Part 3

On the site of the castle a Saxon fortress originally stood. In 1070 Roger de Montgomery built the castle by enlarging the fortress and demolishing fifty-one houses occupied by the burgesses. The destruction of this property was not accompanied by any diminution in the public taxes, and the burgesses complained of their grievance, but without effect. The Earl’s two sons, who succeeded him in possession of the castle, refused to redress their wrongs. In the reign of Henry I. it became the property of the Crown, and certain portions of land were parcelled out as positions of defence in the event of any necessity arising. A governor was appointed to command it, a constable to guard it, and a chamberlain to see that it was kept in good repair. It was usually held by the sheriff of the county to enable him the more powerfully to defend his bailwick. It was surrendered to the Parliamentary army in 1644, and General Mytton was made governor. He was succeeded by Humphrey Mackworth, who appointed as lieutenant of the castle Captain Hill. Hill is described as “a prodigal, drunken fellow, who before the war, was a barber in Shrewsbury.” He was disliked by both the people of the town and the garrison, and in order to depose him from his position, a conspiracy was formed. He was enticed to an alehouse outside the gates of the town. The gates were closed to prevent his return, his personal property was thrown over them, the town instantly was in an uproar, and he was compelled to fly for his life. In the fifteenth year of Charles II. the burgesses were ordered by a _quo warranto_ to deliver up the castle to the king. The garrison then consisted of two companies. In the time of James II. all the cannon and match, with most of the muskets, were removed by royal command. Charles II. presented the Castle to Lord Newport, afterwards Earl Bradford. Lord Newport had given the sum of £600 to Charles I. Perhaps the gift of the Castle by the second Charles was his acknowledgment of Newport’s pecuniary service to that relative who had the misfortune to lose his head. The Duke of Cleveland is now the owner of the Castle.

On Castle Gates, opposite the Independent Chapel, stood the Outer Castle Gate, which was formerly strengthened and defended with towers, portcullis, and fosse in a line with a road leading to the Smithfield. That portion of the town wall which extends towards the river was erected by Robert de Belesme, second son of the founder of the castle. Camden says it was never assaulted except in the Barons’ wars. A few yards higher stood the Inner or Burgess Gate, at right angles with the Schools. The Castle Walk on the left of Castle Gates was formed in 1790, and was called the Dana from the name of the person who suggested its formation.

THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL,

which arrests the eye on Castle Gates, was founded by Edward VI., on the 18th of February, 1552, who named it the “Free Grammar School”—a title about the meaning of which there has been a good deal of philological disputation. On the south window is a Latin inscription, which runs as follows:—“At the supplication of Hugh Edwards and Richard Whittaker, King Edward the Sixth laid the foundation of a Shrewsbury School.” The supplication was induced by the fact that there was no public institution for the education of Salopian youth. This want was represented to the king in 1551 by Hugh Edwards, a mercer in London, and afterwards of the Shrewsbury college, and by Richard Whittaker, then bailiff of the town. They solicited for the maintenance of a Free Grammar School a considerable portion of the estates of the dissolved colleges of St. Mary and St. Chad. The king readily granted their request; and the tithes of Astley, Sansaw, Clive, Leaton and Almond Park, the property of St. Mary’s, with those of Frankwell, Betton, Woodcote, Horton, Bicton, Calcott, Shelton, Whitty, and Welbeck, belonging to St. Chad’s—the whole then valued at the handsome sum of £20 per annum—were given for the endowment of the school. Two masters were appointed by the bailiffs and burgesses who were nominated governors, and who, with the Bishop of Lichfield, were empowered to make statutes and ordinances. The appointment of head and second masters now rests with the Fellows of St. John’s College, Cambridge.

