What area does the name 'The Marches' refer to?

It seems to vary a lot, as I Google around the topic, and I'd like to find a map that shows what's included.

Is it a specific area, or quite general?

English Marches, Welsh Marches, or the other Marches? :-)

It's a generic term referring to the border area between England/Wales or England/Scotland, although the latter usage has generally been forgotten nowadays - the Marches now seems to be used only in our context. Technically, the English Marches is our side of the border and the Welsh Marches is "their" side, but the terms are interchangeable to most folks.

Generally, though, the term only seems to get used for Shropshire and Herefordshire - I haven't often seen Cheshire or Gloucestershire referred to as being part of the English Marches.

Once upon a time we had our own laws too....

To me the Welsh marches are Flintshire, what is now Wrexham borough, Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Forest of Dean (part of Gloucestershire) and Monmouthshire.

Wasn't it the area that was within one days march of the border??

There is also an Italian province called Marche which seems to me to be about a days march from Rome i've often wondered if this for a similar reason (or it could be something totally unrelated)

I think the "one day's march" area is a retrospective etymology, i.e. someone dreamed that up to explain the word's origins after it had already been in use for quite some time. If I recall correctly, it's Anglo-Saxon in origin and probably doesn't mean that at all.

< goes off to Google hunt >

hmmm... try this: http://www.castlewales.com/march.html

Apparently Craven Arms is the 'Gateway to the Marches'. Presumably this makes sense if you're travelling from the Bridgnorth/Corvedale direction, but not really from Ludlow, Church Stretton, Clun or points west.

Still, if your job was to market Craven Arms, I can see why you'd be a bit stuck for a decent slogan. Neither 'Craven Arms - the epicentre of the Tuffins empire', 'Craven Arms - change here for the Heart of Wales line' nor 'Craven Arms - home of South Shropshire's largest domestic waste transfer station' come anywhere close.

Craven Arms - the epicentre of the Tuffins empire

:lol: