Chapter III: Part 3

ECCLESIASTICAL REVENUES.—The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were appointed under an act passed in the 6th and 7th of William IV., for the general improvement and equalization of the dioceses, for the dividing of extensive parishes, and augmenting small livings, and the adopting such other measures as may conduce to the efficiency of the Established Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Gloucester, the Lord High Chancellor, the President of the Council, the Lord High Treasurer, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with others, form a body politic and corporate, by the name of the “Ecclesiastical Commissioners of England,” for the purpose of the said act. The Commissioners reported, in 1835, that the total amount of the gross annual revenues of the several Archiepiscopal and Episcopal Sees of England and Wales was £181,631. The total amount of the net annual revenues of the several cathedral and collegiate churches in England and Wales was £284,241; and the total amount of the net revenues of the same, £208,209. The total amount of the gross annual separate revenues of the several dignitaries and other spiritual persons, members of the cathedrals and other collegiate churches, in England and Wales, was £75,854. The total number of benefices, with and without cure of souls, the incumbents whereof have made enquiries to the returns of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, omitting those which are permanently or occasionally annexed to superior preferments, are 10,540; the gross annual revenue of these benefices is £3,197,225; giving an average income of £303. The total number of benefices, with and without cure of souls, in England and Wales, including those not returned, but exclusive of those annexed to other preferments, (about 24 in number) is 10,718; the total gross income of which, calculated upon the average of those returned, amounts to £3,251,159; and the net income thereof, £3,055,451. The number of curates returned, as employed by resident incumbents, was 1000, whose annual stipends or payments in money amounted to £87,075; affording an average of £86, Those employed by non-residents were 4,124; the amount of their stipends, £337,620; average, £79: and the average of the whole of the curates’ stipends, £81. In concluding their report, the commissioners state that the archbishops and bishops in possession of their preferments, are subject to heavy expenses, and that the charges for first fruits and fees generally exceed the amount of their receipts for the first two or three years, after entering office.

QUEEN ANNE’S BOUNTY; FIRST FRUITS AND TENTHS.—From the earliest periods every bishop and clergyman has been required to pay the amount of his first year’s incumbency into a fund, and every succeeding year one tenth. These first fruits and tenths were formerly collected at their full value, and applied to the use of the pope, as early as the time of Pope Nicholas (A.D. 1200). For this purpose a valuation was made of all the livings in England, which is still preserved in the Remembrancer’s office, and designated, “Valor of Pope Nicholas IV.” At the time of the Reformation, King Henry VIII. passed a law, with the sanction of Parliament, declaring that the first fruits and tenths should be appropriated to the use of the state; and he caused an accurate and full valuation to be made of all the ecclesiastical livings in England and Wales, which were accordingly paid into the public exchequer, till the reign of Queen Anne, with the exception of a short period in the reign of Philip and Mary. Queen Anne, deploring the wretched condition in which many of the clergy were placed, owing to the insufficiency of their livings, came to the determination that the first fruits and tenths should be paid into a fund, called _Queen Anne’s Bounty_, and that the amount should be appropriated to the livings of the poor clergy. No fresh valuation has been made since 1535, and registered in what is now called the _King’s Book_, till that made by order of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in 1835, on which the payments are now regulated. That the payments might not operate oppressively, the first year’s income was to be paid in four annual instalments; and livings of small value were entirely exempt, and hence, called “_Discharged livings_.” During the time of Popery, a large portion of the tithes had been alienated from the parishes, for the endowment of religious houses, or for chantries, to say masses for the dead. These endowments, at the Reformation, being seized by Henry VIII., left the greater part of the parochial livings very poor. The governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, sometimes aided by benefactions, and at others by Parliamentary grants, for the endowment of churches, have been able to augment many of the poorest livings, and now the resources at the command of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by various reductions in cathedral and collegiate churches, will cause the church livings, in a few years, to be considerably equalized: The receipts for the year 1846, amounted to £206,502.

CHARITIES.—The parochial accounts of the posthumous charities are given from the voluminous reports of the commissioners deputed by parliament to enquire into the state and appropriation of public charities in England. This commission commenced in 1817, and was not finished till the year 1839. The charities bequeathed by numerous individuals for the education and relief of the poor of this county, produce collectively the large sum of £21,578. 6s. 4d. In addition to this a very large amount is subscribed by the benevolent inhabitants, for the support of the various charitable institutions, among which are free schools, hospitals, dispensaries, lunatic asylums, and various societies for relieving the poor, &c. The summary of the reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into charities show that in England there are 442,915 acres, or about 690 square miles, belonging to charities, which is little less than the area of Worcestershire. The rent of these lands is £874,313 per annum. The amount of rent charge is near £80,000 per annum, a great part of which is made up of very small sums. The interest of the money (above £6,000,000) which belongs to charities is £255,151 per annum; the whole income of the charity property inquired into by the commissioners is £1,209,395 per annum. Now all this is not derived from one plain single source, but from all the counties of England; from numerous rent charges, money in the funds, mortgages, personal and turnpike securities, &c. Further, this only includes the charities inquired into by the commissioners. We believe that the commissioners have here and there missed a few charities. New charities are daily increasing, and those not included in the inquiry are very numerous.

PARISH REGISTERS.—The earliest of the parish registers date from the establishment of the Church of England, injunctions to this effect having been issued by Cromwell, Henry’s vicegerent in ecclesiastical matters in 1538. The canons now in force date their authority from the beginning of the reign of James I., A.D. 1603. One of these prescribes minutely the manner entries are to be made in the parish registers, and contains a respective clause, appointing that the ancient registers, as far as they could be procured, should be copied in a parchment book. This new regulation appears to have been carried into effect, so that the only parish registers now extant are transcripts commencing with Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The parish register act of 1812 obviated some of the previous sources of error, and insured the further usefulness of the registers of that period. But a satisfactory system of registration was not established until the year 1837, when the act for registering births, deaths, and marriages came into operation in England and Wales. The registration of births is considerably more complete than the old parochial registers of baptism, and the register of deaths is believed to be very complete.

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL SEATS & RESIDENCES OF THE NOBILITY, GENTRY, & CLERGY, IN THE COUNTY OF SHROPSHIRE.

*** _To avoid increasing this List_, _the Villa Residences in the suburbs of the Towns are not inserted_, _but will be found in the Directories of the respective Parishes in which they are situated_.

* * * * *

THOSE WITH * AFFIXED ARE ACTING MAGISTRATES.

Abertannat Hall, 1½ mile S.E. of Blodwell, John Edwards, Esq.

Acton Burnell Hall, 8 miles N.E. of Shrewsbury, * Sir Edward Joseph Smythe, Bart.

Acton Reynald, 7 miles N.E. by N. of Shrewsbury, * Sir Andrew Vincent Corbet, Bart.

Adderley Hall, 4 miles N.W. of Drayton, * Richard Corbet, Esq.

Admaston Hall, 1½ mile N.W. of Wellington, The Hon. Charles Noel Hill; Philip Buchannan, Esq.

