Chapter I: Part 1

[Picture: Book cover]

HISTORY,
GAZETTEER, AND DIRECTORY
OF
SHROPSHIRE;

COMPRISING
A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE COUNTY,
WITH A VARIETY OF
HISTORICAL, STATISTICAL, TOPOGRAPHICAL, COMMERCIAL,
AND AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION:

SHEWING
THE SITUATION, EXTENT, AND POPULATION OF ALL
_THE TOWNS_, _PARISHES_, _CHAPELRIES_, _TOWNSHIPS_, _VILLAGES_,
_HAMLETS_, _AND EXTRA-PAROCHIAL LIBERTIES_;

THEIR AGRICULTURAL AND MINERAL PRODUCTIONS;

THE LORDS OF THE MANORS AND OWNERS OF THE SOIL;
THEIR PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, CHARITIES, ANTIQUITIES, & HISTORICAL EVENTS;

WITH A LIST OF

MAGISTRATES, PUBLIC OFFICERS, & CORPORATE BODIES;
AND
THE SEATS OF THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY:

IN ONE VOLUME,

WITH A LARGE COLOURED SHEET MAP OF THE COUNTY:

BY SAMUEL BAGSHAW,

Author of similar Works for Derbyshire, Kent, Cheshire, &c.

* * * * *

SHEFFIELD:

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY SAMUEL HARRISON, 5, HIGH-STREET,
AND SOLD BY SAMUEL BAGSHAW, WENTWORTH TERRACE, SHEFFIELD
Price to Subscribers, 14s. 6d.

1851

PREFACE.

IN presenting the Public with a popular History and Topography of the County of Salop, with a Directory of its Inhabitants, the author has to acknowledge his great obligations to the literary and official gentlemen of the county, who have so freely furnished his agents with valuable information, as well as to those who have honoured the publisher with immediate communications; and also to the numerous subscribers who have so liberally patronised the work. As authenticity is the grand desideratum of Topography, all possible care has been taken to avoid errors. Every Parish, Township, Village, and Hamlet, with all the principal Residences and Farm Houses in the county have been visited for the addresses, and to authenticate the necessary information. It is, therefore, hoped that the great variety of subjects compressed within its pages will be found complete and satisfactory to its numerous patrons, and that the volume will be found an acquisition either to the library or the office.

The Plan of the Work embraces a General History and Description of Shropshire, containing the spirit of all that has been previously written on the subject, extracted from ancient and modern authors, and from the voluminous Parliamentary Reports of Public Charities, Population, &c., &c., together with a variety of Agricultural, Commercial, Statistical, Biographical, and Topographical Information; and comprehending a Survey of Antiquities, Roads, Rivers, Railroads, Minerals, Public Buildings, Charities; together with a Chronology of Remarkable Events, from the earliest period to the present time.

The Topography of the County commences at page 132, with an Alphabetical Arrangement of the Parishes in their respective Hundreds, and of the Towns, Townships, and Villages, under their respective Parishes; shewing the Situation, Extent, and Population of each Parish, Township, Chapelry, and Extra-Parochial Liberty; the Owners of the Soil and the Lords of the Manors; the Nature and Value of the Church Livings, with their Patrons and Incumbents; the Places of Worship, Public Buildings, Public Charities, and Institutions; Trade and Commerce; Local Occurrences, and Objects of Interest and Curiosity, &c. Each Township is followed by the Addresses of the Gentry, and other principal Residents, with a Classification of Trades and Professions. The Directories of Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and other principal places, in addition to a Classification of Trades and Professions, are accompanied by an Alphabetical List of Persons, so that the address and occupation of any individual may be instantly referred to. The Seats of the Nobility and Gentry are appended to the General History of the County; and the whole is preceded by a copious Index of Places, Persons, and Subjects, affording an easy reference to the page at which every Parish, Township, and Hamlet is to be found; thus giving to the Volume all the advantages of an Alphabetical Gazetteer.

The extracts from the voluminous Parliamentary Reports of Public Charities, we trust will be found a useful and valuable portion of the publication. The standard works of Owen and Blakeway, and Phillips, Histories of Shrewsbury, Duke’s Antiquities, Hulbert’s History and Gregory’s Gazetteer of the County, as well as various Local Histories and Guides to the more interesting parts of Shropshire, have been frequently referred to in the compilation of the historical notices. The Work is accompanied with a large Coloured Sheet Map of the County, engraved expressly for this Publication. {ii}

SAMUEL BAGSHAW.

_Sheffield_, _October_ 25_th_, 1851.

GENERAL INDEX.