The first master was the Rev. Thomas Ashton who is called by Camden “the excellent and worthie,” and who had “the best filled school in all England.” He had 290 scholars, among whom were some of the aristocracy of the county, heirs of the gentry of North Wales, and representatives of the greatest families of the kingdom. He laid the foundation of that brilliant fame which the school has always maintained. From a Latin inscription on the south window we learn that “at the instance of Thomas Ashton, a man pious, learned, and prudent, within these walls ever to be revered, Queen Elizabeth augmented this foundation.” She did so by adding to it on the 23rd of May, 1571, the entire rectory of Chirbury, with further tithes and estates in the parish of St. Mary. The tithes new produce about £3,000 per annum, a portion of which is paid in stipends to the clergy of St. Mary’s, Chirbury, Clive, and Astley parishes.

The School was originally a timber building, and the chapel, tower, and library were added to it in 1595. The chapel was consecrated on 18th of May, 1617, by Dr. John Overel, Bishop of Lichfield, and the sermon was preached by Dr. Samson Price, who, for his abhorrence of Popery, was named “The maule and scourge of heretics.” The wood building which contained the first schoolroom was taken down, and the present fine edifice of Grinshill stone erected in its place in 1627. In the centre is a gateway, adorned on each side with a Corinthian column, upon which stand statues of a scholar and a graduate, bare-headed, and in the costume of the period. The library contains a large and valuable collection of books and manuscripts. It was “increased more than double by the testamentary bequest of Dr. John Taylor,” a native of the town, educated at the School.

During the mastership of Ashton the School acquired and has since maintained the most brilliant renown. The roll of illustrious students is a lengthy one. Ashton had among his scholars George Sandys, the well-known traveller, whose works obtained great commendation from Dryden and Pope: Sir Henry Sydney, ambassador to France from the court of Edward VI., President of the Welsh Marches, and Lord Deputy of Ireland, which country, says Spenser and Sir John Davies, he governed with great wisdom, and proved himself, according to Sir R. Naunton in the _Fragmenta Regalia_, a “man of great parts:” Sir Fulk Greville, Lord Brooke, an ingenious writer, a friend of Queen Elizabeth, and a poet of repute in his day: Sir Phillip Sidney, the noble and chivalrous soldier and poet whose bravery at the battle of Zutphen is one of the illustrious incidents in our history, and whose exquisite mind is manifested in _Arcadia_ the picturesque and in _Defence of Poesie_ the enchanting. Those were Ashton’s scholars, and besides them there have been educated here Sir Thomas Jones, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., whose answer to the last monarch’s remark that he could soon have twelve judges of Sir Thomas’s opinion as to his dispensation of power, “Twelve judges you may possibly find, sire, but not twelve lawyers,” is well known: Dr. John Taylor, Canon Residentiary of St. Paul’s, Chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln, and Archdeacon of Buckingham, a learned critic and philologist, who wrote a work entitled _Elements of the Civil War_, and published what were said to be excellent editions of Lysias, Demosthenes and Lycurgus: George Saville, Marquis of Halifax, of whose courageous opposition to the unconstitutional conduct of James II. Macaulay speaks, who, under that sovereign, was President of the Council, in the Convention Parliament was Speaker of the House of Lords, and under William and Mary was Lord Privy Seal: Edward Waring, the learned English mathematician and Lucasian Professor of mathematics at Cambridge in the middle of the last century: while among more recent celebrities there are Mr. Thomas Wright the antiquarian: Captain Richard Lloyd Edwards, an officer of the “brave and bold” six hundred who rode “into the jaws of death,” at Balaclava; and several Englishmen of note. May we not say that these are names of which we may justly boast? May we not, adopting Macaulay’s elegant eulogium on the famous students of Glasgow University, say that Shrewsbury School has sent forth men “whose talents and learning have not been wasted on selfish or ignoble objects, but have been employed to promote the physical and moral good of their species, to extend the empire of man over the material world, to defend the cause of civil and religious liberty against tyrants and bigots, and to defend the cause of virtue and order against the enemies of all divine and human laws.”

