page_title: History of Shrewsbury
section_title: 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: History of Shrewsbury / 21st century
caption_attribution_description: English: Quantum Leap - the sculpture. A view from the opposite direction to 1622961 of the concrete sculpture recently erected in Shrewsbury. Its installation stirred up a certain amount of controversy in the town and in the local press.
context_page_description: The town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England, has a history that extends back at least as far as the year 901, but it could have been first settled earlier. During the early Middle Ages, the town was a centre of the wool trade, and this was a peak in its importance. During the Industrial Revolution, comparatively little development took place in the town, although it did serve as a significant railway town after the development of rail transport in the area. The town today retains much of its historic architecture.
context_section_description: The town had borough status for many centuries and it was run by the Corporation of Shrewsbury. Between 1974 and 2009 the two local authorities were Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council (the district level authority) and Shropshire County Council (the county level). Since 1 April 2009 however the town no longer has borough status and the sole local council is the county-wide unitary authority Shropshire Council. With this reorganisation, the town was parished and now has a town council.
caption: The Quantum Leap was unveiled in the town on 2009, for the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin.
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