  Present an agreeable variety of pleasant drives and interesting walks, unfolding from most points some changing feature of landscape scenery, insulated, or grouped in picturesque masses, and interspersed with lofty hills, which afford an imposing back-ground to the town, producing a succession of rich and varied prospects calculated to interest the lover of nature, while the artist, the antiquary, the botanist, or the geologist, may find an ample field for the cultivation of their respective pursuits. The limited plan of the present work will only admit of a very brief notice of some of those objects that might claim the attention of the enquiring stranger, or present themselves in the course of a drive. BATTLEFIELD,Three miles N.E. by N. of Shrewsbury. Perhaps few events, so recent and of such importance in the annals of our country, have left so few local traditions to awaken the dream of ancient chivalry as the Battle of Shrewsbury. The site of this momentous conflict for the crown of England is no longer unenclosed, but seems thriving with the culture of centuries of peace. Some armour and military weapons occasionally turned up remind us of the event, or, but for the Church piously founded by King Henry the Fourth, in commemoration of his victory over Hotspur, Douglas, Worcester, and the rebel army, we might rejoice that the breath of tranquillity has hushed the tale of death. BATTLEFIELD CHURCH,According to the foundation of King Henry the Fourth, consisted of five secular canons, and among other endowments possessed the churches of St. Michael within the Castle of Shrewsbury, and also St. Julian’s, in the same town. The clear annual revenues of the college at the dissolution being £54. 1s. 10d. as stated by Tanner. The fabric, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, stands in The roof of the nave and chancel having fallen in from decay early in the last century, the latter was restored and supported by four doric pillars. The interior is neat. In the south wall is the piscina and the sedilia for the officiating priests. In one of these is a curious wooden figure, called “Our Lady of Pity.” It represents the Virgin seated and bearing on her knees a dead Christ. The eastern window is of five divisions, and contains some remains of the stained glass with which this church was once enriched. The other portion having been taken down during a repair of the fabric some years since, was either lost or destroyed, through the negligence of the person to whom it was entrusted. The subjects comprised a history of the death of John the Baptist, with various portraits of the knights who fell on the King’s side in the battle at this memorable place. The crowned heads of King Henry the Fourth and his Queen, the portraits of a bishop or abbot, and the head of John the Baptist in a charger, may yet be distinguished, and are tastefully pencilled. The red and yellow colours throughout are particularly vivid. A beautiful border of At the east end of the north wall is a handsome florid gothic monument to the memory of the late John Corbet, Esq. of Sundorne, who died in 1817. The basement is after the model of an ancient altar tomb, from whence rises five panelled buttresses with mouldings supporting the canopy, which consists of four pointed ogee arches crocketed and crowned with finials. The interior is a richly groined vault, and at the angles are small turrets. The whole is beautifully worked in grained free-stone from the neighbouring quarry of Grinshill. The nave of the church is roofless: on each side are three elegant mullioned windows, with tracery of different devices. In the walls are corbels formed into grotesque heads, on which rested the timbers that supported the roof. The shaft of the ancient font (sunk in the ground) stands at the north-east angle of the pointed arch which separates the nave from the tower. The second floor of the tower is singularly furnished with a fire-place, having a chimney formed within the thickness of the wall and opening outside beneath the belfry window. A tabernacled niche above the chancel window contains the crowned statue of Henry the Fourth: the right hand once sustained a sword, and on the same side also hangs the scabbard. The college stood at the east end of the church, the moat which surrounded it being still visible. Near this part is a field called the “King’s Croft,” in which were placed a portion of the royal army. The troops of Hotspur appear to have been chiefly stationed on the north side. On the south side of the church is a small cemetery, in which is deposited the remains of the late Rev. Edward Williams, M.A. who for nearly half a century was the GRINSHILLIs four miles distant from hence. The village is picturesquely sequestered beneath the extensive stone quarries, of which great use has been made in the bridges, churches, and public buildings of Salop. About the year 1630 a large stone building was erected at this place for the reception of the scholars under instruction at the Royal Free Grammar School during the time any contagious disorder might prevail in the town. It is now used as a private classical and commercial school. HAWKSTONE,Being six miles further in this direction, is consequently beyond the prescribed limit of my pen. I cannot forbear, however, to remark that the scenery in the park is truly grand, and the objects which meet the eye are varied and interesting, consisting of a succession of hills and dales, rocks and caverns, connected together in a comparatively small space. The walks are twelve miles round, and the Amid this beautiful natural scene, the hand of art has introduced many interesting features calculated to interrupt for an interval the associations of the mind, that it might return with renewed vigour and fresh delight to the enjoyment of the more exalted feast of contemplative wonder, which nature has so lavishly bestowed on this elysian spot. The noble proprietor kindly permits visitors to gratify themselves with a walk over the grounds. HAUGHMOND ABBEY,Three miles north-east of the town, is approached from the Old Heath, by a road full of picturesque beauty. The vale is watered by the Severn, while swelling hills fill up the distance. This monastery was founded in the year 1100 by William Fitz Alan, for canons regular of St. Augustine, and is situated on the side of a gentle eminence. The ruins form a most imposing object, and are of sufficient consequence to attract the steps of the pedestrian. Of the Abbey church few remains exist. The door which opened into the cloister is an elegant specimen of anglo-norman architecture. The Chapter House is almost in a perfect state of preservation: the front parallel with the cloister consists of a fine entrance through a circular arch, with a window in the same style on each side, divided into small lights. The shafts of these arches have canopied niches containing mutilated statues; the angel Gabriel, St. Catharine, and St. John may yet be distinguished. The Abbott’s Lodging is in part standing, being beyond the cloister and refectory southward. There is likewise the shell of a noble hall, having very early mullioned On the north side of the Chapter House are two monumental stones: the largest indicates the death of John Fitz Alan, Lord of Clun, great-grandson of William, the founder of the monastery, and the least that of his wife Isabel, daughter of Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore. The revenues of this Abbey at the dissolution were, according to Speed, £294. 12s. 9d. The buildings were sold, and converted into a spacious mansion. Haughmond demesne comprises about 1100 acres, within which is situated the castellated Mansion of Sundorne, the property of Mrs. Corbet. South-east, clothed with masses of woody verdure, is HAUGHMOND HILL,the etymology of which is derived from haut mont, the high mount. An easy ascent from the abbey leads to the summit, from whence is a rich panoramic prospect over a portion of the fertile vale of Shropshire, with the lofty steeples of its ancient capital, and the blue mountains of Cambria in the distance. A castellated turret is erected on a steep crag of the hill, down which the Scottish Earl Douglas leaped with his horse, on being closely pursued after his escape from the Battle of Shrewsbury, and received a severe injury. He was taken prisoner, but the king, in admiration of his valour, set him at liberty. At the foot of the hill is THE VILLAGE OF UFFINGTON,which is delightfully situated, and affords many rural beauties. Parties from the town are often tempted by the beauty of the situation to make this place a holiday retreat, whose enjoyment is enhanced by the accommodations of a good inn, attached to which, above the banks of the Severn, is a pleasant bowling green. The church, overshaded by two venerable yews, possesses a primitive simplicity, quite in character with the village. THE VILLAGE OF ALBRIGHTON,distant three miles N.E. of the town on the Chester road, is a township in the parish of St. Mary, Shrewsbury. The church, a small humble structure, has been so effectually repaired by the modern goths with red stone and brick, that no reasonable conjecture can now be formed as to the period of its erection. A wooden loft issues from the west end, and inside the building is a curious ancient font, that will admit of total immersion, which has no doubt stood here for several centuries. The fine old mansion near the church was formerly the residence of the ancient family of Ireland, who purchased this manor A bridle road across a field leads to Albright Hussey and Battlefield. The former was the moated mansion of the Husseys, Barkers, and Corbets, but is now converted into a farm house. Here was a chapel, dedicated to Saint THE VILLAGE OF MEOLE,otherwise Meole Brace, is one mile south of the town. From this place many agreeable walks branch off in the direction of Kingsland, Sutton, and the Sharpstones. Near the latter place, at Bayston Hill, is an earthwork of an irregular form, which seems to have been surrounded on all sides but the east by two fosses, the abrupt formation of the ground in that direction rendering such a protection unnecessary. The entrance was no doubt from the Stretton road at the west. The double entrenchment admits a probability that it belonged to the Anglo-Saxons, but it is Two miles beyond this spot is the pleasant VILLAGE OF CONDOVER.The church is a spacious building, displaying examples of early Norman architecture. It contains several handsome monuments in memory of the ancient family of Owen, among which one from the chisel of Roubiliac is considered a remarkably fine production. The adjoining mansion, a most interesting specimen of the Elizabethan style of building, was erected by Sir Thomas