Albrighton, 4½ miles S.E. of Shiffnal, Rev. George Woodhouse, The Vicarage; Thomas Plowden Presland, Esq.

Aldenham Hall, 4 miles N.W. of Bridgnorth, Sir John E. D. Acton, Bart.

Apley Castle, 1¼ mile N. of Wellington, * St. John Chiverton Charlton, Esq.

Apley Park, 4 miles N. of Bridgnorth, * Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., M.P.

Argoed Hall, 7 miles S.E. of Oswestry, Edward Downes, Esq.

Ash Magna, 2 miles S.E. of Whitchurch, The Rev. William Bryans.

Ashford Hall, 3 miles S.W. by S. of Ludlow, * Major General Russell, C.B.

Astley House, 5 miles N.N. by E. of Shrewsbury, John Bishton Minor, Esq.

Aston Hall, 1 mile N.E. of Shiffnal, * Uvedale Corbet, Esq.

Aston, 2 Miles S.E. of Oswestry, * Edward Harvey Lloyd, Esq., The Hall; Mrs. Lloyd.

Aston, 9 miles N. of Ludlow, * Francis Marston, Esq.

Atcham, 3 miles S.E. by E. of Shrewsbury, * Rev. Henry Burton.

Attingham Hall, 4 miles S.E. of Shrewsbury, The Right Honourable Lord Berwick.

Badger, 5 miles S.E. by S. of Shiffnal, * Robert Henry Cheney, Esq., The Hall; The Rev. Thomas T. Boddington, The Rectory.

Balswardyne Hall, 8½ miles S.E. of Shrewsbury, Sir George Harnage, Bart.

Baschurch, 8 miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, Edward Birch, Esq.; Rev. William Jones.

Beckbury, 4 miles S.E. by S. of Shiffnal, Walter Stubbs, Esq.; Rev. Walter Ralph Smythe.

Bellaport House, 4 miles N.E. of Drayton, Rev. Hugh Ker Cockburne.

Belleview, 1½ mile S.W. by S. of Oswestry, William Banning, Esq.

Belmont, near Oswestry, * Joseph Venables Lovett, Esq.

Berrington, 4½ miles S.E. by S. of Shrewsbury, The Hon. and Rev. T. H. Noel Hill; Charles Arthur Williams, Esq., Eaton Mascott.

Berwick Upper House, 2½ miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, The Hon. Henry Wentworth Powys.

Berwick House, 2 miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, * Thomas Henry Hope, Esq.

Besford, 3 miles S.E. of Wem, Joseph Taylor Reynolds, Esq.

Betton Hall, 2 miles N.E. of Drayton, William Church Norcop, Esq.

Bewdley, 8 miles E. of Cleobury Mortimer, * William Lacon Childe, Esq., Jun.; * Slade Baker, Esq.; * Arthur Lyttleton Annesley, Esq., Arley Castle.

Birch Hall, 1 mile S.E. of Ellesmere, * Richard George Jebb, Esq.

Bishop’s Castle, 20 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury, * Rev. John Bright, Totterton; * Rev. John Rogers, The Home.

Bitterley, 4 miles N.E. of Ludlow, * Rev. Charles Walcot; Sir Charles Cuyler.

Blodwell, 6 miles S.S. by W. of Oswestry, Rev. John Parker; William Lyons, Esq.

Bobbington, 8½ miles S.W. of Wolverhampton, Rev. Henry Pennant Cooke.

Boningale Hall, 5 miles S.E. by S. of Shiffnal, George Taylor, Esq.

Boreatton Park, 9½ miles N.W. by N. of Shrewsbury, Rowland Hunt, Esq.

Bridgnorth, 8 miles S.E. of Much Wenlock, Rev. George Bellett, St. Leonards; Rev. Wm. K. Marshall, St. Mary’s Rectory; J. Baker, Esq., Walsbatch. (See also p. 626.)

Broadway, near Shrewsbury, * John Owen, Esq.

Bromfield, 2 miles N.W. of Ludlow, The Hon. Robert Henry Clive, Oakeley Park.

Broseley, 4 miles E. of Wenlock, The Hon. and Rev. O. W. W. Forester, The Rectory; * George Pritchard, Esq.; John Pritchard, Esq.; John Onions, Esq., White Hall; * Richard Thursfield, Esq.

Bryn Harford near Oswestry, Charles Scarlett Andrews, Esq.

Brynn, 1½ mile N.W. of Blodwell, John Hamor, Esq.

Bryntanat Hall, 2¼ miles W. of Blodwell, William Henry Perry, Esq.

Buildwas Park, 4½ miles N.E. of Much Wenlock, Walter Moseley, Esq.

Buntingsdale Hall, near Drayton, John Tayleur, Esq.

Burcott, near Wellington, Charles Emery, Esq., The Hall; John Stanier, Esq., Leaton Hall.

Burford, near Tenbury, * George Rushout, Esq., M.P., The Hall; * Rev. James Wayland Joyce, The Rectory; Rev. Herbert MacLaughlin, Boraston Rectory; Rev. Caleb Whiteford, Whitton Rectory.

Burleigh Villa, 7 miles W. by N. of Wellington, Thomas Taylor, Esq.

Burlton, 5 miles S.W. of Wem, Robert Chambre Vaughan, Esq., The Hall; Edward Goldsborough Chambre Vaughan, Esq., Wood Gate.

Burwarton, 9 miles S.W. of Bridgnorth, The Hon. G. F. H. Russell, The Hall.

Calverhall, 3 miles N.E. of Prees, John Whitehall Dod, Esq., Jun., Rev. Edw. Mainwaring.

Cheswardine, near Market Drayton, Thomas Hudson, Esq., The Hall; Rev. Charles Miller.

Cheshire Coppice, 3 miles N. of Wellington, William Henry Dickinson, Esq.

Chetwynd, near Newport, * John Charles Burton Boroughs, Esq.; Thomas Collier, Esq., Beech Hill; Robert Fisher, Esq., The Lodge; William Washbourne, Esq.; Rev. Thomas Whately, The Rectory.

Childs Ercall, 6½ miles N.W. of Newport, Rev. B. E. Johnson.

Chirbury, 2½ miles E. of Montgomery, Rev. James Wilding, The Vicarage; Edward Humphries, Esq., Walcot.

Chorley, near Stottesden, Thomas Crump, Esq., The Hall.

Church Aston, near Newport, Ralph Ormsby Gore, Esq., The Hall.

Church Preen, 5½ miles W. by S. of Wenlock, Frederick Thomas Webster, Esq.

Church Stretton, 13 miles S.W. by S. of Shrewsbury, Duppa Duppa, Esq., Kington; Rev. Hugh Owen Wilson, The Rectory.

Citadel (The), near Hodnet, Reverend John Hill.

Claverley, 6 miles E. of Bridgnorth, Rev. George Hilder Betterton Gabert, The Vicarage: William Wilson, Esq., Beobridge; * Farmer Taylor, Esq., Chykenell.

Cleobury North, 8 miles S.W. of Bridgnorth, Henry George Mytton, Esq., The Hall; The Misses Mytton.

