REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00855 621 GENEALOGY 942.4501 SH84T 1879 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/transactionsofsh12shro Mo ^TRANSACTIONS _ OF THE SHROPSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. SHROPSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SHROPSHIRE AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, ESTABLISHED 1835. ESTABLISHED 1877. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ^LKf > I J^L. VOL. II. PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY. SHREWSBURY: ADNITT AND NAUNTON, T II E SQUARE. OSWESTRY: WOOD ALL AND VKNABLE 8. > 1 8 7 1909870 raeoet WOOD ALL AND VENABLES, PRINTERS, ETC., OSWALD ROAD, AND BAILEY HEAD, OSWESTRY. 142257 SHROPSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. CONTENTS of VOL. II. Robert Fitz Wimarch and his Descendants. By the Rev. R. W. Eyton, M.A. ... ... ... ... 1 Cleobury Mortimer. By Mrs. Edward Childe... ... 35 Recent Geological Investigations in Shropshire. By Charles Callaway, M.A., D.Sc. (London), F.G.S., Wellington, Salop ... ... ... ... ... 77 Where did King Oswald die? ... ... ... 97 The Honourable Thomas Konyon. By Askew Roberts, Oswestry ... ... ... ... ... 141 The Bells of Shrewsbury Abbey. By David Da vies ... 165 The Records of the Corporation of Oswestry. By Stanley Leigiiton, Esq., M.P. ... ... ... ... 183 Some Account of the Ruckley Grange Estate, Salop, and tho Families connected therewith. By H. F. J. Vauoiian ... ... ... ... ... 213 Diary of the Marches of tho Royal Army during tho Great Civil War (so far as relates to Shropshire). Kept by Richard Symonds, a Captain in the Royal Army. [Published from MS. in British Museum, by the Camdon Society, 1859, from which book it is extracted] ... ... ... ... ... 273 On Three Ancient Rings found in Shropshire. By Rev. W. A. Leighton, B.A. Camb., F.L.S., F.B.S. Ed. ... 283 Incomo Tax Commissioners in 1799 ... ... ... 29G An Introduction to Sources of Salopian Topography. By Maokbnzik E. C, Walcott, B.D., F.S.A., Pnccentor of Chichester ... ... ... ... ... 297 iv Roman Shropshire. By W. Thompson Wat kin ... 317 Vails to Servants ... ... ... ... ... 3G4 Birds of Shropshire* By William E. Beckwith, Eaton Constantino ... . . ... ... ... 365 Judge Jeffreys1 Letter ... ... ... ... 39G The Mayor of Shrewsbury's Intended Speech, 1012 ... 398 A Shrewsbury Tradesman's Invoice Three Centuries Ago 400 Shrewsbury Street Names — Past and Present ... ... 401 ILLUSTRATIONS. 1. View of Oswald's Well, from an old print ... 97 2. Portrait of the Hon. T, Kenyon, from the painting by Eddis . . ... 141 3. Initial Letter of Charter of Richard II. to Oswestry 183 4. Three Rings found in Shropshire . . ... 283 5. Plan of Norton Camp ... ... ... ... 349 6. Roman Inscriptions found at Wroxeter ... ... 332 7. Ditto ditto ditto ... ... 333 8. Roman Tesselated Pavement found at Wroxeter ... 328 V SHROPSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. ANNUAL MEETING. The Annual Meeting, due in October, but unavoidably postponed, was held on Thursday, Nov. 28th, 1878, at the Museum, Shrewsbury. The Council of the Society met at two o'clock to adopt the Report and for other preliminary business, after which the general meeting was held, at which the following, with other members, attended : — The Kev, W. Allport Lcighton, Rev. Prebendary Lloyd, Rev. Canon Butler, Mr. Calcott, Mr. E. J. Parry, Dr. Cranage, Rev. C. H. Drinkwater, Mr. Askew Roberts, Rev. J. Evans, Rov. A. T. Polham, Rev. J. Mitchell, Rev. 0. Mackay, Mr. Adnitt, Mr. Southam, Mr. Oldroyd, Mr. R. Taylor, Mr. W. Phillips, Mr. D. Davies, Rev. E. Myers, Mr. Sharpe, Mr. G. Drayton, Mr. Onions, Mr. Harding, Mr, P. Evans, Mr. J. H. Spence, Mr. Wilkes, Mr. Lowe, Mr. Robins, &c. The Rev. Canon Butler was voted to the chair, and called upon tho Secretary to read the Report, which was as follows : — The Council of tho Shropshire Archaeological ami Natural History Society, in presenting their report for the year ending June 24th, have much pleasure in congratulating the members on the success of the Society. It will be remembered that at the close of the year 1870 a Society was established, under the name of the Shropshire Archaeological Society, for the purpose of gat hering together and printing Records of Shropshire, issuing to the mem- bers an annual volume of about 500 pa^es. Upon consideration, it appeared to many that the objects of the existing Natural History and Antiquarian Society were in many cases so nearly identical with those of the new Society, that an amalgamation was thought desirable. After the separate Councils had considered the matter, and each recommended to the members the desirability of such an amalgamation, general meetings were held and the union of tho two societies was completed. This has caused Nome complication in the accounts, and by the balance sheet it will be seen that several items of the Antiquarian Society include the expenditure of a year and a half, and the extra expense thus charged to the year's account amounts to about £40. Notwithstanding this charge, the Council arc glad to liud that the balance in the hands of the Antiquarian Society at the last audit (Jan. 15, 1877) of £'.)(> 14s , has not been diminished, but increased to the sum of £4,'} 13m. 4d., and with arrears (which are almost COT tain to be realised) amounts to £51 0s. 4*1. In addition, the Council have; about GO copies of Vol. I. of the Society's Transactions, which will be avail- able lo new members at the subscription price. The Council have much pleasure in issuing their volume of Transactions for the past year, and they beg to thank the writers of the various papers for vi their kindness in contributing the same ; especially to Hubert Smith, Esq., for the two beautiful woodcuts illustrating his paper on the Bridgnorth Hermitage, and to Mr. Parti idge, bookseller, Ludlow, for the loan of his steel-plate engraving of Ludlow Castle. The Council at the same time earnestly trust that the influence of present members with others will be used, and that the full number of members (350) may shortly be obtained. This would givo the Council considerable funds in hand, and enable them to improve the volume issued yearly, as well as supply other needs in the Museum which are much wanted. The number of visitors to the Museum from January 1st to December 31st, 1877, was 998 (G40 by payments and 358 by members' orders), and from January 1st to July 1st, 1878, 370 (243 by payments and 127 by members' orders). The annual excursion for the year was to Bridgnorth, but in consequence of the very inclement state of the weather, it resulted in a loss to the Society. The Council have only to add that their thanks and those of the members are due to the Editorial Committee, and especially to the Rev. W. A. Leightoi for his valuable assistance ; to the Rev. Canon Butler for his kind- ness in thoroughly examining and arranging the botanical section of the Museum ; and also to the Honorary Secretary for his untiring exertions for the welfare of the Society. Many contributions have been received at the Museum, for which the thanks of the Council are given, which will be duly recorded in the society's journal, and they take this opportunity of soliciting donations of objects of interest relating to the county, especially books, prints, drawings, coins, and specimens illustrating the archaeology, botany, zoology, and geology of the county. The statement of accounts was also read, and the Chairman asked if anyone had any remark to make in respect to either. The Hon. Sec. (Mr. Adnitt) entered into sundry explanations rela- tive to the accounts, which the Chairman remarked were very satis- factory. On the motion of Mr. E. J. Parry, seconded by the Rev. J. Evans of Whixall, it was agreed that the report and statement of accounts should bo printed in the forthcoming part of the Transactions of the Society. On the motion of the Rev. A. T. Pelham, the Council and other officers of the Society were re-elected, with the addition of the name of Mr. Butler on the Council in the place of Mr. Blakeway deceased. Canon Butler, in thanking them for electing him to office, remarked that he should be glad if the secretaries and other members of the different Field-clubs of the county would send to the Museum natural history specimens, which he would bo very happy to arrange. The Rev C. H. Drinkwater proposed, and Mr. Calcott seconded, special votes of thanks to the Rev. AV. A. Leighton and Mr. Adnitt for thoir sorviccs to the Society, which were carried by acclamation ; and the two gentlemen responded ; Mr. Leighton, in doing so, remark- ing that the Caradoc Club had received the gift of the sum of £5 towards the expense of opening a tumulus at Clungunford, and intended supplementing that amount by a further sum from the funds of the club. He threw out a suggestion that their Society might, perhaps, spend some of its money in the same way. Mr. Adnitt, in thanking tho meeting, observed that when thoy had their full complement of 350 members thoy would have £70 or .£80 a year to spend for tho vii improvement of the Museum or in the copying of MSS. for publication, and he hoped the day would soon come when their Museum would bo removed to a more central place. Mr. W. Phillips proposed that a sum of £10 should be spent, at least for one year, for tho purposo of commencing a collection of British Birds for the Museum, and stated that the Council had that morning added to tho number of their honorary curators the name of Mr. W. Beckwith, of Eaton Constantino, whose services would be very valuable in this department. He instanced the collection of birds at Ludlow as one of the finest in the country. Dr. Cranage, in seconding Mr. Phillip's motion, urged that they should only attempt a collection of birds belonging to the county. Local museums, he thought, went out of their way when they made their collections general A conversation then arose as to the printing of a catalogue of the contents of the Museum, for sale to visitors ; but it was thought that the collection would be greatly augmented now that the two societies were united, and it was agreed that a catalogue should be made, and given in tho Societies' Transactions, and added to in succeeding num- bers as contributions were received. On the motion of the Hon. Sec, seconded by tho Rev. Prebendary Lloyd, it was agreed that the summer excursion of 1879 should include Bcrrington, Acton Burnell, Langley, Pitchford, and Condovcr. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Mr. Askew Roberts, and seconded by the Rev. W. A. Lcighton, closed the proceedings. At the conclusion of the meeting conversation became general. Tho Rev. J. Evans exhibited an old document, signed by Queen Elizabeth, relative to tho chapclry of Whixall, and the Rev. C. Mackay some lead tokens found in digging in Alveley Church, now in process of restora- tion. Several of the members present also took the opportunity ot looking round the Museum, so rich in specimens from Wroxeter. vm LIST OF MEMBERS, AUGUST, 1879. Acton, Mrs. Stackhouse, Acton Scott, Salop Adnitt, Mr. H. W., Shrewsbury Anslow, Robert, Esq., Parville, Wellington, Salop Auden, Rev. T., Ford, Shrewsbury Berwick, Right Hon. Lord, Attingham Bradford, Right Hon. Earl of, Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire Bhownlow, Right Hon. Earl, Belton, Grantham Babington, C. C. Esq., F.S.A., F.R.S., 5, Brookside, Cambridge Barber, John, Esq., Prospect House, Wellington, Salop Barnes, Thos., Esq., The Quinta, Chirk Barnes, Major J. R., Brookside, Chirk Barton, Rev. J., Hadley Vicarage, Wellington, Salop Beacall, W., Esq., Shrewsbury Beck, Peter, Esq., The Castle, Shrewsbury Beckwith, W. E., Esq., Eaton Constantine Benson, R. A., Esq., Lutwyehe Hall, Much Wenlock Benthall, F., Esq., F.S.A., Hexton, Ampthill, Bedfordshire Beresford, Robert De la Poer, Esq., M.D., Oswestry Bibby, J. J., Esq., Hardwick Grange, Shrewsbury Bedford, The Right Rev. Bishop of Bloekley, Mr. John, Coleham, Shrewsbury Bodenham, J., Esq., Edgmond, Newport, Salop Borough, J. C. Burton, Esq., Chetwynd Park, Newport, Salop Boulton, Rev. W., Wem Boucher, J. B , Esq., Bryn Derwen, Oak Hill, Surbiton, Surrey Boughton, Sir C. H. Rouse, Bart., Downton Hall, Ludlow Boughton, Miss Rouse, Larden Hall, Wenlock Bratton, James, Esq., Shrewsbury Bridgeman, The Hon. and Rev. Canon, The Hall, Wigan Bridgcman, The Hon. and Rev. J., Weston-under-Lyziard, Shifnal Brinton, John, Esq., Moor Hall, Stourport Brooke, Rev. J., Haughton Hall, Shifnal Bucknill, Rev. George, High Ercall Vicarage, Wellington Bunny, Mr. Edwin, Shrewsbury Burd, E. Esq., M.D., Newport House, Shrewsbury Burd, Rev. J., M.A., Chirbury Vicarage, Salop Burr, G., Esq., Oaklands, Shrewsbury Butler, Rev. Canon, Shrewsbury ix Cleveland, His Grace the Duke of, Raby Castle, Durham Calcott, John, Esq., Oakley Street, Shrewsbury Calvert, E., Esq., LL.D., Shrewsbury Campbell, C. M., Esq., Shrewsbury Caswell, Mr, S., Shrewsbury Childe, Rev. E. G., Kinlet Vicarage, Bewdlcy Cholmondeley, Rev. R. H., Hodnct Rectory, Salop Clayton, Rev. E. ff, the Rectory, Ludlow. Clive, Ven. Archdeacon, Blymhill Rectory, Shifnal Clowes, Rev. Albert, Clee S. Margaret, Bromfield, Salop Cooper, C. J., Esq., Bridgnorth Corbet, Sir V. R., Bart., Acton Rcynald, Shrewsbury Corser, Rev, Georgo J., Burrington Rectory, Ludlow Corser, G. Sandford, Esq., Shrewsbury Cortissos, C, Esq., Shrewsbury Cosens, F. \V„ Esq., F.S.A., 27, Queen's Gate, London, S.W. Cotes, C. C, Esq., M.P., Woodcote, Newport, Salop (Jox, H. Pouting, Esq., Wem, Salop Cranage, J. E., Esq., Ph.D., Wellington, Salop Ohilde-Pembcrton, C. 0., Esq., Milliohopc Park, Church Stretton Corbett, John, Esq., M.P., Impney, Droitwich Darby, Mrs., Little Ness, Shrewsbury Davis, Rev. J. W., Loppington Vicarage, Wem Davies, Rev. Prebendary, Moor Court, Kington Davies, Mr. David, St. Julian's Friars, Shrewsbury Davies, Mr. R. E., Kingsland, Shrewsbury Davies, J. Sides, Esq., The Poplars, Oswestry Day, W. S., Esq., Lyndhurst House, Hendon Dc Imnsen, Rev. H. G., Donington Rectory, Albrighton, Salop Dcakin, Mr. A. B., Shrewsbury Downing, William, Esq., Fern Cottage, Acock's Green, Birmingham Drake, F., Esq., F.G.S., F.S.A., South Stockton-on-Tces Drayton, Mr. G. A., Shrewsbury Drinkwater, Rev. C. H., St. George's Vicarage, Shrewsbury Dukes, Rev. E. R., Windsor Hou.sc, Shrewsbury Edgcll, R. A., Esq., Clarcmont, Shrewsbury Edwards, Samuel, Esq., 4, Eliot Park, Lcwisham Edye, Thomas, Esq., 57, Grove Road, St. John's Wood, London Egerton, Rev. Canon., Middle Rectory, Shrewsbury Evans, W., Esq., Abbey Forcgate, Shrewsbury Evans, Rev. W. Howell, The Vicarage, Oswestry Evans, Rev. J., Whixall Vicarage, Whitchurch Evans, Mr. P., Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury Everett, A. E., Esq., City Chambers, New Street, Birmingham FiVerall, Mr. R., The Priory, Shrewsbury. Eyton, T. C, Esq., F.Z.S., Eyton, Wellington, Salop X Eyton, T. Slaney, Esq., Walford Manor, Basclmrcli Eyton, Rev. Robert W., Cattestocke, Dorchester Foildcn, Rev. 0 M., Frankton Rectory, Oswestry Fenton, H., Esq., Shrewsbury Fisher, W., Esq., Maesfron, Welshpool Gasquoine, Rev. T., B.A., Rosneath, Oswestry George, Mr. E., Column Villas, Shrewsbury. Gleadowe, Rev. T. L., The Rectory, Frodesley, Salop Goodwin, Win. Henry, Esq., Bank Buildings, Hastings Griffin, Harcourt, Esq., Pell Wall, Market Drayton Grazebrook, Geo., Esq., F.S.A., Oak Hill Park, near Liverpool Harlech, Right Hon. Lord, Brogyntyn, Oswestry Hill, Right Hon. Viscount, Hawkestone, Salop Harding, W. E., Esq., Shrewsbury Haines, A. M., Esq., Galena, Illinois, America Harrison, Rev. W., Pontesbury Hawkes, Rev. S. J., Pontesbury Haycock, E., Esq , Castle House, Shrewsbury Hazledine, J. R., Esq., Shrewsbury Herbert, Hon. R. C, Orlcton, Wellington, Salop Hodges, E. Esq., Edgmond, Newport, Salop Hopo-Edwardos, Mrs., Netley Hall, Shrewsbury How, T. M., Esq., Shrewsbury Hudson, C. Donaldson, Esq., Cheswardine, Market Drayton Humphreys, J. R., Esq., Shrewsbury Humphreys, John, Esq., St. John's Hill, Shrewsbury Hughes, Mr. W., Abboy Forogate, Shrewsbury Ikin, Alfred, Esq., Cofngwifed, Newtown, Montgomeryshire Jackson, H. B., Esq., Basford House, Whalley Range, Manchester Jamos, Rev. T., M.A., LL.D., F.S.A., Netherthong Vicarage, Hud- dersfield (deceased). Jehu, Richard, Esq., 21, Cloudesley, Street, London Jebb, Arthur Trevor, Esq., The Lyth, Ellesmere, Salop Jebb, G. R., Esq., The Laurels, Shrewsbury Jollicorse, Rev. W., Clunbury Vicarage, Salop Jcudwine, Rev. W,, Chicholey Vicarago, Newport Pngncll Johnson, H. Esq., M.D., Ludlow, Johnson, Mr. G., Shrewsbury Jones, Morris C, Esq., F.S.A., Hon. Sec. Powys-Land Club, Gungrog, Welshpool. Jones, John, Esq., Bellan House, Oswestry Jones, E. Maurice, Esq., Brookside, Welshpool Jones, Morris P., Esq., '27, Edge Lane, Liverpool Jones, Rev. John, B.A. Cantab, Raglan Place, Wednesbury Jones, W. Weaver, Esq., Cleobury Mortimer, Salop Jones, H., Esq., 1 Church Court, Clement's Lane, London Jones, J, Parry, Esq., West Holm, Oswestry Juson, Mrs., Shrewsbury Konyon-Slaney, Col., Hatton Grange, Shifnal Kenyon, J. R., Esq., Q.C., Pradoo, West Felton Kynaston, Rev. W. C. E., Hardwicke, Ellesmero Laing, Mr. J., Shrewsbury Leighton, Sir Baldwyn, Bart., M.P., Loton Park, Shrewsbury Loighton, Stanley, Esq., M.P., Sweoney