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 Houseis 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 Lodgingis in part standing, being beyond the cloister and refectory southward. There is likewise the shell of a noble hall, having very early mullionedwindows, and a very large one at the west end, the tracery of which is destroyed. At the extremity of this was the great chamber, lighted by a beautiful bow window (probably a later addition), and divided into an upper and lower story.
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 castellatedMansion of Sundorne, the property of Mrs. Corbet.
South-east, clothed with masses of woody verdure, is
the etymology of which is derived fromhaut 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
which is delightfully situated, and affords many rural beauties.Here for a time the lover of nature may enjoy that calm delight which moves the soul to contemplation; and whilst the eye has been charmed with the prospect enjoyed from the summit of the adjoining eminence, the heart seems hushed to the noise of a populous town, and a feeling of tranquillity imperceptibly steals upon the mind, for which a cause can scarcely be assigned.
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.
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[215]on the dissolution of Shrewsbury Abbey.
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 SaintJohn the Baptist, as appears by the grant of the land on which Battlefield church stands from Henry IV. to Roger Ive, of Leaton, who is there described as rector of the chapel of St. John the Baptist at Albright Hussey, and which chapel was by the said grant for ever annexed to the collegiate church of Battlefield; and Richard Hussey and his heirs were to be perpetual patrons of the same. The only vestige of the chapel is an old arch in a barn called the “chapel barn.”
otherwise Meole Brace, is one mile south of the town.[216]The church stands on a little knoll above the Rea brook, and was erected on the site of an ancient edifice in the year 1800. It is a plain cruciform building, with a tower rising from the roof at the west end.
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. Thedoubleentrenchment admits a probability that it belonged to the Anglo-Saxons, but it isdifficult to distinguish between their encampments and those of the Danes, both forming their camps nearly alike and on elevated spots. The present site possesses every advantage for a military post of observation to the adjoining country. The residents in the vicinity designate it by the common appellation of the “Buries,” and which appears to have escaped the notice of former topographers.
Two miles beyond this spot is the pleasant
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.
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-timberedmansion erected during the sixteenth century, and is the property of the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, a descendant maternally of the Ottley family, one of whom purchased the estate in 1473.
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
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 fromEatta, 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[219]
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 (likemany others in the vicinity) is of the sixteenth century, and was once crowned with eight pinnacles, the remains of which are now only visible above the frieze of the battlements.
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 overTern 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
This village was the metropolis of theCornavii, 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 placebecame the flourishing Roman station of Uriconium,—Wriconium, synonymous with the adjoining Wrekin,[221]—subsequently Wrekincester, and by contraction Wroxeter.
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;”and from the blackness of the soil in some parts its destruction seems to have been by fire; many of the coins also, and other remains discovered here, exhibit marks of their having been subjected to that element: in fact, the savage ferocity of the Saxon conquerors in their warfare, together with their ascendancy over the Britons, was so determinate and effectual in the demolition of those stations which they held, that little surprise need be excited so few vestiges remain of the Roman provinces in this kingdom, or of the many works of art which that nation doubtless left on their departure.
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—
We turn to dust, and all our mightiest worksDie too. The deep foundations that we lay,Time ploughs them up, and not a trace remains.We build with what we call eternal rock:—A distant age asks where the fabric stood;And in the dust, sifted and search’d in vain,The undiscoverable secret sleeps.
We turn to dust, and all our mightiest worksDie too. The deep foundations that we lay,Time ploughs them up, and not a trace remains.We build with what we call eternal rock:—A distant age asks where the fabric stood;And in the dust, sifted and search’d in vain,The undiscoverable secret sleeps.
The ruined wall still remaining is about 70 feet longand 28 feet high, and is composed of layers of rough stones and large flat tiles at alternate distances. It is arched, and the interior thickness is formed with rubble and small pebbles thrown in with the cement or mortar, which is become harder than stone. This venerable relic is thought to have been a portion of the fortification of the town. Other conjectures are, that it might have been connected with the Prætorium, or have been part of a bath, which was discovered at no great distance from it; but after a lapse probably of more than 1600 years, and where evidence is wanting to guide us, its original purpose must remain in uncertainty.
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—
BONO REIPVBLICAENATVS.
BONO REIPVBLICAENATVS.
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 threelarge urns composed of a beautiful transparent green glass, each having one handle elegantly ribbed, and severally containing burnt bones and a glass lachrymatory. Some earthen urns, an earthen lamp, and a few Roman coins, were also found at the same place, the whole being covered with large flat stones.
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,utterbarrister, 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.
Five miles distant is the famed Shropshire mountain,
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.
ThisNatural Heart of Shropshireforms 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—
“ALL FRIENDS ROUND THE WREKIN.”
“ALL FRIENDS ROUND THE WREKIN.”
JOHN EDDOWES, PRINTER, SHREWSBURY.
St. Mary’s.—The patronage of this living has been vested by the Lord Chancellor in the following Trustees:—The Lord Bishop of Lichfield, the Viscount Clive, Sir A. V. Corbet, Bart. J. A. LLoyd, Esq. and R. A. Slaney, Esq. The qualification for the Minister remains as before.