Abbeys, Monasteries, and Priories, 24

— Alberbury, 671

— Buildwas, 371

— Bromfield, 520

— Chirbury, 688

— Haughmond, 137

— Lilleshall, 395

— Malinslee, 376

— Shrewsbury, 72

— Wenlock, 583

— Wombridge, 440

Abcott, 700

Abdon, 517

Abertannat, 153

Ackleton, 494

Acton, 702

— Burnell, 498

— Castle, 498

— Pigott, 499

— Reynald, 310

— Round, 610

— Scott, 547

Adcott Hall, 217

Acton-on-the-Hill, 517

Adderley, 256

Adeney, 381

Adston, 706

Alderton, 143

Admaston, 445

— Spa, 445

Agricultural Improvements, 23

— Produce, 22

Alberbury, 670

— Abbey, 671

Albrighton, 452

— (St. Mary’s), 138

— Division, 132

Albright Hussey, 133

Albrightlee, 131

Albynes, 614

Alcaston, 519

Aldenham, 649

Alderton, 144

— (Great Ness), 241

Aldon, 553

Alkington, 355

Alkmere, 499

Allscott, 495

All Stretton, 530

Alveley, 611

Amaston, 671

Ancient Britons, 9, 12, 34, 213, 535, 449, 702

— Land Measures, 16

Antiquities, 157, 450, 568, 678

Apley, 436

— Castle, 436

— Park, 484

Argoed, 148

Arleston, 436

Arscott, 680

Asbaston, 389

Ashfield, 590

Ashford Bowdler, 519

— Carbonell, 519

— Hall, 519

Ash Magna, 355

— Parva, 356

Asterley, 680

Asterton, 704

Astley, 329

— (St. Mary’s), 139

— Abbots, 613

Aston (Chetwynd), 382

— Church, 382

— Hall, 476

— (Hopesay), 701

— (Munslow), 541

— (Wellington), 436

— (Wem), 329

— (Claverley), 467

— Botterel, 614

— (Oswestry), 190

— (Shiffnal), 476

— Eyre, 649

— Pigott, 693

— Rogers, 693

Asylum, 674

Atcham, 364

Atterley, 588

Attingham, 364

Bach and Norton, 532

Bach Mill, 541

Badger, 456

Bagginswood, 657

Bagley, 244

Balasley, 671

Balderton, 251

Balswardyne Hall, 505

Bannister Ralph, 332

Bardley, 659

Barkers Green, 329

Barlow, 701

Barnsley, 494

Barnwell George, 519

Barrow, 554

— Hall, 554

Baschurch, 212

Batchcott, 544

Battlefield, 133

Battle of Shrewsbury, 36

Bausley, 671

Baxter Richard, 390

Bayston Hill, 501

Beachfield, 693

Beach Mill, 541

Bearston, 297

Beckbury, 457

Beckjay, 700

Bedstone, 696

Bellaport House, 300

Belmont, 210

Bentley, 494

Bennett’s End, 635

Benthall, 555

— (Alberbury), 671

Bentley, 494

Beobridge, 467

Berghill, 209

Berrington, 499

Berwick, 140

— House, 140

— Mavaston, 366

Besford, 311

Betchcott, 514

Betchley, 296

Betton & Alkmere, 499

— (Berrington), 500

— (Drayton) 277

— Little, 499

Bettws-y-crwyn, 712

Bicton, 674

— (Clun) 709

Billingsley, 615

Birch, 215

Birch and Lythe, 231

Birches, 559

Bishop Heber, 282

Bishop’s Castle, 696

Bitterley, 664

Black Mere, 357

Black Park, 357

Blodwell, 154

Blore Heath, (Battle) 298

Bobbington, 458

Bolas Great, 368

— Parva, 285

Bomere Heath, 145

Boninghall, 458

— Albrighton Kennels, 458

Booley, 316

Boreatton, 215

Boraston, 667

Boreton, 503

Boscobel, 459

— White Ladies, 463

Boscobel, King Chas.’s Retreat, 460

— Royal Oak, 463

Botvylle, 524

Bouldon, 538

Bowdler, 519

Bowley, 316

Boycott, 680

Brace Meole, 511

Bradley, 494, 588

Bradney, 494

Bratton, 215, 446

British Encampments, 393, 212

Bridgnorth, 615

Brimstree Hundred, 452

Broadstone, 542

Broadward, 700

Brockton, (Worthen), 693

— (Longford), 400

— (Long Stanton) 550

— (Lydbury), 703

Bromfield, 520

— Priory, 520

Bromley, 594

Bromlow, 693

Brompton, (Berrington) 500

— Little, 701

Brompton-with-Rhiston, 691

Broncroft, 534

Bronygarth, 162

Brookhampton, 538

Broom, (Cardington), 523

Broom & Rowton, 701

Broomfield, 446

Broseley, 556

— Tobacco Pipes, 556

Broughall, 357

Broughton, (Bishop’s Castle), 698

— (Albrighton), 134

— (Claverley), 467

— (Shrewsbury), 134

Brown Clee Hill, 589

Brunslow, 701

Bryna Castle, 210

Bryngwyla, 159

Brynn, 155

Bryntanat Hall, 155

Buckingham, Duke of, 332

Bucknell, 699

Buildwas, 370

Buildwas Abbey, 371

Bulthey, 671

Buntingsdale Hall, 278

Burcot, (Worfield), 494

— (Wrockwardine) 446

Burford, 666

Burley, 532

Burlington, 476

Burlton, 247

Burncote, 494

Burton, 588

Burwarton, 634

Bury Ditches, 702

Butterey, 381

Button Oak, 660

Bynweston, 693

Caer Caradoc, 525

— Battle at, 10

Cainham, 635

Calcott, 674

Calloughton, 588

Calverhall, 305

— Hall, 305

Calvington, 381

Canals, 20

Cantlop, 500

Caractacus, 10

Cardiston, 676

Cardington, 521

Careswell Exhibitions, 478

Carwood, 701

Castle Pulverbach, 507

Castles, Acton Burnell, 498

— Bishop’s, 697

— Bridgnorth, 617

— Cause, 684

— Charlton, 447

— Church Stretton, 525

— Chirbury, 687

— Clun, 708

— Ellesmere, 219

— Knockin, 153

— Ludlow, 594

— Middle, 249

— Moreton Corbet, 294

— Oswestry, 167

— Quatford, 652

— Rowton, 672

— Sibdon, 705

— Shrawardine, 254

— Shrewsbury, 75

— Sundorne, 138

— Tong, 487

— Stoke St. Milborough, 552

—Wattlesborough, 672

— Whittington, 207

Catstree, 495

Cause, 684

Causton, 700

Caynton, 381

Caynton House, 381

Chantries, 24

Chapel Lawn, 710

Charlton, 447

Chatford, 503

Chatwall, 523

Chelmarsh, 635

Chelmick, 539

Cheney Longville, 707

Cherrington, 381

Chesterton, 494

— Roman Encampment, 494

Cheswardine, 259

Chetton, 636

Chetwynd, 372

— Aston, 382

Childs Ercall, 278

Chilton, 366

China Works, 569

Chinnel, 358

Chipnall, 261

Chirbury, 687

— Hundred, 687

Chorley, 659

Choulton, 703

Church Aston, 312

Church Preen, 506

Chrch. Pulverbatch, 506

Church Stretton, 524

Civil Wars, 38

Claverley, 464

Clee Downton, 551

Clee Hill, 551

Clee St. Margaret, 531

Clee Stanton, 551

Cleeton, 665

Cleobury Mortimer, 638

Cleobury Foreign, 641

Cleobury North, 643

— Hall, 644

Clewilsey, 713

Clive, 140

— Hall, 141

— Sansaw Hall, 141

Climate, 22

Clotley, 446

Cloverley, 305

Cluddley, 446

Clun, 707

Clunbury, 699

Clungunford, 700

Clunton, 700

Clurton, 506

Coad-y-Gaer Tower, 193

Coed-y-Rallt, 234

Coalbrookdale, 569

— Company, 374

— Ironworks, 569

Coalmoor, 566

Coalport, 569

— China Works, 569

Cold Hatton, 387

Cold Weston, 531

Colebatch, 698

Colemere, 232

Collieries, 374, 375, 398, 418, 439, 441

Comley, 524

Condover, 501

— Hall, 501

— Hundred, 498

Coppice Green, 476

Copthorne House, 675

Coptiviney, 239

Coreley, 644

Corfton, 533

Corve Dale, 532

Cothercutt, 507

Coton, (Alveley), 611

Cotton, (Ruyton), 198

— (Wem), 329

Cotwall, 388

Cound, 504

Court of Hill, 667

Coxheadford, 531

Crackley Bank, 476

Cranmere Heath, 494

Creamore House, 331

Cressage, 505

Crickett, 232

Crickheath, 190

Criggion, 672

Cronkhill, 366

Crosemere, 231

Cross Green, 446

Crow Meol, 675

Cruckmeole, 680

Cruckton, 680

Crudgington, 388

Culmington, 531

Cynynion, 190

Dalicott, 467

Darliston, 306

Davenport House, 492

Dawley Magna, 374

— Green, 375

— Parva, 375

Daywell, 210

Deckerhill, 476

Delbury Hall, 533

Derwen, The, 200

Deuxhill, 644

Diddlebury, 532

Dinmore, 704

Dinthill, 684

Ditches, 333

Ditton Priors, 589

Dodington, 358

— Liberty, 640

Donington, 398

— Wood, 398

— (Wroxeter), 451

— Shiffnal, 470

— House, 471

Doomsday Book, 16

Dorrington, (Muckleston), 298

— (Condover), 503

Dothill, 436

Dovaston, 149

Dowles, 644

Downton, (Stanton Lacy), 549

— (Upton Magna), 420

Drayton-in-Hales, 262

Druids, The, 9

Dryton, 451

Dudleston, 233

Dudston 688

Duddlewick, 659

Dudmaston Hall, 655

Dunvall House, 614

Dyffryd House, 151

Eardington, 654

Eardiston, 198

Earnastry Park, 534

Earthenware Manufactories, 555, 556, 557

East Foreign Liberty, 641

East Hamlet, 549

Easthope, 535

Eastwall, 537

— (Rushbury), 546

Eastwick, 235

Eaton-under-Haywood, 536

Eaton and Choulton, 703

Eaton Constantine, 378

Eaton by Stoke, 313

Eaton Mascott, 500

Ecclesiastical Revenues, 25

Ebnall, 210

Eddicliff, 709

Edge, 681

Edenhope, 714

Edgbold, 512

Edgebolton, 311

Edgeley, 361

— Moss, 361

Edgerley, 150

Edgmond, 379

— Hall, 380

Edgton, Brunslow and Horderley, 701

Edstaston, 330

Ellerdine, 388

— Oak House, 388

Ellerton, 261

— Hall, 261

Ellesmere, 219

— Castle, 219

— Chapels, 222

— Charities, 223

— Church, 220

— Court Leet, 222

— Fairs, 219

— Mechanics’ Institute, 222

— Savings’ Bank, 222

— Union House, 223

Elson & Greenhill, 235

Eminent Men, 136, 141, 205, 237, 282, 301, 315, 323, 330, 343, 344, 390, 464, 468, 475, 601, 669, 687