Hall, Oswestry Leighton, Rov. W. A., F.L.S., F.B.S. Edin., Luciefelde, Shrewsbury Leslie, Henry, Esq., Bryn Tanat, Llansantffraid, R.S.O, Montgomery- shire. Lewis, Lewis, Esq., Newtown Hall, Montgomeryshire Lewis, Mr. Henry, Oswald Road, Oswestry Lichfield, Very Rev. Dean of, The Deanery, Lichfield Lloyd, Rev. Canon, Whitehall, Shrewsbury Lloyd, J. Y. Wm., Esq., M.A., Clochfaen, Llanidloes Lloyd, Rev. W. V., R.N., F.R.G.S., Portsmouth Lowndes, W. Layton, Esq., Linley, Bridgnorth Loxdale, James, Esq., Castle Hill, Aberystwith Loxdale, John, Esq., Kingsland, Shrewsbury Lowe, Mr, T. U., Shrewsbury Mackey, Rev. C. W., Alveley Vicarage, Bridgnorth McMichael, J. W., Esq., 32, High Street, Bridgnorth Main waring, S. Kynaston, Esq., Oteley, Ellesmere Mitchell, Rev, J., Alberbury Vicarage, Salop Mooro, Rev. J. W., Hordley Rectory, Ellesmere Morris, E. Rowley, Esq., Homestay, Newtown, Montgomeryshire Moss, Rev. H. W., The Schools, Shrewsbury Myers, Rev. E., F.G.S., Claremont Hill, Shrewsbury Naunton, Mr. W. W., St. John's Hill, Shrewsbury Nightingale, C. G., Esq., Shrewsbury Norton, Rev. F. C, 8, Rutland Road, Hammersmith, London Oldroyd, H. J., Esq., Shrewsbury Onions, T., Esq., Claremont Street, Shrewsbury Owen, A. C. Humphreys, Esq., Carthmyl, Montgomeryshire Owen, Rev. R. Trevor, Llangudwyn, Oswestry Owen, Rev. Loftus, St. Giles', Shrewsbury Owen, T. Morgan, Esq., Bronwylfa, Rhyl Powis, Right Hon. Earl of, Powis Castlo, Wolshpool Vardoe, U., Esq., The Priory, Cheltenham. xii Parry, E. J., Esq., Swan Hill, Shrewsbury- Payne, W. R, Esq., High Street, Shrewsbury Poelo, E. C, Esq., Prestfelde, Slirewsbury Pelham, Rev. A. T., Cound Rectory, Shrewsbury Penson, R. K., Esq., F.S.A,, Dinham House, Ludlow Penfold, Hugh, Esq., Rustington, Littlehampton Phillimore, Wm. P., Esq., Sncnton, Nottingham Phillips, W., Esq., F.L.S., Kingsland, Shrewsbury Pigott, Rev. E. V., Leaton, Shrewsbury Plowden, W. P., Esq , Plowden Hall, Lydbury North Potts, E. B., Esq., Broseley, Salop Potter, Rev. Peter, Miusterlcy Price, John, Esq., Shrewsbury Price, B., Esq., Garthfawr Farm, near Llanidloes Price, Lewis R., Esq., 117, St. George's Square, London, S.W. Pryce, Mis., Gunley, Chirbury Pritchard, John, Esq., Broseley Quaritch, B., Esq., 15, Piccadilly, London Ragg, Rev. Thomas, Lawley Vicarage, Salop Ralph, Rowland W., Esq., Honnington Grange, Newport Randall, Mr. J., F.G.S., Madeley Rider, J. E. W., Esq., Crescent House, Wellington Roberts, Askew, Esq., Croeswylan, Oswestry Roberts, T. Lloyd, Esq., Corfton Manor, Craven Arms Robinson, C. B., Esq., Frankton Grange, Shrewsbury Robertson, Henry, Esq., M.P , Pale, Corwen Robins, Mr. J. It,, St. Alkmond's Square, Shrewsbury Robinson, Mr. J., St. Alkmond's Square, Shrewsbury Rocke, John, Esq., Clungunford House, Aston-on-Clun Rocke, Rev. T. Owen, Clungunford Rectory, Salop Rogerson, T. G., Esq., Admaston, Wellington Sutherland, His Grace the Duke of, Lilleshall, Salop Salt, G. M., Esq., Shrewsbury Salt, Wm., Esq., Shrewsbury Salusbury, Rev. G. A., LL.B., Westbury Rectory, Shrewsbury Salwey, Alfred, Esq., Overton, Ludlow Salwey, Alfred, Esq., Temesidc, Ludlow Sandford, Rev. G., Eldon Vicarage, Sheffield Sandford, Humphrey, Esq., The Isle, Shrewsbury Sandford, Thomas Hugh, Ksq., Sandford, near Proes Sandford, Rev. Holland, Eaton-under-Heywood, Salop Sandford, Folliott, Esq., Shrewsbury Saxton, Rev. E. Waring, D.D., The Elms, Shrewsbury Snlwyn, Rev. W., lirom field Vicarage, Salop Sliiupe, Mr. J., Eddowess Journal, Slirewsbury Shaw, 11., Esq., Shrewsbury Xlll Shaw, John, Esq., Shrewsbury Sladen, Mrs., Leighton Hall, Ironbridge Smith, Hubert, Escj., Belmont House, Bridgnorth Smith, J. Onston, Esq., Dogpolc Court, Shrewsbury Smith, J. Parson, Esq., Shrewsbury Smith, F. Rawdon, Esq., Sweyney Cliff, Coalport Smith, S. Pountncy, Esq., Shrewsbury (Smith, S. Stedmau, Esq., Burcote, Bridgnorth Southam, S. C, Esq., Shrewsbury Southam, T., Esq., The Hollies, Shrewsbury Southwell, T. Martin, Esq., The Woodlands, Bridgnorth Southwell, C. J., Esq., 1, Stoke Newington Green, London, W.C. Southern, F. R, Esq., Ludlow, Salop Sparrow, Rev. W., LL.D., Ludlow Sparrow, Arthur, Esq., Preen Manor, Shrewsbury Spaull, W. H.f Esq., Oswestry Spence, Jas. O., Ksq., Heath Lodge, Shrewsbury Spence, Mr. Jas. Harper, 23, Whitehall Place, Shrewsbury S tan i forth,' Rev. T., Storrs, Windermere Stanton, George, Esq., Coton Hill, Shrewsbury Stewart, Robert, Esq., Ryton Grove, Shrewsbury Swainson, Capt. E. S., Wistanstow, Craven Arms, Salop Swainson, Rev. J. G., Wistanstow Rectory, Craven Arms, Salop Smith, Charles, Esq., Wolverhampton Taylor, E. James, Esq., F.S.A. Newc, Bishopswearmouth, Sunderland Taylor, R., Esq., Abbey House, Shrewsbury Taylor, Robert, Esq., B.C.S., Calcutta Thomas, Rev. D. R., Meifod Vicarage, Welshpool Thomas, John, Esq., Castle Buildings, Oswestry Thursfield, T. H., Esq., Barrow, Broseley Tippinge, F. G , Esq., Sansaw Hall, Shrewsbury Treasure, H. Hurlc, Esq., Coton House, Shrewsbury Trouncer, T,, Esq., Astley, Shrewsbury Turner, Rev. J. J., Clive Place, Welshpool Vaughan, H. F, J., Esq., 30, Edwardes Square, Kensington, London Vawdrey, B. LI., Esq., Tushingham Hall, Whitchurch, Salop Wakeman, Sir Offley, Bart., Coton Hall, Bridgnorth Walker, C. C, Esq., Lilleshall, Salop Warner, Rev. Charles, Clun Vicarage Warron, Rev. Albert J., Ightfield Rectory, Whitchurch Warter, Rev. E., Hanwood, Shrewsbury Watton, J., Esq,, Murivance, Shrewsbury Wenlock Reading Society, Wenlock White, J. P., Esq., Shrewsbury Wlii taker, W. Wilkinson, Esq., Cornbrook House, Manchester Wilko.s, Mr. T., AMbey Foregule, Shrewsbury XIV Williams, Philip, Esq., Hinstock Hall, Market Drayton Williams, Pryce, Esq., Holly House, Kingsdown, Bristol Williams, E., Esq., Broom Hall, Oswestry Wilding, R., Esq., Church Stretton Wilding, W., Esq., Montgomery Wintour, Rev. G., Ironbridge, Salop Wood, Rev. J. Cooper, The Clive Vicarage, Shrewsbury Wood, Rev. R. F., Moreton Corbet Rectory, Shrewsbury Wood, R. H., Esq., F.S.A., Hon. Sec. Chetham Society, Penrhos House, Rugby Wooler, Rev. W. G., Cleobury North Rectory, Salop Woodall, Mr. E., Oswestry Advertizcr, Oswestry Wright, E., Esq., Halston, Oswestry Wright, Philip, Esq., Mellington Hall, Churchstoke 0{ © * O O l> -> cc go' 00 oo li S o r- > fi S3 « . ir W o gj o -1 c ! 8^ ° 2 V (V 'rf IS o © © »0 OD O * ST i 1 : * :' CO "el aj o co : 03 g rt a> SCO t S3.t2 W cq : ~ "Ha Hi p. ■8 J o 2 a a - S. " SJ n « o g 0) Ig o J 1*1 : c = 0 rt to to fl >S a o> 2£ 1 o ,3 at; § — • © r -~ j S3 1 S rt d" « ©£>|-2W a; u o ^ S' a o 8 g rt OW W W "3 , Ica-glS g S S*2 2 § 5 a = 111 <5 ^ CO 00 i-i CO I- ^l4 3 IS e » a £ O >2 rH 22 c p 3 c o ^ s 5 fc pq - 3 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. i By the Rev. R. W, EYTON, M.A. ■ — i Here we have a name of great antiquity and exceeding interest ; a name among the very oldest of those that may properly be called Anglo-Norman. If Edward, son of Ethelred and his Norman Bride, was the first-born of Anglo-Normans, his kinsman, Robert fitz Wymarch, may well have been the second. Their friendship and sympathy endured to the end, the King-saint contriv- ing, hoping, and praying for a Norman successor, Fitz Wymarch surviving just long enough to see the amplest fulfilment of the King's aspirations. In tracing the descendants of Robert fitz Wimarch, we shall hear of increasing wealth, of high trusts and honours, of noblest alliances ; and at length, in the fourth generation of his line, of crushing misfortune and of disgrace ending in total obscurity. The circumstances most likely to interest Shropshire Archaeologists in the name of Kobert fitz Wimarch are that before the Conquest he held the chief canonry in the collegiate Church of St. Mary of Bromfield, and that from his daughter, married before the Conquest, were descended the Baronial Houses of Scroop, and Say, and Mortimer, and Talbot and Cornwall, each holding in its day and degree the Baronies of Burford and of Richard's Castle. Assuming the extinction of Robert fitz Wimarch's descendants of the male line in the reign of K. John, and the reversal of all attainders, his heirs general would be the heirs, if any, of De Lacy Earl of Lincoln. It was early in the eleventh century, probably in the year 1002, that Ethelred II. of England, already having VOL. II, i\ 2 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS, two sons, Edmund and another, but seeking to strengthen himself against his Danish subjects, took for his second wife, Emma, sister of Richard II., Duke of the Normans. From that date till the year 1013, when the whole Royal Family of England was con- strained to take refuge in Normandy, Queen Emma's policy was to suppress the Anglo-Danes, and to intro- duce men of Norman descent to lands and offices in England. A massacre of Danes, and the slaughter of a Norman Sheriff, appointed by the Queen, were among the earliest syptoms of the twelve years' struggle which ensued. On the expulsion of Ethelred in 1013, Sweyn usurped the sovereignty of England, but died suddenly in the following year, and without coronation. K. Ethelred II. was immediately restored to the Crown, and compelled the Danes under their young King Canute to evacuate England. Ethelred's reign ended in 10 1G, with his life. Into the circumstances of his death we do not here enquire. Canute was in England again. So was Queen Emma ; but her children were in Normandy. Ethelred II. was succeeded by his son, Edmund, sur- named Ironsides, a title well won by the hardihood with which he sustained a- year's struggle against Canute. The struggle ended with the assassination of Edmund in 1017 ; in July of which year Queen Emma married Canute, who now became King of England to the exclusion of the children of Ethelred and Emma. It is not probable, that as wife of Canute, or step-mother of Harold Harefoot, or mother of Hardicanute, Queen Emma had either the wish or the means of introducing Normans into England. Hardicanute died June 8, 1042, and, being childless, left the succession to the English throne open to his half-brother, Edward, every circumstance of whose previous life had tended to strengthen those Philo-Norman proclivities which re- sulted at last in his bequest of the- English throne to his cousin, William of Normandy. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 3 On the whole, then, there were two distinct periods, 1002 to 1016, and 1042 to 1066, in which men of Norman birth may be supposed to have gained settle- ments in England. To the ear her of these periods we must needs assign the introduction of Robert fitz Wimarc's Norman father to an English heiress and to English lands, for, seeing that Robert fitz Wimarc had a daughter married before 1052, he cannot himself have been born later than 1016. Though the name of Robert fitz Wimarc's father never transpires, there can be no doubt that he was a Norman ; nay, that he was allied by blood to the Ducal House, and so a relation of Queen Emma, results from a well-authenticated statement that Robert fitz Wimarc was a cousin (consanguineus) of Duke William. William of Poictiers, a Chaplain and Protege of the Duke, and withal a very accurate writer, expressly says so ; and whereas it is clear that the noble Saxon lady Wimarca, mother of the said Robert, cannot have endowed him with any such consanguinity, it follows that his Norman father did. Of Wymarcha, the mother of Robert fitz Wimarch, we know little more than what has been already hinted at, viz : that William of Poictiers, writing her name as Guimara, calls her a noble lady (Nobilis Mulier). That she was an English heiress is no great assumption, when we see that she was selected as wife for a relation of Queen Emma. Where her estates lay is another ques- tion, for Domesday affords no means of distinguishing those which her son, Robert, inherited from his mother, and those which he himself acquired under the suc- cessive auspices of Edward the Confessor and King William. Robert Fitz Wimarca. — Probabilities strongly con- finned by chronological considerations, suggest that the first-bom of the Anglo-Norman race were Edward (afterwards styled the Confessor), his brother Alfred, Ins lister Godiva, and his cousin, Robert Fitz Wimarca. And as the two first were born in the interval between ■ 4 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS, A.D. 1003 and A.D. 1013, so it may be supposed were the two last. At that rate Robert Fitz Wimarca will not have passed the prime of manhood, when the death of Hardicanute (June 8th, 1042) and the influence of William Duke of Normandy, opened a way for Edward Clito to the English throne. That Prince was crowned at Westminster, on Easter Day (April 3rd), 1043. At this period, Bromfield, Shropshire, was the site and chief Dowry of a Collegiate Church, dedicated to St. Mary. The foundation involved twelve Canonries, all in the gift of the Crown. One of these Canonries, analogous to the Deanery of similar establishments, enjoyed an exact half of the whole Church estate. The Incumbent thereof was one Spirtes, or Spiritus, a Priest, and, as Domesday instructs us, a considerable Pluralist in Shropshire and other counties. At a time, and for a cause, both unknown, King Edward banished Spirtes. Among the outlaw's escheats was his canonry of Bromfield, implied by 10 hides of land, which the King gave to Robert Fitz Wimarch, sicut canonico, as Domesday declares.1 It does not appear that there was anything in Bobert * Fitz Wimarch's status disqualifying him from holding this piece of ecclesiastical preferment ; but when, sooner or later, he passed it on to his Son-in-Law, the other Canons of Bromfield viewed the tiling as a sacrilegious spoliation of their Church, and flew to the King for redress. The King at once gave order that the land should revert to the Church ; and the King was apparently intending to back this order by a precept to be given to Bobert Fitz Wimarch at the approaching festival of Christmas, not that he should resign his Canonry, but that he should provide other land for his Son-in-Law. 1 The usual Successor to the forfeited estates and Prebends of Spirtes tho Priest was " Nigel the Physician," living at tho date of Domesday. The said Nigel appears in such a position in several counties, for instance, in Shropshire, Herefordshire, Wiltshire, Hamp- shire and Kent; but in no case, probably, did "Nigel succeed imme- diately to Spirtes (See Antiquities of Shropshire xi, 356,) ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 5 Christmas came, the Christmas of 1065, the King's Court assembled as usual at Westminster. Robert Fitz Wimarch was, as we shall see, in attendance, but the King, smitten, as it proved, with mortal sickness, had no mind for secular affairs. On Innocents Day (Dec 28th), he caused the great Church of St. Peter at Westminster to be dedicated, and on January 5th, 1066, the King expired in the adjoining Palace. 1 As to Robert Fitz Wimarch's Canonry of Bromfield, we hear no more of it for twenty years. Domesday, written when Ilobert Fitz Wimarch and his Son- in- Law were dead, describes the 10 hides which had constituted the same as being then held by one Robertus, under the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Robertus had found it waste, and waste it still remained. The description of the whole Church estate indicates the extent of this moiety to have been more than 3200 acres. Though the Church had lost it for the time, and though the Earl may have given it to a layman, it can hardly have been definitely recognized as a lay hereditament, otherwise the son and heir of Robert Fitz Wimarcs Son-in-Law, or else Robert Fitz Wimarc's own Son, would have been in possession ; but neither the former hair, nor the latter, was named Robert. It is probable that the estate eventually reverted to the Church. In order to give precision and connexion to our further discoveries about Robert Fitz Wimarch and his Son-in-Law, we must now recur to a period thirty-four years earlier than -Domesday, and to the circumstances which most promoted or retarded Norman interests in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom. In September, 105 J, K. Edward; having married Earl Godwins daughter, Edith, and becoming there- with either much devoted to, or much afraid of, that Earl's interests and ascendancy, was holding his court at Gloucester. Suddenly the King was visited by Eustace, Comto of Boulogne, — -his brother-in-law, — as being then the husband of the Kingy sister, Godiva, theretofore Countess of Manto. 