On the left of the Schools ST. NICHOLAS’S CHAPEL was recently observable. It was the only one in existence of eight similar structures. It was erected by Roger de Montgomery for the use of those of his retainers who resided in the outer court of the Castle. At a subsequent period it was appropriated for the accommodation of the President and Council of the Marches of Wales. On the site has been erected a handsome structure by the English Presbyterians, who have retained its ancient name, calling it

ST. NICHOLAS’ CHURCH.

Near St. Nicholas’s Church stands

THE COUNCIL HOUSE,

approached by a fine timber gateway. In Speed’s Map it is called “LORD’S PLACE,” and it appears to have been erected in 1502. It was the place of residence for the Kings and Lord Presidents of the Welsh Marches when they came to Shrewsbury. King James II. kept his court in it on August 25th, 1687. It has been the scene of many a “costly banquet.” Charles I., Sir Henry Sidney, the Earl of Arundel and other noblemen have been “nobly entertained here at the expense of the town.” From the Council House we stroll on into the street which is the main thoroughfare of the town,

CASTLE STREET.

On the right is the RAVEN HOTEL, where Farquhar wrote his comedy of _The Recruiting Officer_, the scene and characters of which are of local origin, and the preface to which acknowledges the loyalty and hospitality of the good people of Shrewsbury. At the termination of Castle Street, commences in a straight line

PRIDE HILL.

Pride Hill was anciently named, for a reason undiscovered and unknown, Corvisor’s Row, then in Speed’s map Shoemaker’s Row, and then finally, for ever, no doubt, Pride Hill, from the fact of it having been the residence of a family of the name of Pride. Directly opposite the spectator’s eye stands the NEW MARKET; but instead of going down to inspect the handsome building we turn to the left, pass the NEW GENERAL POST OFFICE, and reach

ST. MARY’S STREET.

Here, of course, the chief object is

ST. MARY’S CHURCH.

It is supposed to have been founded by King Edgar about 980. There were attached to it a Dean and seven Prebendaries, and the stipend of the priest amounted to £6 6s. 8d. In the reign of Edward the Confessor it had a Dean and nine Prebendaries, and was provided with a large estate for their maintenance. In the time of Henry VIII. the revenue was £32 4s. 2d., and the Dean received as his share £22 6s. 8d. In the early part of the reign of Edward VI. the revenue had increased to £42, the whole of which was absorbed by the Dean, “rich on forty pounds a-year.” The church was then collegiate, but upon the dissolution of colleges the greater part of its revenues was given by Edward VI. for founding the Shrewsbury Grammar School. The living was formerly in the presentation of the Mayor of Shrewsbury—a privilege which the Municipal Act extinguished. It is now vested in five trustees; and it is necessary to select a minister who is either the son of a burgess and has been educated at the Grammar School, or who has had the honour of being a native of Chirbury. It was directed that the stipend should be an adequate one—£20 a-year, and the regulation which fixed the amount contained the pleasing addition that it was not to be diminished.

[Picture: Entrance to Council House, Shrewsbury]

The church is one of the most interesting ecclesiastical edifices in the county from the example it affords of all the architectural styles of the middle ages. It is impossible to give here a full description of it. It must suffice to say that it consists of nave, side aisles, transepts, choir, spacious chapel, two chantrey chapels, with a tower and lofty spire, the total height of which is 220 feet 2 inches. The Anglo-Norman style may be seen in the basement of the tower, the nave, transepts, and doorways; the transition from Norman to the early lancet in the beautiful transept windows; and the obtuse arch of a later period in the side aisles and chantry chapels. The interior presents a stately and magnificent appearance from the massiveness of its arches, from the gorgeousness and beauty of its windows, and from the number of its striking monuments. It has been graced with the presence of royalty, and it has been used as a judicial court. In 1232 a tribunal, composed of legates, was convened here by command of the Pope to hear the charges preferred against Llewellyn for violations of treaties. In 1642 Charles I., then in Shrewsbury, made within its walls a solemn protestation, and took “the Sacrament upon it,” to defend the Protestant religion. In 1687 James II. attended divine service, and afterwards exercised the superstitious and suppositious power of “touching for the evil.”