Clive Hall, 3½ miles S. of Wem, George Harding, Esq.

Cloverley Hall, 6 miles S.E. of Whitchurch, * John Whitehall Dod, Esq., M.P.

Clungunford, 8 miles S.E. of Bishop’s Castle, John Rocke, Esq., The House.

Copthorne House, 2 miles W. from Shrewsbury, Thomas Brocas, Esq.

Condover, 4¾ miles S. of Shrewsbury, * Edward William Smythe Owen, Esq., The Hall; Rev. J. W. Harden, John Loxdale, Esq., The Lyth; Robert Steward, Esq., Ryton Grove.

Coreley, 4½ miles N.N.E. of Tenbury, Rev. Walter Haliburton, The Rectory.

Coton, 3 miles N. of Wem, * George Bowen, Esq.

Cotsbrook House, near Bridgnorth, Orlando Jack Bridgman, Esq.

Cound, 6 miles S.E. of Shrewsbury, Rev. Henry Thursby, The Hall.

Court of Hill, near Tenbury, * Major Arthur Charles Lowe.

Creamore House, near Wem, John Unsworth, Esq.

Cruck Meole, 4½ miles S.W. of Shrewsbury, * Henry Diggory Warter, Esq.

Cruckton Hall, 4 miles S.W. by W. of Shrewsbury, * Francis Harries, Esq.

Dalicott House, near Claverley, George Mackenzie Kettle, Esq.

Davenport House, near Bridgnorth, * William Sharington Davenport, Esq.

Daywell, near Oswestry, * Joseph Venables Lovett, Esq.

Diddlebury, 8 miles N. of Ludlow, Henry Wood, Esq., The Hall.

Dodington, near Whitchurch, George Brookes, Esq.; William Lee Brookes, Esq.; George Harper, Esq., Mossfield House; John Faulkner Wood, Esq.

Donington, 5 miles S.E. of Shiffnal, The Rev. Henry John Howard, The Rectory; George Jones, Esq., Shakerley.

Dorrington, 6½ miles N. of Church Stretton, John Thomas Hope, Esq., Netley House.

Drayton in Hales, 18 miles N.E. of Shrewsbury, Rev. John Lee; John Edward Wilson, Esq., The Grove; Thomas Whitfield, Esq.

Dudleston, 4½ miles N.W. of Ellesmere, George Bennett, Esq., Sodylt Hall; Edward Morrall, Esq., Plas Warren; Robert Morrall, Esq., Plas Yollen; Richard Ellerton, Esq., The Erway.

Dudmaston Hall, near Bridgnorth, * William Wolryche Whitmore, Esq.

Eardington, near Bridgnorth, John Henry Cooper, Esq., The Knowle Sands; Mr. Thomas Austin Jackson, The Forge; Rev. George Leigh Wasey, The Knowle Sands.

Easthope, 5 miles S.W. of Much Wenlock, Moses George Benson, Esq., Lutwyche Hall; Rev. Robert Armitage, The Rectory

Edgeley House, near Whitchurch, John Lowe, Esq.

Edgmond, near Newport, Captain Clement Hill; Rev. John Dryden Pigott.

Edstaston, near Wem, Daniel Boote, Esq., The Hall; Rev. John Stewart, The Rectory.

Ellerton Hall, 4½ miles N.W. by N. of Newport, Robert Masefield, Esq.

Ellesmere, 16 miles N.N.W. of Shrewsbury, William Aldrick Cotton, Esq.; Rev. John David Day, The Vicarage.

Elm Lodge, near Ludlow, James Davies, Esq.

Ensden House, 5½ miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, Evan Bowen, Esq.

Ercall High, 8 miles N.E. of Shrewsbury, Rev. Robert Townsend Forester, The Vicarage; George Townsend Forester, Esq., Sherlowe; William Holt Midgley, Esq., The Park; Edward Blakeway Steedman, Esq., The Hall.

Eyton on the Wildmoors, near Wellington, Thomas Eyton, Esq., The Hall.

Faintree, 5 miles S.W. of Bridgnorth, Thomas Pardoe Purton, Esq., The Hall.

Fern Hill, near Whittington, * Thomas Lovett, Esq., The Hall.

Fitz, 5¾ miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, R. Middleton, Esq., The Hall; * Rev. Daniel Nihill.

Frodsley, 9 miles S. of Shrewsbury, Rev. Peter Downward, Longnor Green; Rev. T. L. Gleadow, The Rectory.

Gatacre Hall, 5 miles S.E. of Bridgnorth, * Edward Lloyd Gatacre, Esq.

Gatacre Park, 5½ miles S.E. from Bridgnorth, * Edward Farrer Acton, Esq.

Grafton Lodge, 5½ miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, John Henry Denston, Esq.

Great Ness, near Baschurch, George Edwards, Esq., The Hall; Rev. Mr. Kenyon, The Vicarage; Thomas Justice Bather, Esq.

Gredington Park, near Whitchurch, * The Right Hon. Lord Kenyon.

Greet, 5 miles S.E. of Ludlow, Rev. Joseph C. Bradney, The Rectory.

Grinshill, 7 miles N. of Shrewsbury, Rev. John Wood, The Rectory; William Embrey Wood, Esq., The Vineyard.

Hadley, near Wellington, Mrs. Thorneycroft, The Hall; Matthew Webb, Esq.

Halston, near Whittington, Edmund Wright, Esq., The Hall.

Hardwick Grange, 6 miles N. of Shrewsbury, The Misses Hill.

Hardwick Hall, 2 miles W. of Ellesmere, * Sir John Roger Kynaston, Bart.

Hawkstone, 4 miles N.E. of Wem, * The Right Honourable Viscount Lord Hill.

Highley, 7 miles S.S.E. of Bridgnorth, William Jordin, Esq.; Rev. Samuel Dupre.

Hinstock, 5 miles S.E. by S. of Market Drayton, * Henry Justice, Esq.

Hodnet, 6 miles E. of Wem, * Algernon Charles Heber Percy, The Hall; Rev. Samuel Herrick Macauley, The Rectory.

Hopesay, 6 miles S. by E. of Bishop’s Castle, Rev. Philip B. Adams, The Rectory.

Hopton Wafers, nr Cleobury Mortimer, Mrs. Lucy Botfield, The Court; Rev. S. Woodward

Hopton Castle, 9 miles S. of Bishop’s Castle, Rev. George D. Pardoe.

Hurst, near Ludlow, * Philip Morris, Esq.

Ightfield, 4 miles S.E. of Whitchurch, Rev. John Justice.

Isle The, near Shrewsbury, Rev. Humphrey Sandford.

Kemberton, 2 miles S.W. by S. of Shiffnal, Rev. George Whitmore, The Rectory.

Ketley, 2 miles E. of Wellington, Rev. Thompson Stoneham; John Williams, Esq.; George Bradbury, Esq., The Grove.

Kilhendre, near Dudleston, Captain Johnson.

Kingsland, near Shrewsbury, * Richard Frederick Hill, Esq.