Emstrey, 366

Enchmarsh, 524

Ensdon, 252

— House, 253

Ercall Magna, 384

— Hall, 385

— Park, 385

— Lodge, 385

— Sherlow, 385

Ercall Childs, 278

Erway The, 233

Espley, 289

Eudon Burnell, 637

— Gorge, 637

Ewdness, 495

Evelith, 476

Eyton, (Alberbury), 672

Eyton & Plowden, 703

Eyton-on-the Wild-Moors, 392

— Hall, 393

— (Baschurch), 215

Eyton-on-Severn, 451

Exeter, Marquis of, 369

Faintree, 637

Farley, 681, 588

Farlow, 664

Farmcott, 468

Fauls, 306

Felhampton, 707

Felton Butler, 241

Fenn Gate, 495

Fennemere, 216

Fernhill, 211

Field Aston, 382

Finger Lane, 375

Fires, 405

First Fruits & Tenths, 25

Fitz, 135

— Hall, 136

Fletcher, Rev. Jno., 570

Ford, 676

— Hundred, 670

Forester, Lord, 591

Forton, 253

Frankton (English) 235

Frankfort (Welsh), 211

Friars, 24

Frodesley, 508

— Hall, 508

Funnanvair, 713

Gabowen, 210

Garmstone, 394

Gatacre, 468

General History of County, 7

Gentlemen’s Seats, 27

Glaseley, 645

Giant’s Grave, 157

Glanyrafon House, 155

Golding, 504

Goldston, 261

Grafton, 136

— Lodge, 136

Gravehanger, 298

Great Ness, 240

Greenhill, 235

Greet, 668, 667

Gretton, 546

Grimmer, 693

Grimpo, 205

Grindley Brook, 361

Grinshill, 136

Grove, 707

Guilden Down, 709

Guilds, 24

Habberley, 677

Habberley Office, 693

Hadley, 436

Hadnall, 142

Halford, 537

Hallon, 495

Halston, 147, 681

Hamlets, The, 514

Hampton Wood, 236

— Welsh, 255

Hanwood Great, 677

— Little, 681

Harcourt, 316

Harcourt, 659

Hardwick, 144, 236, 704

Harley by Wenlock, 589

— (Condover), 509

Harlscott, 132

Harmer Hill, 248, 251

Harnage, 504

Hartleberry, 495

Haston, 144

Hatton Cold, 387

Hatton by Eaton, 537

— Shiffnal, 476

Haughmond, 137

Haughton, 204

— (High Ercall), 389

— (Shiffnal), 477

— Hall, 477

— (Upton Magna), 420

Hawkstone, 285

Hayes, 693

Hayton Lower, 549

Hayton Upper, 549

Heath, 551

— Upper, 694

— Nether, 694

Heathton, 468

Heber Bishop, 281

Hem, 476

Hempton Load, 636

Hencott, 132

Hengoed Upper, 210

Henley, 665

Hentley or Henlle, 211

Henwicks Wood, 237

Herbert Lewd, 392

High Ercall, 384

— Hatton, 316

Highley, 645

Hill Cop Bank, 320

— Lord, 287, 301

— General Lord, 301

Hill-upon-Cott, 664

Hilton, 495

Hindford, 211

Hinnington, 476

Hinstock, 279

Hinton (Pontesbury), 681

— (Stottesden), 660

— (Whitchurch), 361

Hisland, 191

Hoccom, 495

Hockham, 495

Hockleton, 688

Hodnet, 280

Holdgate, 537

Holloway Ville, 542

Hollyhurst, 362

Holt Preen, 524

Holy Cross, 93

Holywell Lane, 375

Home 706

Homer, 589

Hooker Gate, 676

Hope, 694

— Baggot, 646

— Bendrid, 710

— Bowdler, 538

Hopesay, 701

Hopstone, 468

Hopton Castle, 702

— Cangeford, 539

— Court, 646

— and Espley, 289

— (Great Ness), 242

Hopton-in-the-Hole, 539

— Wafers, 646

Horderley, 701

Hordley, 244

Horton (St. Chad’s), 676

— (Wellington), 437

— (Wem), 332

Hospitals, 24

Howle, 374

Hughley, 564

Hundred of Albrighton, 132

— Bradford North, 256

— South, 364

— Brimstree, 452

— Chirbury, 687

— Clun, 707

— Condover, 498

— Ford, 670

— Munslow, 517

— Oswestry, 147

— Overs, 664

— Pimhill, 212

— Purslow, 696

— Stottesden, 610

— Wenlock Franchise, 554

Hungary Hatton, 270

Hungerford, 537

Hunkington, 420

Huntington, 566

Idsall, 476

Ifton Heath, 159

Ightfield, 292

Ingwardine, 660

Inwood, 680

Irelands Cross, 298

Iron Bridge, 568

Ironworks, 375, 438, 411, 654

Isle (The), 674

Isombridge, 389

Jackfield, 557

Jack of Corra, 305

Kemberton, 471

Kempton, 700

Kenley, 509

Kenstone, 289

Kenwick, 236

Kenwicks Wood, 337

Ketley, 438

Kevancalanog, 712

Kilhendre, 233

Kingslow, 495

Kingswood, 660

Kinlet, 647

Kinnerley, 148

Kinnersley 393

Kinnerley Argoed, 148

Kinnerton, 706

Kinton, 242

Knockin, 152

Knuck, 714

Knowbury St. Pauls, 635

Kynaston, 150

Lacon, 333

Lakes, 21

Langley, 499

Lawley, 439

Lawnt, 191

Lawton, 534

Lea and Oakley, 698

Lea, 681

Leasowes (The), 662

Leaton Knolls, 140

Leaton, 446

— (St. Mary’s) 141

Lee, 237

— Lee Bridge, 293

Leebotwood, 510

Lee Brockhurst, 293

— Gomery, 439

Leigh, 694

Leighton, 393, 694

Lilleshall, 394

— Abbey, 395

— House, 397

— Monument, 395

Lineal, 237

Linley (More), 703

— (Wenlock), 565

Little Betton, 499

— Brompton, 701

— Gane, 495

— Hanwood, 681

— Sutton, 534

— Shrawardine, 671

— Stretton, 530

— Wenlock, 565

Lizard Grange, 476

Llanvair Waterdine, 713

Llanforda, 191

Llanyblodwell, 153

Llanymyneck, 156

Llanytidman, 157

Llynck-lis-pool, 155

Llynclys, 155

Lodge The, 161

Longden, 681

Longden-upon-Tern, 399

Longford, 297, 399

Long Lane, 447

Longner, 134, 510

Longslow, 277

Longville, 537

Longwaist, 417

Loppington, 245

Lossford, 289

Lowe and Ditches, 333

Lowe, 660

Lower Down, 703

— Park, 534

Ludford, 540

Ludlow, 592

Ludstone, 468

Lurkinghope, 705

Lushcott, 537

Lutwyche Hall, 536

Ludbury North, 702

Lydham, 703

Lydley Heys, 524

Lyth, 503

Lythe (The), 231

Madeley, 567

Maesbrook Ucha, 151

— Issa, 150

Maesbury, 192

Magistrates, List of, 27

Mainstone, 714

Malins Lee, 375

Maneythesney, 713

Manufactures, 21

Manutton, 710

Marchamley, 290

Market Drayton, 262

Marrington, 688

Marsh, 685

Marsh Green, 389

Marton (Chirbury), 688

— (Middle), 251

— (Ellesmere), 237

Marton Old, 211

Mawley Manor House, 641

Meadow Town, 694

Medlicott, 706

Meeson, 370

— Hall, 370

Melverley, 162

Meole Brace, 511

Merehouse, 216

Merrington, 145

Messon, 370