Abbey Church.—The font, supported upon the upper part of an ancient cross (page74), has been lately removed to St. Giles’s Church.
St. Giles’s Church.—Pews have been erected on the South side of this edifice, to correspond with those on the North.
St. George’s.—A district has lately been assigned to this church, comprising the township of Frankwell.
County Hall.—Owing to a recent alteration in the arrangement of offices, it will be necessary at page115, line 13, todeleto the left, and read to the right; and, at line 15, for right read left; line 17, for resting over, read towards High Street is an Entrance, &c.
Page13, forScottreadDyer; p.17, for Thomson read Cowper; p.24, in note, for opposite read towards; p.47, l. 25, for munficence read munificence; p.58, l. 11, for surmounts read surrounds; p.60, l. 13, for carved read coved; p.93, l. 27, for five read four; p.99, for Henry Edwards read Hugh Edwards; p.127, for four read eight; p.179, l. 15, for Sir Philip read Sir Henry.
[10]Our ancestors petitioned the king for permission to convert the monastery of Salop into “a college, or free school.”
[16]This was an essential characteristic of the castellated structure of the Danes, although subsequently adopted by the Normans.
[18]The town had originally three principal gates, besides several postern or smaller gates, and was from an early period encompassed with a wall, strengthened by towers in those parts most liable to be attacked. Within the last sixty years many parts of the walls have been built upon, and the gates and towers, with one exception, fallen a prey, not so much to the ruthless power of time, as to the less sparing enemy—modern improvement.
[23]Mr. Heylin appears to have been connected with this town, having previously founded a lectureship in St. Alkmond’s church, to which he afterwards added the tithe of Coton. In 1630 he was at the expence of printing the Welsh Bible in octavo, a form more suitable for domestic reading than the two former folio editions.
[24]The site of St. Michael’s church cannot be satisfactorily stated. Messrs. Owen and Blakeway consider that Speed’s map represents it as standing near the river towards the area of the present county gaol; but this must be a mistake, for Speed intended to shew the bastion tower of the castle. The church being probably only a very small structure, and designed by its founder (Roger de Montgomery) as a place of worship for those who inhabited the keep, it doubtless stood, as its name implies,WITHINthe walls (similar to the one at Ludlow Castle), and was taken down about 1605, before Speed’s map was published. The present detached part of St. Julian’s parish in the direction of Castle Foregate formed its parochial boundary.
[26]Earl Hugh was slain by an arrow in Anglesea, in the month of July, 1098, and received sepulture seventeen days after in the cloisters of this abbey. Twenty years ago, a plain stone coffin was discovered near the south-west door of the present church, which probably enclosed his remains.
[36]He was a gentleman of warm piety and extensive benevolence; as a scholar and linguist he was scarcely surpassed by any of his contemporaries. He meditated a History of Shropshire, which, had it been completed, it is probable the world would have seen, from his diffusive acquirements and general antiquarian knowledge, a very superior topographical work.
[39]Page25.
[44]About the close of the 12th century, companies of masons, designers, or architects, as well as workmen, were incorporated under the especial patronage of the Pope, and associated together as a fraternity of free and accepted masons, under certain regulations and peculiar privileges.
[48]This is now a principal entrance to the church; the jambs of the door-way are in the debased style prevalent during the last century, and the obtuse arch seems originally to have formed the head of a window.
[52]In 1831 was published Mr. Blakeway’sSheriffs of Shropshire, illustrated with their armorial bearings, and notices genealogical and biographical of their families, edited with great judgment by a reverend gentleman of this town, a particular friend of the deceased. It is perhaps the first work in which what may be termed the genealogy and biography of a county has been distinctly treated, and evinces in a high degree the patient and diligent research of its talented author, whose valuable life we have reason to deplore was not spared to publish a History of the County of Salop, for which his talents and extensive local knowledge rendered him so eminently qualified.
[63]These possessions were about 150 acres.
[82]A notice of the improvements in this church will be found in vol. 100, part II. of the Gent. Mag. communicated by the author of these Memorials.
[101]The scholars, in grateful remembrance of the kindness of their preceptor, presented him (on his taking leave of the School, June 7th, 1836,) with a massive silver candelabrum, of three hundred guineas value, raised by their united contributions,—the subject a vine branch with Genii pressing the fruit, and bearing an appropriate inscription; in acknowledging which Dr. Butler said, under your future head master and his able coadjutor (the Rev. G. I. Welldon), and my long-tried and much-valued friends, the assistant masters, may you pursue your career with the same success as those who have gone before you; and to my best wishes for your welfare and happiness, let me add, as my last official words, “Floreat Salopia!”
[103]Of the one hundred and twenty first-rate honours recorded here, the present learned head master (Dr. Kennedy) claims more than one-twelfth for his own individual share.
[106]The old liberties of the borough extended a few miles round Shrewsbury. A large part of this ancient boundary, possessing a property of the annual value of fifty thousand pounds, and which formerly used to contribute to the rates levied in connexion with the town, is now taken from the liberties and annexed to the county.