6 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. Comte Eustace came to Gloucester, not as a courtier, but as a complainant. Landing at Dover with a few ships, the Comte's soldiers had come into collision with the citizens of Dover, and, after a serious fray, provoked it seems by one of the Comte's men, and resulting in considerable slaughter on both sides, the Earl and his followers had been worsted and put to flight. What course the King meditated or decided upon does not appear. Probably he was hesitating, when news came to Gloucester that Earl Godwin and his sons were in arms ; nay, they sent messengers to Gloucester to declare war upon the King unless Comte Eustace and his band, as well as the Normans and Boulognese who, it seems, were in garrison of Dover Castle, were given up to them. Such a message will have had a fearful meaning for Edward ; — for Edward, mindful of Earl Godwin's share, fifteen years past, in the betrayal and murder of his brother Alfred and in the massacre of Norman soldiers by the double- decimation of Guildford.1 However, the weak King's resolution was speedily formed on a new basis. He heard that an army, under Earls Siward, and Leofric, and Rodulf,2 had taken the field and was advancing to support the crown. Forthwith Edward was in a position to decree and to accomplish the banishment of Earl Godwin, his wife, Githa, and his sons Tosti, Sweyn, and Gurth.3 1 The Double Decimation of Guildford. Four thousand soldiers, French and Norman, were made prisoners with Prince Alfred. The first decimation, as it was callod, was the massacre of nine-tenths of the number. The four hundred survivors were again decimated, that is 40 were set free and 360 subjected to penalties worse than death. This was in the year 1036, Harold Harefoot being King, and Godwin Ruler, of England. 2 Ralph, Earl of Hereford, we suppose. If so, he was King Edward's nephew, son of his sister Godiva. 3 Domesday says distinctly that Harold shared in Godwin's exile. The fact soems purposely to have boen suppressed by the Chroniclors, for fact it unquestionably was. It is confirmod by other indirect evidence. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 7 The exiles took refuge with Baldwin Comte of Flanders, whose daughter, Judith, was the wife of Sweyn, Godwin's son. Anon, Edward repudiated his wife, Edith, as being Godwin's daughter, and welcomed William Duke of Normandy to a lengthy visit in England. When William returned to Normandy he took with him Ingulphus, an English clerk, whom he afterwards made Abbot of Croyland. Ingulphus, — by the way the most mendacious of Chroniclers, — says in regard to the intimacy between Edward and William and the visit of William to Edward's Court : — " De successione autem regni spes adhuc aut mentio nulla facta inter eos fuit." This is probable enough, for though Edward may have himself given up all hope of issue, there is no reason recorded, or imaginable, why he should, at that time, have contemplated the disinheritance of his heirs of the whole blood, the children of his sister, Godiva. William's visit to England is said to have been cur- tailed by troubles on the Norman frontier, on the side of Brittany says Wace, but we hear of none such from contemporary writers. On the other hand the threaten- ing attitude assumed by the Comte of Anjou in con- nection Avith his designs on Maine, may well have caused William to hasten his return home : and, if we mistake not, the campaign of Alencon and Danfront (which places William recovered from the Anjovin Comte), took place in the winter of 1051-2, and during the period of Godwin's exile. The next step taken by Edward was the consignment of two English hostages to the custody of William. The King sent them under charge of Bobert, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, a Norman. The hostages sent were Wulnoth, a son of Earl Godwin, and Haco, a frandson of the same Earl, viz., son of the Earl's son weyn, by Judith of Flanders. One story is that this transmission of the hostages was stipulated for by Edward, as a condition of Earl Godwin's recall. If so, Edward was already negotia- 8 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. ting with Godwin, and the Earl's recall, which actually took place in 1052, must have been with the know- ledge if not with the sanction of William. There returned with Godwin, his wife, Githa, and his sons Tosti, and Gurth. (Sweyn was past recall. Having slain his kinsman Beorn, he had gone barefoot from Flanders to Jerusalem in expiation of his crime, and had died in Lycia on his homeward journey.) Now also K. Edward took again unto him his wife, Edith. Godwin, again in England, resumed at once his con- trol of Edward. Forthwith followed the expulsion from England of all Normans who were unpopular with Godwins faction. Among the exiles were Robert Arch- bishop of Canterbury, William Bishop of London (soon afterwards recalled), and Ulf Bishop of Dorchester (anachronously described by the chronicler as "of Lin- coln.") But, whether it was that Edward interfered in behalf of certain Normans, or whether it was that, as i one authority hints, these certain Normans were popular with their dependents, a few Normans were allowed to remain in England. These were — Robert Draco, called, by Florence of Worcester, ' Robert Diaconus.' Richard films Scrobi, son-in-law of Robert Draco. Alfred, the King s Equerry (Strator Regis) ; and , , Anfrid, surnamed Ceokesfot (Cocksfoot). iti Two other Normans, allowed to remain, but obliged to give up their English castles, were — Osbern, surnamed Pentecost, and his associate (socius) Hugh. . We hope to communioate to this Journal further re- marks on some of these names on a future occasion. For the present, suffice it to deal with the two first. We say, then, that Robertus Draco, alias Robertus Diaconus, was no other than Robert fitz Wimarc, and that his son-in-law, Richard fitz Scrobi, otherwise called Richard Scroop, was a Norman, seized, long before the Conquest, of the Shropshire Manor of Burford ; also of ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 9 the Chatellany of Auretone, ' which Ghatellany con- tained the Shropshire vills now called Ashford Bowdler, Overton, Batchcott and Woofferton ; also two Shropshire vills, Whitebroc and Turford (names now lost), and some territory in Herefordshire, constituting the caput ol the Chatellany. Further, the castle which Richard Scrupe founded at Auretone, though it was still called Auretone after he was dead, viz., at the date of Domesday, has ever since been called Richard's Castle, with reference to him, its founder. For further account of llichard Scrupe, his possessions and liis posterity, we refer else^- where.1 Of Robert fitz Wimarch and his two supplementary names, ' Draco' and ' Deacon,' we would suggest that the first was a soubriquet, and that the last, rather than being a corruption of the first, had something to do with his quasi- clerical status as a Canon of Bromfield. In his day neither Deaconry nor Canonry implied any cure of souls, still less were Deacons or Canons bound by any law of celibacy. His tenure of estates in different parts of the kingdom shows or suggests that, between the years 1052 and 106G, he continued, undisturbed by the Miso-Normans who adhered to Earl Godwin and his sons, and unshaken in the favour of King Edward. In Somerset T.R.E. Robert fitz Wimarc held the Manors of Stoche, 3 hides (Domesd. fo. 92. b), and of Briweham, 12 hides, where his tenant was one Erlebold (Idem. fo. 96. b. 1). In Wiltshire Robert fitz Wimarc held the Manor of Widehille, 5 hides, T.R.E. (fo. 74. b. 1). In Herefordshire, Robert fitz Wimarc held Torche- stone, 3 hides (fo. 18G. b. 1). In Huntingdonshire he had the Manors of Einulves- beric, 15 hides (fo. 207. a. 2), and of Wedreslei 7 hides (fo. 205. b. 2) : but after the conquest none of these estates, except the last, are found with his descendants. In Suffolk Robert Fitz Wimarc, had seven items 1 Antiquities of Shropshire iv. 302. etseq, v. 225. 16 ROBERT F1TZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. of estate which descended to his son. He had other seigneurial interests in Suffolk, which after the conquest seem to have been abandoned. Unquestionably he was also a landholder in Kent. His chief possessions were in Essex, in which County his tenures under K. Edward were so largely supplemented by grants after the Con- quest as to give the title of " De Essex " to his Baronial descendants. Of llobert Fitz Wimarch's official position and per- sonal relations with his presumed kinsman, King Edward, we have one or two most interesting intelli- gences. A letter of the king in behalf of the church of St. Peter, of Westminster, is addressed to Edsi, Archbishop of Canterbury, Godwin, Bishop of Rochester, Leofwin Earl of Kent, Esgar Stallere ; Roberd Wymarche-sune, Stallere ; and all the Kings Thegnes of Kent.1 This document, confirmatory of what has been said above, viz., that Robert Fitz Wymarch was a magnate of Kent, will have passed before the year 1050, 2 and so before the expulsion of Earl Godwin. A later Rescript of King Edward, in behalf of the same Monastery, is addressed to William Bishop (of London), Harold Earl, Robberd Stallere, and all the King's Thegnes of Essex.3 Whatever may be said about the verbal and plenary | genuineness of the two later charters of K. Edward to Westminster Abbey,4 we have little doubt that two some such Charters passed on the day alleged, viz., Dec. 28, 10G5. The Testing Clauses of the two Chart- ers are unmistakably genuine. Among the witnesses of each are ' Esgar us Minister ' and ' Rotbertus Minister.' Here, surely, there is a remarkable illustration of the 1 Monasticon I. 298. xiv. 2 EdBius, Archbishop of Canterbury, died in that year. His succossor, Robert, a Monk of JumiogOH, was the Norman Ai chbiakop expelled by Kurl (iodwin'b faction in 1052, an buforo noticed. 8 Monasticon I. 209. xx. 4 Monasticon I. 293. iv. 295. vi. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 11 story told twenty years after by Domesday, how that the king deferred speaking to Robert fitz Wymarch on the subject of the Canonry of Blomfield, till the King should have an opportunity of so doing at the Court to be holden at the feast of Christ- mas (10G5). We now part for awhile with Robert Fitz Wimarch. We trust it will not be displeasing to our Shropshire readers if we attempt something in rectification of the current chronology of the few months which will separate us from our main subject. On Thursday, Jan. 5th, 1066, King Edward died at Westminster, having reigned (says Hoveden with admirable correctness) 23 years 6 months and 27 days. On Friday, Jan. 6th, Harold procured himself to be crowned at Westminster. Which of the Archbishops, Stigand, or Aldred, officiated, is a question. Stigand, says William of Poictiers, was under sentence of Papal deprivation at the time. Jan. 10th, Duke William in the Park of Quevilly, over against Rouen, heard of K. Edward's death. The Duke crossed the Seine forthwith in a boat, and took council with William Fitz Osborn in the Hall of Rouen Castle. The invasion of England was decided upon in a sub- sequent Council, held at Lillebone. The Duke corre- sponded on the subject with Sweyn, King of Denmark ; and conferred personally with Earl Tosti, whom his younger brother, Harold, had expelled from his Earldom and from England. The Duke's project was discouraged by Philip of France, by Baldwin of Flanders, and Conan of Bretagne. The latter, threatening an invasion of Normandy in case the Duke attacked England, meets his death in Anjou. Aug. 28th, 1066. The Norman fleet mustered in the River Dive, but was detained by contrary winds. Sept. 8th, 1066. Harold discharged the fleet and army which ho had appointed to guard the Straits. Probably he had heard of Harold Ilarfager, King of 12 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. Norway, who had entered the Tyne with 300 sail, and who, being joined by Earl Tosti, had sailed up the H umber and Ouse and had landed at Richale. September 21st, 1066.— On the eve of ' St. Matthias ' (read St. Matthew) was fought a battle at Fulford, north of the Ouse, and near York. The Earls Edwin and Morcar, on the part of Harold, engaged the King of Norway and Earl Tosti, and, though successful in their onset, were at length de- feated. Monday, September 25th, 1066. — A battle was fought near Pontefract, wherein Harold in person signally defeated the King of Norway and Earl Tosti, both of whom fell in the engagement. Sept. 2 6th. —'The Norman fleet quitted the Dive and anchored in the Somme near St. Walery. Sept. 28th. — About midnight the Norman fleet weighed anchor from St. Walery. Sept. 29th. — At day-break, Duke William's ship, which had led' off the fleet, had outstripped its com- panions, none of which were in sight. The Duke's ship was staid in mid-channel till the fleet appeared and joined. All; landed in Pevensey Bay. The troops marched forthwith to Pevensey (a village probably at that date). They fortified Pevensey as an arsenal, and straightway marched to Hastings, which they fortified as a military base. At Hastings the Duke received a message from llobert Fitz Wimarch ■ his cousin,' which we prefer to introduce in the exact words of William of Poictiers. " Dives quidam, finium illorum Inquilinus1, natione Normannus, liobertus Alius Guimaras nobilis mulieris, Hastingas Domino suo atque consanguineo nuntium destinavit his verbis, The message was to apprize William of Harold's victory ih the North, of Harold's intention to take the 1 Ionium illorum Inquilinua. — An oxprowaion nliowing in two wayb tho knowledge of particulars poawossod by this Writor, viz. : — Fitz Wiiimruh'ti portion in Kent, ami hits double nationality. ROBERT FITZ W1MARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 13 field instantly against William, and of his ample prepa- rations to ensure victory. Fitz Wimarch's opinion was that the Normans could no more cope with Harold than could so many curs (c despicabiles canes'). He complimented William on his foresight, and on that wis- dom in action to which he attributed the Dukes former successes. He advised him for the present to keep within his entrenchments and not to risk an engage- ment. Fitz Wimarch's sympathies as a Norman were balanced, we should say, by his caution as an elder and by the military prestige of Harold. The Duke's reply was to thank Fitz Wimarch for his message, albeit couched in somewhat offensive terms. William refused to defend himself by foss or rampart. He would engage Harold as soon as possible. Heaven not forbidding, he reckoned on victory. Even with 10,000 men, as good as the GO, 000 he had brought, he would count on success in his enterprise. Harold probably reached London on October 5th. He despatched a fleet to round the North Foreland of Kent, and so to intercept the expected retreat of the Norman fleet. Some messages passed between him and the Duke, apparently while Harold was on his march to Hastings. The last such message reached Harold on the morning of the fatal 14th of October. It was a proposal to avoid the destruction of armies by trial by single combat. Harold made no direct reply, but rais- ing his face heavenwards said " The Lord decide this day what is right between me and William." The Monk of Fe'camp, William's messenger, retired. The English marched through a wood and, abandoning their horses, massed themselves on some high ground in front of the wood. The Normans confronted them and the Great Battle commenced about nine in the morning and lasted throughout the day. Whoso would learn truer particulars than have yet obtained currency about the Great Battle will find them in the narrative of William of Poictiers, Arch- deacon of Lisieux, who, though not present himself, 14 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. conversed with those who were, and was not only competent to learn and understand the particulars but careful to tell the truth about them. Of Robert fitz Wimarch, as a subject of King William, but little remains to be said. The King in- creased his Essex estates, and appointed him to the Shrievalty of that county. On these points Domesday is sufficient proof, but Domesday is corroborated by other evidence. In the Liber Albus of Wells is a Copy of a very- ins tr net ive Charter of the Conqueror in favour of Giso, Bishop of Wells. Its date is about Whit Sunday (May 11), 1068. It is attested, inter alios, byRobbert Stallere.1 There is a Charter of undoubted authenticity, dated at Winchester (apud Guentam, villain RcgiamJ'm 1069, whereby King William, by council and suggestion of William fitz Osbern, " Dapifer and Comes Palatii" makes a grant to the Abbey of St. Trinite du Mont de Rouen. The Charter passed at Easter (April 12) in that year, and though some gloss at least was added to the testing clause a year later, we may be sure that all the alleged witnesses were present at its passing. The Testing Clause runs as follows : — " Presente Abbate Raynero. 2 Astantibus, Matilda Regina, Willelmo filio Osberni, Willelmo Episcopo London ; Goisfrido Episcopo Constant. ; Roberto Jilio Gaimar ; Ricardo filio Turstein Goiz ;3 Erfasto tunc Capellano4 postea Episcopo; Hugone de Sillavilla."5 1 This Charter (as pointed out in an excellent digest thereof, Saturday Review, 3 Nov., 1877,) was written by an Englishman, who) gives to none of tho numerous witnesses the title of Viccomes, to which some were certainly entitled. 2 Rayncr, Abbot of St. Trinite du Mont. 3 Richard, son of Turstin (Joz, father of Hugh Lupus, first Norman Earl of Chcstor. 1 Erfastus' style of Capellanus is quite consistent with tho fact of his being Chancellor at tho timo (Easter, 10G9). On May 23, 1070, he was appointed to the Seo of Klniham. 5 Staplcton's Rot. Normaniw. I. xvii. o. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 15 Another Charter of the Conqueror is of date, "Winton, Easter Monday (April 13), 1069." It has been ill- transcribed, but is genuine, and of much sig- nificance on points of contemporary history. Among its witnesses are — Queen Matilda, William, Bishop ( of London) ; Gosfred, Bishop (of Coutance) ; William Comes (fitz Osbern, of course), Arfastus Chancellor, and Robert Viccomes1 (fitz Wimarc surely). There is again a Charter of K. William to West- minster Abbey, which is confirmatory of that of " King Edward his cousin " before noticed, of that namely which Edward addressed to Archbishop Edsi and to Robert I Vymarche-sune Stcdlere. The Conqueror's confirmation is addressed to Lan- franc, Archbishop, and to Odo, Bishop (of Baieux), and Earl of Kent. It is attested by Peter, Bishop of Chester, by William Fitz Osborn, and by Robert fitz Wimarc.2 Now, whereas Lanfranc was not appointed till August 1070, and whereas William fitz Osborn was slain in Flanders in February, 1071, this Charter, on the face of it, passed in the later months of 1070. But the Charter speaks of Vitalis as the existent Abbot of Westminster, and it is certain that Vitalis was not so appointed till after the burial of Queen Edith in December, 1074. It is, or has been, the fashion to stigmatize Charters like this as monkish forgeries. Thus, by misunder- standing them and the way in which they were brought to pass, we lose the lesson they are competent to teach. The lesson here is — that Robert fitz Wimarch was at K. William's court in the year 1070, and attested a Charter which ensured a church and manor in Kent to Westminster Abbey ; that in or after the year 1075, or perhaps 1070, the Charter of 1070 was procured to be renewed by Vitalis appointed to the Abbacy in one of the two former years, and that this transcript preserved the names of the old witnesses, giving, however, to 1 Mvuaxtkon, iv. C55. II. 2 Monad icon, I. 302. xlvi. 16 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. Bishop Peter that style as "of Chester," which, perhaps, did not characterize his See so early as 1070. The death or superannuation of Robert fitz Wimarch may be dated as in 1071-2, for then is his son, called Suen filius Roberti, found amongst other magnates attesting a Charter whereby the King directs the resto- ration of the Kentish Manor of Plumstead to St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury.1 SWEYN FITZ EOBERT, ALIAS SWEYN DE ESSEX. How the son and heir of an Anglo-Norman father should come by a Danish name may seem to some a matter of trivial enquiry ; to others of some chrono- logical significance. We would suggest that Sweyn de Essex, like his sister, the wife of Richard Scrupe, was born during the period of the Danish ascendancy, that is, between the years 1017, when Canute, son of Sweyn, obtained the throne, and 1042, when the death of Hardi Canute, the son of Canute and Emma, made way for Edward, son of Ethelred and Emma. On Robert fitz Wimarch's death, K. William con- tinued Sweyn in the Shrievalty of Essex, and augmented rather than abridged his paternal inheritance. Between the years 1070 and 1080 a writ of K. William, in behalf of Westminster Abbey, enjoins the execution thereof on William, Bishop (of London), on Swein, Sheriff, and on all the King's Thanes of Essex.2 There are numberless passages in Domesday speak- ing of Sweyn de Essex as succeeding to Robert fitz Wimarc's lands and also to the Shrievalty of Essex, but though himself living at the date of Domesday (1086) ho had ere then lost the Shrievalty, and the office had already been held by his two successors therein — viz., Ralph Baignard and Peter de Valognes. Afonasticon, I. 144-59. 2 Monasticon, I. 301. xxxvii. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 17 Perhaps however, it is he who, under the style of Swain Viccomes, holds the Oxfordshire manor of Bal- dendone, and it is certainly he who, under the name of " Swain de Essex," holds over one Turold the Hunting- donshire manor of Wedreslei, which Robert fitz Wimarc had held T. E. E.1 Another entry in the Essex Domesday shows Sweyn as builder of a castle on one of his Essex estates. — " Hundred de Rochefort. Rageneiam tenet Suenus in dominio pro v hidis. In hoc Manerio fecit Suenus suum Castellum."2 ROBERT DE ESSEX. Of Robert de Essex, son and successor of Sweyn de Essex, we have scant notice. — The Pipe-roll of 1130 mentions him as excused 40 shillings, his quota of an amercement levied on a dis- trict in Essex for some murder committed therein3 • About September and October, 1131, Robert de Essex, at Northampton, and at Westminster, attests two Charters of K. Henry I. concerning the Church of St. Martin's, Dover, given to Canterbury Cathedral.4 Between the years 1113 and 1132 he is mentioned, with his wife and father, in a charter, whereby one Robert Waste, his tenant in the Huntingdonshire Manor of Wereslai (already mentioned), grants two parts of the tithes thereof to Eynesbury, then a cell of the great Norman Abbey of Bee Hellouin.5 But a short extract from the Charter itself will convey fuller significancies. " Robertus Waste concessi Sanctae Marias Beccensi et Sancto Neoto Confessori, et ecclesia; ejus de Ernulfesberia (Eynesbury), et Monachis ibidem, duas partes decimas meae de Wereslai, &c., &c. j et hoc feci praBcipue pro anima Soeni de Essessa et pro 1 Domesday, I. fo. 160. a. 1. 205. b. 2. 2 Domesday, II. 43. "Ragcneia" waa perhaps the place now written " Rayleigh " or " Raleigh." 8 Rot. Pip, 31 Hen. I. p. 56. 4 Monasticon IV. 538. vii. 6 Monasticon III. 472. viii. VOL. II. 0 18 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. salute Domini mei Roberti, filii prsedicti Soeni, qui hanc mihi terram dedit, et pro salute Gunnorae, uxoris suse, &c, &c. Hoc feci apud Ernulesberiam in prcesentia Martini Prioris (who was removed to the Abbacy of Peterborough in 1132) ; ubi recepi societatem &c, loci et Ecclesia3 Becci, cui pertinet Cella ilia." Gunnora, the wife of Robert de Essex, was a daughter of Roger le Bigot, the greatest of East Anglican Feuda- lists, who, having been presented by William the Con- queror with most part of the estates of Earl Ralph de Guader, exiled in 1074, himself died in 1107, or per- haps 1108. Gunnora was, therefore, sister of William le Bigot, one of that hapless crew which perished in the " White Ship," when, on November 25, 1120, it struck on the Cataras Rock, outside Barfleur. We have the remains 1 of a Charter of somewhat earlier date than 1120, whereby " Robert de Essex and Gunnora his wife, daughter of Roger Bigod, for the souls of their ancestors and of their son, Henry, on the day of Tiis birth, gave to Thetford Priory the Church of Fremingham. Moreover, Gunnora, at the same time, her husband consenting, gave the Churches of Cavendon and Brom and Posingland Magna for joy of the birth of her son, Henry." Such were the pious auspices which welcomed the birth of one who lived to adorn a great estate, and to acquire a still greater position, but who died under the stigma of disgrace, we would fain believe to have been unmerited, — an outlaw, a prisoner in a cloister. Gunnora Bigod, the wife of Robert de Essex, seems to have survived her husband and the disgrace of her son, and to have lived to a great age. It is she, we presume, who, under the name of Gonnora de Essex, and late in the interval between the years 11G7 and 1189, accepts a lease for her life from Peter, Prior of • Binham, of GO acres of land, which Dame Agnes de Valoniis (living 1186), and Robert, her son (obiit 1184), 1 Tho original Chartulary was burnt in tho British Museum in 1731. The date of the Dcod was probably 1110-1114* ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 19 had given in almoign to Binham Priory. The lease, at a rent of 5s., was to continue for Gonnora's life, or for so long as she should continue in a secular habit. In case of Gonnora's death or her assumption of the " habit of religion," the premises were to revert to the Abbey. The Lady appeared herself in the Chapter of Binham, and made a vow not to employ any artifice in avoidance of such terms.1 HENRY DE ESSEX L The Thetford Chartulary possibly antedated a fact where it stated that Henry De Essex, when he came of age, confirmed to Thetford Priory the gifts of his father and mother, adding thereto other lands. Whatever his age at the time of such confirmation, he therein styled himself 1 Constabularius Regis/ and mentioned, among his votive inducements, his own soul's health, his wife Cecilia, his son Henry, and his other children. Chronology, without a regard to which the structure of genealogies no less than of histories, becomes either an idle farce or a careless falsehood, bids us here to say that Cecilia (elsewhere called Alicia), wife of Henry de Essex, was a daughter of Alberic de Vere, High Cham- berlain of England (slain in a London riot 15 May 1140), by Adeliza daughter of that Gilbert de Clare who, him- self deceased in 1124, was ancestor of De Clare, Earl of Hertford, and of De Clare, Earl of Pembroke and Strigoil. Consequently, the Lady Cecilia was sister of Alberic de Vere created Earl of Oxford by the Empress in 1141 ; of Robert de Vere mentioned in the Empress's Patent ; of Geoffrey de Vere who, after marrying Isabel de Say, Baroness of Clun, died in 1170; of William de Vere, Bishop of Hereford (consecrated 1186, died 24 Dec. 1199) ; and of Roese de Vere, wife of Geoffrey de Mandeville, first Earl of Essex (who died 16 Sept. 1144). During the successional war between 1 Monaaticon III. 347. ix. The transcript, instead of writing " in habitu scculari," writos "In hubitu aculari." 20 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. Stephen and the Empress, we first hear of Henry de Essex as on the side of the latter ; with whom at the same time were all his wife's relations. At Oxford, about August 1141, as we date the Empress's second Charter to Geoffrey, Earl of Essex, Henry de Essex was an attendant witness, as were also Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and Earl Alberic 1 (of Oxford). But after the misfortune of Winchester, and Stephen's enlargement, probably about December, 1141, we find the Usurper at Westminster, buying the support of Geoffrey de Mandeville by a Counter-Patent of Earldom, the deed being attested by Henry de Essex. 2 A Charter of Stephen, in favour of the Canons of Duninton (afterwards removed to Lilleshall), Shrop- shire, bears date at St. Edmundbury, and passed about May, 1145. It was attested by Earl Gilbert de Clare (of Hertford), Earl Alberic (of Oxford), and by Henry de Essex.3 Another Charter of Stephen, in favour of the Norfolk Abbey of St. Benet of Hulm, bears date at London, and probably passed in 1146. It is attested, inter alios, by Earl Alberic, by Henry de Essex, and by Bobert de Vere.4 The same year may be well assigned to a Charter of Stephen, dated at St. Albans, and in favour of the Warwickshire Nunnery of Polesworth. The Charter has the attestations of Ilobert de Vere and Henry de Essex.5 A Charter by Queen Matilda (Stephen's wife), in favour of Christ Church Priory, London, bears date in London, and probably passed in January, 1148. A few months later Stephen's Charter, in favour of his then 1 Dugdale's Baronage L 201. 2 Rymer's Fwdtra 1. 18, L A great authority, wo find, forbids us to speak of Stephen as an Usurper. Tis a mattor of opinion then. 8 Afonaslicon, VI. 203. vi. 4 Monasticon, III. 88. xi v. 5 Rotuli Normauniffi (Stapleton), II * xeviii. ROBERT FITZ WIMAROH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 2 1 nascent foundation of Feversham Abbey, is dated at Bermondsey. Both these Charters have the attestation of Henry de Essex ; the later has that of Robert de Vere.1 A later Charter of K. Stephen to Feversham Abbey bears date at Canterbury, and was attested by Henry de Essex.2 Possibly it passed in November, 1148 ; but there is more likelihood that it passed soon after Queen Matildas death (May 3, 1152). Probably one of the latest extant Charters of Stephen is that which, subsequent to the death of his son Eustace (which took place August 10, 1153), he expedited in favour of Croyland Abbey.3 It has the single attestation of Henry de Essex, a strong indi- cation, when coupled with previous symptoms, that De Essex held some office in the Government or household of the King. But as yet it is not probable that Henry de Essex was constable of England, for Robert de Vere is the only one of the two who is styled c constable/ The year 1153, the events of which we have never seen reduced to any chronological order or intelligible ratio, was occupied by the final struggle between Stephen and Henry fitz Empress, the young Duke of Normandy. The Treaty of Westminster, purporting a settlement of the question of succession, passed after December 17th of that year (on which day Ranulph de Gernons, Earl of Chester, was removed by death from the sphere of diplomacy), and on or before December 25 of the said year, which day is the latest that can be assigned to that 18th regnal year of Stephen, whereof the Treaty itself is dated. Of the eleven Earls who were parties to this Treaty four at least were connected, by kinship or marriage, with Henry de Essex. They were William (de Albini), Earl of Chichester ; Earl Alberic ; Roger, Earl of Clare (or Hertford) ; and Richard (de Clare), Earl of Pem- 1 Monastico7i, VI. 153. xi. & iv. 573. iij. 2 Monasticon, TV. 573. j. & v. 3 Afuiiasticon, IT, 120, xxii. 22 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. broke. Also among the signatories were Bobert de Yere, and Henry de Essex himself. On Oct. 25, 1154, died Stephen, titular King of England, for the term of his life, at Canterbury. On Sunday, Dec. 19, 1154, Henry Fitz Empress, already Duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and Comte of Anjou and Maine, was crowned King of England at Westminster. There are two Charters of K. Henry, which passed at Westminster, and probably immediately alter his Coronation. One gives the Castle and Honour , of Arundel to William de Albini, the other is in favour of William, son and heir of llobert Fitz Walter, of Windsor. Each of these Charters is attested by " Henry de Essex, Constable" (of England), and by "Richard de Humez, Constable" (of Normandy). Drawing our deductions from Charters, themselves undated as to time, we find the Constable De Essex in attendance on the King during his progress of 1155, viz. : at King's Cliff in January, at York and at Not- tingham in February. At the siege of Bridgenorth, and during the campaign of May and June, though the Constable, De Humez, is found with the Kings army, Henry de Essex is not ; but at Worcester, probably in August, both he and De Humez were with the Court. At the Council of Winchester, too (Sept. 29, 1155), both were present. About this date Henry de Essex was appointed, or perhaps re-appointed to the Shrievalty of Bucks and Bedfordshire, an office which he continued to hold at Michaelmas, 1156, and perhaps later; but the Pipe-Boll of 1 1 57 omits all mention of those counties. In January, 115G, the King, then at Dover, and pre- paring to cross to Normandy, expedited his Charter, granting the Earldom of Oxford to Earl Alberic. This Charter, as well as others which were sealed on the same occasion by the Chancellor Thomas, has the attes- tations of Henry de Essex and his brother Constable. There is ample evidence that the Chancellor Becket and the Constable De Humez were with the King dur- ROBEBT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 23 ing the campaign of 1156, and until his return to England in 1157 ; but there is no Charter- evidence that the Constable De Essex quitted England during that interval. On the contrary, his son, " Henry de Essex, J unior," attests a Royal Charter, which passed at Argentan between November, 1156, and April, 1157.1 The Pipe Roll of Michaelmas, 1156, will show that the employment of the Constable De Essex, during the preceding year, had been rather civil than military, besides his shrievalty, already noticed, he had officiated as a J usticiar in no less than eight Counties. His visit- ation of Essex and Kent, in that capacity, was with the Chancellor Becket, as his Colleague. It, therefore, took place in the later months of 1155. His visitation of Sussex, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, and Devon, was conducted apparently by himself alone. This same Pipe-Roll of Michaelmas, 1156, will show not only the Counties in which his estates lay, but the franchises which he enjoyed by Royal favour and express order of the King. — In regard to Danegeld, his exemptions were £23 16s. in Essex, £1 17s. 9d. in Kent, and 4s. in Middlessex. In regard to the Donum Comitatuum, or Assize of Counties, his exemptions were, in Essex £17 3s. 3d. ; in Kent £1 13s. ; in Middlesex 3s. 6d. ; in Norfolk j£2 10s.; in Suffolk £2 13s. 3d.; in Hertfordshire 5s. Id. ; in Bucks and Bedfordshire 4s. ; and in Lin- colnshire 5s. 9d. In the same fiscal year Henry de Essex was ac- quitted ,£1 6s. 8d., his quota of the Aid supplied by the City of London, in support of the Kings foreign war ; and a corrody of 19s. 3d., supplied by the Sheriff of Surrey to Henry de Essex, was probably in support of the Justiciar when in eyre. In April, 1157, King Henry returned from Normandy and, having celebrated a coronation ai Bury St. Edmunds, on May 19, proceeded to hold a Court at 1 Curtuo Antique. T. 24 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. Colchester, at which Court, sitting from May 23 to May 28, were present the two Constables — De Essex and De Humez. There was at this time talk of pre- paration for the King's intended invasion of North Wales. It was not, however, till July 17th, that the King, after holding a Court at Northampton, was fairly moving to the scene of action. At Peak Castle, in Derbyshire, he was met by Malcolm, King of Scots, who accompanied him to Chester, where he did homage to Henry. The invading force at length left Chester and while marching past Bassingwerk, in Flintshire, fell into an ambuscade of the Welsh, at a place variously called Counsylth, or Coleshille, or Cennadlog.1 As far as we dare venture to fill up a very scanty account of the situation, we should suppose that at the moment of the Welsh onset, the King and the Constable, De Essex, were in the van of the English host, and became at once hotly and personally engaged. With them were Eustace fitz John, then Constable of Chester, and Robert de Courci, an officer of Henry's Court. The two latter fell. Henry de Essex, being told, or being under the conviction, that the King had fallen, quitted the front and, during his passage to the rear, announced the supposed disaster to others. Years afterwards, he was accused of personal cow- ardice on the occasion. The effects of this panic, for it was no more, did not endure. The King continued his march even unto Snowdon, where he exacted both homage and hostages from Prince Owen. On his march homewards the King fortified the two Castles of llhudlan and Basingwerk, and, between them, estab- lished a House of Templars. It was now, probably, that the King, being again at Chester, chartered the Flintshire Abbey of Basingwerk, the Chancellor, Thomas, and the Constable, De Humez, attesting the Diploma. JThe Welsh Chronicle (The Brut) misdates the affair as in 1156. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 25 In or about September of this year, we find the King at Malmesbnry (Wiltshire). With him are Thomas, the Chancellor, and the Constable, De Hurnez. The Pipe-Roll of 1 1 57 contains little record of Taxation or remission of Taxes, but Henry de Essex is released ,£1 Os. 2d., his quota of assessment for a murder com- mitted in Essex. In January, 1158, K. Henry was in the North. A Charter expedited by him, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, has the attestations of Hugh, Earl of Norfolk, Earl Al- beric (of Oxford), Earl Geoffrey of Essex, Henry de Essex, Constable, and of Roger fitz Richard, — the last, we believe, being Baron of Warkworth and also a tenant of Earl Geoffrey, in Essex. There are other Charters of the King, possibly belong- ing to the year 1158, and attested by Henry de Essex. In one, dated at Gloucester, though he follows Richard de Humez, Constable, he is not styled Constable himself. On Aug. 14, 1158, the King embarked for Nor- mandy and remained absent from England till Jan- uary 25, 1163, when he landed at Southampton. In the Autumn of 1158 he was at war with Bretagne, but we have no charters of the period, nor anything to tell us of the personnel of his Lieutenants. In the summer of 1159 the King undertook the expedition of Toulouse, and in November was cam- paigning against K. Louis in the Beauvais. In this year we have notice of the Chancellor Becket and De Humez, the Constable, being with the King. The year 11 GO was one of peace, but we are told that, the Queen having previously crossed the sea, she and the King passed tlie feast of Christmas at Le Mans. A Charter dated at Le Mans (apud Cenomann'), probably passed on this occasion. It is in favour of Wal- den A bbey, Essex. It is attested by Roger, Earl of Clare, Earl Alberic, William, Earl of Arundel, Richard do Humez, Constable, and by Henry de Essex 'Constable/ In tho summer of 1161, K. Henry was campaigning against Louis, first in the Vexin, then in the Dunois, 26 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. In August he had passed into Aquitaine and reduced Chatillon, a Castle supposed by one authority to have been on the Dordogne, but which we rather think to have been on the Garonne. In May, 1162, the Chancellor Becket having reluc- tantly accepted the Primacy, had crossed to England for other state purposes, says Gervase, than his own consecration. Be that as it may, consecrated he was on June 3 following. This gives us the means of dating, within a few months, a Diploma which the King expedited at Chinon, in Touraino, relative to the manorial rights of the Monks of St. Peters, of Ghent, at Lewisham and Greenwich. The Diploma is addressed to Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the King's Lieges of Kent. It is attested, inter alios, by Eichard de Humez, and by Henry de Essex, neither of them styled Constable. On Jan. 25, 1163, the King, as aforesaid, landed at Southampton, after more than four years absence from England. On March 19, following, the King, and his son, Henry, met Theodoric, Comte of Flanders, and his son, Philip, at Dover, and there concluded an important treaty. Among the sureties for the King's observance of this convention were Eichard de Humez, Constable, Hugh, Earl of Norfolk, William, Earl of Arundel, and Eail Geoflrey, of Essex. Among the witnesses of a contemporary and correlative Diploma were Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, Eichard de Humez, Con- stable, Henry de Essex (not styled Constable), and Hugh, Earl of Chester. Twelve days later — that is, on March 31, 1163 — the King was at Windsor, and busied with the Trial of Henry de Essex, who had been accused by Eobert de Montibrt of cowardice and treason — viz., that he, the said Henry, at the Battle of Counsylth (in July or August, 1157), being at the time Constable of England, had cast away the Royal Standard and fled, proclaiming that the King was killed. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 27 Such is the substance of De Montfort's charge as it has come down to us ; but we doubt whether the original accusation verbally embodied as much. The mention of the Royal Standard savours of embellish- ment rather than correctness. The trial at Windsor resolved itself into the form then in vogue, the trial by " Wager of Battle." The King and Court adjourned at once from Windsor to Heading. There, in the appointed lists, the accuser and accused were confronted in arms. De Essex, probably a much older man than his antagonist, was defeated. By the King's sentence he was forthwith outlawed, and his estates con- fiscated. His life, forfeit by law, was spared, and he was shorn a Monk of Reading. In the cloisters of Reading he died, at a date and in a manner unrecorded. Ere the end of the ensuing summer, the King had achieved remarkable success in an invasion of Wales ; ere the end of the year the struggle between K. Henry and Archbishop Becket was fully inaugurated. Coincidences are not always relevancies, but it is curious that the at- tainted Monk of Reading, as he had aforetime been the colleague, and often the companion of Becket, so had he been for near a year one of Becket's Lieges, holding as he did an estate in Kent under the See of Canterbury.1 CECILIA, alias ALICIA DE VERE. Henry de Essex's sentence at Reading was, quantum ad sceculum, death — social and civil death. His wife, Cecilia de Vere, became, in law, a widow. The King 1 Viz. Saltwood, a place about whose history we have some knowledge, but more curiosity. — At the date of Domesday (108G) it was held under the See of Canterbury by Hugh de Montfort, ancestor, if we mistake not, of that Robert do Montfort who, in 1163, was the accuser of Henry de Essex. At tho same date, and up to the time of his attainder, Henry de Essex was holding Saltwood under Archbishop Becket. On the flight and forfeiture of Becket, Saltwood fell, with other temporalities of the See of Canterbury, into the custody of the King's Escheator, Ranulf de Broc. In 1170 tho possession of Saltwood Honour was the lever which procipitated the final struggle between 28 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. bestowed her in marriage on Eoger fitz Richard, the Northumbrian Baron of whom we have already spoken. Of Roger fitz Richard we will first say that he was living in 1177, and deceased in 118G ; that his successor and other sons were manifestly sons by a previous wife to Cecilia (alias Alicia) de Vere, by whom he had no issue. Circa 1177-83, Roger fitz Richard, with consent of his wife Alice, and of William Earl Mandeville her nephew, released Cunton for Aynho (Northants) ; and the latter, being of the said Earl William's Fee, was confirmed to her by the Earl.1 In 1186, Alicia de Essex, as she was then called, was again a widow and in the King's gift. She is variously stated to have been 60 and 80 years of age. As the document from which we quote never overstates ladies' ages, we may be sure that she was rather over than under 80. She held Arenho (Aynho) (says the Record) value J£30 per annum, under Earl William, whose Aunt ( amita ) she was ; and she was, moreover, sister of Earl Alberic. She had two sons, knights ; and a daughter, already married to John, Constable of Chester.2 Of these three, her children by Henry de Essex, we will speak presently. At the same time (1186) Alicia de Essex is said to be in the King's gift and (80 years) of age. The King had, it seems, allowed her Clavering, a Bccket and his foes, and Saltwood Castle was the rendezvous of his assassins the night before his murder. (See Autiguities of Shrop- shire, 1. 1G8). In the year 1 205 Saltwood, once belonging to Henry de Essex, was in the hands of Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, and on Dec. 3, 1205, the said Archbishop being dead, K. John gave it to Engeram de Prcaux (for a notice of whom see Antiquities of Shropshire, II., 287). 1 Pugdalo's Baronage. Both Aynho and Clavering afterwards went, not to the descendants of Alice do Vero, but to those of her second husband by a previous wifo. As regards Clavering this was effected by K. Henry II., whoso escheat it was. 2 Itotulus deDominabus, Norhants (p. 15). " Alicia do Essex est do donationc Domini Regis et lx annorum, et est amita Comitis Willelmi et Soror Comitis Albrici, et habet duos hlios, milites, et I. filiam mari- tatam Johanni Const abulario Cestriu). Arenho quod est Mancrium ejus, quod otiam tenet doComite Willclmo valet annuatim xxx librus." ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 29 valuable manor in Essex, as dower, of the fief of Henry de Essex, her first husband.1 Alicia de Essex, dying at a great age, was buried at Walden Priory, Essex, a house which was of the Advowry and foundation of her Mandeville relations. If it be strictly true that K. Henry II. gave Cla- vering to Robert fitz Roger2 (Alice de Essex's step- son), then such gift will have been subsequent to her death. She will therefore have died previous to July 6, 1189, the date of the Kings death. HENRY DE ESSEX II Was the eldest son of Henry de Essex, Constable of England, by Cecilia, alias Alicia, de Vere. In 1156-7 we have seen young Henry de Essex attendant upon the King in Normandy, what time his father was officiating as a Justiciar in England. At that period, we take Henry de Essex, junior, to have been about thirty years of age ; at which rate his age, when spoken of in 1186, as one of the knights, sons of Alicia de Essex, cannot have been far short of sixty. About the year 1189 Henry de Essex gives to Clerken- well Nunnery (London) the Church of Walde, which, says his Charter, " Cecilia, my mother, had before conceded. " His Charter is attested, inter alios, by Master Henry de Northampton, and by Pain, the Grantor's Chamberlain. Soon afterwards, as we suppose, Henry de Essex died, and without issue, for his brother Hugh seems to have succeeded him. HUGH DE ESSEX. Second son of Henry de Essex, by Cecilia de Vere, was, perhaps, born about 1130, perhaps christened after 1 Rot. do Dominabus. Essex, (p. 40.) Alicia de Essex est do dona- tiono Domini Hegis et est iiij. xx. (80) annornm ct tenet Clavcring sicut dotcm suam, do fcodo Hcnrici do Essex; et valet Clavcring xl libras, &o. Dicta Alizia habot ij filios ratlitos, et in Oomitatu Nor- hamton habot xxx libratas tcrrao do feodo Comitis Willelmi. 2 Testa de Neville 269. 30 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. his relative, Hugh Bigod, then ascending into eminence as Steward of the Household to K. Henry. I. Hugh de Essex, the knight, and second son of Alicia de Essex, alluded to in 1186, probably suc- ceeded, to whatever his elder brother may have had to leave, before 1194. On March 21, 1194, at St. Paul's London, Richard Bishop of London, certifies how Hugh de Essex, son of Henry (de Essex), had ratified the gift of Cecilia, mother, and of Henry, brother, of the said Hugh, to Clerkenwell Nunnery, of the Church of Walde.1 All we can say further of Hugh de Essex, or it may be of a son of the same name, is that, being deceased in November, 1213, Robert fitz Walter fines two palfreys with the Crown, ' pro custodia terrae quse fuit Hugonis de Essex in Waledun (Essex) quae est de feodo Roberti.'2 This fine, taken alone, may, perhaps, indicate that the deceased was also a tenant in capite and had left issue under age. We have failed to find any confirmation of such an idea. With Hugh de Essex ends all that we know, or can suggest, as to the male line of Robert Fitz Wimarch's descendants. ALICIA DE ESSEX. Alicia, only daughter, and perhaps youngest child of Henry de Essex, Constable of England, and Cecilia (alias Alicia) de Vere, was probably born between the years 1135 and 1140. About the year 1157-8, as we suppose, Alicia de Essex married John, son and heir of Richard Fitz Eustace, previously deceased, and grandson of Eustace Fitz John, that Constable of Chester, who, as we have seen, fell at the Battle of Counsylth, about the end of July, 1157. 1 Monasticon IV. 82. Numbors VI. VII. Wo 'ito not suro, but think, that tho Church horo culled Waldo wan afterwards known ua North-Weldc, and is now known as North-hold. It is in Middlesex, N.E. of Hayes. s Finos torn. Rogis Johannis (p. 501). ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 31 This was a great alliance even for Alicia de Essex : for Eustace Fitz John was Baron of Halton, and Constable of Chester, by his marriage with Agnes, sole heir of Fitz Nigel, of Halton, whose ancestor, William Fitz Ni^el, was one of the Domesday Barons of Hugh, Earl of Chester, and was the first Constable of Chester on Record. Moreover, Richard Fitz Eustace, father of Alicia's husband, had had to wife Albreda de Lizours, through whom, as heiress of De Lacy of Pontefract, their son, John, became entitled to that Honour. Though married, as we have supposed, about 1157-8, we cannot think that John Fitz Richard was of age at the time of his grandfathers death. In a deed of his grandmother, Agnes Fitz Nigel, which cannot have passed earlier than that date, he is styled " Johannes Filius Ricardi, nepos Dominae," that is Grandson of the Grantress. And though a Charter of Henry II., attested by him as 'Johannes Consta- bularius/ may well be of as early a date as 1158, neither that, nor his so early marriage are inconsistent with nonage. The Deed in question passed at Wood- stock. He was, perhaps, only a ward or valet of the Court, and his marriage not yet consummated. The assumption of an hereditary title does not imply the discharge of the official duties corresponding thereto. Another circumstance further suggestive of John Fitz Richards minority in 1158 is that his grand- mother, Agnes Fitz Nigel, re-married with Robert Fitz Count in or after that year. The Tradition which tells of John, Constable of Chester, perishing in a Crusade is, so far, like enough to be well-founded. But the day given for his obit, viz. : — Oct. 11, 1183, must be removed to at least as late as Oct. 11, 118G, a year in the summer of which his death had not been heard of by the King's Justices visiting Northamptonshire.1 1 Monastic and other CJcnealogists liavo mado wild work about John Constablo of Chester. One puts his death in 1179. Another calls him 32 ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. He had three sons and other issue by Alicia de Essex, who survived him. His son, Roger, yclept " Hell," by the Welsh, because of his infernal devas- tations in their country, chose for himself the fairer surname of De Lacy. Another son of Alicia de Essex and the Constable, John, was named Eustace. A third son, hitherto unknown to genealogists, was called Geoffrey de Chester, who, after contracting a marriage with Isabel, daughter and coheir of Hubert de Rye, died without issue in July, 1206 ; probably while serving K. John in Gascony. The latest notice that we have of Alicia de Essex, mother of these sons, is in a Writ of K. John, dated- 6 Oct., 1207, wherein the venerable widow is styled Alicia Mater Constabularii CestrioB.1 Roger de Lacy, Constable of Chester, the eldest son of Alicia, was living at the date of Easter, 1210. He died on some May 12; in May 1211, according to a Monastic Genealogy ; but in 1210 according to the Chronicle of Dunstable. Our subject, though we are still speaking of the descendants of Robert Fitz Wimarch, must not beguile us further into a genealogy of De Lacy. Suffice it to say that fourth in descent from Roger de Lacy came Alicia de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln in her own right and Countess of Lancaster till repudiated by Earl Thomas, her husband, The Lady Alicia subsequently re-married with Ebulo Le Strange. She died, without surviving issue, in the 67th year of her age, and on Thursday, October 2, 1348. She was buried at Berlyng. John do Laoy (a name assumed by his son), and says that ho married Alicia Vere, wife of William do Afandeville and bogot 'Roger do Hell ' and Eustaco, and many others : that aftor tho foundation of Stanlaw Abbey (that would bo about 1168) ho went to tho Holy Land and aftor performing prodigies of valour moro famous than those of Blundus (Rolandus is meant) and Oliver, was slain " in obsidione civitatis Samy et EgyptL* His obit is put by this Writer, a Monk of Kirkstall, on 5 idus October, 1183. 