Frankwell
Coordinates: 52°42′41″N 2°45′39″W / 52.71139°N 2.76083°W
Frankwell is a district of the town of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, England. It lies adjacent to the River Severn, to the northwest of the town centre, and is one of Shrewsbury's oldest suburbs.
Frankwell grew up as a port and trading location by the river and on the road to Wales, but across the river from the walled borough of Shrewsbury and therefore beyond the town's jurisdiction. There have been a number of suggestions about where the name derives from, but one possible origin is "Frankville", which means a town of free trade. Being independent from the larger borough of Shrewsbury gave it a local nickname of the Little Borough, a name which is used to this day.
Today Frankwell continues to be a commercial area of the town, lying just outside the town centre, with its own character and identity. There has been much redevelopment recently near to the river, especially now flood defences have been constructed, and new buildings include The Guildhall (originally built for Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council) and Theatre Severn.
Frankwell's origins are connected with the crossing of the River Severn from the meander core which forms the centre of Shrewsbury. Water Lane, which still exists today, led to a ford over the river that was probably a crossing point in the early Middle Ages. St George's Bridge, a fortified and partly inhabited structure, was built in the mid twelfth century. This bridge, which also became known as Welsh(man's) Bridge in the thirteenth century, crossed the river from the end of Mardol on the town side to a position close to a former Methodist chapel on the Frankwell side. Although this bridge was demolished in the 1790s, remnants of the foundations and land arches remain.
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