Chapter V: Part 5

There are several ancient monuments which have been removed hither on the demolition of other sacred edifices in the town and county, which are preserved in the ample side aisles. The oldest in the church is in the south aisle, a mutilated figure of a warrior in the costume of the reign of King John, and supposed to represent the founder of the Abbey, Earl Roger de Montgomery, who died in the year 1094. In the north aisle is the recumbent figure of a person in the robes and coif of a judge brought from St. Chad’s. In the south aisle is a monument brought from St. Giles’s church, with a figure in priestly vestments. Opposite the last is the effigy of a knight in linked armour, removed from the priory church of Wombridge, conjectured to commemorate Sir Walter de Dunstanville, who died in the 25th of Henry III., 1240. In the south aisle an alabaster altar tomb, bearing the recumbent figures of a man (in the habiliments of war) and his wife, remembers William Charlton, who died in 1524. This monument was originally erected in Wellington church. An altar tomb in the north porch, in the style of the fifteenth century, has a figure of a knight in plate armour, partly covered with a monastic dress, and another figure in the dress of a hermit of the Romish church. Near the east end of the north aisle, is a large altar tomb with full length figures, to the memory of Richard Onslow, Esq., speaker of the House of Commons, in the 8th of Elizabeth, who died 1571, and his lady. This memorial was formerly placed in the chancel of old St. Chad’s church. Above this is a mural monument brought from St. Chad’s, representing a gentleman in a ruff, and a lady with long veil thrown back, kneeling under two arches; above, a lady in a habit and coif, and a little girl kneeling, to the memory of Thomas Edwardes, Esq., who died 1634, and of Mary, the wife of his son, Thomas Edwardes, Esq., who died 1641. In the south aisle is an alabaster altar tomb, in the Grecian style, bearing the figure of an alderman in his civic robe, and a lady in the scarlet gown formerly worn by the lady mayoresses of Shrewsbury, commemorative of William Jones, Esq., who died 1612, and his wife, who died in 1623. The monument was originally placed in St. Alkmund’s church. There are numerous other mural monuments, of more modern dates, which are elegantly designed, in memory of deceased members of some of the principal families of the parish. In the vestry is an old painting of the Crucifixion, which in 1728 occasioned much strife between the minister and his flock. In that year Mr. Latham, who had been lately inducted to the vicarage, presented a petition to the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, praying that a picture representing our Saviour upon the cross might be removed out of the church. A counter petition was also presented by the parishioners, but the wardens shortly after received an order from the bishop for the removal of the picture. It was afterwards long possessed by the family of Hilton, by whom it was again restored to the parishioners of the Holy Cross. The living is a vicarage with St. Giles annexed, valued in the king’s book at £8. The small tithes are commuted for £363, and the impropriator, Lord Berwick, receives £110. The patronage is vested in the Right Hon. Lord Berwick, who received it in exchange for three small livings in Suffolk; incumbent, Rev. Robert L. Burton, M.A. The vicarage of the Holy Cross is a small fabric of wood and plaster situated in the Abbey Foregate, now converted into two cottages. From time immemorial certain lands have been vested in the churchwardens and their successors; they now produce an income of £250 per annum. “The vicar and churchwardens are a corporation with power of making leases of the landed possessions, &c., and have a common seal which is appended to such documents. The seal is kept in a chest secured by three locks, and the keys are severally in the possession of the vicar and two churchwardens. It is of brass of the _visica piscis_ form, and has in the centre a baton or mace, and on each side a clothed arm projecting towards the centre, that on the dexter side holding a pastoral crook, that on the sinister side a naked sword; the ground work studded with stars, and around the margin this inscription:—S.COMMVNE DE FFORYATE MONACHOR.” The space of ground on the east side of the church, containing 7300 yards, whereon formerly stood the choir and Lady Chapel of the monastery, was in 1840 converted into a public cemetery.

THE CHURCH OF ST. GILES stands at the eastern extremity of the suburb of the Abbey Foregate, the living of which is annexed to that of Holy Cross. It is a small plain building consisting of nave, chancel, and north, aisle, with a small bell turret at the west end. Of its foundation we possess no record, but the structure is doubtless as old as the early part of the twelfth century, and some confirmation is afforded to this conjecture by the arches of the northern and southern doors, having the characteristics of that era. The nave is divided from the side aisle by three pointed arches, sustained on plain round pillars. It is highly probable that the north aisle was made for the accommodation of persons afflicted with leprosy—the hospital of which formerly stood near the church, and from which they had access by a pointed doorway, when they might hear the offices of religion without endangering other worshippers with their contagious malady. A lofty pointed arch separates the nave from the chancel, which is terminated by a flat arched eastern window, which is exquisitely beautified with stained glass, executed by Mr. Evans. The four lower compartments have full length figures of the Evangelists, standing upon hexagonal pedestals. Over each figure is a beautiful canopy of tabernacle work, and the intersections of the tracery contain the symbols of the Evangelists. In the three principal compartments of the upper division, are fine representations of the salutation, the wise men’s offering, and the presentation in the temple. The small lancet window on the north side, contains a figure of the patron saint, St. Giles, exquisitely executed. On the floor are several ancient stones bearing crosses, probably denoting the interment of some of the masters of the old hospital. From an entry in the parish registrar of the date 1655, it appears this church formerly possessed a steeple at the west end. In the steeple was a great bell and two smaller ones, which were taken down in 1672, and used in the following year, with four lesser bells, and the great “Wenefrede bell,” in the recasting of the present ring of bells in the Abbey church. For a long period this venerable edifice exhibited a rude appearance of damp and neglect, and divine service was celebrated only on two Sunday evenings during the year. In 1827, however, the Rev. W. G. Rowland, the liberal donor of the beautiful east window, thoroughly repaired and happily rescued it from the ruin and decay to which in its previous condition it was fast hastening. Subsequently the massive oak benches were removed, and replaced with new ones; a new pulpit and altar screen of oak, beautifully carved in unison with the architecture were added, and the whole building fitted up for divine service by the munificence of the Rev. Richard Scott, who also gave £500 towards augmenting the salary of the officiating minister. Since June, 1836, divine service has regularly been performed on the Sabbath. The Rev. Joseph Simpson, M.A., is the officiating minister. In the parish book is the following memorandum:—“1585, paid Barnett and his sonne for pulling down the crosse of St. Gyles, xviij d.” This cross formerly stood in the church yard, and was curiously sculptured. A large stone which now lies in the church yard, with a cavity on the upper side, was most probably the base and socket of the cross. It is now termed the _pest basin_, which tradition states to have been used during the time of the plague for holding water, in which to avoid the spread of the disease the people deposited their money in their bargains for provisions with the country folk.