Mickley, 306

Middle, 248

Middlehope, 534

Middleton (Alberbury), 672

— (Bitterley), 665

— (Chirbury), 689

— (Oswestry), 192

— Priors, 590

— Scriven, 648

Milford Hall, 217

Millen Heath, 307

Millichope, 537

— (Munslow), 542

Milson, 669

Mines, 21

Minsterley, 678

Minton, 530

Monasteries, see Abbeys

Monastic Institutions, 23

Monk Hopton, 579

Montford, 252

Mooretown, 388

Moore & Batchcot, 544

Moore, 544

Moot Hall, 68

Morton, 192

More, 703

Moreton Corbet, 293

Moreton Say, 295

Moretown, 89

Morewood, 704

Morrey, The, 258

Morville, 649

Moston, 316

Much Wenlock, 579

Muckleton, 312

Mucklewick, 691

Munslow, 541

— Hundred, 517

Muxton, 398

Myndtown, 704

Mytton, 136

Nash, 667

Neen Savage, 650

Neen Solars, 669

Neenton, 651

Nesscliff, 242

Ness Great, 240

— Little, 216

Netley, 515

Newcastle, 710

Newnes, 238

Newnham, 681

New Marton, 237

Newport, 400

Newton & Edgbold, 512

— and Spoonhill, 239

Newton, 142

— (Ellesmere) 239

— (Stottesden), 660

Newton on-the-Hill, 251

— (Worfield), 495

— (Westbury), 685

Newtown (Baschurch), 212

— (Wem), 333

Nobold, 512

Noneley, 248

Norbury, 704

Nordley Regis, 611

North Bradford Hundred, 256

Northwood (Ellesmere) 238

Northwood (Stottesden), 660

— (Wem), 334

Norton (Wroxeter), 451

— (Culmington), 532

Norton in Hales, 299

Nox, 682

Nursery, The, 205

Oaken Gates, 205

Oakes, 682

Oakley Park, 520

Obarris, 710

Obley, 700

Offa’s Dyke, 14, 210

Oldington, 495

Old Marlon, 211

Old Parr, 672

Old Oswestry, 169

Ollerton, 313

Onibury, 542

Onslow, 675

Oreton, 660

Orleton, 444

Osbaston, 151, 389

Oswestry, 163

— Hundred, 147

Oteley, 239

Overton, 545

— (Stottesden), 660

Overs, Hundred of, 664

Overton & Woofferton, 545

Oxen, 687

Palms Hill, 336

Pant, 190

Parish Registers, 26

Parr Old, 672

Patton, 550

Pave Lane, 382

Peaton, 534

Peerlogue, 710

Pentre Coed, 234

— (Edgerley), 150

Pentregaer, 193

Pentrehodrey, 710

Pentre Pant Hall, 200

— Ucha Hall, 151

— Shannel House, 194

Peplow, 290

Perthy Bank, 236

Petton, 253

Picklescott, 514

Pickstock, 383

Pickthorn, 660

Pimhill, 248

— Hundred, 212

Pimley House, 146

Pipegate, 298

Pitchford, 513

Pixley, 280

Plaish, 524

Plas-Yollen, 233

Plas-Warren, 233

Plealey, 682

Plowden, 703

Pontesbury, 679

Pontesford, 682

Population, 23

Porkington, 200

Porthywaen, 156

Posenhall, 556

Poston, 534

Poston Lower, 542

Poynton, 389

Preceptories, 24

Prees, 301

Prees-gwene House, 161

Prescott, 217

— (Stottesden), 660

Presthorpe, 589

Preston Brockhurst, 295

— Gobalds, 145

Preston-upon-the-Wild Moors, 415

— Montford, 684

— Boats, 420

— Wood, 295

Priestweston, 689

Priors Ditton, 589

Priors Lee, 476

Priories, 24

Providence Grove, 143

Pully, 512

Purslow Hundred, 696

Queen Anne’s Bounty, 25

Quatford, 652

Quatt, 654

— Jarvis, 654

— Malvern, 654

Quinta, The, 161

Ragdon, 539

Railways, 21

Ratlinghope, 704

Redcastle Hill, 288

Rednal, 204

Reilth, 714

Rhiston, 691

Rhos Goch, 694

Rhuddleford, 495

Richards Castle, 543

Ridge Higher, 239

— Lower, 239

Rindleford, 495

Ritton, 706

Rivers, 19

Roads, 21

Rock, 549

Rodington, 417

Roden, 390

Rodney’s Pillar, 672

Roman Invasion, 9

Romsley, 611

Roowood, 336

Rorrington, 689

Rossal, 674

Roughton, 495

Round Acton, 610

Rowley, 495

Rowton, 390

Rowton, 672

— (Stokesay), 553

Royal Oak, 463

Ruckley, 499

Rudge, 656

Rugantine, 712

Rushbury, 545

Roman Stations, 449, 545, 518, 654, 671, 694

Rushton, 451

Rushmore, 446

Ruthall, 590

Ruyton-of-the-Eleven-Towns, 196

Ryton, 472, 503

Sambrook, 261

Sandford, 204

— (Prees), 307

Sascott, 682

Saxon Gods, 14

Scrimage, 531

Selattyn, 199

Selley, 713

Severn, The, 19

Shadwell, 710

Shavington, 258

Shawbury, 309

Sheet, 540

Sheinton, 657

Shelbrook, 234

Shelderton, 700

Shelton & Oxon, 686

Shelve, 691

Shelvock, 198

Sheriff Hales, 397

Sherlowe, 385

Shiffnal, 473

Shineton, 657

Shipley, 469

Shipton, 547

Shotton, 144

Shooters Hill, 141

Shotatton, 199

Shrawardine, 254

— Little, 671

Shrewsbury, from 33 to 132

— Abbey, 49 and 72

— Abbots of, 74

— Almshouses, 85

— Annals, 79

— Anct. Mansions, 78

— Antiquarian and Nat. His. Society, 64

— Aquatic Excur., 72

— Assembly Rooms, 72

— Asylum, 66

— Barons of, 36

— Battle of, 36 & 133

— Baths Royal, 66

— Billiard Rooms, 72

— Bridges, 68

— Canal, 65

— Cattle Market, 68

— Chapels Ancient, 55

— Chapels Dissent, 55

— Charities, 82 to 93

— Charters, 44

— Coleham, 93

— Corporation, 42

— Council House, 78

— County Constab., 43

— County and Town Gaol, 63

— County Hall, 62

— Drapers Hall, 70

— Directory, 95

— Dispensary, 62

— Early Gov. of, 41

— Earls of, 35, 73

— Eye & Ear Dispensary, 62

— Frankwell, 93

— Fairs, 68

— Floods, 81

— Gaol, 63

— Gas Works, 67

— Gates & Posterns, 77

— Glass Staining, 71

— Great Parlia., 36

— Holy Cross and St. Giles, 93

— Hospital, St. Giles, 51

— Hill’s Mansion, 79

— House of Indus., 65

— House of Correc., 65

— Infirmary, 61

— Ireland’s Mansion, 79

— Jones’s Mansion, 79

— Kingsland, 72

— Library Subscription, 65

— Lord Hill’s Column, 67

— Markets, 68

— Market Hall, 63

— Market House, 63

— Mechanics’ Institute, 65

— Meole Brace, 93

— Mercer’s Hall, 71

— Monastic Foundation, 72

— Monks of, 73

— Municipal Act, 42

— Music Hall, 64

— Newspapers, 64

— News Room, 65

— Parishes of, 92

— Parliament at, 36

— Population, 34