Owen, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, who died in 1598. Within the hall is the finest collection of paintings in the county. This village was the birth-place of Richard Tarlton, the earliest English comedian of celebrity, who for his surprisingly pleasant extemporaneous wit, as an actor and jester, was the wonder of his time. Fuller states, that “when Queen Elizabeth was serious and out of good humour, he could undumpish her at his pleasure.” After a free and eccentric life, it is said he died penitent in 1588. PITCHFORD,six miles south-east of the town, takes its name from a kind of mineral pitch, which exudes out of a red sand stone, from which an oil is extracted called British oil. A similar substance is also found at this place, floating on a spring of water. Pitchford Hall is a beautiful specimen of the half-timbered The church, erected in the reign of Henry I. is a specimen of the lesser Anglo-Norman edifices erected in villages. Its foundation throws some light on the formation of our parochial establishments and the nature of tithes. It appears that previously to its erection the inhabitants of the lordship went to some of the surrounding churches to hear divine service and receive the sacraments, and gave their tithes where they chose. Many of them contributed their tithes to the dean and chapter of St. Chad, in Salop, on condition that they found a chaplain and clerk, who should perform service three times a week, and daily visit the sick and baptize infants; but these duties being much neglected, one Ralph lord of Pitchford, moved by “charity and zeal,” built a church at his own expence, and formed a certain district as the boundary of the parish. At the distance of somewhat more than a mile is ACTON BURNELL.The remains of the ancient castle, founded by Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, consist of a large building, with a square tower at each angle. To this place the parliament of Shrewsbury adjourned in 1283, where were passed (and received the royal assent) certain legislative regulations, and amongst these the act touching merchant debtors, called “Statutum de Mercatoribus,” designated likewise the Statute of Acton Burnell. The church is cruciform, and in the pointed style of the fourteenth century, having a wooden tower in the centre. Near this village is the seat of Sir Edward Joseph Smythe, Bart. and the grounds of the park are beautiful and extensive.
Three miles and a half east of the town, is delightfully seated on the banks of the Severn, over which there is a handsome bridge of seven arches, designed by Mr. Gwyn, a native of Shrewsbury. The etymology of the place seems to be derived from Eatta, a Saxon saint to whom the parish church is dedicated. It was anciently called Ettingeham and Attingesham. In the Saxon period it belonged to the college of St. Alkmund, Shrewsbury; and when that church was annexed to Lilleshull Abbey, the advowson of Atcham made part of the transfer. The present edifice consists of a nave without aisles; the predominant styles of the windows may be attributed to the fifteenth century; some of them are decorated with stained glass. The interior contains monuments belonging to the family of Burton, of Longner, removed hither on the fall of St. Chad’s church, Salop The basement of the tower is early Norman, and flanked with broad shallow buttresses. The portal at the west is a deeply recessed round arch, resting on five slender pillars on each side; above is an early lancet window, over which is another of smaller dimensions, bisected by a short pillar into narrow lights. The superstructure of the tower (like The village is remarkable as being the birth-place of Ordericus, the earliest Salopian historian. He was the son of Odelerius Constantius, of Orleans, a chief councillor to Roger de Montgomery, born (as he informs us) Feb. 16, 1075, “and on the Easter Sunday following was baptised by Ordericus the priest at Ettingesham, in the church of St. Eatta the Confessor,” and received the rudiments of his education under Siward the priest, in the little church of St. Peter, Shrewsbury, on the site of which the stately Benedictine abbey was afterwards built. Ordericus’s great work is entitled an “Ecclesiastical History,” but is more properly a record of the events of his own time. Atcham once had the privilege of a fair, and the inhabitants were styled burgesses. Opposite the inn, a pleasant drive leads through the village of Uffington, by which Shrewsbury may be regained. Continuing our course for half a mile on the London road, we pass over Tern Bridge, below which the river Tern fells into the Severn. On the left, Attingham Hall, the elegant mansion of the Right Hon. Lord Berwick, with its lofty portico, forms a bold and imposing object, and its beautiful situation near the confluence of the rivers Tern and Severn, imparts an additional charm to the surrounding scenery. To the right is WROXETER.This village was the metropolis of the Cornavii, a tribe of Britons settled in Shropshire and some of the adjoining counties at the period when Julius CÆsar first invaded this island. On the subjugation of the Britons this place It is situated on a gentle eminence above the Severn, possessing those advantages which the Romans generally kept in view, viz. dryness of soil, extensive prospect, and the protection of a river. From the almost impenetrable obscurity in which its early history