Kinlet Hall, 5 miles N.E. of Cleobury Mortimer, * William Lacon Childe, Esq.

Kinnerley, 7 miles S.E. of Oswestry, Rev. Edmund W. O. Bridgman.

Kinnerley, 4 miles N.E. by N. of Wellington, Rev. Andrew Burn.

Knockin Hall, 6½ miles S.S.E. of Oswestry, The Hon. Captain Charles Orlando Bridgman.

Leaton Knolls, 4½ miles W.W. by N. of Shrewsbury, * Jonathan Arthur Lloyd, Esq.

Leegomery House, near Wellington, William Shakeshaft Lawley, Esq.

Leighton Park, 3½ miles N. of Much Wenlock, Sir George Harnage, Bart

Leighton, 1½ mile S.E. by S. of Welshpool, John Naylor, Esq.

Leighton, 9 miles S.E. of Shrewsbury, * Robert Gardner, Esq., The Hall.

Lilleshall House, 4 miles S.W. of Newport, * The Marquis of Stafford.

Lilleshall, 3 miles S.W. of Newport, Rev. Henry George Bunsen, vicar, The Old Hall.

Linley Hall, 5 miles N. of Bishop’s Castle, R. B. More, Esq.

Llwyny-groes Hall, 6¼ miles S. of Oswestry, R. N. Broughton, Esq.

Longford, near Newport, * Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., The Hall; Rev. John K. Charlton.

Longford Hall, near Shrewsbury, Rev. Waties Corbet.

Longnor Hall, 3½ miles E. of Shrewsbury, * Robert Burton, Esq.

Longnor Hall, 5 miles N. of Church Stretton, * Panton Corbet, Esq.

Longnor Hall, near Shrewsbury, * Edward Corbett, Esq.

Loppington House, 3 miles W. of Wem, * Thomas Dickin, Esq.

Loton Park, 8 miles W. of Shrewsbury, * Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bart.

Ludford House, near Ludlow, Francis Lechmere Charlton, Esq.

Ludlow, * Rev. George Dansey Pardoe; * Richard Betton, Esq., Overton House; James Baxter, Esq., (see also Directory, page 605.)

Lydham, 2 miles N.E. of Bishop’s Castle, Rev. Arthur Oakeley, The Rectory.

Marnwood, near Ironbridge, Rev. John Bartlett.

Marsh Hall, near Shrewsbury, John Wood, Esq.

Marton, near Middle, David Francis Atcherley, Esq., The Hall.

Mawley Hall, near Cleobury Mortimer, Sir Edward Blount, Bart.

Melverley, 9 miles S.E. by S. of Oswestry, Rev. Henry Rogers, The Rectory.

Middle, 7 miles N.W. by N. of Shrewsbury, Rev. George Henry Egerton, The Rectory; Sir John Majorbanks, Bart.

Middleton Scriven, 5 miles S.W. of Bridgnorth, Rev. Thomas Rowley, D.D., The Rectory.

Millichope Park, near Munslow, Charles Orlando Childe Pemberton, Esq.

Milson, 3 miles S.W. of Cleobury Mortimer, Rev. Thomas Hardwicke, D.D., The Rectory.

Moreton Corbet, 4½ miles S.E. of Wem, Rev. Robert F. Wood, The Rectory.

Moreton Say, 3 miles N.W. by W. of Drayton, Rev. Robert Upton.

Munslow, 6 miles S. of Church Stretton, Rev. Thomas C. Powell; John Downes, Esq.

Nash Court, 6 miles S.E. of Ludlow, * George Pardoe, Esq.

Neachley, near Donington, * George Holyoake, Esq.

Neen Savage, near Cleobury Mortimer, * Rev. Charles R. Somers Cocks.

Netley Hall, 6½ miles S.W. by W. of Shrewsbury, * John Thomas Hope Esq.

Newport, 18 miles N.E. of Shrewsbury, (see Directory, page 409.)

Norbury, 4 miles N.E. of Ludlow, * Rev. William Henry Cynric Lloyd.

Norton-in-Hales, 3½ miles N.E. by N. of Drayton, Rev. Frederick Silver, The Rectory.

Nursery The, 4½ miles S. of Oswestry, John F. M. Dovaston, Esq.

Oakley House, two miles E. of Bishop’s Castle, William Oakeley, Esq.

Oakley Park, 2 miles N.W. of Ludlow, * The Right Hon. Robert Henry Clive, M.P.

Oldbury, 1 mile S.S.W. of Bridgnorth, Mrs. Margaret Wynne Jones, The Lodge.

Onslow Hall, 4 miles W. from Shrewsbury, Colonel Wingfield.

Osbaston House, 5½ miles S. of Oswestry, Captain Thomas Evans, R.N.

Oswestry, 17½ miles N.W. from Shrewsbury, Richard Jones Croxon, Esq.; Rev. Thomas Salway, The Vicarage; Thomas Longueville Longueville, Esq.

Oteley Park, near Ellesmere, * Charles Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq.

Oxon, near Shrewsbury, * Edward Morris, Esq.

Park Hall, near Oswestry, * Richard Henry Kinchant, Esq.

Peatswood, near Market Drayton, * Thomas Twemlow, Esq.

Pell Wall, near Market Drayton, * Purney Sillitoe, Esq.

Pentra Ucha Hall, 2½ miles W. of Kinnerley, Frederick Alexander Payne, Esq.

Peplow, 7½ miles N.W. of Newport, * George Staveley Hill, Esq.; Captain George Hill, The Hall.

Petton Hall, 6 miles S.E. of Ellesmere, * William Sparling, Esq.

Pitchford, 7 miles S. of Shrewsbury, * The Right Hon. Earl of Liverpool; Rev. Charles Powell Peters, The Rectory.

Pontesbury, 7½ miles S.W. of Shrewsbury, * Rev. Charles Drury; Rev. William Harrison; Rev. William Vaughan; Frederick Jones, Esq., The Hall.

Porkington, near Oswestry, William Ormsby Gore, Esq., M.P.

Powis Castle, near Welshpool, * The Right Hon. Earl Powis.

Pradoe, 5 miles S.E. of Oswestry, * The Hon. Thomas Kenyon.

Prees, 5 miles S. of Whitchurch, * Sir Robert Chambre Hill, K.C.B., The Hall; The Ven. Archdeacon Allen, The Vicarage.

Prees Gwene House, 2½ miles from St. Martins, Richard Powell, Esq.

Preston Gubbals, 4½ miles N. of Shrewsbury, Rev. William Stevens.

Preston Montford, 4 miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, Miss Wingfield, The Cottage; Mrs. Wingfield, The Hall.

Priors Lee Hall, near Shiffnal, John Horton, Esq.

Quatt, 4½ miles S.E. of Bridgnorth, * Rev. Edmund Carr, The Rectory.

Quatford, 1½ mile S. of Bridgnorth, John Smalman, Esq., The Castle; John Clayton, Esq., The House; John Sing, Esq., The Hall; Stephen Wolryche, Esq., The Villa.