1 Hot. Claus. I. 93. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 33 B p 8 CO W P Q W o H 53 M W N H o Ih- if- to a '5 2«5 3.s a a 3 « E "3 tn -343 rQ O e . O) OQ a "8 CO o a) >2 « o W a; « c5 as S.8 o is I pq . o W o — 5»*o — £ -§'3 Is r3 * It, o ill i2< w_ _ o o <-H S?8 "■si* soo HI 5 So 9} O O o o 1^ JZ5 A 3 • 03 DO • £- •2 go O ,0 rt a> M a, -23 a N J O N ^ -»-> %3"3 o >-". 60. t3 3 O S3 Ik « VOL. II. ROBERT FITZ WIMARCH AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 35 190SS70 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. By Mrs. EDWARD CHILDE. For more than eight centuries a little town has stood on this spot ; men have been born, have lived and died here — they he buried in the Church or Church-yard, forgotten, save that, now and then, we trace their names in grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, who live, and work on the same land, and who perchance inherit, with the blood that runs in their veins, some of the features, and characteristics of ancestors who lived here ages ago. Situated at the foot of the great Shropshire hill from which it derives its name — half-way between the two ancient towns of Bridgnorth and Ludlow — in Saxon times a Royal Manor, and once the chief abode of the great family of Mortimer ; intimately connected with the fortunes of the Yorkists in the Wars of the Roses, and loyal to the cause of the unhappy Charles I., Cleo- bury Mortimer finds a place among the earliest records of Western England. Yet how little would the way-farer of the 19th century guess, in walking up its quiet street, that he stands on ground which has been a scene of savage strife and bloodshed, the rallying point of more than one mighty chief and his warlike followers. Three Castles have successfully been built here, have had their day, have been destroyed centuries ago, and the places where they stood can barely be distinguished now. The hills — the little river Rea, the never-failing spring (to which perchance the town owes its exist- ence), the steep and rugged ground, where the Saxon 36 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. and the Norman have built rude huts and tilled the land — all these remain unchanged — but of the work of man's hand the Church alone has outlived the stormy scenes of 800 years, and stands in its elevated position in the midst of the little town a silent and solitary monument of the piety and munificence of byegone generations. Cleobury Mortimer is a market town in the South of Shropshire, in the Hundred of Stoddesdon, Rural Deanery of Burford, Archdeaconry of Ludlow and diocese of Hereford. The parish is divided into four districts called the Town Liberty, Doddington Liberty, and the East and West Foreign Liberties. It extends nearly 8 miles from East to West, and 3 miles from North to South, comprises an area of 7,671 acres, a gross estimated rental of £9,779 6s. lid., and ratable value £8,946 Is. 9d. In 1800 there were 319 houses in the parish, and 1,368 inhabitants ; in 1871 there were 378 houses, and 1,708 inhabitants; William Lacon Childe, Esq., of Kinlet, is Lord of the Manor, but no Manor Courts have been held since 1840. The freeholds in the town are now sub -divided among many small proprietors, Mr. Childe and Sir Edward Blount having sold 60 houses in the town during the present century. The parish extends westward nearly to the summit of the Titterstone Clee, on which the remains of an encampment are still visible. Large oak trees at Ditton, and oak and service trees at Cornbrook, have been felled within the memory of the elder people of this genera- tion, and an oak tree many centuries old still forms a conspicuous landmark at the point where the enclosed lands of Cleobury and Hopton touch the common. Leland thus describes Cleobury Mortimer in the reign of Hen. VIII. " No great plenty of Wood in Cle Hills, yet ther is sufficient Brush wood. Plenty of Cole Yerth Stone, nether exceedinge good for Lyme, whereof they make muche and serve the contre about. Cle Hills cum within a 3 good myles of Ludlowe. The C LEO BURY MORTIMER. 37 village of Clebyri standythe in the Rootes by Est of Glee Hills, 7 miles from Ludlow in the way to Beau- deley. Ther was a Castle in Clebyri nighe the Church by Northe. The plot is yet cawled the Castell Dyke. Ther be no market Townes in Cle Hills. The highest part in Cle Hills is cawlyd Tyderstone. In it is a fayre, playne Grene, and a fountayne in it. There is another Hill, a 3 miles distant from it cawllyd Cader- tons Cle, and ther be many Hethe Cokks, and a Broket called Rhe, and Rhe into Tende byneth Tende Bridge. Ther be some Bio Shopps to make yren upon the Bipes or Banks of Mylbroke, comynge out of Caderton Cle, or Casset Wood." — Leland's Itinerary, vol. 7, page 59. The Titterstone Clee is 1,730 feet above the sea, and this portion of the parish of Cleobury Mortimer is thus geologically described by Sir Roderick Murchison. " The summits of these ridges are for the most part formed of pure hard basalt, locally called ' Jew's Stone/ which being spread over a large portion of the coal-bearing strata in thick tabular masses, is pierced through at many points by shafts for the extraction of the adjacent coal. Coal has been wrought on these hills from time immemorial, and numerous old shafts attest the extent of these operations, by which indeed nearly all the best coal has been extracted. As the ground, however, has never been regularly allotted, each speculator having begun his work where he pleased and abandoned it when he encountered a difficulty, it is impossible to say how much of the mineral has been wasted and what quantity may remain beneath in unconnected and broken masses (p. 123). The iron ores and the limestone with which they are associated in these hills are very superior in quality to those of the great Staffordshire field, and at first sight it appears surprising that these valuable products snould not be turned to better account. They are, however, excluded from fair competition by the want of means of support, and it is painful to record that with all the spirit and enterprise which can be bestowed on such works the 38 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. manufacture of iron on the Clee Hills is attended with little profit The construction of canals or rail- roads would soon render the Clee Hills the Centre of wealth and industry (p. 121). The Clee Hill coal fields consist of only the lower carbonaceous masses reposing upon mill stone grit, and carboniferous limestone. These, therefore, were probably accumulated in a bed of the sea (p. 140). The various coal fields of Shrop- shire have been accumulated under different conditions. That of Shrewsbury, for example, being charged with remains exclusively of terrestrial or fresh water origin, is supposed to have been formed by rivers emptying themselves into lakes ; that of Coal Brook Dale con- taining a mixture of freshwater and terrestrial with marine remains is referred to an estuary origin, whilst a third class, like the Titterstone Clee or the Oswestry fields in which nearly all the animals are marine, were probably formed on the shores of an" open sea or in bays of salt water into which plants had been drifted from the adjacent lands." — Sir Roderick Murchison's Silurian System. A museum of specimens of fossils of great local value has been collected by Mr. Weaver Jones, surgeon in this town. It consists of a fine collection of the palatal teeth and spines of the Cestraciont fishes of the moun- tain limestone of the Clee Hill district, including Ctenacanthus, and Hybodus ; also a fine specimen of Cephalopses and shells and corals from the same for- mation. Mr. Jones also possesses a fine and unique specimen of Pterichthys oblongus from the Upper Old Red Sandstone of Farlow, with the scales of Holopty- chias, a fish that is found in abundance in the upper Old Red deposits of Scotland. The drift fossils are also worthy of attention, as they consist of teeth of the mammoth and rhinoceros which were found in old river gravels along the banks of the Teme and Ilea, in similar positions to those of the old river drifts of the Severn, Wye, and Avon. There are also numerous trilobites, with other fossils and corals of the Silurian CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 39 system, besides many coal plants and grand specimens of chrystalized coal. From the Castle Hill a rudely carved stone of the " Oolitic " formation, which must have come from some distant place, is also among Mr. Jones's specimens. Three ancient stones were ploughed up in 1861, at Holly Waste. The largest, of coarse sand- stone, one side convex and the other flat, measures 3 Jin. by 3|in., and is something like the shape of an oyster shell with a hole in the centre, and seven smaller holes round it, with lines diverging from the centre hole. It was exhibited at an archaeological meeting at Hereford in August, 1867, and various suggestions were made concerning it, among others that it was a barbaric ornament, but its real use remains an enigma. In 1863, while taking down the Old Lion Inn, in the Lower Street, a small brass medal was picked up ; on one side is the head of Cardinal Cajetan with a nimbus round it, and the legend " SAN CAIETANUS JHIEN-ICR ; on the reverse is the Virgin and Child, crowned and thorned, with the legend PROV. EJUS CUBER."1 THE LORDS OF CLEOBURY MORTIMER. The Doomsday Record (fol. 260) tells us that " Claiberie " in Saxon times was held by Queen Edith, the wife of Edward the Confessor. She died at Winchester 1074, but before 1071 she had been dis- possessed of her Manor of Cleobury by the Conqueror. In 1080 it was held by Radulph de Mortimer (of the King), its value was £12 ; there was a mill render- ing 11 horse loads of corn, and a wood capable of 1 Thomas de Vid, Cardinal Cajetan, an eminent statesman and divine of the 16th century, was born at Cajeta, in Italy, and became Cardinal in 1517. He died 1534, aged 6G ; his chief writings are notes on the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, and com- mentaries on tho Old and New Testaments. 40 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. fattening 500 swine; and there was a Priest, which shews us that a Church already existed here. Ralph de Mortimer came with the Conqueror from Normandy, and was one of the Chiefs at the battle of Hastings ; he was sent to subdue Edric Earl of Shrews- bury in the Marches of Wales, and succeeding in doing so, was made Seneschal of Slu'opshire, and received the grant of Edric's estates. The name of his wife was " Melisendis " ( Rot. Normannia II ex.) and his principal residence was his Castle of Cleobury ; hence it has been called Mortimer's Clee-bury. Hugh de Mortimer, heir of Ralph, refused to do homage to Henry II. on the death of Stephen, and fortified his three Castles of Cleobury, Bridgnorth, and Wigmore in defiance of the King, who brought him to submission at the point of the sword. His Castle of Cleobury was attacked, taken and destroyed in 1154, and the surrender of Bridgnorth Castle in July, 1155, was followed by what the Chroniclers describe as " the Settlement of the King's peace with Mortimer." — ( Wigmore Annals). Mortimer also waged constant war with his neighbour the Lord of Ludlow, who could not pass safely out of his Castle for fear of being taken by Mortimer's men ; but it so happened one day Mortimer himself was surprised and carried prisoner to Ludlow, where he was detained in a tower which still bears his name ( Gestes of the Fitzwarines ) and had to pay a ransom of 3000 Marks of silver, and all his plate, horses, and hawks. The Canons of Wigmore record that Hugh de Mortimer rebuilt his Castle of Cleobury, and about 1179 "Sir Hugh de Mortimer came from beyond sea, and dwelt at Cleobury." About this time lie founded and richly endowed the Abbey of Wigmore ; in the erection of its Church he seems to have taken special interest, and among his gifts to it was the Church of Cleobury. " And when these things were all well ordered, each according to its convenience, in 1181 died Sir Hugh de Mortimer at Cleobury Mor- timer, at a good old age and full of good works, after CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 41 professing himself a Canon in presence of Abbot Kandulph, who gave him the habit of a Canon with some of his brothers before his death. The corpse was carried thence to his Abbey of Wigmore, and honora- bly buried before the high altar ; whose soul as we believe rests with the elected of God in everlasting joy. — Amen." (Wigmore Annals.) Roger de Mortimer I., son and heir of Hugh, suc- ceeded him in 1181, and was the next Lord of Cleobury and Wigmore. Like his predecessors, he was engaged in constant strife with his Welsh neighbours, and also with Hugh de Saye, over whom he was eventually victorious. His wife was Isabella, sister and heir of Hugh de Ferrars, Lord of Ferrieres in Normandy, of Ockhamin Rutlandshire, and of Lechdale in Gloucester- shire, of Avhich estates he eventually became pos- sessed.— (Eijton. Ant. of Shropshire.) The Wigmore Annals tell us that an infant son of Roger de Mortimer ,and Isabella died as soon as it was baptized, and was buried in Cleobury Church, and that when the mother had hope of great comfort by the life of her son, she had great sorrow for his death, and that her sorrow resulted in a noble donation to their house. To his fathers endowments Roger de Mortimer added a spacious and fruitful pasture lying adjacent to the Abbey of Wig- more, called " the Treasure of Mortimer," and upon his Steward remonstrating with him for parting with it, he replied, M I have laid up my treasure in that field where thieves cannot steal or dig, or moth corrupt." He died before 1215. Hugh de Mortimer, son and heir of Roger, adhered with unshaken fidelity to King John in his Baronial war, and had a military summons to attend him at Cirencester in 1215 with the other Baron Marchers. On March 23rd, 1226, the King granted him the privilege of holding an annual fair at his " Manor of Cleobury." He married Annora, daughter of William de Braose, and had 100s. in land with her. He was severely wounded in a Tournament, and died November, 1227, leaving no children. 