Brief History: The British Shire Horse

"The medieval “Great Horse” came to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror
(Norman Conquest of England War : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror ) and served in war as a living armoured tank until firearms made it obsolete." - http://www.westwalesshirehorsesociety.com

"Eventually warfare changed but this did not mean that the Great Horse was no longer needed. It was soon recognised that their great strength and placid nature would make them useful on the farm and for pulling heavy loads." - www.shire-horse.org.uk

"By 1878, when the pedigree society was founded, the title “English Cart Horse” was adopted, but then changed to “Shire Horse” six years later.

The pedigree movement enhanced the export of stallions, notably to the United States where the American Shire Horse Association was founded in 1885.

The working life of town horses increased steadily and their value spectacularly." - http://www.westwalesshirehorsesociety.com

After the 2nd world War with the improvement in mechanism the Shire was no longer needed in either industry or agriculture and in the 1950's was nearly doomed to extinction.
It is only through the dedication of breeders that has prevented it from disappearing from the British countryside for ever.

Sales of them were made in particular to Leicestershire, Staffordshire & Derbyshire and so from the Shires Of England developed what we know today as the Shire Horse." - http://www.cotebrookshirehorses.co.uk