Quarry Place, near Shrewsbury, * John Thomas Smitheman Edwards, Esq.

Quinta, 3 miles W. of Saint Martins, Rowland Jones Venables, Esq.

Rednal, near West Felton, William Mostyn Owen, Esq.

Reilth, near Mainstone, Richard Sankey, Esq.

Rossal, 3 miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, Dowager Countess Fielding.

Rowton Castle, 7 miles W. of Shrewsbury, Henry Lyster, Esq.

Rudge Hall, 8 miles S.W. by S. of Bridgnorth, Thomas Boycott, Esq., The Hall; Rev. W. G. Greenstreet, The Vicarage.

Ruyton, 10 miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, Rev. George Evans; Rev. Leonard Slater.

Ryton, 3½ miles S.E. by S. of Shiffnal, Rev. Robert William Eyton, The Rectory.

Saint Martins, 5 miles N.E. of Oswestry, Rev. William Hurst, The Vicarage.

Sandford, 5½ miles N.E. of Wem, * Thomas Hugh Sandford, Esq.

Sansaw Hall, 4 miles S.E. of Wem, Captain Martin.

Selattyn, 3 miles N.N.W. of Oswestry, Rev. Gerald Carew, Pentre Pant Hall; Rev. Albany Rosendale Lloyd, The Rectory; William Williams Edward Wynne, Esq., Sion House.

Shavington Hall, 4 miles N.W. of Drayton, The Right Hon. Earl of Kilmorey.

Shawbury, 6 miles S.S.E. of Wem, Rev. W. S. Marvin, The Vicarage.

Shineton, 2¾ miles N.N.W. of Much Wenlock, Rev. Henry Bagnall, The Rectory.

Shipton Hall, 7 miles S.W. of Much Wenlock, * Thomas Mytton, Esq.

Sibdon Castle, 8 miles S.S.E. of Bishop’s Castle, James Baxter, Esq.

Sion, near Oswestry, William Williams Edward Wynne, Esq.

Shiffnal, 7½ miles S. of Newport, Mrs. Botfield, Decker Hill Hall; Rev. John Brooke, Haughton Hall; Rev. Townshend Brooke, Idsal Vicarage; William Cope, Esq., Park House; John Eyke Esq., Stanton House; Michael Goodall, Esq., Evileth; Rev. T. O. Durant, Evileth Hall; William Henry Slaney, Esq., Hatton Grange.

Smethcott, 5½ miles N. of Shrewsbury, Rev. Robert Joseph Buddicom, The Rectory.

Stanage Park, near Ludlow, * Edward Rogers, Esq.

Stanton-upon-Hine-Heath, 5 miles S.E. of Wem, Rev. James Thomas Holloway, D.D., The Vicarage; Thomas Faulkner Wood, Esq., The Woodlands.

Stapleton, 5½ miles S.W. by S. of Shrewsbury, The Hon. and Rev. E. R. B. Fielding.

Stirchley, 5 miles S.E. of Wellington, Rev. Hugo Moreton Phillips, The Rectory.

Stockton, 4½ miles N. of Bridgnorth, Rev. Charles Blaney Cavendish Whitmore; Wm. Hazledine Austin, Esq., South Lodge; Richard S. Darby, Esq., Crow Greaves.

Stoke Hall, 4 miles N.W. of Burford, Philip Henry Williams, Esq.

Stoke-upon-Tern, 4½ miles S.W. of Drayton, Rev. John Gladstone, The Rectory.

Stottesden, 8 miles S.W. by S. of Bridgnorth, Rev. Charles John Maddison, The Vicarage.

Styche, 2½ miles N.W. of Market Drayton, Henry B. Clive, Esq., M.P., The Hall.

Sundorne Castle, 3 miles N.E. of Shrewsbury, * Andrew William Corbet, Esq.

Sutton Hall, 4½ miles S.E. of Oswestry, Geo. Dawes Brittain, Esq.; Jas. Hargreaves, Esq.

Sutton, 5 miles N.E. by N. of Ludlow, Charles Powell, Esq.

Sweeney Hall, 2 miles S. of Oswestry, * Rev. John Parker; Mrs. Parker.

Tedsmere Hall, near West Felton, Thomas B. B. Owen, Esq.

Tern House, 2 miles S.E. of High Ercall, Thomas Jukes, Esq.

Terrick Hall, near Whitchurch, William Halstead Poole, Esq.

Tilstock, 2½ miles S. of Whitchurch, Rev. Wm. Renton, Rectory; Danl. Kempster, Ivy House.

Tong Castle, 3 miles E. of Shiffnal, G. C. S. Durant, Esq., Rev. G. S. Harding, The Rectory.

Trefarclawdd House, 2½ miles S.W. by S. of Oswestry, John Croxon, Esq.

Trefonen, 4 miles S.W. of Oswestry, Rev. Daniel Lloyd.

Tunstall Hall, near Market Drayton, * Peter Broughton, Esq.

Tyn-y-Rhos, 4 miles W.W. by N. of St. Martin’s, Rev. John Crozon Phillips.

Uffington, 3 miles N.E. by E. of Shrewsbury, * Rev. John Oliver Hopkins.

Uppington, 7 miles S.E. by E. of Shrewsbury, S. H. Ashdown, Esq.; Chas. Stanier, Esq.

Upton Magna, 4 miles E. of Shrewsbury, Miss Arabella Pigott, The Cottage.

Vineyard The, near Wellington, Thomas Campbell Eyton, Esq.

Walcott Hall, 4 miles S. of Bishop’s Castle, The Right Honourable Earl of Powis.

Walford Manor, 6½ miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, * Robert Aglionby Slaney, Esq.

Wallop Hall, near Westbury, * John Michael Severne, Esq.

Westbury, 9 miles S.W. by S. of Shrewsbury, Joseph Dickinson, Esq.; Rev. Wm. Cureton.

Welsh Hampton, 2¾ miles N.E. by E. of Ellesmere, Rev. George S. Master, The Rectory.

Wellington, 8 miles S.W. of Newport, Rev. Benjamin Banning, The Vicarage; Rev. Charles Campe; William Wyley, Esq., Dothill Park. (See also directory).

Wem, 11 miles N. of Shrewsbury. John Henry Barker, Esq.; Thomas Dickin Brown, Esq.; Roger Spencer Dickin, Esq.; Rev. J. W. D. Merest, The Rectory; Sir John Beckerton Williams, Knt., The Hall; Charles Oldham, Esq.; J. H. Walford, Esq.

West Felton, 13 miles N.W. of Shrewsbury, Rev. Thomas Hunt; Rev. Peter Geo. Bentley.

Whitchurch, 20 miles N. of Shrewsbury, Thomas Burgess, Esq.; Rev. William Henry Egerton, The Rectory; Sir John Hanmer, Bart., Bettisfield Hall; Richard Parry Jones, Esq.; Robert Darwin Vaughan, Esq.

Whittington, 2½ miles N.E. by E. of Oswestry, Rev. Charles Arthur Albany Lloyd, The Rectory; Richard Henry Kinchant, Esq., Park Hall.

