In 2000, as part of an M.A. course in Birmingham University, I made a study of place-names in Shropshire ending in "-ford". The resulting dissertation has now been edited and presented in this booklet. It describes the 64 place visited with place-names ending in -ford and discusses their relevance to the road system and the settlement pattern. Since the relation of these place-names to the Roman roads in Shropshire is an important part of the study, a summary of what is known about Roman Roads in Shropshire is also included.

Field names are not only interesting in themselves, but also a rich source of information about the communities originating them. The earliest recorded names often describe only the location or nature of the land, but changes in language, technology, social organisation, land ownership and even religious and political thinking have all contributed to a surprisingly complex picture today. A pioneering history.

This book examines the making of the March of Wales and the crucial role its lords played in the politics of medieval Britain between the Norman conquest of England of 1066 and the English conquest of Wales in 1283. Max Lieberman argues that the Welsh borders of Shropshire, which were first, from c.1165, referred to as Marchia Wallie, provide a paradigm for the creation of the March. He reassesses the role of William the Conqueror's tenurial settlement in the making of the March and sheds new light on the ways in which seigneurial administrations worked in a cross-cultural context. Finally, he explains why, from c.1300, the March of Wales included the conquest territories in south Wales as well as the highly autonomous border lordships. This book makes a significant and original contribution to frontier studies, investigating both the creation and the changing perception of a medieval borderland.