[9]) formerly stood between the Mount and Shelton Road where the two roads meet. It was constructed in 1939 and demolished 60 years later.^[10]

There is now a monument at the junction where the two roads meet, with a relief featuring the story of the Shelton Oak.

Vicarage

The modern day pub called Oxon Priory, belonging to the 'Hungry Horse' chain, occupies the listed former vicarage for Oxon and Shelton parish.^[11]

Prince of Wales visits Rossall, 1806

On 9 September 1806 George, Prince of Wales stayed at Rossall just north of Shelton. The following morning he was attended by the mayor of Shrewsbury and others who conferred on His Royal Highness the freedom of the borough.^[12]

Toll House

Following the Act of Union in 1801 there was a move to enable Irish MPs to make easier journeys to the House of Commons in London. Thomas Telford was Director of the Holyhead Road Commission between 1815 and 1830 and made many improvements to the Holyhead Road.

A Toll house was built by Telford in 1829 on the Holyhead Road at Shelton. It was situated at the junction with Featherbed Lane. To allow for road widening in the early 1970s, it was dismantled and re-erected at Blists Hill Victorian Town.^[13]

Bypass

In 1933 the (now "old") Shrewsbury bypass was opened with Shelton at its western end. The section from Shelton to Porthill island is called Shelton Road. 1992 saw the opening of today's A5 bypass further out from Shrewsbury.

Shelton Hospital

Shelton Hospital was a hospital specialising in mental health, located in Shelton, Shrewsbury, close to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The hospital opened in 1845 as the Shropshire and Montgomery County Asylum with an official capacity of 60 patients although already, on opening, having 104. The hospital functioned throughout the 20th century, reaching its peak population in 1947, when the hospital had 1,027 patients.^[14]

On 26 February 1968 , tragedy struck the hospital when a fire ripped through a female ward, killing 21 patients.^[15]

With the changing of the Mental Health Acts and treatments, the hospital slowly moved from a long stay hospital, to a more outpatient and care in the community based facility.^[16]

Shelton Hospital closed in 2012 as services moved to the new £46m Shrewsbury Mental Health Village, called the Redwoods Centre, situated a little south of the old Shelton Hospital.^[17]

The former hospital is a grade II listed building ^[18]