ST. ALKMUND’S CHURCH, situated in St. Alkmund’s Square, is a neat structure of freestone, erected in 1795, with the exception of the tower and spire, which fortunately escaped the fate of a former edifice, inconsiderately destroyed under a mistaken apprehension of its stability. The original church was founded by Ethelfleda, daughter of Offa, King of Mercia, who governed that kingdom at the beginning of the ninth century. King Edgar, by the advice of St. Dunstan, gave other lands and possessions, and placed here a dean and ten prebends. Its patron saint was a prince of the Northumbrian family, who is said to have been buried at Lilleshall. At the Doomsday survey, this church had possession of nine manors, in all about 4,020 acres, out of which 620 were in demesne, and a rent of £8. 8s. 8d., which, with other rents, produced a revenue of £500 per annum. The manner in which it lost this appendage, as recorded in Dugdale, is an example of the fluctuations to which, in those days of turbulence, even the most sacred property was liable. King Edward the Confessor wrested these lands from one Spirtes, a canon of St. Alkmund’s, and gave them to Godfrey Wiffesune. On his death, about two years after the conquest, Nigel, an ecclesiastic, obtained them. After his decease, one Gilbert de Cundore, a layman, had possession of them, and retained them till he was excommunicated by the bishop. In order to obtain absolution, he and his knights submitted to do penance, and were flogged by the canons at the altar of St. Alkmund’s church. The property finally centred in Roger, Earl of Hereford, who held it by force of arms.

“The superior and dean of this collegiate church had, in common with those of other Saxon foundations, the right of hereditary succession, and even claimed a privilege of alienating the property to other than religious uses. In the year 1150, when monastic institutions were universally popular, and the colleges of the secular clergy had fallen into disrepute, Richard de Belesme, then dean of St. Alkmund’s, voluntarily surrendered the estates of the deanery, which lay at Lilleshall, towards the endowment of an abbey of canons regular of St. Augustine, about to be erected on that spot made sacred by the sepulchre of the patron saint of his church; and so great was his zeal for this new institution, that he solicited and obtained the consent of the Pope and King Stephen for dissolving the college entirely, and for transferring all its estates to the new abbey. Thus stripped of all its landed property, the benefice sank from a collegiate establishment to a poor vicarage, which continued in the patronage of the monks of Lilleshall till the dissolution, when it became vested in the crown.”

The old church was a spacious structure, exhibiting various styles of architecture, from the Anglo-Norman period to the middle of the sixteenth century. Of its antiquity, however, few features remain; for the panic caused by the sudden fall of St. Chad’s church, induced the parishioners of St. Alkmund to petition parliament to pull down the body of the old church, and erect a new one on its site. The modern building is in the ancient pointed style of architecture; an oblong square, eighty-two feet by forty-four feet, with a recess for the altar. The ancient tower, terminated with crochetted pinnacles, remains, and is seventy feet high, surmounted with a chaste and elegantly proportioned spire, one hundred and fourteen feet—making a total of 184 feet from the ground. Over the altar is a window of painted glass, executed about fifty years ago by Eginton, representing Evangelical Faith, in a female figure as large as life kneeling on a cross, with the eyes elevated and the arms extended towards a celestial crown, which appears amidst the opening clouds, This window was erected at a cost of two hundred guineas. The church is handsomely fitted up, and will accommodate a congregation of 800 persons. Upon the gallery, at the west end, is a good organ, erected by subscription in 1823. The tower contains a peal of eight bells, recast in 1813. The sound of church bells was supposed to be very efficacious in chasing away the spirit of darkness by our superstitious ancestors. The following curious notice will shew that they were not at all times proof against infernal agency:—

“This yere, (1533) upon twelfe daye, in Shrowsbury, the dyvyll appearyd in St. Alkmund’s churche, there when the preest was at high masse, with great tempeste and darknesse, so that as he passyd through the churche he mountyd up the steeple in the saide churche, tering the wyers of the saide clocke, and put the print of his clawes upon the 4th bell, and took one of the pinnacles away with him, and for the time stayed all the bells in the churches within the saide towne, that they could neyther toll nor ringe.”

Of the ancient tombs and mural monuments which abounded in the old edifice, none were preserved in the present structure worthy of notice, with the exception of a tablet to Chief Justice Jones, who died in 1692. Several tablets of a modern date adorn the walls. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £6, now returned at £219. Patron, the Lord Chancellor; incumbent, the Rev. Charles Edward Leopold Wightman, M.A.