[107]A merchant guild is supposed to have been established as a voluntary association as early as the year 1128; for, among other customs granted by Henry III. there was one by which no person who was not a member of the “merchant guild” could exercise merchandise in the borough without the consent of the burgesses.
[110]A more extended account of this pageant, by the author of “Memorials of Shrewsbury,” will be found in the Gentleman’s Magazine for July, 1833.
[111]Mayor.
[114]The former courts were 44 ft. 9 in. by 31 ft.
[116]This structure was 111 feet by 51; its exterior feature was a bold pediment, supported by four three-quarter columns of the Ionic order.
[149]Vide Hazlitt’s Literary Remains.
[151]An office instituted when preaching was not frequent, and granted to the Minister of St. Mary’s in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
[162]On the visit of Charles the First to this venerable mansion, Thomas Lyster (among other distinguished Shropshire loyalists) presented that Prince with a purse of £500. His grandson, Richard Lyster, Esq. represented this town and county in parliament for a period of forty-five years, and was known among his countrymen by the familiar appellation of ‘The Senator.’ The somewhat feudal cast of his establishment, and most ample scale of ancient English hospitality, are pleasingly recorded in the “Sheriffs of Shropshire.”
[176]The sloping bank above this friary was given to and occupied by the Monks of Shrewsbury Abbey, as aVineyard, as early as the reign of Henry the Third. Its situation on the northern side of the river, inclining southward and open to the east, renders it well adapted to the purpose.
[179]This ferry leads to a walk which commands a bold view of the town, and communicates with the Abbey-foregate. It conducts also to the Underdale Tea Gardens—a quiet rural retreat.
[186]The town is supplied with most excellent water for drinking from a spring called Broadwell, which rises near Kingsland, and is conveyed by pipes under the river to a reservoir in one of the lodges at the principal entrance to the Quarry Walk, being conducted from thence to conduits placed in different parts of the town for the convenience of the inhabitants.
[187]A detail of the Admiral’s splendid services will be found in the “Biographia Britannica,” and other similar works.
[188]To the left of the turnpike is the Baschurch road, on which, at the distance of one mile, are the beautiful Gates leading to Berwick House; a short distance beyond is the neat structure of Berwick Chapel, re-built at the close of the 17th century.—The town may be regained by a walk through Almond Park, rich in sylvan beauty.
[190]In 1604 a great plague began in Salop, on the 2d of June, and raged until April following, in which time 657 persons had died of it in the several parishes, and the streets were so little frequented as to be covered with grass. The two bailiffs died.—MS. Chronicle.
[196]Vide page6.
[200]Pure muriate of soda does not contain any water in its crystallized state except what lodges in the interstices of the crystals, therefore the weight of that, as it exists in the water, would not exceed the weight above given; 30 grains muriate of lime indicate 51 grains crystallized muriate, 8.81 grains muriate magnesia indicate 15½ grains.
[204]“Why, brother Wilful of Salop, you may be as short as aShrewsbury Cake, if you please.”—Way of the World, 1735, by W. Congreve.
[212]Mr. Williams possessed acquirements of no ordinary description, and was an accomplished scholar. He had studied much of botany, was an excellent draughtsman, and in early life devoted considerable attention to the study of antiquities, particularly those connected with his native county. His collection of materials relating to the History of Shropshire were most extensive, and although he did not favour the world with any publication shewing the result of his researches, he has, nevertheless, left behind a surprising proof of his perseverance in original drawings of all the churches, parochial chapels, monastic remains, castles, monuments, and tablets, in Shropshire, besides sketches of most of the mansions of the nobility and gentry in the same county.
[215]Etbrighton, a Saxon manor in Domesday.
[216]Mr. Thomas Barker, author of a work on angling, was born at this village. From the singular vein of humour which runs through his book, he appears to have been a good-humoured gossiping old man. In the dedication he states, “I have written no more but my own experience and practice, and have set forth the true ground of angling, which I have been gathering these three-score years; having spent many pounds in the gaining of it, as is well known in the place where I was born and educated, which is Bracemeale, in the liberty of Salop, being a freeman and burgess of the same city.”—‘Barker’s Delight, or the Art of Angling,’ was published a few years after Izaak Walton’s Complete Angler (1659), to which Mr. Barker appears to have contributed the greater part of what is said on Fly Fishing.
[219]Longner, the ancient seat of the Burtons, is about one mile N.W. of this village, and forms part of the parish of St. Chad. In 1558 it was the residence of Edward Burton, Esq. a zealous protestant, who expired suddenly with Joy on hearing of the accession of Queen Elizabeth. His body was refused interment in the church of St. Chad by the popish priest, owing to some stipulations made either in his will, or by the zeal of his surviving friends, that the popish service should not be celebrated over his remains, which were in consequence buried in his own garden, over which a plain altar has been erected, with a quaint poetical inscription.
[221]A great battle seems to have been fought near this hill; for in 1833 a quantity of spear heads and celts, formed of brass, or some other composition of copper, and of rather elegant workmanship, were found near the Wrekin Farm.
[227]The errata has been applied to this transcription.—DP.