is involved, no adequate idea can now be formed of the pristine state of this interesting place. The town was undoubtedly defended by a wall and ditch, the boundaries of which are still to be traced throughout a circumference of three miles. According to the best writers, we find that the Romans entirely quitted Britain about the middle of the fifth century, on which the Britons continued to occupy this place (deserted by their former masters) until they were ejected from it by the superior force of the Saxons sometime in the following century, and obliged to find a retreat among “the alders and willows which hid the foot and the thickets which crowned the summit of the peninsular knoll, now covered by the capital of Shropshire.” How long the fugitives remained at Caer Pengwern unmolested it is now in vain to enquire, but this appears certain, that they were soon followed thither by the unsparing Saxons, and compelled to seek another refuge in the mountain fastnesses of Wales. There can be no doubt but the fall of Wroxeter was, as Leland asserts, “the cause of the erection of Shrewsbury;” The Saxons on their invasion wielded fire and sword unsparingly. It was their practice, on gaining possession of a town or city, immediately to level it with the ground; and it is recorded, that one of these triumphant barbarians boasted that in three days after he has galloped his horse without stumbling over the spot on which the captured station stood. Wroxeter will be regarded by the antiquary with curious attention, as affording matter of much investigation: indeed it is impossible, even in imagination, to look upon its fruitful fields, teeming in the rich luxuriance of culture,—once covered with a flourishing Roman town,—now presenting only the ruined remnant of a wall, without sensibly feeling the instability of human greatness, and exclaiming with Cowper—
The ruined wall still remaining is about 70 feet long Tesselated pavements, sepulchral stones with inscriptions, urns, skeletons in deep graves and encased in red clay, several moulds for coining money, seals of different kinds, an Apollo (four inches in length) elegantly cast in lead, with other figures, and many curious and interesting remains of Roman manufacture, have been discovered whilst excavating on this site. A stone altar, found near the vicarage in 1824, is thus inscribed—
Great quantities of copper coins, and many of gold and silver, are constantly turned up by the plough. The copper coins are chiefly of the lower empire. The town was situated on the line of the Watling Street road, in the direction towards Stretton. In the ford across the Severn the foundations of a bridge may be discerned at low water. Near this spot a discovery was made at the end of the last century, which no doubt denoted the burial-place of some family of distinction resident at this colony. It consisted of an enclosure of large stones a little below the surface of the ground, within which were deposited three The village church, on the accession of Henry II. was granted to the canons of Haghmond Abbey, and is an edifice deserving of attention, displaying in its construction several specimens of architecture between the earliest Anglo-Norman and the incongruous reparations of the last century. The building consists of a nave and chancel; in the latter is a curious doorway, and the former seems to have had originally a south aisle. The tower was probably erected in the reign of Henry the Eighth. In the church are three handsome altar tombs, bearing full-length cumbent effigies of Lord Chief Justice Bromley, who died May 15, 1555, and Isabel his wife; Sir Richarde Newporte, Knyghte (Queen’s Counsel in the Marches of Wales), and Margaret his wife, only daughter of the Lord Chief Justice; and John Berker, of Haghmond Abbey, Esq. and Margaret his wife, second daughter of Sir Francis Newport, Knt. who died in 1618. In 1824 these were judiciously restored and beautified. In addition to which there are mural monuments, with inscriptions, commemorative of Francis, Viscount Newport and Earl of Bradford, who died Sept. 19, 1708; also the Hon. Andrew Newport, his brother; and a tablet to the memory of Andrew Newport, utter barrister, who died in 1611. The vicinity of Wroxeter affords a delightful display of pastoral beauty,—the bright river, with every other requisite for the finest landscape scenery. THE WREKIN,the proud monarch of the plain, whose bold arching head rises to the altitude of upwards of 1300 feet. A pathway from the London road leads through plantations to its summit, from whence the admirer of nature may luxuriate in the enjoyment of a magnificent prospect, whilst he contemplates all that variety of hill and dale, wood, rock and stream, studded with mansions and villages, stretched like a map throughout a circumference of nearly 400 miles. This Natural Heart of Shropshire forms a conspicuous feature in the landscape from all parts of the surrounding country; while it is universally regarded, from the king in his palace to the peasant in his cottage, as the centre towards which the best wishes and affections of the heart converge, in that well-known convivial sentiment which possesses the advantage over other toasts,—in being old without age, inasmuch as it is unchanged by time, and never out of place—
JOHN EDDOWES, PRINTER, SHREWSBURY. |
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