— Public Buildings, 61

— Quarry The, 71

— Races, 72

— Railway Station, 67

— Savings’ Bank, 66

— Schools, 57 to 61

— Severn River, 33

— Show, 71

— — Cakes, 71

— — Brawn, 71

— Simnell Cake, 71

— Streets, 94

— Subscrip. Library, 65

— Tailors’ Hall, 71

— Theatre, 64

— Town Hall, 62

— Town Walls, 77

— Trade, 69

— Trade Directy., 115

— Water Works, 66

— St. Alkmund’s Parish, 92

— St. Chad’s Parish, 93

— St. Julian’s Parish, 93

— St. Mary’s Parish, 93

Shropshire Giant, 240

Siberscott, 682

Sibdon Carwood, 705

— Castle, 705

Sidbury, 657

Siefton, 532

Silvington, 670

Skeletons, 157

Skyborry, 714

Sleap, (Ercall), 388

Sleap, (Wem), 335

Smethcott, 144

Smethcott, 513

Snailbeach Mine, 678

Snedshill, 477

— Ironworks and Collieries, 477

Snitton, 665

Sodylt Hall, 234

Soil and Produce, 22

Sowdley Great, 262

Soulton, 335

South Bradford Hundred, 364

Spoad, 710

Spoonhill, 239

Spoonley, 258

Spray Hill, 384

Stableford, 495

St. Almund’s, 92

St. Chad’s, 93

St. Paul’s, Knowbury, 635

Stanford, 672

Stanmore, 495

Stanton-upon-Hine Heath, 314

— Lacy, 548

— Long, 550

— Shiffnal, 476

Stanwardine-in-the-Fields, 217

— in-the Woods, 217

Stanway, 547

Stapleton, 515

Steele, 307

Stiperstone Hill, 507

Stirchley, 418

— Hall, 418

— Ironworks, 418

St. Julian’s, 93

St. Martin’s, 158

St. Bryngwyla School, 159

St. Mary’s, 93

St. Winefred’s Well, 206

Stitt and Gatten, 705

Stocks and Coptiviney, 239

Stockett, 236

Stockton, 484

— Park, 485

Stockton-by-Newport, 400

Stockton-by-Chirbury, 689

Stoke-by-Burford, 667

Stoke-upon-Terne, 312

Stoke, St. Milborough, 550

Stoke, Say, 552

Stone Acton, 547

Stottesden, 657

— Hundred, 610

Stowe, 705

Strefford, 707

Stretton, 685

— All, 530

— Church, 524

— Little, 530

Styche & Woodlands, 297

Sundorne Castle, 138

Sugdon, 407

Sutherland, 1st Duke of, 394

Sutton, (Claverley) 469

— (Drayton), 278

Sutton-by-Chelmarsh, 636

Sutton-by-Shrewsbury, 515

— Spa, 516

Sutton-by-West Felton, 204

— Maddock, 486

— Little, 534

— Great, 535

— Court, 534

Swancote, 495

Swerney, 193

— Hall, 194

Sychtyn, 201

Sylattin, 199

Tan-coed-y-gaer, 193

Talbot John, 338 & 357

Tasley, 662

Tedsmere, 205

Tern, 392

— House, 392

Tetchill, 239

Thanes, 521

Thoughlands, 542

Ticklerton, 537

Tibberton, 384

Tilley, 336

— Green, 336

Tilsop, 667

Tilstock, 362

Timberth, 689

Tir-y-coed, 152

Tobacco Pipes Manufactory, 556

Tonge, 486

— Castle, 487

Totterton, 703

Trebert, 714

Trebrodier, 712

Trefarclawdd, 194

Treflach, 194

Trefnant, 672

Trefonnen, 195

Trelystan, 694

Trench, 240

Trench-by-Wem, 336

— Lane, 448

Treprenal, 157

Treverward, 710

Triptych, 666

Tugford, 553

Twyford, 205

Tylsoer Dr., 343

Tyn-y-rhos, 162

Uckington, 367

Uffington, 145

Uppington, 418

Uppington, 672

Upton Cresset, 662

— Magna, 419

— Parva, or Waters Upton, 421

Vennington, 685

Wackley Lodge, 232

Walcot-by-Chirbury, 689

Walcot-by-Wellington, 439

Walcot Hall, 702

Walford, 218

Walker’s Lowe, 661

Wallop, 685

Wall-under-Haywood, 547

Walton-by-Ercall, 392

Walton-by-Onibury, 543

Walton-by-Wenlock, 588

Walton-by-Worthen, 695

Walton-by-Stottesden, 661

Wappenshall, 439

Wars, 9

Waters Upton, 421

Watling Street, 426

Watts Dyke, 210

Wattlesborough, 672

Wellington, 421

— Fairs, 422

— Gas Works, 424

— History, 422 to 425

— Horticultural Society, 425

— Market Hall, 423

— News Room, 424

— Old Hall, 425

— Schools, 423

— Streets, 427

Welsh Frankton, 211

— Hampton, 255

Wem, 317

Wenlock Much, 579

— Edge, 589

— Franchise, 554

— Little, 565

Wentnor, 705

Westbury, 684

West Felton, 202

— Foreign Libty., 641

— Hamlet, 549

Westhope, 535

Westley, 503

Westley, 685

Weston-by-Clun, 709

Weston-by-Burford, 667

Weston Cotton, 195

Weston-by-Hopton, 579

Weston Lullingfield, 218

—Rhyn, 161

— Coalworks, 161

— Under Red Castle, 290

— Stowe, 705

Wettleton, 553

Whattall, 236

Wheathill, 663

Wheathall, 503

Wheel Green, 496

Whetmore, 667

Whitchurch, 337

Whitcott & Hardwick, 704

Whitcott Evan, 710

Whitcott Keysett, 711

White Ladies, 463

Whitley, 676

Whittington, 207

Whitton-by-Westbury, 685

Whitton-by-Burford, 667

Wicherley Hall, 218

Whixall, 307

Whigmore, 685

Whigwig, 589

Wikey, 199

Wilcott, 244

Wilderhope, 547

Wilderley, 508

Willaston, 308

Willey, 591

Wilmington, 689

Willstone, 524

Winnington, 672

Winsbury, 689

Winscote, 496

Winsley, 685

Wirswall, 364

Wistanstow, 706

Wistanswick, 373

Withington, 440

Wittingslow, 707

Wixhall, 291

Wollascott, 142

Wollaston, 672

Wollerton, 291

Wolf’s Head, 242

Wolverley, 336

Wombridge, 440

— Priory, 441

Woodbatch, 698

Woodcote, 442

Woodcote-by-St. Chad’s, 676

Woodhall, 681

Woodhouse, 477

Woodhouse, 204

Woodhouses New, 363

Woodhouses Old, 363

Woodlands, 297

Woodseaves, 278

Woodside, 477

Woofferton, 545

Woolstaston, 516

Woolston, 206

Woolston, 707

Woore, 298

Wooton, 196

Wootton, 549

Worfield, 491

Worthen, 692

Wotherton, 689

Woundale, 469

Wrentnall, 508

Wrickton, 661

Wrockwardine, 443

— Wood, 447

Wroxeter, 448

Wycherley The Poet, 141

Wyke, 476

Wyke-by-Wenlock, 558

Wyken, 496

Wykey, 199

Wytheford Magna, 312

Wytheford Parva, 312

Yeaton, 219

Yockleton, 685

Yorton, 134

GENERAL HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF SHROPSHIRE.