ST. JULIAN’S CHURCH is situated upon elevated ground, at the top of the Wyle-cop, near to St. Alkmund’s church. Of its early foundation in Saxon times we possess no particulars. It was distinguished through several reigns as a rectory and a royal free chapel, with a peculiar jurisdiction. According to Tanner, at a very early period it was annexed to the free chapel of St. Michael, within the castle, and so continued until the reign of Henry IV., when they were both resigned into the king’s hands. Subsequently, the rectory was granted, among other things, to augment the new foundation of Battlefield College, and thenceforth the living became a mere stipendiary curacy. On the dissolution of that college, the living was granted by the crown to John Capper and Richard Trevor; and after many subsequent transfers, passed into the family of Prince, from whom it has descended to the present patron, the Earl of Tankerville.

The present church, built in 1749 on the site of a former edifice, which had become ruinous, is an oblong structure in the Grecian style, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower at the west end. This tower is the only existing portion of the old church which remains, and is crowned with eight crochetted pinnacles. It has an excellent illuminated clock; and a peal of six bells, which were recast in 1706. The interior has a handsome appearance: four Doric pillars on each side the nave support the ceiling, which is carved and decorated with the fret-work of the old church. Over the side aisles and west end are commodious galleries, in the latter of which is a superior organ, erected by subscription in 1834. The east window contains a figure of St. James, in ancient stained glass, which was purchased from a splendid collection brought from Rouen in 1804. Several of the other windows are ornamented with armorial bearings. There is only one monument of any antiquity: a coarse marble slab, inscribed in Longobaric capitals to a member of the Trumwin family. Among the memorials of a modern date is one to the memory of Mr. John Allatt, the benevolent founder of Allatt’s Free School. The south aisle contains a neat memorial, of the Grinshill freestone, to commemorate the liberality of the late Rev. Richard Scott, B.D., who expended upwards of £1,500 in the reparations of this church, and other improvements connected with the fabric. It contains the following inscription, dated 1847, in reference to the improvements made by Mr. Scott: “Who, in Christian love, and a desire to honour God with his substance, has caused an effective architectural character to be given to the exterior of the south side of this sacred edifice, which, from the limited funds raised for its re-edification in 1750, necessarily induced brick as a material, and a design possessing little claim to taste; stone piers are now set at each end of the building and between the lower windows, which have been lengthened. Above, on a block cornice, are Roman Doric pilasters which sustain an entablature, crowned by an open balustrade and vase-shaped acroteria. Fretted console tables have been added to the upper windows, the architecture entirely renewed, and, like those below, re-glazed with metallic frame-work. A new portal and door at the eastern end of the south aisle, and the surface of this portion of the church and chancel, covered with stucco; the apex of the gable being finished with an appropriate ornament.”

In the north aisle is a similar memorial, inscribed to the same individual for his munificent beneficence “In erecting an ornamental stone wall and parapet round the church-yard, flagging the foot-path underneath and that on the eastern side, and likewise along the basement of the church, renewing the steps at the south-east thoroughfare, and lowering, repairing, and enclosing those which form the main approach from the street to the cemetery; also for a new pavement in the area leading to and from before the south door, rebuilding the steps of the portico with the addition thereto of a continuous pedestal, painting the north side of the church, and cleaning the stone work, roofing the chancel, and placing thereon a stone cornice and blocking course, with a foliated cone at each angle, as well as for other useful improvements connected with the fabric.” The living of St. Julian’s is a perpetual curacy, returned at £159, in the patronage of Earl Tankerville, and incumbency of the Rev. James Jardine Rogerson, M.A. The chapel of Ford was formerly an appendent of this church.

ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH, situated at Frankwell, is a neat cruciform structure, in the Gothic style, with a short tower at the west end, ornamented with four pinnacles. It is built of the beautiful Grinshill freestone, from a design by Mr. Haycock. The cost was nearly £4,000, raised by voluntary subscription. It was consecrated for divine service on January 30th, 1832. The interior has a chaste and elegant appearance, and will contain a congregation of 750 persons. Of the sittings, 460 are free and unappropriated. By the liberality of the late Rev. Richard Scott, B.D., the chancel has been beautified with an altar screen, the gallery with a small organ, and the triple lancet windows filled with splendid stained glass. The centre window contains a full-length figure of Isaiah, clothed in a brilliant vest of purple, over which is thrown a green robe lined with ermine, denoting his royal descent. The windows on each side have spirited figures of St. Matthew and St. Mark. The former exhibits deep and serious meditation, and holds a manuscript in his left hand; and the latter, a venerable figure, is pointing to an open gospel, which he holds in his left hand. The windows in the north and south transepts are also embellished with glass of a rich and elaborate mosaic pattern, which contributes to the imposing effect of the splendid east window. The living is a perpetual curacy, returned at £118, in the patronage of the vicar of St. Chad; incumbent, the Rev. John Harding, M.A.

ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH, situated in the populous suburb of Castle Foregate, is a neat brick structure, in the Grecian style of architecture, consisting of nave, side aisles, and elliptical recess for the communion, with an octagonal tower in three divisions, rising to the height of seventy feet, over the side aisles are galleries which are free; there is also a spacious gallery in the west end for the use of the school children, in which stands a small organ the gift of the Rev. W. G. Rowland, M.A. The pulpit and reading desk are octagonal, and placed on opposite sides of the church; the roof is panelled in large square compartments, and painted in imitation of oak. Three windows of stained glass which decorate the chancel are the exquisite productions of Mr. David Evans. The centre one is illustrative of the Nativity, from the celebrated “La Notte” of Correggio. The windows on each side represent the Annunciation, and the Presentation in the Temple; the former from a picture by Guido, and the latter from a celebrated painting by Rubens. These windows were the gift of the Rev. W. G. Rowland, M.A., to whose liberality the parishioners are also indebted for the service of communion plate, the peal of six bells, which hang in the tower, and the erection of the adjacent school rooms, for the education of the poor children of this populous portion of the parish of St. Mary’s. The church was erected at an expense of £2000, raised by subscription, and consecrated on the 24th August, 1830, as a chapel of ease to St. Mary’s church. The edifice contains 800 sittings, of which 600 are free and unappropriated.