Whitton, 9½ miles S.W. by W. of Shrewsbury, * Rev. Charles Leicester.

Whixall, 4 miles N. of Wem, Rev. John Evans, The Rectory.

Willey Park, 3 miles E. of Much Wenlock, the Right Honourable Lord Forester.

Winsley Hall, near Westbury, John Phillips, Esq.

Withington, 5½ miles E. of Shrewsbury, Rev. Corbet Browne, The Rectory; Rann Dolphin Edwards, Esq.

Woodcote, 3 miles S.E. by S. of Newport, * John Cotes, Esq.

Wood Hill, 4 miles S.W. by W. of Shrewsbury, Lazarus Jones Venables, Esq.

Woodhouses, 2½ miles S.E. of Whitchurch, James Goulbourn Etches, Esq.

Woodlands, 3 miles S.S.W. of Bridgnorth, Thomas Whitmore Wylde Browne, Esq.

Worfield, 3½ miles N.E. by E. of Bridgnorth, Rev. Cornelius Broadbent, The Rectory; Captain Brazier, Bradney; John Bach, Esq., Chesterton; George Smith Dorset, Esq., Hilton House; Thomas Wilson, Esq., Stanlow; Joseph Parkes, Esq., Wyken.

Worthen, 9 miles N.E. of Montgomery, * Rev. Charles Awdry.

Wrockwardine, 2½ miles W. of Wellington, Miss Anne Maria Cludde, The Hall; Mrs. Cludde, Orleton Hall; Rev. George L. Yate, The Vicarage.

Wroxeter, 5¾ miles S.E. by S. of Shrewsbury, Rev. Edward Egremont, The Vicarage; Wm. Henry Oatley, Esq.; Edward Stanier, Esq., The Hall.

Yockleton, 2 miles N.E. of Westbury, Thomas Nicholls, Esq., The Hall.

Yorton Villa, near Broughton, Rev. William Jeudwine.

ERRATA. {32}

Page 145, fourth line from top, for R. R. Slaney, Esq., M.P., read R. A. Slaney, Esq., M.P.

Page 172, sixteen lines from bottom, for two trains read ten trains.

Page 251, eleventh line from top, for Maxton read Marton.

Page 329, seventeenth line from top, for excelent read excellent.

Page 337, sixth line from top, for in the year 1804 read 1404.

Page 346, tenth line from top, for Breveton read Brereton.

Page 365, twenty-ninth line from top, for Buxton read Burton.

Page 372, fourth line from top, for exort read extort.

Page 445, fifth line from bottom, for Nowell read Noel.

Page 491, twenty-fourth line from top, for Kingleford read Ringleford.

Page 500, sixteenth line from top, for Burner read Burnel.

HISTORY OF SHREWSBURY.

SHREWSBURY is a market town, and borough corporate and parliamentary, situate 153 miles N.W. of London, 40 miles S. from Chester, 40 miles W. from Lichfield, 44 miles W.N.W. from Birmingham, 53 miles N. from Hereford, 58 miles S. from Liverpool, 109 miles N. from Bristol, and 108 miles S.E. from Holyhead. The town stands nearly in the centre of the county of which it is the capital, and occupies two hills of gentle ascent, which gradually rise from the bed of the river Severn, whose stream gracefully bends its course around three sides of the town; thus forming a peninsula, having a narrow isthmus, not more than three hundred yards across, to the north east. Shrewsbury covers nearly the whole peninsula, excepting a narrow margin of meadow and garden grounds, which runs between the walls and the river. It has gradually extended beyond the boundaries of the river, forming the populous suburbs of Abbey Foregate and Coleham on the east, Frankwell on the west, and Castle Foregate, beyond the neck of the isthmus, stretching towards the north. The bold situation of the town, rising amidst a vast plain, backed with mountains—the frowning castle—the elegant towers and tapering spires of the churches—the noble bridges, and picturesque buildings, produce, altogether, a scene of singular beauty and grandeur. The delightful prospects from every side of the town, over a rich and finely wooded country, adorned by the meanderings of the Severn, are surpassed by none, and equalled but by few other towns of our island.

The streets, in common with those of almost all our old towns, are irregularly disposed, some of them steep and narrow, and indifferently paved. In this respect, however, considerable improvements have been made in some of the principal thoroughfares. Many of the houses have the characteristics of high antiquity impressed upon them; and the domestic architecture of former days, with projecting gables, is often intermixed with that of modern erection, and of elegant appearance. The close wooden-built alley, called a “shutt” in the provincial dialect of the place, is everywhere seen connecting the principal streets with each other. Although the gravelly banks on which the town stands afford a fall in every direction, by which it might easily be kept from filth and damp, yet the peculiarly pleasant situation was for a long period but little regarded. Many important alterations have, however, been made under the provisions of an Act of Parliament obtained in 1821, for removing obstructions, watching, lighting, and the general improvement of the town; the powers of which are vested in trustees, who must be persons occupying property rated at £50 per annum, or worth £2,000. The streets are now lighted with gas, and the town is supplied with an abundance of excellent water. Its elevated situation, the natural dryness of the soil, and its pure water, contribute, doubtless, to the salubrity for which it is so remarkable. Speed quaintly observes:—“Wholsom is the aire, delectable and goode, yeelding the springe, and the autumne, seed time and harveste, in a temperate condition, and affoordeth health to the inhabitants in all seasons of the yeere.” The ancient Britons gave the place the name of _Pengwern_, the Saxons, _Scrobbes-byrig_; both of which imply a fenced eminence planted with shrubs. The poet and antiquary, Leland, thus beautifully accounts for its name:—

Built on a hill, fair Salop greets the eye,
While Severn forms a crescent gliding by;
Two bridges cross the navigable stream,
And British alders gave the town a name.

At the census in 1801, the borough of Shrewsbury contained a population of 14,739 souls. In 1841 there were 18,285 souls; of whom 8,444 were males, and 9,841 females. Of the former, 3,589, and of the latter, 3,803 were under the age of twenty years. Of the entire population, 14,341 persons were born in this county, and 3,944 elsewhere. At the same period, there were 3,727 inhabited houses, 342 uninhabited, and 23 building.

Shrewsbury is supposed to have been built by the Britons, between the years 520 and 594, as a refuge from the Saxons, who levelled their ancient fortress of Wroxeter with the ground, and forced them to retreat beyond the Severn; which river then became the boundary of the kingdom of Mercia, the most considerable of all the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. On this subject, the celebrated historians of Shrewsbury, Messrs. Owen and Blakeway, observe: We conceive that our town was built after the Saxon invasion; but that it owed its foundation to the Britons. We cannot claim any pretensions to the dignity of a Roman station. No vestige of that imperial people has ever been discovered within its circuit. But a few miles lower down the river, at the present village of Wroxeter, was the flourishing town of _Uriconium_; and here, doubtless, after the Romans had finally withdrawn their forces from the island, the Britons continued to occupy the seats deserted by their ancient masters, until they were driven from them by superior force, to the time of which we may approximate within no very wide range of years. We are in possession of the valuable poems of Llywarc Hên,—valuable, notwithstanding their great obscurity, for the few rays of light which they scatter over the darkest period of our history. He was a prince of the Cambrian Britons; who, pressed by the Northumbrian Saxon, retired towards the end of the sixth century to his countrymen in Powis, among whom he is said to have protracted his life to the unusual extent of 145 years, deriving thence the epithet of _hen_ or the _old_. His writings contain several proofs of his acquaintance with the district now called Shropshire. Its streams, Severn, and Morlas, and Tern; its mountains, Digoll, Nescliff, and Digon; its towns, Baschurch, Ercall, Hodnet, all appear in his poems. And when he speaks also of _Pengwern_, and when it is known that this was the Welsh name for Shrewsbury, we need not doubt that he designed by that to mark our town, and consequently that it had then arisen.

