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Shrewsbury: An Archaeological Assessment of an English Border Town

by Nigel Baker

Shrewsbury is one of England's most celebrated historic towns. It is renowned for its black and white timber-framed buildings, for the Old Market Hall, the Abbot's House on Butcher Row, and for its picturesque, winding, ancient streets. Its Georgian architecture - whether neoclassical brick or the world's first iron-framed mill - faithfully reflects the vibrancy of the town known to Charles Darwin's grandfather. But the paradox of Shrewsbury is that this extraordinarily rich townscape has until recently seen less archaeological investigation than others, more damaged and compromised, elsewhere. Many fundamental questions about its past have remained unanswered. This book is the first to pose the question - how far has the archaeological investigation of the town progressed? What is now known? What is most significant? And, above all, what are the mysteries that remain and what direction should archaeological research take in the future? This book is the outcome of a major English Heritage project, and uses the results of archaeological and historical research from the late 18th century to the present day to trace what is known of the story of Shrewsbury from its post-Roman origins up to the 1920s. 288p, b/w illus, col plates (Oxbow Books 2010)

Review Quotes

"Modestly described in the sub-title as 'an archaeological assessment', but in many ways it is much more than that... If this splendid book, well illustrated and presented, promotes support for a VCH volume that would be an excellent additional service to urban history."

Northern History, vol 48, No. 1 (March 2011)

"This is surely one of the best written and thoughtful archaeological histories of a British town ever, testament to 30 years' digging, cellar exploration and roof crawling by Nigel Baker."

Paul Stamper
British Archaeology (Jan/Feb 2011)

"Fellow Nigel Baker’s book on Shrewsbury (ISBN 9781842173152; Oxbow) is the antidote to the great house in many ways, revealing not the architectural choices of the individual, but rather the conglomerated results of lots of people living in close proximity and all constrained by numerous factors."

Christopher Catling
SALON - The Society of Antiquaries Online Newsletter, No. 260 (15 August 2011)

Table of Contents

PART I CHARACTERISING THE ARCHAEOLOGY
1. An introduction
2. A history of historical and archaeological investigation
3. The shape of Shrewsbury
4. Below the surface of Shrewsbury: the buried archaeology
5. Structural archaeology: the historic buildings of Shrewsbury


PART II PERIOD STUDIES
6. The origins of Shrewsbury
7. The pre-Conquest town
8. The Anglo-Norman town, 1066–c 1200
9. Shrewsbury in the High Middle Ages, c 1200–c 1400
10. Shrewsbury in the 15th century
11. The early modern town, 1500–1700
12. The late modern town, 1700–1900: a summary account


PART III AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY
13. Themes, resources and questions

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