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, situated on the Meole-road, was erected in 1837, for the accommodation of the inhabitants of the populous suburb of Coleham. It was built at a cost of nearly £1900, raised by subscription, aided by the grant of £600, from the Lichfield Diocesan Society, and a further grant of £150, from the Incorporated Church Building Society. The structure is a neat fabric of brick with a short tower; the body of the church has five windows on each side, and an elliptical recess for the communion, separated, internally, from the nave by a circular arch. The church contains 812 sittings, of which 504 are free. The window over the altar contains beautifully executed figures in stained glass, of the Evangelists, and St. Peter and St. Paul; several of the other windows are beautified with scriptural medallions, in stained glass, which together with a handsome service of communion plate, were presented by the late Rev. Richard Scott, B.D. This place of worship was formed into a district parish church in 1841. The living is a perpetual curacy enjoyed by the Rev. James Colley, M.A.

ANCIENT CHAPELS.—Several ancient chapels formerly stood in various parts of the town, the most considerable of which seems to have been the collegiate chapel of ST. MICHAEL, within the castle. No vestige of its site now remains, though it probably existed, at least in a ruinous state, in the reign of James II., for, it appears at that time, an order was made by the corporation, “that enquiry should he made after the stones taken away from the ruins of St. Michael’s chapel within the castle.” Part of the CHAPEL OF ST. NICHOLAS, on the left hand entrance to the council house, is still standing; it is of the early Norman era, and most probably was built by the first Norman, Earl of Shrewsbury, for the use of such of his retainers as resided in the outer works of the castle. The only portions of this edifice at present remaining are the nave, a massive arch formerly opening into the chancel, and two similar side arches. The building is now converted into a stable. ST. CATHERINE’S CHAPEL is stated to have occupied an elevated site upon Coton-hill. The CHAPEL OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE, a site near Trinity Church. ST. BLASE’S CHAPEL was situated in the Murivance. A tea garden near the site of the Belle-vue, was formerly called the Hermitage. These and other ecclesiastical edifices which once adorned this eminent town, have now disappeared; yet their faint traces still afford matter of interesting speculation for the antiquary.

DISSENTING CHAPELS.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHAPEL, situated in High-street, as the first dissenting place of worship established in the town, claims our first attention. To the act of uniformity, which, on St. Bartholomew’s day, 1662, drove from their livings upwards of two thousand clergymen of the church of England, Shrewsbury is indebted for its first dissenting church. It was formed by the Rev. John Bryan, M.A., and the Rev. Francis Tallants, M.A., ejected from the livings of St. Chad’s and St. Mary’s. Their meetings were first held in the house of Mrs. Hunt, and after experiencing various alternations of suffering and indulgence during the unsettled times that followed the act of uniformity, in 1683 their meetings were suppressed, and these eminent preachers of the gospel were forced into obscurity. On King James II. allowing liberty to Dissenters to meet for worship, they assembled as before in Mrs. Hunt’s house. In 1691, they built a chapel in High-street, and Mr. Tallants caused the following (with the latter sentence the Hugonists, of France, usually began their worship,) to be painted on the walls:—“_This place was not built for a faction or a party_, _but to promote repentance and faith in communion with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity_. ‘_Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth_.’” The year 1715 was particularly unfortunate for Protestant Dissenters; mobs and riots arose in various places, particularly in Lancashire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire—among the chapels pulled down in Shropshire were those of Wem, Whitchurch, and Shrewsbury. The chapel, in High-street, was soon after rebuilt by the government, and the liberties of Dissenters confirmed and fixed upon a solid foundation. In 1839 the venerable chapel was almost entirely taken down, owing to the building being considered unsafe, and because the commissioners under the street act required a part of the premises. It was rebuilt nearly on the old site, and re-opened for public worship in July, 1840. The interior has a simple and primitive appearance, the fittings are of old oak; there is accommodation for about 300 worshippers. The Rev. Richard Astley has been the respected pastor of the congregation since the year 1831. For a more extended and very pleasing account of this place of worship, we beg to refer our readers to the “History of the Presbyterian Meeting House of Shrewsbury,” published by the present minister in 1847.

THE INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, situated on Swan-hill, had, its origin in some unhappy disputes which arose in the congregation worshipping in High-street chapel, relative to the invitation of a minister being invited to settle among them. The chapel is a substantial brick edifice, with a neatly furnished interior, and contains six hundred sittings. On a stone tablet in the front is the following inscription:—“This building was erected in the year 1767, for the public worship of God, and in defence of the rights of majorities in Protestant Dissenting congregations, to choose their own ministers.” There is a cemetery adjoining the chapel. The Rev. Thomas Weaver has been the pastor of the congregation worshipping here for 52 years.

THE INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, Castle-gates, a handsome building of free stone, is the most imposing structure in connection with the nonconformists in the town of Shrewsbury. It was erected in 1845, at a cost (including the site) of £3000. The interior has a very chaste, and beautiful appearance; it will hold six hundred persons. The Rev. Edward Hill is the minister.