At the time the Britons abandoned Wroxeter, the situation of Pengwern was one of eminent natural strength. We must not estimate the degree of protection imparted to the place by the Severn from our ideas by the condition of the river in the present advanced state of cultivation. Whenever any country is thinly inhabited, trees and shrubs spring up in the uncultivated fields, and, spreading by degrees, form large forests, which, confining the exhalations of the soil and obstructing the course of streams, cause the rivers to overflow and stagnate into lakes and marshes. The Severn, on the eastern side of Shrewsbury, formerly ran in five channels, and spread into a marshy lake from the foot of Wyle Cop as far as the site of the Abbey. Thus the fugitives were protected by the deep bed of the river, its sinuous windings, and the morasses of its banks, where they might shroud themselves in the underwood which hid the foot, and the thickets which crowned the summit of the lofty and peninsular knoll now covered by the capital of Shropshire. How long the fugitives remained in possession of their new seat it is vain to enquire. But they were followed hither by the Saxons, who reduced the place to ashes, and the elegy of Llywarc calls upon the maidens of Pengwern “To quit their dwellings, and behold the habitation of Cynddylan, the royal palace of Pengwern, wrapped in flames.”

The importance of the peninsular situation of Pengwern could not long remain without an occupant; and a few years after its destruction under Cynddylan, we find it inhabited by a king of Powis, the capital of his kingdom, and even ranking among the twenty-eight cities of Britain. The kingdom of Powis at this time comprised the south-western parts of the counties of Cheshire, Flint, and Denbigh, the whole of Montgomeryshire, with portions of the counties of Radnor, Brecon, and the adjoining parts of Shropshire, as far as the river Severn. Of the state of the town, under its native princes, we possess no information. The arts of civil life, which the Britons had cultivated under their Roman masters, had totally disappeared in the course of three centuries of uninterrupted warfare. A ditch, or a rude rampart of unhewn logs, inclosing a few hovels for the residence of the prince and the offices of religion, some wattled huts, with a fold or two for sheep and cattle, probably composed the whole of Pengwern Powis. On the invasion of the Saxons, the new possessors gave it the appellation of _Scrobbes-byrig_—a fenced eminence, but overgrown with shrubs.

King Ethelred, in the year 1006, kept his court at Shrewsbury; and in 1016 the inhabitants revolted to the Danish chief, Canute. They were afterwards compelled to return to their allegiance, and were severely punished for their defection by Prince Edmund, son of Ethelred. Alphelm, a prince of the blood, having been invited by Edric, duke of Mercia, and son-in-law to Ethelred, to a banquet at Shrewsbury, and afterwards to a hunting party, was treacherously murdered during the chase by one Godwin, a butcher of the town, whom Edric had hired for the purpose. This circumstance probably gave rise to a custom prevalent during the reign of Edward the Confessor, of twelve of the principal persons keeping guard over the king’s person when he came down to Shrewsbury, and the same number attending him whenever he went out a hunting. In this reign Shrewsbury had two hundred and fifty-two houses, besides the mint, which was under the direction of three officers, who were compelled to pay into the royal treasury twenty shillings at the end of every fifteen days, while the money was current. After the Norman conquest, Owen Gwynedd, Prince of Wales, laid siege to Shrewsbury; but William the Conqueror, who had just returned from a visit to his native country, in order to quell the rising tumults which everywhere began to threaten his British dominions, soon raised the siege, and punished the English chiefs, while he took ample vengeance on the Welsh. In this reign, Roger de Montgomery, the relation and favourite of the Conqueror, was created Earl of Shrewsbury, Arundle, and Chichester, and had a grant of nearly the whole of the county of Shropshire, besides a hundred and fifty manors or lordships in other parts of the kingdom. In one of the deeds transferring these manorial grants, Roger styles himself _Rogerius_, _Dei gratia_, _Scrobesburiensis Comes_—Roger, by the grace of God, Earl of Shrewsbury.

At the Doomsday survey, 1086, Shrewsbury is styled a city, and the Abbey is said to have been founded where the parish church of the city stood. This book also contains a summary of several municipal laws, customs, and usages, for the internal regulation of the place, and for increasing the king’s revenues. The amount of taxes at this period was £20, of which the king had two-thirds and the sheriff one, Hugh de Montgomery, who had succeeded his father Roger in the earldom of Shrewsbury, having been shot by an arrow from the skilful hand of Magnus, King of Norway, was succeeded by his brother, Robert de Belesme. Earl Robert united with the party who opposed the pretensions of Prince Henry, son of William Rufus, and espoused the claims of Robert, Duke of Normandy. He afterwards broke out into open rebellion, strengthened his castles in Shropshire, and at Shrewsbury built and fortified a flank wall, from each side of the castle across the isthmus, down to the side of the Severn. Upon this, the earl was publicly declared a traitor, and King Henry marched against him with a considerable force. The surrender of Bridgnorth to Henry induced the earl to quit Shrewsbury, and to commit its defence to three generals and eighty soldiers hired expressly for the purpose. With the assistance of a few Welsh, with whom he had made peace, he frequently disturbed the royal forces, till, being much harassed, he was compelled to return to Shrewsbury. Soon afterwards, the town was surrounded with an army of 60,000 men; and Robert de Belesme had scarcely seated himself in the castle, when the king demanded the immediate surrender of the place, threatening, in case of refusal, in three days to besiege the town, and hang every one found in the castle. The earl, perceiving that he had no forces to withstand the attack of the king, confessed his treason, implored the royal clemency, and sent the keys of the castle by the hands of Ralph, Abbot of Seez, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, which the king accepted, and banished the restless earl to Normandy. The spirit of revenge and ambition, however, rekindled in his breast, and he contrived once more to appear in arms against Henry; but was at length taken prisoner, and ignominously conveyed in chains to England, where he ended a miserable life a close prisoner at Wareham.