SHROPSHIRE is an inland county on the borders of Wales, bounded on the north by Denbighshire, Cheshire, and a detached part of Flintshire: on the east by Staffordshire: on the south by Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and Radnorshire: and on the west by Montgomery and Denbighshire. In length, from north to south, it is about forty-five miles, and its extreme breadth thirty-five. Its circumference is computed at 200 miles; and it comprises an area of 1,343 square statute miles, and, consequently, 859,520 acres. The county, in Saxon annals, is called _Scrobbesbyrig_ and _Scrobbescire_, and by Latin authors, _Comitates Salopiensis_. It is one of the shires, which, in the time of the Romans, was inhabited by the Cornavii, whose province comprehended the counties of Cheshire, Salop, Stafford, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. At the census of 1801, the county embraced a population of 167,639 souls: 1831, 222,800: 1841, 239,048, of whom 119,355 were males, and 119,693 females. At the same period, there were 47,208 inhabited houses, 2,086 uninhabited, and 293 houses building. The number of persons born in the county in these returns was 203,689: in other counties, 3,240: in Scotland, 391: in Ireland, 1,199: in the British colonies, 14: foreigners in the county, 161: not specified where born, 1,144. Of the total population, 55,645 males, and 54,624 females, were under 20 years of age: 12,189 were between sixty and seventy years of age: 6,006 between seventy and eighty: 1,905 between eighty and ninety: 139 between ninety and one hundred: and the age of 5 persons exceeded one hundred years. The total population of the fifteen unions, into which the county of Shropshire is divided, at the census of 1851, are returned as containing 245,019 inhabitants, of whom 122,122 were males, and 122,997 females.

Shropshire is divided into the hundreds of Albrighton, Bradford, Brimstree, Chirbury, Clun, Condover, Ford, Munslow, Oswestry, Overs, Pimhill, Purslow, Stottesden, and Wenlock franchise, and contains 224 parishes, and 5 extra-parochial places. By the recent Reform and Division of Counties’ Acts, this county is divided into the northern and southern divisions, each of which returns two members to Parliament. The boroughs of Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, and Wenlock also return two members each. The expenditure of the county for the year ending December, 1850, was £12,156. 17s. 4¼d., of which £3,587. 10s. 2d. was expended on the Gaol and House of Correction; £2,257. 10s. 7d. in prosecutions; £605. 17s. 5d. on bridges and roads; £562. 13s. 4d. on the Lunatic Asylum; coroners, £501. 1s. 2d., and Clerk of the Peace, £436. 4s. 9d. Judge Blackstone says:—England was first divided into counties, hundreds, and tithings by Alfred the Great, for the protection of property and the execution of justice. Tithings were so called because ten freeholders formed one. Ten of these tithings were supposed to form a hundred or wapentake, from an ancient ceremony, in which the governor of a hundred met all the aldermen of his district, and holding up his spear, they all touched it with theirs, in token of subjection and union to one common interest. An indifferent number of these wapentakes, or hundreds, form a county or shire, for the civil government of which a shire-reeve or sheriff is elected annually. The magistrate above the hundredry was called the trithingman or lathgrieve, presided over three, four, or more, hundreds, formed into what was called a trithing, in some places a lathe, and in others a rape; hence the lathes of Kent, the rapes of Sussex, the parts of Lincoln, and trithings or ridings of Yorkshire. The kingdom was divided into parishes soon after the introduction of Christianity, by Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 636, and the boundaries of them, as marked in Doomsday book, agree very nearly with the present division. The custom, which still continues, of making the hundreds responsible for the excesses of a lawless mob, is an appendage of the Saxon system of tithing. As the extreme ignorance of the age made deeds and writings very rare, the County or Hundred Court was the place where the most remarkable civil transactions, were finished, and, in order to preserve a memorial of them, and prevent all future disputes, here testaments were promulgated, slaves manumitted, bargains of sale concluded, and, sometimes, for greater security, the most considerable of these deeds were inserted in the blank leaves of the parish Bible, which thus became a kind of register, too sacred to be falsified. It was not unusual to add to the deed an imprecation on all such as should be guilty of that crime. In the County Court or shiremotes, all the freeholders were assembled twice a year, and received appeals from the other inferior courts. They there decided all causes, ecclesiastical as well as civil, and the Bishop, together with the Alderman or Earl, presided over them. All affairs were determined without much pleading, formality, or delay, by a majority of voices, and the Bishop or Alderman had no further authority than to order among the freeholders. Where justice was denied during three sessions by the Hundred, and then by the County Court, there lay an appeal to the King’s Court; but this was not practised on slight occasions. Two-thirds of the fines levied in these Courts went to the King, and made no contemptible share of the public revenue.