THE CATHOLIC CHAPEL is situated in Beeche’s-lane, near the southern portion of the town walls. It is a neat building erected in 1776, and enlarged in 1825; the front is stuccoed, and surmounted by a plain cross. The interior has a tasteful and elegant appearance; the altar rests on a sarcophagus, on the front of which is a painting of the last supper, above is a figure of Christ on the cross. On the gallery is a small organ, and on each side the entrance an elegant marble shell for the holy water. The chapel will hold about three hundred worshippers. The Rev. Eugene Egan is the priest. A plot of land, extending from Belmont to the southern walls, has been purchased, with the intention of erecting a new Catholic church, on a scale commensurate with the wants of an increasing congregation. The Catholics formerly met for worship in an upper room of an old house in St. Alkmund’s-square.

THE BAPTIST CHAPEL, situated in Claremont-street, a plain brick building, was opened for divine worship in 1780, and enlarged in 1810. A society of this persuasion is stated to have existed in this town, in the time of the Commonwealth. In the chapel is a small memorial, of Mr. Palmer, who was pastor of the congregation for twenty-seven years.

THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHAPEL is a commodious building, on St. John’s-hill, erected in 1804, and subsequently enlarged and decorated. It is neatly fitted up, and surrounded with galleries, in which is a small organ. It is calculated to hold 700. The Methodists have also small places of worship in the Castle Foregate and New-street, Frankwell.

THE WESLEYAN NEW CONNEXION CHAPEL, (EBENEZER,) situated at Tower-place, is a handsome building, having two entrances, with a Doric portico to each. The cost of the structure was £1500, and it was opened for divine worship, June 13th, 1834. The interior has a light and pleasing appearance; it is without galleries; in the centre of the chapel are two rows of pews, with a row on each of the sides, which ascend gradually from the floor; the blank walls display arches and pilasters, supporting a frieze and cornice.

THE FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE, a plain brick structure, in a retired situation, on St. John’s-hill, is fitted up with much simplicity and neatness. It was erected in 1746, and enlarged in 1807.

THE WELSH CALVINISTIC CHAPEL, a brick structure, erected on the site of a former edifice, is situated in Hill’s-lane. It is calculated to accommodate about 400, and was opened for divine worship in December, 1826. The Dissenters of this persuasion have also a small chapel, situated in the Wagon and Horses passage, Pride-hill. The service in both these chapels is in the Welsh language.

THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have a place of worship to accommodate about four hundred, situated in Castle-court. They have also a small chapel, at the Old Heath.

SCHOOLS.

THE ROYAL FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, situated near the Castle gates, is a noble institution for the education of youth, founded by King Edward VI., in 1552, and endowed with the greater portion of the revenues of the two dissolved colleges of St. Mary and St. Chad. Queen Elizabeth greatly augmented the endowment, in 1571, by adding the rectory of Chirbury, with additional tithes and estates in St. Mary’s parish. The structure is large and lofty, and occupies two sides of a quadrangle, with a square pinnacled tower at the angle, partly rebuilt in 1831. The original school was of timber, and the present tower, chapel, and library, were added in 1595. The wooden building was taken down in 1630, and its place supplied by the present stately edifice of Grinshill free stone. In the centre is a gateway, adorned on each side by a rude Corinthian column, supporting statues of a scholar and a graduate bareheaded, in the costume of the times. Over the arch is an inscription in Greek, importing that a love of literature is essential to the formation of a scholar. The whole structure exhibits an incongruous mode of building, and that mixture of styles, “where the Grecian and the pointed, however discordant and irreconcilable, are jumbled together, and compose a fantastic species, hardly assignable to any class or name.” The principal school room, which occupies the upper story, was originally divided by three partitions with folding doors, but these being removed, it forms a very spacious and noble apartment. The chapel, in which prayers are read by the head master every morning, occupies the ground floor, and is divided from the ante-chapel by a very handsome oak screen carved in the grotesque manner prevalent in the days of Elizabeth. The ceiling is adorned with fret work, preserved from the ruins of St. Alkmund’s church. Above the chapel is the library, which was rebuilt at considerable expense in 1815. It contains a valuable collection of manuscripts and books—one side being occupied by the library of the late Dr. Taylor. Two large pointed windows, with mullioned tracery, afford light to this apartment;—in the northern window are the arms of Edward VI., Queen Elizabeth, St. John’s College, Cambridge; the See of Lichfield and Coventry impaling Cornwallis, and those of the town;—in the south windows are the arms of the four principal benefactors, with appropriate inscriptions in Latin. Around the walls are portraits of Henry VIII., Edward VI., an Admiral in the costume of the time of Charles II., and several of the former head masters.

Among the curiosities in the library are three sepulchral stones, discovered in ploughing a field near Wroxeter. The largest has on its summit, a pine-cone between two lions, and beneath the pediment a rose. The first is taken from the _Picea_, called by Pliny, _Feralis Arbor_, expressive of its melancholy subject, and not unfrequent on memorials of this kind; the inscription denotes the death of _C. Mannivus Secundus_, of the town of Polentia, a _beneficiarius_, or veteran of the twentieth legion, who had served his time, and was called again into the service by the entreaties of the chief legate. The second stone has, on the upper part, a human face, two dolphins, and two serpents. The third is inscribed to M. Petronius, sigifer, or standard bearer, to the _Legio quatuor-decima gemina_, the fourteenth double legion, or a legion formed from two. As this legion never was in Britain, the learned Dr. Ward supposes that Petronius only came for his health and died here. There are also various other interesting antiquities, chiefly found at Wroxeter, and a small collection of fossils and natural curiosities. In front and at the back of the schools are play grounds, contiguous to which are houses for the master and the assistant-masters, with ample accommodation for boarders who come from all parts of the kingdom. The grammar school has long maintained a pre-eminent rank among the public seminaries of sound learning and religious education in this country, and has sent forth numerous individuals who have been distinguished for their eminent classical attainments. Under the care of its first master, Thomas Ashton, we learn there were two hundred and ninety scholars, among whom were the sons of many of the first families in England. Camden, when he wrote, says—“it was the best filled in all England, being indebted for their flourishinge state to provision made by the excellent and worthie Thomas Ashton”—who was a munificent contributor to the school himself, and was instrumental in procuring the grant of augmentation from Queen Elizabeth. Mr. Ashton resigned his office some years before his death, but he continued to cherish the seminary over which he had presided with paternal care. He drew up the code of laws by which it was governed for more than two centuries; and one of his last acts was to visit the school, when he preached a farewell sermon to the inhabitants of the town, after which that “Godlie father,” accompanied with the tears and blessings of the people, returned to Cambridge, near which he died at the end of a fortnight, 1578.