Some of the incidents in the records relating to the church are curious. Forms were first furnished for the worshippers in 1537. Prior to that there were neither seats nor benches. The floors were strewn with flowers and sweet herbs, upon which the people prostrated themselves.

Among the items of expenditure are some interesting entries. In 1553 it cost 4s. to ring in honour of Queen Mary being proclaimed, and in the same year 4s. for “setting up an altar before Sir Adam Mytton’s grave.” The repairing of chapels seems to have been an inexpensive affair: for we are told that “our Lady’s chapel was mended,” and a “paschal taper” bought for 4s.; while in 1554 the enormous sum of 2s. 6d. was paid for “making an altar in our Lady’s chapel,” and 3s. 5d. for “making Trinity altar.” With a firm adhesion to Protestantism and a stern condemnation of all appearance of Romanism it was ordered on May 12th, 1584, that three superstitious images and inscriptions in the north window be taken down by the churchwardens. In September of the same year it was ordered that the stone altar should be removed, “having been sometimes used to idolatry.”

The spire, too, has a history of incidents. In 1572 it was blown aside by the wind; in 1663 the cock was replaced by a new one and the steeple repaired at the cost of £72; in 1665 and again in 1686 the cock was blown down; in 1690 it was damaged by an earthquake; in 1739 the cock suffered again: in 1754 the spire was shattered by a violent hurricane; and in 1756 the part re-built in 1754 was blown on one side, and once more re-built. The mishap of 1739 one Thomas Cadman undertook to repair. Cadman who is described by Hutton as a “man of spirit and grisle,” succeeded in taking down and re-setting the cock on the summit of the spire. In celebration of his success he determined upon performing some exploits on a rope which he fixed from the top of the spire to a tree in the Gay Meadow, Abbey Foregate, on the other side of the Severn. The adventure was a fatal one. In sliding along he fell near the Water Lane Gate; and for the information of an unappreciative posterity and the gratification of the curious this inscription was placed on the wall over his grave by his admiring survivors:—

_Let this small monument record the name_ _Of Cadman_, _and to future times proclaim_ _How by an attempt to fly from this high spire_, _Across the Sabrine stream_, _he did acquire_ _His fatal end_: ’_Twas not for leant of skill_ _Or courage to perform the task he fell_, _No_! _No_! _a faulty cord being drawn too tight_ _Hurried his soul on high_, _to take her flight_, _Which bid the body here beneath_, “_Good night_.”

[Picture: Shrewsbury, with the English and Coleham bridges]

Opposite the front of St. Mary’s Church are the

DRAPERS’ ALMSHOUSES,

better known as St. Mary’s Almshouses. They were founded in the reign of Edward IV., about 1461, by Degory Water, a draper of Shrewsbury, who was admitted a burgess in 1404 and lived in the “hall house” or centre house among the poor. He died in 1477. He made no respect of persons in St. Mary’s Church, but set an example almost in anticipation of the modern “open-pew” system by accompanying the poor people to church and kneeling among them in a “long pew in the quire.” The original almshouses were taken down in 1825, and the present comfortable buildings erected by the Drapers’ Company at a cost of upwards of £3,000.

On the south-west side of the churchyard is the DRAPERS’ HALL, which is supposed to have been erected about 1560. The interior is wainscotted with oak, and the floor was formerly rich in emblazoned tiles. The members of the Drapers’ Company feasted at the north end, and on the opposite side is a fine old chest, above which are portraits of the first steward of the company, Degory Water, and his wife. Edward IV. was a patron of the Company, and his patronage is gratefully recorded in some quaint lines under his portrait, which adorns the east side.