42 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. Ralph de Mortimer, brother and heir of Hugh, paid £ 1 00 for Relief, and had livery of all his lands in Salop, Gloucester, Southampton, and Hereford, 1228. His Shropshire Barony was assessed under the name of the H Honor of Clebury." He fought so successfully against the Welsh that Llewellyn the Great, seeing that he could not cope with him, gave him in marriage his daughter the Princess Gladuse Duy (widow of Keginald de Braose), and on the failure of the legitimate descen- dants of Llewellyn, the Principality of North Wales was said to rest with the representatives of Gladuse and her husband, Ralph de Mortimer. (Eytoris Ant.) He died 1246.1 Roger de Mortimer II., his son and heir, married Matilda, elder daughter and co-heir of William de Braose, and thus acquired the Lordship of Radnor as well as large estates in England, Wales, and Ireland. Roger was one of the greatest men of his day, and after the battle of Evesham, where he greatly contributed to restore Hen. III. to his crown, there was no favour too great for him to ask, or for the King to grant. By a Charter signed at Kenilworth, 1266, he obtained that Cleobury and Chelmarsh, ostensibly made into a single Manor, was henceforth to be independent of all suits. On the strength of this, Mortimer professed to consider no less than 20 Manors, to be members of the same, and set up his central Court at Cleobury. The place where he held his Courts is marked by the ruins of an ancient cross. He claimed to have extract and return of all writs, and to hold pleas of forbidden distress in his Court of Cleobury ; he erected a gallows there, and other Royal Franchises, and he held pleas as to the Assize of bread and beer. In 1277, when the army of Edward 1st was to muster at Worcester against Llewellyn, Roger made a statement of the Knight's service due from his western Barony, and 1 Isohlu, only daughtor of Ralph and Gladuso, had Arloy as her portion, and her first husband, Walter de Balun, is represented in a recumbent atone effigy in the Church there. CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 43 acknowledged that he owed the service of 6 Knights, 3 for Wigmore, 2 for Elveyn, and 1 for the heritage of William de Braose ; nothing be it observed for his "Honour of Cleobury. " — (Eytons Ant.) He died 1282, and is buried at Wigmore. Perhaps his autocratic rule was not uncalled for in this lawless age, and Mr. Wright in his Hist, of Ludlow, gives a graphic account of a neighbours' quarrel in 1274. " Lucas the ■ Beadle ' of Cleobury, with two of his townsmen came to Ludlow Fair on St. Lawrences Day, and bought some oxen, and because they refused to observe the customary rules in passing through Goalford Gate, the gatekeeper, Roger Tyrel, refused to let them pass. A quarrel ensued, and the Cleobury men beat and wounded the gatekeeper, and took from him a Danish axe of the value of 12d. At this moment came Thomas of Wulverslow, bailiff of Ludlow, and his servants, who foimd the men of Cleobury dragging away prisoner the gatekeeper, and proceeded to stop them. But they were also attacked by Hugh Donvill, bailiff of the Hundred of Stoddesdon, who happened to be there with a considerable body of his men, and who attempted to carry off the Bailiff and his servants, but being unable to do this, they took from them by force another Danish Axe of the value of eight-pence." Edmund de Mortimer, born about 1255, succeeded his father 10 Edw. I. He married Margaret daughter of Sir William Fiennes, was constantly engaged in war with the Welsh, summoned as a Baron to Parliament 1294, and died (according to Dugdale) at Wigmore 1304. Roger de Mortimer III., 2nd Baron of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March, was the next Lord of Cleobury, and is said to have been born 1287, at Netherwood, in Herefordshire, in the Parish of Thornbury, now a farm house on the estate of Kyre. Netherwood was one of the many possessions of the Mortimers, which eventually merged in the crown of England ; it was granted successively to the families of Devereux, 44 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. Earls of Essex and Baskervill ; eventually it was bought by the Veres Earls of Oxford, who sold it to the ancient and knightly family of Pytts of Kyre, in the 17th century, to whose heirs it now belongs. Roger de Mortimer was not 1 8 at the time of his fathers death. By his marriage with Joane, daughter and heir of Peter de Genevil, Lord of Trim in Ireland, he added to his vast possessions in the west of England, the Castle of Ludlow. As a Memorial of his escape, when imprisoned by the King in the Tower of London, he built a Chapel in the outer ward of the Castle, and dedicated it to St. Peter, on whose Festival he had made his escape. In 1329 he obtained license to hold a fair in Ludlow on the eve of St. Katherine (Nov. 25th,) and four days after for ever. — [Charter Rolls p. 159). This is the Mortimer notorious in English History for taking part with Queen Isabella against her husband Edward II. Convicted of high treason in 1330 he was hanged at the common gallows near Smithfield, where his body was permitted to hang two days and two nights, before it was interred in the Grey Friars, whence it was afterwards removed to Wigmore. Sir Edmund Mortimer, son and heir of Roger, succeeded his father in 1330, and was summoned to Parliament as Lord Mortimer in 1331, but he died the same year at Stanton Lacy, leaving by his wife Elizabeth daughter and co-heir of Bartholomew Lord Badlesmere an only surviving son, three years of age. — ( Burkes Ex. Peer). Sir Roger de Mortimer IV., born 1328, Baron of Wigmore, 2nd Earl of March, K.G., son and heir of Edmund, was the next Lord of Cleobury. During a long minority his estates were under the control of his mother's 2nd husband, the Earl of North- ampton. He married Phillippa, daughter of the 1st Earl of Salisbury ; was summoned to Parliament as Baron 1348, was restored to his Grandfathers Earldom and estates in 1355, next year became constable of Dover, Warden of the Cinque Ports and Commander of the English troops in Burgundy, where he died in 13G0. CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 45 Edmund de Mortimer son and heir, born 1352, was 7 years of age when he succeeded to the large and important Mortimer estates. He was 3rd Earl of March and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He married 1368, at the age of 16, Phillippa Plantagenet, aged 13, only child of the Duke of Clarence, (2nd son of Edward III), by Elizabeth de Burgh, dau. and heir of the Earl of Ulster. He died in 1381. Roger de Mortimer V., born 1374, Lord of Cleobury, 4th Earl of March in 1386, was declared heir presumptive to the crown of England, in right of his mother. He was killed in battle in Ireland 1398, leaving a widow Alianore, (daughter of the Earl of Kent), an infant son Edmund, and a daughter Anne. History tells us how, when Richard II. was murdered in Pontefract, Edmund Mortimer was first ignored, and subsequently imprisoned in his Castle of Trim, (by Henry of Lancaster, son of John of Gaunt, afterwards Henry IV of England), and died there in 1424. With Edmund Mortimer the male line of this branch of the house of Mortimer expired, and his sister Anne became its sole heir and repre- sentative. Lady Anne Mortimer married her cousin Richard Plantagenet, the heir of the Duke of York, (4th son of Edw. III.), and thus conveyed to the house of York, not only her claim to the English Crown, but all the ancient Baronies and large estates (in which Cleobury Mortimer was included), of the great and noble family of Mortimer. In 1461 Cleobury Mortimer was held by Cecily, Duchess of York, widow of the only son and heir of Lady Anne, and mother of Edward IV. In 1502 Arthur, Prince of Wales, died at Ludlow, and his body was conveyed for burial from Ludlow to Bewdloy, by Cleobury, on its way to Worcester. We can picture the mournful procession wending its weary way along the steep, unmade road which traversed the Clee Hill, and the Forest of Wyre, stumbling over the fords at the Mills of Ditton and 46 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. Detton which then lay in the direct road. A Herald of the time gives the following description of it — " First came the Bishops and other Gentlemen, then Griffith ap Ilice, with the Prince's Banner on a horse trapped with black, then the Charre with six horses covered with a black velvet cloth, with scutcheons of gold, and with a cross on the top of white cloth of gold, (to be covered with a ceared cloth in case of foul weather). All the mourners followed with hoods over their heads, and noblemen by the Carre, and horses through the; townes, also 120 torches all of which ware put out save 24 when the town was passed." "On St. Mark's Day, (25th April) the Procession went from Ludlow to Bewdley. It was the foulest, cold windye, and rainey Daye, and the worst Waye that I have seene, yea, and in some places, they were fain to take Oxen to draw the Charre, so ill was the Waye. As soone as the Corpse was in the Chappie of Beaudeley, and set in the Quire there, with such lights as there was room for, the Dirige begaun and then the Prince's body was carried on to Worcester, and buried in the Cathedral, and then Sir William Ovedall, Comptroller of his house- . hold, sore weeping and crying, tooke the staffe of his Office by both Endes, and over his own Head brake it and cast it into the Grave. In like wise did Sir Richard Croft, Steward of his household, and likewise the Gentlemen Ushers. This was a piteous sight to those that beheld it. . . . Thus God have mercye on Good Prince Arthur's Soule. — ( From a MS. of the time transcribed in Leland's Collectanea). In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Lord of Cleobury was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. He left it to his elder brother, the Earl of Warwick, with remainder to his own illegitimate son, Sir Robert Dudley. The following quaint description of this Lord of Cleobury is taken from the Lives of the Dudleys " He was a complete gentlemen in all suitable employments, an exact seaman, an excellent architect, mathematician, physician, chemist, and what not. He was a handsome, CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 47 personable man, tall of stature, red haired, and of admirable comport, and above all noted for riding the great horse, for tilting, and for his being the first of all that taught a dog to sit in order to catch partridges." He was educated by Sir Thomas Challoner, Kt., the accomplished Governor of Henry, eldest son of James 1st. . By a survey of 23rd of Elizabeth 2s. fine was to be paid to the Lord for all new Burgesses to be made, and the new Burgesses to give the other Burgesses a dinner : the following townships and hamlets were in the Parish and Manor of Cleobury Mortimer. The Borough of Cleobury Mortimer, the Barn's fBaron's) Land, The Lee, Curdell, Bransley, Mawley. " The bounds thereof do extend to a Brook called the Rea, which divideth Shropshire and Worcestershire ; on the North to Broom Park, the lands of Richard Kettleby, Esq. ; on ye East to Lemp Brook and so down by Dowles side to Coventry's Mill, so up a lane to Bark Hill, and by Wymbrook to a well near the Welsh gate in Bewdley, and there are certain houses on Bark Hill parcel of this Manor, on the West of a township called Coreley, the lands of Sir Robert Hayward, Kt. By the same survey the Burgesses, Freeholders, and Lords Tenants of Cleobury Mortimer ought to have common- ing in the heath of Wyre, and strake in the Forest as far as the liberties of Cleobury Mortimer, and to have Hogs and Swine fed in y° forest of Wyre — pay 2s. a Hog, and a penny a Pork if any Pannage be made. The Lord of the Manor of Cleobury hath the Drift (i.e. the driving of cattle) for two years together on the Clee Hills, and Edmund Cornwall, of Burford, Esq., has the third drift, and the Lord hath ye drift of sheep that be waifs on this hill every year. Catherton was a Chapel of Ease to Cleobury Mortimer, another is said to have been at Bransley." — (Dukes' MSS.) In 1G08, James 1st gives leave to Sir Robert Dudley, Kt., " alienare burgum deCleoburie Mortimer" to Sir Thomas Challoner. The same year Sir Thomas 48 C LEO BURY MORTIMER. Challoner and Sir Richard Mompesson, Kts., sell it to Rowland Lacon, Esq., (the son of Agnes, sister and heir of Sir George Blount, of Kinlet), and his son Sir Francis Lacon, Kt., of Willey and Kinlet. The Lacons represented a very ancient Shropshire family which had its origin at Lacon, a property which, with Willey and other extensive estates in Shropshire, were sold by Sir Francis Lacon. In 1615, Sir Francis obtained the grant of a market on a Wednesday in " Cleobury Burgo," and three fairs in a year. In 1629, by an exemption of the Inquisition taken 4 C. 1, at the request of Sir Francis, it appears that there is a Leet belonging to this Manor, and liberties thereof extending to Shipley and Rudge, four miles from Wolverhampton, and to Shineton within six miles of Salop, to Ashford Carbonel within two miles of Ludlow, and to Shete half a mile from Ludlow. The following suits owe suit to this Manor, viz : — Chelmarsh, Ashford, Sheete, Hope Bagot, Hint and Coreley, Doddington als Ditton, Catherton, Sheinton Bratton, Neynton, Ledbury, Overton, Nene Savage, Lowe, Kinlet, Cattesley, Earn- wood, Highley, Hampton, Sutton, Cleobury foreign, and ye forest of Wyra— (Dukes' MSS.) Cleobury Mortimer was again the scene of civil war in the struggles between Charles 1st and his Parliament. Sir Francis Lacon, of Kinlet, the chief proprietor, was noted for his attachment to the King. Sir Walter Blount of Mawley and Sodington with three brothers and four sons fought and suffered severely in the Royal cause, and John Barker, the Vicar, was ejected for loyalty, though afterwards reinstated. In a Journal called the Weekly Account we find " March 12th, 1645 "— " By letters out of Shropshire it was this day certified that Prince Rupert was on Friday last at Ludlow, and Sir Jacob Astley at Bewdley, and some of their forces at Clybury, Ten bury, and Burford, and Prince Rupert sent out his warrants to summon in the Country as a convoy for His Majesty." And in 1661 the soldiers were again here, for Baxter of CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 49 Kidderminster, tells us that Cleobury was a place where he lectured occasionally during his ministry ; but about 1661 when he was to preach there, a company of soldiers came and dispersed the people that came to hear him. — (Baxters Hist., p. 375.) Since this period the Lordship of Cleobury has descended to the successive possessors of Kinlet. The heiress of the Lacons married Sir William Childe. Sir Lacon William Childe, her son and heir, founded the Endowed Schools of Cleobury Mortimer, and died in 1719. He was succeeded by his nephew William Lacon Childe, Esq., M.P., for Shropshire, who married Catherine, only daughter of Samuel Pytts, Esq., of Kyre. Their elder daughter and heiress married Charles Baldwyn, Esq., of Aqualate, M.P. for Shropshire, whose eldest son, William, assumed the name of Childe, in accordance with the will of his maternal grandfather, and is the father of the present William Lacon Childe. Esq., of Kinlet; and though the greater portion of the Cleobury Mortimer estates have been sold during the present century, the Lordship of the Manor and the patron- age of the Church still rest with the owner of Kinlet. The chief landowners in the Parish now are Sir Edward Blount, of Mawley, Alfred Seymour, Esq., Mrs. Wicksted, and Thomas Woodward, Esq. Of these the ancient and knightly family of Blount is the only one which is resident. MAWLEY. Mawley (in the Domesday Record called Melela) is situated about a mile from the town, and in 1240 was held under the Lord of Cleobury by John de Malleye. In 1399, Mawley unum feodum per Walterum de Cleobury prius per Johem de Mawley. — Col. Inq. v. III. p. 234. The following Deed relating to another John de Malleye was translated from the Latin by Mr. Blakeway, author of the Sheriffs of Shropshire. vol. it. E 50 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. " Wed* " after ye feast of St. David's, G Edw. son of Edward. John do Malleye demises for term of his John's life to Richard de Cleburi, and Maud his wife all his land and tenements in Malleye, Clebur' and Doddenhull at a rent of 25s. 6d., for which the grantees shall find him decent sus- ' tenance in meat and drink at their own table honorably, and when he wants to ride he shall have one of their horses, he shall also have one of their pages to make his bed and pull off his shoes, and serve him when he wants it, they shall also find him 2 pr of " lence " (illegible) yearly. If Richard dies before John, the premises shall devolve to Maud as long as she remains unmarried ; upon her marriage they revert to the grantor, and if any wardship, marriage, or escheat accrue of any of the free tenants which were ye said John's in the towns of Mortimer's Cleobury and Doddington, he and the two grantees shall divide the profit between them. Tea RALPH DE LA LOWE WALTER DE STEPPLE JOHN DE HETT BYE, Senr. JOHN DE HETT BYE, June. JOHN DE CURDWALLE JOHN LE REDDE ROGER DE KYNLET ROGER DE WESTWODE Seal of yellow wax defaced. Margaret, the daughter and co-heir of John de Malleye, of Malleye, married Thomas Archer, of Umbersdale, Co. Warwick, (member of a family who became Barons Archer, and whose elder co-heir married, 1788, the Earl of Plymouth). Thomas Archer died 1372, and the heirs of Margaret and Thomas continued in possess- ion of Malley till 1535, when it was sold by Eichard Archer (who had previously mortgaged it) to his neighbour, Thomas Blount, of Sodington. ( Deed cop. by Sir Symon Archer in possession of E. of Plymouth, 1815.;, The family of Blount has for more than 600 years been connected with this neighbourhood ; it is of the highest antiquity being descended from the Dukes de Guisnes, of Picardy, who were of Scandinavian origin, and the name itself " Le Blond," is an allusion CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 51 to the fair hair of a foreign ancestor, many of whose descendants do not belie the name in the present day. Walter le Blount, of Rock, (the progenitor of the Blounts of Mawley) married the sister and heir of William de Sodington who died 1301. The Baronetcy was conferred on Walter Blount, of Sodington in 1642. He suffered severely in the cause of Charles I., he was imprisoned, and his house at. Sodington burnt by Cromwell's soldiers, because he refused to make arms at " the Forge," and his estates were ordered to be confiscated by Act of Parliament, Nov. 2, 1652. On the Mawley Estate are still traces of this Forge. Dr. Plot, in his Hist, of Staffordshire, relates that strings of mules brought ore from a Manor called Red Hall, in the Parish of Audley, Staffordshire, to be smelted at Mawley ; the connection of the Blounts with this part of Staffordshire accounts for this otherwise curious circumstance ; for in the 1 4th century Sir William le Blount, of Sodington, married Margaret de Verdon, the daughter and co-heir of John Lord Audley. She held as part of her in- heritance the Manor of Balterley, which joins Red Hall, and her hens continued in possession of it till 1581, when Sir George Blount of Kinlet,1 (whose ancestor was a younger son of Blount, of Sodington), died seized of it. Mawley Hall, the finest example of the Architecture of the Georgian period in Shropshire, was built by Sir Edward Blount, the fourth Baronet, 1736, the architect being the well- known Smith, of Warwick. The interior is finished 1 Sir George Blount, of Kinlet, was descended from Sir John Blount, of Sodington, (temp. E. III.) by his 2nd wife, Isabel, only daughter of Sir Brian Cornwall, of Kinlet ; on the failure of the male line of the Cornwalls, the Kinlet estates thus came to this branch of the Blounts, who marked their descent by quartering the arms of Cornwall with Blount, and are now represented in the female line by Mr. Childe, of Kinlet. The Blounts of Mawley are descended from the wimo Sir John Blount, by his 1st wife Juliana Foulhurst. 