The school is open for the gratuitous instruction of burgesses of Shrewsbury, who are not under six nor more than sixteen years of age, provided they are qualified to begin the Latin accidence. By act of parliament, 38th George III., the whole management of the school and revenue was vested in the Bishop of Lichfield, as visitor, and thirteen governors and trustees. The appointment of head master rests with the Fellows of St. John’s College, Cambridge. The under master is appointed by the head master. Among the many persons of eminence who have received their education in this school, we may enumerate Sir Philip Sidney; Sir Fulke Greville; Lord Brook; Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York; Judge Jeffries; Lord Chief Justice Jones; Dr. Bowers; Bishop of Chichester; Dr. Thomas Bishop, Salisbury; Dr. Taylor, editor of _Lysias and Demosthenes_; James Harrington, the author of _Oceana_; Wycherley, the dramatist; Ambrose Phillips, the poet; and the Rev. J. B. Blakeway and the Venerable Archdeacon Owen, the learned historians of Shrewsbury. Through the exertions and learning of the late venerable head master, Dr. Butler (late Bishop of Lichfield), the school attained to unrivalled celebrity, and the learned prelate observed, on resigning his arduous duties to his talented successor, “That he considered Dr. Kennedy as the most brilliant scholar he had ever sent forth, as the brightest star in that galaxy of distinguished pupils whose names adorn the ‘boards’ of Shrewsbury school. That from Dr. Kennedy’s experience of his system, both as a pupil and assistant master at Shrewsbury school, from his constant practice as a lecturer and private tutor at College, and as an assistant master for six years or more at Harrow, as well as from his own unrivalled talents and high literary distinction, from his fine taste and sound learning, there was not a shadow of doubt but that he would fully maintain the reputation which Shrewsbury school had already acquired, and would add at least as many distinguished names to its ‘boards,’ during his superintendence of this important foundation, as had been inscribed there by himself in an equal period.” We are happy to observe that the bright anticipations of the venerable bishop have been already realised. By an act of parliament, passed 33rd George III., for the better government and regulation of the Free Grammar School in Shrewsbury, it was ordered, that, after the payment of all taxes, salaries, scholarships, exhibitions, and repairs of the school, and all expenses about the necessary business of the school, the surplus should be employed in founding and maintaining exhibitions in the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as the governors and the bishop of the diocese for the time being should think fit; and that such surplus should, when and as often as it should amount to £100 or upwards, be laid out in the purchase of lands and tenements, or in the purchase of stock, or in such other way as the governors and bishop should deem advisable. At this period the annual income of the school amounted to £900.

From the Charity Commissioners’ Report, published in 1830, we learn that the total income of the school property for the year ending December 31st, 1828, amounted to £2,740. 2s. 9d. The following will show the particulars of the property held by the governors:—The tithes of Albrighton, in the parish of St. Mary, £101. 15s. 6d.; the tithes of Chirbury, £1,045. 13s. 4d.; tithes of Clive, in the parish of St. Mary, £347. 13s.; tithes of Astley, £221. 15s.; tithes of Oxon and Shelton, £71. 4s.; tithes of Frankwell, £56. 14s.; tithes of Betton, £129. 1s.; tithes of Whitley and Welbatch, £99.; tithes of Leaton, £150; tithes of Wollascot, £13.; tithes of Woodcote, Horton, Bicton, and Calcot, £397.; tithes of Almond Park, Berwick, and Newton, £52. 10s.; tithes from Castle Foregate, £18. 18s.; schoolhouse at Grinshill, built in pursuance of one of the orders of Thomas Ashton, for the scholars to retire to in case of infectious disorders, let for £4. 4s.; spiritual jurisdiction of St. Mary’s, demised by the corporation to the Rev. W. G. Rowland, the office of the said ecclesiastical, spiritual, peculiar, and exempt jurisdiction, with all the profits thereto belonging, and the seal of office for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of £1. 6s. 8d., payable to the governors and trustees of the Free Grammar School, dated 29th January, 1828; Chief rents at Astley and Sansaw, 18s. 3d.; for encroachments on school garden, 3s.; and £30 per annum arising from the sum of £1,000 invested in the three per cent. consols, purchased in 1828. In January, 1829, the amount of stock was £14,570. 10s. 4d. three per cent consols. This was subsequently reduced by sales, made under the directions of the Court of Chancery, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of repairs on the estates, to £13,311. 19s. 6d.