In 1139, William Fitz Allan, a powerful baron, was governor of the town and sheriff of the county. During the wars between Stephen and the Empress Maude, this baron espoused the cause of the empress, and with several noblemen opposed the forces of the king. He left the castle, which he had strongly fortified, under the command of a deputy governor, whom he compelled to swear never to deliver his trust to the king. This, however, did not prevent the monarch from taking the castle: after which the king hanged several of the garrison for their contumacy. In 1260 the English army rendezvoused at Shrewsbury, and shortly after the town and castle fell once more into the hands of the rebels. They soon after reverted to their former owners, and the government of the town and castle was conferred by the king on his eldest son Edward. In 1277 the Courts of Exchequer and King’s Bench, during the reign of Edward I., were removed to Shrewsbury, in which place they appear to have been held at least for some months.

David, Prince of Wales, the last of the princes of the ancient Britons, having at length become a prisoner in the hands of Edward, in 1283, was sent in chains to Shrewsbury. A writ having been issued for assembling the parliament on September 30th at this place, for the express purpose of taking into consideration the measures necessary to be adopted with respect to this rebellious prince. This is remarkable, as “_the first national convention in which the commons had any share by legal authority_.” Twenty cities and towns, Shrewsbury being one, were directed to send two deputies, and every high sheriff to send two knights. The parliament met in the chapter house, or refectory of the abbey, where David was condemned to be drawn about the town at the tail of a horse, then hanged, afterwards quartered, his bowels burnt, his four quarters sent to York, Bristol, Northampton, and Winchester, and his head fixed near that of his brother Llewelyn, on the Tower of London. Thus, with the death of the last of the ancient British princes, commenced a mode of execution, usually exercised on traitors, disgraceful to humanity, and barbarous in its example.

In the 20th of Richard II. the parliament was adjourned from Westminster to Shrewsbury. On the king’s arrival, he gave a sumptuous feast to the peers and commons in the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul. The parliament was held in the Chapter House, and so numerous were the members and their retinues that Speed calls this “THE GREAT PARLIAMENT.” It was certainly an important one. Chester was on this occasion made a principality, and among the articles of accusation afterwards brought against the king by Henry Bolingbroke were the oppressive laws which it enacted. The next account on record relative to this place is the memorable BATTLE of SHREWSBURY; the skirmishing of which began under the walls of the castle gates, but the principal scene of action was at Battlefield. This engagement between Henry IV. and the Earl of Northumberland, fought on the plains and heaths of Battlefield and Albright Hussey, was one of the most important recorded in English history. The origin of the quarrel was a mandate from the monarch to the earl not to ransom his Scottish prisoners taken at Homedon, which that nobleman deemed an infringement of his rights. The jealous policy of Henry in this proceeding, and his ingratitude for the services which raised him to the throne, roused the indignation of Northumberland, and inflamed the high soul of his son, Lord Henry Percy, whose warlike disposition had gained him the characteristic appellation of Hotspur. Thomas, Earl of Worcester, younger brother to Northumberland, participated in their discontents, entered into their views of revenge, and offered his assistance to overthrow the usurper whom they had united to establish. Hotspur, who was the life of the conspiracy, released and made a friend of his valiant rival, Douglas, entered into a correspondence with Glyndwr, and reared the standard of rebellion, around which all his vassals and adherents rallied. He was joined by a powerful army from Scotland, under Earl Douglas and other chiefs, who, impelled by a rooted animosity to the King of England, warmly espoused the cause of the conspirators. Henry, who was apprised of their movements, placed himself at the head of a body of troops, and hurried into Shropshire, having previously ordered his sons, the Prince of Wales and Lord John of Lancaster, and his steady adherent, the Earl of Westmorland, to meet him with reinforcements at Bridgnorth. Aware that every thing depended on celerity of movement, he took possession of Shrewsbury, just as the forces of Lord Percy were preparing to assail it. Owen Glyndwr having mustered a numerous levy of Welshmen at Oswestry, sent off a detachment of 4,000, but, on being apprised of the king’s success, thought proper to suspend the march of his main body. Had the valour of Hotspur been tempered by discretion, he would have paused until the junction of his ally had given him better assurance of success. His army consisted of 14,000 chosen men; but the king’s army is said to have been nearly double that number. Had Glyndwr made good his engagements, the armies would have been about equal. Percy, however, had confidence in his own prowess, and his experience of that of his compeer, Douglas, banished every doubt of victory from his mind. His ardour received a momentary check from the following incident, which strikingly exemplifies the universal superstition of the times:—In preparing for the field, he called for his favourite sword, when he was informed that he had left it at the village of Berwick the preceding night. The name of the place startled him, and heaving a sigh, he exclaimed, “Alas! then, my death is near at hand; for a wizard once told me that I should not live long after I had been at Berwick, which I thought was a town in the north so called. Yet, I will not be cheaply won.”

The abbot of Shrewsbury and one of the clerks of the privy seal, were sent by the King to offer pardon to Hotspur if he would lay down his arms, but to no purpose. Percy completed all his military arrangements, and stationed his troops in a field still called the Hateleys—the royal forces occupying ground immediately opposite. A flourish of trumpets, mingling with the contending shouts of “St. George and victory,” and “Esperance Percy,” was the signal of onset, which was answered by a tremendous discharge of arrows from both sides. The Scots, who were too impatient to fight at a distance, rushed with great fury upon the centre of the royal army, and threw it into disorder; but the King hastening with fresh succour rallied his broken troops and recovered their ground. He frequently exposed himself in the thickest of the battle, which indeed he might the more safely do, since he had diminished the chances of personal danger, by investing several of his knights in regal habiliments. Events soon proved the prudence of the stratagem. Percy sought him in every part of the field, and Douglas with equal impetuosity slew three of these mock-monarchs with his own hand. The fight extended from Berwick westward, to the vicinity of Haughmond Abbey in the east, and continued for three hours with various success. The bravery of the King was nobly seconded by the valour of his son, Prince Henry, who that day performed his noviciate in arms, and gave earnest of the future glory of Agincourt. The Scottish champion, seconded by Hotspur, made another furious attack on the royal station—slew the standard bearer, and came within a sword’s point of the king, who fled for his life. In one of these charges Hotspur was shot through the brain by an arrow, and fell gloriously in the midst of his foes. Shortly after his army gave way on all sides, and a total rout ensued. Douglas fled, and being hotly pursued, he was thrown down from his horse while taking a desperate leap on Haughmond-hill, and seized by the enemy. Phillips, the historian, says, “1,600 royalists were slain, and 3,000 wounded; on the side of Percy 6,000 were killed, among whom were Lord Percy and most of the knights and gentlemen of Cheshire; there fell on that day 2,291 men of note.” Henry having put a period to the slaughter, halted to return thanks on the field of battle, and decreed the erection of a collegiate church at Battlefield. The pious gratitude of the victorious monarch but ill accorded with the punishment he subsequently inflicted on the vanquished. The Earl of Worcester, Sir Theobald Trussel, and Sir Richard Vernon, were executed at the high cross of Shrewsbury, and their heads exposed to public view on London bridge. Hotspur’s body, which was found among the slain, was placed between two mill stones, in the market place, after which it was quartered, and hung on the gates of Shrewsbury, and other places in the kingdom. The King released Douglas without ransom, because he feared the Scots would avenge the death of a man so dear to them, and from similar motives he afterwards accepted the submission of Northumberland.