Red Book Publications
Volume I
This introductory volume was edited by William Page and published in 1908. It contains the following entries relating to the county:
- Natural History
- Early Man
- Romano-British Shropshire
- Introduction to the Shropshire Domesday
- Translation of the Shropshire Domesday
- Ancient Earthworks
- Industries
- Forestry
The full text is available via the Internet Archive.
Volume II
This volume was edited by A. T. Gaydon and published in 1973. It contains a history of the medieval Religious Houses in the county, which are available to view at British History Online.
It also contains the following entries:
- Ecclesiastical Organisation
- Public Schools and Endowed Grammar Schools
- Sport
- Population Table
Parts of the text are available at British History Online.
Volume III - County Government
This volume, edited by G.C. Baugh, was published in 1979. It focuses on the governance of Shropshire over time, and features the following entries:
- County Government in the Early Middle Ages
- The Franchises
- County Government 1327-1603
- County Government 1603-1714
- County Government 1714-1834
- County Government 1834-89
- The New Local Authorities
- The County Council 1889-1974
- Law and Order after 1889
- Parliamentary Representation
- Officers, Seals and Arms
This volume is currently unavailable online.
Volume IV - Agriculture
This volume was published in 1989 and edited by G. C. Baugh. It covers the history of agriculture across the county up to 1985.
The full text is available via British History Online.
Volume VI (part 1) - Shrewsbury: General History and Topography
Published in 2014, this volume was edited by W.A. Champion and A.T. Thacker, with contributions from Richard Holt, Nigel Baker, Robert and Dorothy Cromarty and Barrie Trinder.
This volume examines the county town of Shrewsbury, which boasts a largely unaltered medieval street plan, and over 600 listed buildings, including some of the finest timber-framed buildings in England, Ditheringon flax mill (the first iron-framed building in the world), a Norman castle, Shrewsbury abbey and the remains of the medieval town walls. It recounts the history of the town from the early medieval period until the twenty-first century.
Volume VIII - Condover and Ford Hundreds
This volume was edited by A. T. Gaydon and published in 1968. It contains material on the parishes of Condover Hundred and Ford Hundred.
This volume is not currently available on British History Online.
Volume X - Munslow Hundred (Part), the Liberty and Borough of Wenlock
This volume was published in 1998 and edited by G.C. Baugh with contributions from A.P. Baggs, D.C. Cox, Jessie McFall and Paul Stamper. It covers the central part of southern Shropshire, including Wenlock, Upper Corve Dale and the Stretton Hills within Munslow Hundred and the Liberty and Borough of Wenlock.
The full text is available at British History Online.
Volume XI - Telford
This volume was edited by G.C. Baugh with contributions from A.P. Baggs, D.C. Cox, Jessie McFall, Paul Stamper and Angus Winchester, and was published in 1985. It covers the New Town of Telford, as well as part of the Liberty and Borough of Wenlock, and the parishes in the southern area of Bradford Hundred. Relating to an area between the left bank of the Severn and the Weald Moors, covers most of the east Shropshire coalfield including Ironbridge.
The full text is available at British History Online.
VCH Short
Wem
Written by James Bowen, Judith Everard and Wendy Horton, Wem is the first VCH 'Short' published in 2020.
Wem lies on the North Shropshire Plain, about nine miles north of Shrewsbury. The centre of a much larger medieval manor and parish, the township consists of the small medieval market town and its immediate rural hinterland. Anglo-Saxon in origin, the town developed after the Norman Conquest, with a castle, parish church, market and water mill.