The income arising from the school property now (1851) amounts to upwards of £3,000 per annum, which is appropriated in the payment of the salaries of the masters, the maintenance of scholarships and exhibitions in the universities, the stipend of the Vicar of Chirbury, and the curates of St. Mary’s, Clive, and Astley, and the necessary repairs of the school buildings. The surplus is employed in founding additional exhibitions in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The following list will show the great advantage presented to meritorious scholars of Shrewsbury School:—Four exhibitions, of £63 each, founded by James Millington, D.D., in 1724, at Magdalen College, Cambridge, tenable during residence till M.A.; two exhibitions of £40 each, founded by the same donor, for sons of burgesses born in Frankwell, and who have been educated at the school, in Millington’s Hospital, founded by the testator; also one fellowship of £126 per annum at Magdalen College, tenable during residence till M.A.; one exhibition, of £23 per annum, founded by the Rev. John Taylor, D.D., in 1766, open to any college. The scholars chosen are allowed to enjoy the exhibition for the term of six years, provided they reside in the college the greater part of each term. One exhibition of £10 per annum, the gift of Mr. Noneley; one of £30 per annum, founded by Mr. Podmore. There are also four foundation exhibitions of £70 per annum each; one Butler foundation of £100 per annum; and one of £66 per annum;—all limited to the sons of burgesses of Shrewsbury. Two exhibitions, founded by Oswald Smith, of £25 per annum; four exhibitions to Christ Church, Oxford, founded by Mr. Careswell, in 1689, for natives of Shropshire, of £60 per annum.

_Head Master_: Rev. Benjamin Hall Kennedy, D.D.—_Second Master_: Rev. William Burbury, M.A.—_Assistant Master_: Rev. John Mort Wakefield, M.A.—_Mathematical Teacher_: Rev. Alfred Tolver Paget, M.A.—_Assistant Master_: Rev. Vanden Bempde Johnstone, M.A.—_Modern Languages_: Mr. Thomas Amand Bentley.—_Writing Master_: Mr. Thomas Northage Henshaw. The head master has a salary of £300 per annum, and the second master £150.

BOWDLER’S, or THE BLUE SCHOOL, situated in Beeches-lane, a plain brick building with a cupola, was founded in 1724, pursuant to the will of Mr. Thomas Bowdler, alderman and draper, for the instruction, clothing, and apprenticeing poor children of St. Julian’s parish. Twenty-five boys and an equal number of girls are now educated and clothed; the dress of the children is blue, whence the school is called “The Blue School.” The master has a salary of £40 per annum, and the privilege of taking twenty day scholars, and the mistress £20 per annum. Robert Rogerson and Mary Ann Sharrat are the teachers. The foundation of the several charity schools will be more particularly noticed with the general charities of the borough.

ALLATT’S CHARITY SCHOOL, situate in St. John’s-row, is a neat structure of free stone, comprising commodious houses for the master and mistress, connected by arcades, with spacious school rooms. The school was built in 1800, pursuant to the will of Mr. John Allatt, who bequeathed his property for the educating and clothing of the children of the more respectable class of poor persons resident in the town. There are forty boys and forty girls educated, clothed once a year, and a certain number at a proper age apprenticed. The funds of the school consist of a capital stock of £14,200, of which £10,800 are invested in three per cents, as the educational fund, and £3,400 as a clothing fund. Thomas Bagley and Frances Buttery are the teachers.

MILLINGTON’S SCHOOL stands in the rear of the hospital, and was founded by the munificence of Mr. Millington, for the instruction of twenty-five boys, and as many girls, natives of Frankwell. The children are completely clothed twice in every year, and at the age of fourteen apprenticed with a small premium; on producing a certificate of good conduct during their apprenticeship they are rewarded with a gratuity. Two exhibitions of £40 a year each, in Magdalen College, Cambridge, are founded, to which scholars originally on the hospital foundation have the preference, or in default of such, two born in Frankwell, educated at the free schools. Sarah Bishop and Francis Cullis are the teachers.

SHREWSBURY NATIONAL SCHOOL, situated in the Abbey Fore gate, is also called the “Brown School,” from the brown dress of the children. The schools are commodious, and there is a convenient residence for the teachers. It is supported by subscriptions, and sermons annually preached in aid of its funds. There are now 190 boys and 96 girls educated in this school. Joseph Barker Molynaux and Mary Ann Williamson are the teachers. The annual income amounts to £250 per annum.

ST. CHAD’S PAROCHIAL SCHOOL is a plain substantial edifice, situated in Barker-street. It is supported by subscriptions and donations, and a small weekly sum contributed by the children. The average number of children that attend the school may be calculated at a hundred boys and an equal number of girls. Edward Evans and Jane E. Turner are teachers.

HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL is a spacious building of brick, situated in the rear of the Holy Trinity Church, at Coleham; a residence for the teachers adjoins the school. There are about 100 boys and girls, and 120 infants, receiving instructions in these schools. James Owen and Martha Clarke are the teachers.

ST. MARY’S AND ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOLS, situated in St. Michael-street, owe their origin in a great measure to the Rev. W. G. Rowland, the incumbent of St. Mary’s, who was a munificent contributor towards their erection. The schools were built in 1832, in the old English style of architecture. They are supported by voluntary subscriptions, and the scholars are provided with books, and gratuitously educated, with the exception of a number of the children from the extensive factory of Messrs. Marshall and Co., whose instruction is paid for by the proprietors of the mill. Richard Jones and Sophia Evans are the teachers. About 120 boys and 100 girls attend. Adjoining the school premises are ten neat cottages, built by the Rev. W. G. Rowland, the income arising from which is expended in bread, and distributed amongst the necessitous poor, in St. Mary’s and St. Michael’s churches.

THE DIOCESAN SCHOOLS, Swan hill, in connection with the Lichfield Board of Education, was established in 1842. This is an institution for the general education of youth, ably conducted by Mr. Henry Newsham. Particular attention is paid to the mathematical education of the youth of this establishment. A limited number of boarders are taken.

THE BRITISH or LANCASTERIAN SCHOOLS were first established in Shrewsbury in 1812, when a commodious school was built opposite the county gaol, for conducting education on the plan suggested by Mr. Joseph Lancaster. Subsequently the premises were taken down, and the site is now occupied as a railway station. A building was afterwards taken in Watery-lane, where the school was conducted till the present year (1851), when a neat school-house, measuring forty-eight feet by twenty-eight, was erected at the rear of the county gaol, at an estimated cost of £700. About 150 boys and 100 girls attend the school. Mr. Thomas Harris is the teacher.