Historians all agree that the Aborigines of Britain were a tribe of Gauls, who emigrated from the continent, probably a thousand years before the Christian era. Previous to the Roman conquest, the ancient Britons inhabiting the southern parts of the island had made some little progress towards civilization, but those in the north were wild and uncultivated, and subsisted chiefly by hunting and the spontaneous productions of the earth, wearing for their clothing the skins of animals killed in the chase, and dwelling in habitations formed of the interwoven branches of the forest. They were divided into small nations or tribes. Each state was divided into factions within itself, and was agitated with emulation towards the neighbouring states; and while the arts of peace were yet unknown, wars were their chief occupation, and formed the principal object of ambition among the people. Their religion was Druidical, but its origin is not known. Some assert that the Druids accompanied the Gauls in early ages, and others that Druidism was first introduced into England by the Phœnicians, who were the first merchants that traded to this island, and for a considerable time monopolized a profitable trade in tin and other useful metals. Their government, (according to Diodorus Siculus, the ancient historian,) though monarchical, was free, and their religion, which formed one part of their government, was Druidical. Justice was dispensed, not under any written code of laws, but on equitable principles; and on difference of opinion in the assembled congress, appeal was made to the Arch-Druid, whose decision was final. Their religious ceremonies were performed in high places and in deep groves, and consisted in worshipping the God of nature, and rendering him praise on the yearly accession of the seasons. The priests possessed great authority among them, besides ministering at the altar, and directing all religious duties; they enjoyed an immunity from wars and taxes; they possessed both the civil and criminal jurisdiction; they decided all controversies among estates, as well as among private persons, and whoever refused to submit to their decree, was exposed to the most severe penalties; the sentence of excommunication was denounced against him; he was forbidden access to the sacrifices of public worship; he was debarred all intercourse with his tribe, even in the common affairs of life; he was refused the protection of law, and death itself became an acceptable relief from the misery and infamy to which he was exposed.

The means by which religion was supported was by voluntary offerings and tithes, and in this respect we find a similarity with all nations of antiquity. Despite the corruptions and philosophical atheism in which the Druidical religion became involved, candour demands of us that the Druids were in possession of learning as extensive and more useful than some of their Christian posterity, who, from the eighth century to the Reformation, were almost wholly employed in scholastic divinity, metaphysical or chronological disputes, legends, miracles, and martyrologies, and Dr. Kennedy informs us that in St. Patrick’s time no fewer than 300 volumes of their books were burnt, and no doubt the same was practised so long as a volume could be found. By this destruction a wide chasm has been made in the historical details of this country. Julius Cæsar, in his “_Commentarii de Bello Gallico_,” informs us that the Druids inculcated the doctrine of the immortality and transmigration of the soul, and discoursed with the “Youth about the heavenly bodies, their motion, the size of the heavens and the earth, the nature of things, and the influence and power of the immortal Gods.” The misletoe was their chief specific in medicine, and nothing was held so sacred as the misletoe of the oak, which, being scarce, was gathered with great ceremony on a certain day appointed for their general festival. In the civil government of this ancient people capital offenders were sentenced to death, and sacrificed in the most solemn manner. The spoils of war were often devoted to their divinities on the altars of their temples. At the time of the Roman invasion the British Druids exerted their utmost zeal in opposing the usurpation of that foreign power. The invaders on the other hand fired with equal resentment, endeavoured to establish their security by the extermination of the Druidic order, and its priests were sacrificed to this barbarous policy; many fled to the island of Anglesey, and afterwards perished in the flames by the orders of Seutonius, and great numbers were cut off in an unsuccessful revolt of the Britons, under Queen Boadicea, after which the power and splendour of the Druids rapidly declined. No species of superstition was ever more terrible than that of the Druids; no idolatrous worship ever attained such an ascendant over mankind; and the Romans after their conquest finding it impossible to reconcile those notions to the laws and institutions of their masters, while it maintained its authority, were at last obliged to abolish it by penal statutes—a violence which had never in any other instance been practised by these tolerating conquerors.

The Britons had long remained in a rude and independent state, when Cæsar, having overrun all Gaul by his victories, first cast his eye on this island, and being ambitious of carrying his arms into a new world then mostly unknown, he took advantage of a short interval in his continental wars, and made an invasion in Britain fifty-five years before the birth of Christ. In his first expedition the Kentish Britons immediately opposed him, and compelled him to fight in the vicinity of Dover, combating even amongst the waves with singular courage; and, although Cæsar, observing his troops to be dispirited by the attacks of the enemy, ordered up his vessels with his artillery, and poured from their sides stones, arrows, and missiles; yet the natives sustained these unusual discharges with unshaken intrepidity, and the invaders made no impression until the standard bearer of the 10th legion rushed forward, exclaiming, “Follow me, unless you mean to betray your standard to your enemies.” Upon which the Roman legions were incited to that desperate and close battle, which at length forced back the Britons and secured a landing. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood then sent a message of peace, but four days afterwards a tempest dispersing the enemy’s fleet they attacked the Romans afresh. Cæsar’s invasion in the ensuing summer was more formidable: it was made with five well appointed legions, and two thousand cavalry, amounting in the whole to thirty thousand of the best disciplined troops then known, and under the ablest commanders. Terrified at the menacing approach of such a force, the inhabitants retired among the hills, and Cæsar having effected a landing without opposition, and chosen a proper place for the security of his fleet, (supposed to be where the town of Deal, in Kent, now stands), hastened on to the scene of conflict, and found the Britons had assembled in great numbers from all parts, who continued an unequal contest with the Roman legions for several days, but were at length utterly routed, and great numbers of them slain, nor did the Britons ever after this engage the Romans with their united forces. Cæsar then led his army to the river Thames, towards the territories of Cassivellaunus, the principal leader of the defeated Britons, on the submission of whom, and having imposed an annual tribute on the vanquished, and received the hostages which he demanded, marched back to the sea shore, and shortly after took his final leave of Britain. The civil wars which ensued, and which ended in the establishment of an absolute monarchy at Rome, saved the Britons from that yoke which was about to be imposed on them, the conquerors having little force to spare for the preservation of distant conquests; the Britons were therefore left to themselves, and for nearly a century after the invasion of Cæsar, enjoyed unmolested their own civil and religious institutions. In the interval between the first and second invasion of Britain by the Romans, the founder of the Christian religion had accomplished his divine mission, in a province of the Roman empire, but almost without observation at Rome. In the reign of Claudius the Romans began to think seriously of reducing the Britons under their dominion, and Plautius, an able general, sent over A.D. 43, gained some victories, and made considerable progress in subduing the inhabitants. Claudius himself finding matters sufficiently prepared for his reception, made a journey into Britain, and received the submission of several British states, among which were the Cantic, Antrebates, Regni, and Trinobantes, who inhabited the south-east part of the island. The other Britons under the command of Caractacus still maintained an obstinate resistance, and the Romans made little progress against them till Ostorious Scapula was sent over, in the year 50, to command the armies. This general rapidly advanced the Roman conquests over the Britons, pierced into the country of the Silures—a warlike tribe who inhabited the banks of the Severn, and fought a great battle with Caractaeus upon the hill called Caer Caradoc, not far from Clun, on which are the remains of an ancient fortification still to be seen. In this battle the British leader artfully availed himself of his knowledge of the country, and posted himself on a spot, the approaches and retreats of which were as advantageous to his own party as they were perplexing to the enemy. Caractacus running from one part of the camp to another, animated them by the valorous deeds of their ancestors, and told them that the work of that day would be the beginning of new liberty or of eternal slavery. The people received these animated harangues with loud acclamations, and engaged according to the solemn rites of their religion, never to yield to weapons or wounds. Their resolution astonished the Roman general, and the river which flows at the foot of the hill, together with the ramparts and steeps, presented to the assailants a formidable and resolute appearance. The Britons, who had no armour or helmets to shelter them, were at length thrown into confusion, and great numbers of them perished by the broad swords and javelins of the legionaries, who obtained an illustrious victory. The wife and daughter of Caractacus were taken prisoners, and his brother submitted to the conqueror. Caractacus threw himself upon the protection of the Queen of Brigantes, and was treacherously delivered up to the Romans shortly after. The fame of Caractacus had reached Rome, and the people were assembled as to some great sight when the British prisoners arrived there. First in the procession we are informed came the king’s dependants and retinue, and the trappings and collars and trophies which he had won in war; next his brothers, his wife and daughter, and last himself was presented to public view; his body was mostly naked and painted with figures of beasts; he wore a chain of iron about his neck, and another about his middle; the hair on his head hanging down in curled locks covered his back and shoulders. Caractacus neither by his looks nor language pleaded for mercy, and when he came before the Emperor’s seat expressed himself in these terms:—“Had I made that prudent use of my prosperity, which my rank and fortune would have enabled me to make, I had come hither rather as a friend, than as a prisoner; nor would you have disdained the alliance of one descended from illustrious ancestors, and sovereign over many nations. My present condition, disgraceful as it is to myself, reflects glory on you. Possessed as I once was of horses, men, arms, and wealth, what wonder is it if I parted from them with reluctance. Had I sooner been betrayed, I had neither been distinguished by misfortune nor you by glory. But if you now save my life I shall be an eternal monument of your clemency.” The Emperor generously granted the pardon of Caractacus, his wife, and brothers, who remained at Rome in the highest esteem. At this time Christianity was preached in the imperial city, and Brennus with others of his family became Christians. At the expiration of seven years they were permitted to return, and were thus furnished with a favourable opportunity of introducing the Gospel into their own country, and were instrumental in reclaiming many of the Britons from their ancient superstitions. It does not appear that Caractacus was converted to Christianity at Rome, but his son Cyllin, and his daughter Eigen, are both ranked among the British saints. Eigen bestowed her hand on a British chieftain, and Claudia, one of her sisters, is supposed to have become the wife of Pudens, a Roman senator.