52 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. with more than usual care, the plaister medallions, and the beautiful woodwork in the floors and staircase being worthy of special attention. The site of the House has been admirably chosen ; com- manding extensive views of the Clee Hill and the surrounding country, it stands in a finely-timbered deer park, surrounded by the River Rea. THE WOODHOUSE. A religious house, for 12 Augustine monks, was founded here, in 1250, by one Turberville. The following deed, partly illegible, written in black letter with red capitals, a contract between the Prior of the Augustines and John Clebury and his wife in 1482, is at Shakenhurst : — " Frater Thomas Prior localis Ordinis Fratum reremi- tarum Ste Augustini Conventus Woodhousie dilectis suis in Xto Johanni Cleberi et Alicise consorti suae Orationes ut quicquid hauriri valeat dulcius de latere Crucifixi devotionem quam ad ordinem nostrum ob Dei geritis reverentiam ut decepi affectum sinceritatem acceptas Xto que acceptable foze ere . . . piis beneficiorum Spiritualium vicissitudinibus compensari vos ad universa et singula nostrse Eeligione tarn vita q . . . recipio in suffragia plenam vobis tenore presentium participationem bonorum omnium concedendo cjuce per fratres dicti conventus .... in missis Vigiliis jejuniis abstinentiis prcedicationibus et orationibus coaterisque divinis exercitiis opcrari .... dignabitur dementia Salvatoris .... addens etiam gratia speciali quod cum obitus vester in conventu nostro fuerit nunciatus id per nos devote fiet quod oro fratribus nostris defunctis in communi ibidem fieri consuevit. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum officii mei est appensum. Datum in conventu nostro anno Domini millesimo cccclxxxii." In 1540 (Nov. 13. 31 IT. VIII) " the Commissioners " took away from the Woodhouse Austin Friars xii oz. iii. qrs gilte plate. 1559, June 21st, Queen Mary f ranted the Woodhouse to Chancellor Sir Edward 'eckham K* to the use of Thomas Reve and George CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 53 Cotton for the sums of £667 14s. lid. and £232 12s. 8d. The whole site of the house of or belonging to the Augustine Brothers commonly called the Augustine Fryers of Woodhouse, with all things belonging to them in our Co. of Salop formerly a parcel of lands, possessions and revenues of the said House lately of Augustine Fryers .... also the Demeyne lands of the late said house containing by estimate 50 Acres ; that is to say ; one grove called Woodhaye, containing by estimate 4 Acres, and one close of pasture called Har- per's Close, containing by estimate 5 Acres, and one parcel of our land called Pyke Field, containing by estimate 1 Acre (adjacent to the said close called Harpers Field) ; and one other parcel of our land with its appurtenances called the Utterweld containing by estimate 1^ Acre, and also one other parcel of our land called the Inner Weld containing by estimate 3 Acres. And the herbage of our wood called the Hedg- wood containing by estimate 2 Acres, and one croft of our land with its appurtenances called the Hedghouse Croft containing by estimate one acre two roods, and one other close of our land or pasture with its appur- tenances called the Hygh Wood containing by estimate 2 Acres, also one meadow of ours with appurtenances called the Priors Meadow containing by estimate 3 Acres, and one garden of ours containing 3 roods, and one garden containing 3 roods, and one Pasture called Play Field, otherwise, the Playing Place con- taining 5 Acres, and one other Pasture of ours called Blakemore Field containing 6 Acres, also one other pasture called Lady Heath containing 10 Acres, now or late in the occupation of William Deane or his assigns. Deed in the possession of W. Purton, Esq. During the present Century the old house (with its moat and the remains of a chapel) was used as a farm house. It was extra parochial and is situated two miles North West of Cleobury Mortimer. 54 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. THE CHURCH. The Church dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin is of handsome proportions, and its scale points to a time when Cleobury Mortimer was of greater importance than it is now. It consists of a chancel 41ft. by 25ft., separated from the nave by a very fine EE arch ; a nave 76ft. in length, with clerestory N. and S. aisles of five bays, and a north chantry dedicated to St. Nicholas ; a south porch and a handsome square tower, with a lofty, octagonal wooden spire. The chancel and nave are spanned by fine timber 14th century roofs. The Church is built of grey stone, supposed to come from a quarry called Gathill, in the parish of Kinlet. In 1663 the south windows of the nave contained shields of the arms of Mortimer " Barry, of 6 Or. and Az. on a chief of the 1st, 2 pallets between 2 base esqxderres of the 2nd; over all an inescutcheon argent" In the east window of the chantry the arms of Mortimer quartering de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, " Or. a cross gules and the north chantry windows contained the arms of the old Baronial family of Trus- sell, " Arg. a fret gules — on each joint a bezant." These have now disappeared, and most of the windows bear traces of insertions of later date. In 1659 the Church was handsomely seated with carved oak pews, which were replaced by plain deal ones in 1812. In 1743 a large west gallery was erected; in 1761 the shingle was removed from the spire, and it was boarded and painted at a cost of £70. In 1793 the Church had become so dilapidated that it was said to be in imminent danger of falling, and a new Church was contemplated ; but by the advice of Mr. Telford, the county surveyor, strong wooden tie beams were inserted at intervals across the interior, the roofs were ceiled, abutments of brick were built against the south wall, and if these did not add to the beauty they at least prevented the Church from falling, llecently it has been very carefully strengthened and underbuilt where it was giving way. The ceiling of 1793 has been removed, CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 55 open seats replace the deal pews, the gallery has been taken down and an organ- chamber built. The me- morial stones, both on the walls and pavement, have been scrupulously preserved, forming as they do a local history and record of successive generations which have trod those aisles and worshipped within those walls. The organ was built by Nicholson, of Worcester, at a cost of £250, and erected in 1847 ; the font was given in 1857 ; the pulpit in 1873. The cost of the work done since 1874, under the guidance of the late Sir George Gilbert Scott, has been about £2,000. The Curfew is still rung, and there is a fine peal of six bells by Iludhall, of Gloucester. The Inscriptions are : — 1— Hark to our melody. A.R. 1757. 2— Abel Rudhall cast us all. 1757. 3 — Peace and good neighbourhood. A.R. 4— J. At wood Vicar. 1757. 5— Richard Dorset. Will. Oseland Ch. War. A.R. 1757. 6 — A.R. I to the Church the living call And to the grave do summon all. INSCRIPTIONS ON THE COMMUNION PLATE. On tue Flagon and Large Paten. — " The gift of William Brown, gent., to the Church of Cleobury Mortimer, Salop," On the Chalice. — " For the Church of Cleobury Mortimer, Salop, 1775." On the Alms Dish. — " He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord." On the Small Paten. — "Take, eat, this is my body. St. Mary the Virgin, Cleobury Mortimer. A thank-offering from Henry Kemp, a.d. 1865." " August 14th, 1733. The Rector of Ribsford doth yearly pay to the Vicar o Cleobury Mortimer, the sum of One pound 5 shillings at Easter, in lieu of Easter Offering; and. other privy tithes from Hank Hill, Wyer Hill, and Doglane within the parish of Ribsford, which places when they were first in- habited were reputed to bo in the Parish of Cloebury Mortimer. It is near 100 years since this agreement was made and this Sum yearly and duly paid over since." (Pukes MSS.) ! 56 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. VICARS OF CLEOBURY MORTIMER. From Blakeway's MSS. with additions. The Patrons till 1479 were the Abbots of Wig- more, the Church having been presented to the Abbey by Roger de Mortimer. 1320 Jan. 20th, John dictus Scheremon of Ludlow. 1348 Richard 1349 Sir William de Curdewall who resigned in 1362. He was appointed by Roger de Mortimer chaplain to his Chantry of St. Nicholas, which he resigned 1359. 1362 Roger Mey, who exchanged with 1366 William Hunte, Rector of Whytynton, (Wigorn, D10.,) he exchanged with 1371 Alan de la Vise, Rector of Byllesley, (Wigorn Di0.) Upon Tuesday, August 8th, 1391, John, Bishop of Hereford, held his 3rd sitting against W. Swinderley in the Church of Cleo- bury Mortimer. — Fox's Acts and Monts., p. 453. 1399 Sir Hugh Cheyney. , 1407 Sir William de Egginton, died 1456, and exchanged July 27th, 1418, with Richard Welynton, of Neen Sollars, on the presenta- tion of Edmund, Earl of March. 1418 Richard Wellington, Rector of Nyen Solers, resigned 1425. 1425 Sir John Sylly grove (Syllygrove is in the Parish of Kinlet), resigned 1431. 1431 Sir William Whytehere, chaplain. 1442 Sir John Lowe 1442 resigned for his succes- sor's preferment. 1442 Mester William Langwys, late Rector of Sonnyngwell in dio. Sarum which he resigned for this Master Adam Smale alias Langways, resigned in 1462, and had a pension of 5 marks settled on him out of the benefice, 1462 John Sandy consented to the above pension June 25th, 1462. CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 57 1479 Sir John Tailour. — Dec. 11th, 1518, the Bishop permits him to treat with Sir William Bradock about a pension out of the Vicarage in the event of his becoming Vicar, but this recognition was not completed. He died 1524 ? (1527) Was also Chaplain or Deacon of St. Nicholas' Chantry. 1524 William Bradock obit 1551 presented by- Thomas Untan, of Drayton in Hales, grantee of the prior and convent of Wigmore. His income in 1534 was 16/- from certain tithes of grain, and small tithes £12 2s. Gd., and the Abbot of Wigmore's contemporary returns are .£16 16s. Od.—(Eyto)i Ant.) 1551 March 5th, Edward Troye Priest, presented by William and Hugh Cooke, grantees of the convent of Wigmore, being at the time Chap- lain or Deacon in the chantry of St. Nicholas, to which he had been appointed 1531, by Henry 8th. 1572 May 6th, William Tayler, B.A., presented by the Queen. (Rymer XV. 698.) 1587 William Marston. presented by Sir Francis Lacon, of Kinlet. Seven of his children were baptized in the Church ; he was buried there August, 1624, and his wife ! ' Anne Marson, widowe," in the following November. 1625 John Barker; this is the Vicar of Cleobury Mortimer, whom Walker calls " Baker," and says was ejected for loyalty. On 24th May, 9 C.I. John Barker was presented by the King to ye Vicarage of Cleobury Mortimer, " void by resignation and belonging to our presenta- tion."— (Rymer XIX. 540.,) There is some- thing particular in this ; Barker appears by the Parish Register to have succeeded immediately on the death of Marston in 1624, yet here we find him in 1633 receiving a new presenta- tion from the King on a suggested avoidance 58 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. by resignation. It is likely that his title was found defective and he was glad to take out these letters patent. — (Blakeway MS.) Barker baptized seven of his children in Cleobury Church between the years 1625 and 1635, therefore it is probable that he never ceased to reside there. John Maiden, Vicar of Cleobury before 1648. Was buried at Cleobury, Sep. 11th, 1656. 1656 Robert Goodwin. This Vicar has left' a book of private memoranda, copies of letters, accounts of his tithes which throw some interesting light upon the local incidents of his time. His accounts show us that in 1658 coal cost 4s. per ton, Malt 3s. 8d. a strike, Corn 5s. a strike, Butter 4s. a gallon, 7s. was paid for the keep for a fortnight of his daugh- ter's horse which had strayed, and 2s. for pro- claiming it. He tells us that good horses are very scarce and dear and would not be bought under 3 or 4 and twenty pounds. " Is. Was given by Milady Child when she suped with us." He took pupils, and in 1864 among the number are William Childe, Abel Gower, two Kettlebys of Catherton, an Acton, and a Langley. There is also the draft of a letter to his Cozen Burton, in which he engages to " keep and well to educate his daughter Mary, for seaven years for 4J6 a year." His letters display considerable command of language and kindness of heart; Ins correspondence extended to the Bishop, and to the Judges, to his relations, and the parents of his pupils. Among his papers is a receipt from William Latward for the sum of 2s. 3d. for the use of the inhabitants of the town of Drayton, collected in the Parish Church of Cleobury Mortimer. Tie died 1691, and is buried with his wife Elizabeth, (who died 1693) in the Chancel of the Church, CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 59 1691 William Edwards, designated "Curate" until 1699, married 1696, " Mis Elizabeth Goodwin/' (the daughter of the late Vicar, born in Cleo- bury Mortimer, 1672,) by whom he had three sons and three daughters baptized in Oleobury Church. He was buried in the chancel of the Church, Feb. 19th, 1739, aged 77, and a stone with verses descriptive of his virtues commemorates him. 1738 John Attwood, Rector of Wheathill and Bur- warton, perpetual Curate of Monks Hopton and Acton Round, and for some years resident Curate of Cleobury Mortimer, was presented to the living by William Lacon Childe, Esq., on the death of Mr. Edwards ; five children of John Attwood and Mary his wife were bap- tized in Cleobury Church. He died July, 1769, aged 60, and a small brass inside the altar rails marks the spot where he lies, as also his widow who died in 1780. 1769 Edward Harries, of Magdalen College, Cambridge, succeeded Mr. Attwood, 1769, left Cleobury Sept. 1771, and resigned 1779. In a letter dated 1805, Mr. Harries says " I often reflect with much satisfaction on the two agreeable years of my residence in Cleobury, and the kindness I there received." The lie v. Edward Harries, Rector of Hanwood, and Vicar of Cleobury Mortimer, was the eldest son of Thomas Harries, Esq., of Cruckton Hall, near Shrewsbury, and was presented to the living of Cleobury by Charles Baldwin, Esq., of Kinlet, M.P., and his wife Catherine. Mr. Harries was born 1743, succeeded to the family estates on the death of his father, married 1771 Lucia, daughter and heir of Francis Turner Blithe, Esq., of Broseley Hall, Co. Salop, and is grandfather of Colonel Harries, of Cruck- ton. He died Jan., 1812. 60 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 1779 Edward Northey, Vicar of Kinlet and Cleobury Mortimer, Canon of Windsor, was presented by his college friend Mr. Childe of Kinlet, on the resignation of Mr. Harries. Edward Northey was the 2nd son, but eventual heir of William Northey, Esq., of Woodcote, Co. Surrey. He resided at Kinlet, and the Vicarage at Cleobury was let to a Surgeon. He was born 1754, mar- ried 1794 Charlotte sister of Sir Herbert Taylor, resigned the living of Cleobury in 1800, suc- ceeded to the family estates in 1826, died in 1828, and was father of the present Edward Northey, Esq., of Woodcote. From a paper left by Mr. Northey we find that the services were performed by Rev. John Taylor, who also served the cure of Silvington ; that there were two services and one sermon on Sundays ; prayers on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saints' Days. The Catechism heard every Sunday in Lent in the Church, and parents admonished to send their children. The Holy Communion was admin- istered the 1st Sunday in the month and on all great Festivals. 1800 George Moultrie, presented by William Childe, Esq., died in London 1845, aged 73, and is buried in the Chancel. " These thirty years A house hath scarce been built, a trco cut down, A new shop opened — scarce a public house Been decked with a new sign, or changed as yet, Ought but its owner's name, in all this street, The Castle ditch alone (last remnant left Of feudal recollections) hath indeed Long since, by hands barbarian, been ploughed up, And planted with potatoes ; its rich shade, Of beeches levell'd, and the fair alcovo Which erown'd its spacious bowling green, pulled down, Nought else seems altered but the face of man." Dream of Life by Revd. John Moultrie. Thus was Cleobury Mortimer described by the late CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 61 Rector of Rugby, the son of the Vicar, whose touching poem, " My Brothers Grave," adds interest to the Church. