Harlescott

From Freepedia

Harlescott is a suburb of the town of Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire. It is one of the most industrial parts of the town. Shrewsbury's livestock market is at Harlescott (although this is being moved soon to a new site out of town at Battlefield) and there is also a Park and Ride car park, next to the current livestock market. Every Sunday, when there are no Park and Ride buses, an open air market is held at this site.

The population of the ward, according to the 2001 census, is 5'203.

There was once a military supply depot here, "RAF Harlescott", but this has closed and the nearest RAF base is now a few miles away at Shawbury. Harlescott was also once a fairly notable railway centre, but now all the sidings have gone. Only the Welsh Marches Line itself and Harlescott Crossing and its signal box, remain.

There are two pubs in Harlescott, one called "The Harlescott" and the other Harry Hotspur. The latter is named after Harry Hotspur, who faught at the Battle of Shrewsbury, which took place in the Harlescott area.

Future development

When the livestock market moves to its new site, approx 1 mile north of the present site, the land is expected to be redeveloped straight away into a supermarket (for Tesco). The Park and Ride site, with its Sunday market, will remain in Harlescott though, at its current location.

See also: Sundorne and Ditherington (neighbouring suburbs).