A little beyond the Drapers’ Hall is the

SALOP INFIRMARY,

an institution which is acknowledged to be one of the best conducted of its kind in the kingdom. It was formed in 1745, when a commodious house was purchased, fitted out, and opened for the reception of patients on the 25th of April, 1747. The present building, on the site of the former structure, was commenced in July, 1827, when Lord Hill laid the foundation-stone. It was completed and opened in September, 1830. The appurtenances and appointments of the institution are admirable. It is supported by voluntary contributions and benefactions. It possesses a large number of valuable legacies. It has been an inestimable blessing to thousands upon thousands. Returning from the Infirmary past the Draper’s Hall we cross the road to

CHURCH STREET.

The half-timbered house, conspicuous by its gables, on the right hand side, formed a portion of JONES’S MANSION. It was erected by Thomas Jones, Esq., the first Mayor of Shrewsbury, son of Sir Thomas Jones, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. It was the residence of the Duke of York in 1642, and of Prince Rupert “when he joined his uncle after the brilliant action of Worcester.” The Church a few yards further on is

ST. ALKMUND’S CHURCH,

which had its foundation early in the 10th century. St. Alkmund was the son of Alured, King of Northumberland. He was slain in the year 800 and buried at Lilleshall. The church dedicated to him is supposed to have been founded by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great. Her nephew, King Edgar, a descendant of Alured, increased the original endowment. Like St. Mary’s it was collegiate, and in the time of Edward the Confessor had eleven manors, which, however, were transferred by King Stephen at the request of Richard de Belemis, one of the Deans, to the Abbey or monastery at Lilleshall. The college being thus both dissolved and impoverished was reduced into a vicarage and lapsed to the crown, in whose hands the living now remains. The church was destroyed in 1794 under a mistaken apprehension as to its stability, and the existing edifice erected in 1796. In a vault beneath it lie the remains of Sir Thomas Jones, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who died in 1672; and of Thomas Jones, Esq., his son, to whom reference has already been made, who represented the town in Parliament, and died in 1715, and of whom it is said that his “strict piety, exemplary virtue, and extensive charity consigned him to a joyful resurrection!” A legend relates that in 1533, on twelve successive days, and while the priest was at high mass, the devil appeared in St. Alkmund’s Church, and that this preternatural visitation was accompanied with great darkness and tempest. Poor Trotty Veck in the _Chimes_ thinks that the bells are full of life, that they are under the control of a goblin, and that innumerable little goblins play upon them, leap and fly from them, gambol in and round about them. Trotty is not far wrong: at least three centuries ago there was a goblin in St. Alkmund’s bells, and he tingled the wires of the clock, and he imprinted his claws on the fourth bell, and he carried away one of the pinnacles coolly esconsed under his arm, and, worse than all, he for a time stopped all the bells in Shrewsbury, so that there was no ringing, tolling, chiming or pealing! There can be no doubt about it. Retracing our steps through Church Street we come out upon

DOGPOLE,

or, as it used to be written, Doggepole, Dokepoll. “What an outlandish name!” cries the visitor. It is a strange name, but it expresses a natural fact. Two interpretations have been given to it—one that attributes it to the circumstance of a collection of water having existed in the neighbourhood centuries ago—another that discovers its derivation in _Ducken_, to bend or stoop, or _Duick_, to duck one’s head, to stoop, and _poll_, or summit. Dogpole is the head of a bank of steep descent—the Wyle Cop, which leads to the river. The neat structure on the right about half-way down is the TABERNACLE of the Welsh Independents, built as a memorial of 1662 and adjoining it is the SHROPSHIRE EVE AND EAR HOSPITAL, an institution supported entirely by voluntary contributions, which is, however, soon to be supplanted by the extremely handsome structure now in course of erection as a new Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, in Murivance, opposite Allatt’s School. At the bottom of Dogpole we turn to the right and enter

HIGH STREET,

which formerly bore the name of Baker’s Row, probably because it had the honour of containing most of the baker’s shops. On the right is

S. JULIAN’S CHURCH.