ST. ALKMUND’S PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, situated between St. Mary’s-street and St. Alkmund’s-place, is numerously attended both by boys and girls. The teachers are William Donellan and Martha Badger.

INFANT SCHOOLS.—_St. Chad’s Infant School_ is situated in Barker-street, not far from the National School. One hundred and twenty attend the school, which is conducted by Segismunda Roberts. The _Infant School_, Castle Foregate, has an attendance of eighty. Ann Townsend is the teacher. There is also an infant school in Frankwell, which was built by the late Dr. Darwin, and is now chiefly supported by Miss Darwin. These are interesting institutions for giving an early moral bias to the mind, and calculated to effect much good.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS.—The Sunday schools of Shrewsbury have existed nearly from the earliest formation of such institutions. Schools are connected with the established churches, and the different congregations of dissenters, which are very numerously attended.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

THE SALOP INFIRMARY.—This excellent institution, situated near St. Mary’s churchyard, was established in 1747, and has the honour of being one of the earliest of these Samaritan institutions in the kingdom. The building, which preceded the present stately fabric, was a plain brick structure, designed for a private residence; although repeatedly enlarged, it was found too small for the additional number of patients consequent upon an increasing population, and at a meeting held on November 16th, 1826, it was resolved that a new infirmary should be built on the site of the old one. The present building was erected in 1830, from a design by Mr. Haycock, at the cost of £18,735. 18s. 10., of which £12,994. 1s. 3d. was raised by subscriptions, and the remainder disbursed from the funded property of the charity. The structure has a noble appearance, and stands in a commanding position on the verge of an eminence overlooking the Severn; it is 170 feet in length, by 80 feet in height, having a handsome Doric portico in the centre. There is ample accommodation for 150 patients, and the internal arrangements are admirably adapted for the purpose they are designed to fulfil. The principal floor is appropriated to the board room, dispensary, waiting room for patients, with private apartments for the house surgeon and matron; the first floor has seven wards for male patients, with day room, scullery, and baths; the upper room contains a spacious operation room, with wards for females; in the attics above are four other wards with nurses’ room, &c. A staircase at each end communicates with spacious galleries extending the length of each story. The whole is thoroughly ventilated, and an uniform temperature preserved by a patent hot water apparatus. A spacious terrace has been constructed on the eastern side, that such of the patients as are able may possess every benefit resulting from pure air and exercise. From this the eye commands an uninterrupted view of an extensive and finely wooded country, bounded by the long ridge of Haughmond Hill, the Wrekin, and the Stretton Hills. The pecuniary concerns of the institution are superintended by a board of directors; a treasurer is also appointed annually, who, on the anniversary day in the hunt week, is accompanied to church by the subscribers and patrons of this charity, where, after a sermon, a collection is made in aid of the funds. From its establishment to midsummer, 1849, the sum of £219,934. 16s. 7¼d. has been received for its support; 60,077 in-patients admitted, and 117,747 out-patients recommended as fit objects for its benefits. The weekly average number of patients in the house during the year ending midsummer, 1849, was 103; out-patients on the books, 603. The total receipts for the year ending at the same period was £3,237. 7s. 5d., of which £1,669. 11s. was received from yearly subscriptions; £355. 2s. 6d. from benefactions and legacies; £627. 6s. 11d., the interest and dividends of funded stock, and £585. 7s. 6d. from miscellaneous sources, which includes £183 8s. 6d. collected at the anniversary sermon in St. Chad’s church. Of this stock £16,400 is secured in the three per cent consols, £3,449. 10s. new 3¼ per cents; £100 on the Watling-street road, and £150 on the Bridgnorth-road. Subscriptions have been made amounting to £1,227. 6s. 8d., as a “Chaplain’s Endowment Fund.” “The house surgeon is allowed to take three pupils at a premium of twenty guineas to himself, and 200 guineas to the infirmary, which entitles the pupil to board and residence for five years.” Attendance at this hospital is recognized by the Royal College of Surgeons, and the apothecaries’ company, London.—_Physicians_: Henry Johnson, M.D., Thomas James Drury, M.D., Henry Parker, M.D.—_Surgeons_: H. E. Burd, J. Dickin, and J. Y. Arrowsmith.—_House Surgeon_: John Robert Humphreys. _Secretary_: Henry Bevan.

THE DISPENSARY, like most other institutions of this kind, is supported by annual subscriptions and benefactions. It was established in 1843, and although the funds do not allow the full extent of usefulness which the charity is capable of, yet it is pleasing to observe from the annual reports that it is making steady progress in the estimation of the public. It appears from the report ending September, 1849, that the total number of patients have been 3,391. The receipts for the year ending at the same period were £160. During the year 560 cases received attention, of which 403 were cured, 123 relieved, 30 died, and 4 were dismissed.—_Patron_: His Grace the Duke of Sutherland.—_Surgeon_: Mr. G. P. Gill,—_Hon. Secretary_: Folliott Sandford, Esq.—_Dispenser_: Mr. G. S. Whitney.

THE EYE AND EAR ESTABLISHMENT, Castle-street, was established in 1818, under the management of a committee of gentlemen, for the special object of affording relief to the humbler members of society, who may be suffering from any calamity incident to those delicate organs of the human frame, the eye and ear. The number of patients admitted from the opening of this institution has been 6,224.—_President_: Viscount Hill.—_Surgeon_: Edwin Foulkes. The institution is open every Wednesday and Saturday mornings.