Notwithstanding the misfortunes that befel Caractacus, the Britons were not subdued; and this island was regarded by the ambitious Romans as a field in which military honor might still be acquired. During the reign of Nero, Suetonius Paulinus was invested with the command, and prepared to signalise his name by victories over these barbarians. Finding that the island of Mona, (now Anglesey), was the chief seat of the Druids, he resolved to attack it, and to subject a place which was the centre of superstition, and which afforded protection to all their baffled forces. The Britons endeavoured to obstruct his landing on this sacred island, both by the force of arms and the terrors of their religion. The women and priests were intermingled with the soldiers upon the shore, and running about with flaming torches in their hands, and tossing their dishevelled hair; they struck greater terror into the astonished Romans by their howlings, cries, and execrations, than the real danger from the armed forces. But Suetonius exhorting his troops to contemn a superstition which they despised, impelled them to the attack, drove the Britons off the field, burned the Druids in the same fires which they had prepared for their captive enemies, destroyed all the consecrated groves and altars, and, having thus triumphed over the religion of the Britons, he thought his future progress would be easy in reducing the people to subjection.

The Britons, taking advantage of the absence of Suetonius, were shortly after in arms, headed by Boadicea, the Queen of the Iceni, who had been treated in the most ignominious manner by the Roman tribunes, and had already attacked with success several settlements of their insulting conquerors; the Romans, and all strangers, to the number of 70,000, resident in London, are said to have been massacred: thus determined were the British to cut off all hopes of peace or compromise with the enemy. But this cruelty was revenged by Suetonius, in a great and decisive battle, where 80,000 Britons perished, and Boadicea herself, rather than fall into the hands of the enraged victor, put an end to her own life by poison. But the dominion of the Romans was not finally established till A.D. 80, when the Roman legions were placed under the command of Julius Agricola. This celebrated commander formed a regular plan of subduing Britain, and rendering the acquisition useful to the conquerors. He carried his victorious arms northward, defeated the Britons in every encounter, pierced into the forests and mountains of Caledonia, reduced everything to subjection in the southern parts of the island and chased before him all the men of fiercer and more intractable spirits, who deemed war and death itself less tolerable than servitude under the victors. Agricola endeavoured to secure his conquest by erecting a chain of forts across the isthmus between the Frith of Forth and the Clyde, and in the year 84 he extended a chain of stations from Solway Frith to Tynemouth. He introduced laws and civilization among the Britons, taught them to desire and raise all the conveniences of life, reconciled them to the Roman language and manners, instructed them in letters and science, and employed every expedient to render those chains which he had forged both easy and agreeable to them. The inhabitants having experienced how unequal their own force was to resist that of the Romans, acquiesced in the dominion of their masters, and were gradually incorporated as a part of that mighty empire. The chain of stations erected by Agricola was afterwards connected by an earthen rampart, raised by the Emperor Adrian as an obstruction to the Caledonians, who frequently descended and committed the most dreadful ravages in the Roman territories.

The early commerce of the ancient Britons was carried on by barter, without the aid of money, but about the commencement of the Christian era a mint master was invited over to Britain from the continent. A mint was erected at Colchester, and money of gold, silver and copper was coined in that city; about forty different specimens have reached our times. Mines both of silver and gold were worked in the island during the reigns of Augustus and Trajan. The Romans drew their revenues from various sources; commerce, mines, legacies, houses, and lands all contributed to supply their exactions; and as they had suggested to the natives the mode of making money, they did not fail to supply the exhausted treasury of Rome from the industry of Britain. A succession of ages had almost identified the Britains with the Roman conquerors; and when the Emperors, pressed by difficulties at home, and weakened by their possessions abroad, began to withdraw their legions from this island, the inhabitants importuned them to remain, to protect them from the incursions of the Picts and Scots. The wall of Severus was no longer a barrier to these semi-barbarians. During the residence of the Romans in this island, comprehending a period of 400 years, many great public works were accomplished, and they left behind them numerous monuments of their skill and industry. The conquered country was divided into six provinces, each of them governed by a prætor and præstor, the former charged with the general administration of government, and the latter with the management of finances.

In the year 450, two years after the last Roman legion had quitted England, Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, reputed descendants in the fourth generation from Wodin, one of the principal gods of the Saxons, embarked their army, to the number of 1,600, on board three vessels, and landing in the Isle of Thanet, immediately marched to the defence of the Britons, who had invited them over to protect them against their northern invaders. Having expelled the enemy, the fertility and richness of the country presented a temptation too strong to be resisted by the ambition of these newly acquired friends, who soon began to aspire to the possession of the island. The Saxons of Germany soon after reinforced Hengist and Horsa with 5,000 men, who came over in seventeen vessels. Roused by this display of treachery, the native inhabitants flew to arms, and fought many battles under Vortimer with their enemies; the victories, however, in these actions are disputed by the British and Saxon annalist, but the progress made by the Saxons proves that the advantage was commonly on their side. It was about the year 455 the Hengists aiming at an independent sovereignty in Britain, began the conquest of the territory, and a series of battles ensued between Hengist and Horsa on the one side, and Vortimer and Catigern, two sons of Vortigern, on the other. The battle of Aylesford is memorable for the death of Horsa on the side of the Saxons, and of Catigern on that of the Britons. But Hengist, continually reinforced by fresh numbers from Germany, carried devastation into the most remote corners of Britain; and being chiefly anxious to spread the terrors of his arms, he spared neither age, sex, nor condition, wherever he marched with his victorious forces. The private and public edifices of the Britons were reduced to ashes, the priests were slaughtered on the altars; others deserted their native country and took shelter in Armorica, where, being charitably received by a people of the same language and manners, they settled in great numbers, and gave the country the name of Brittany.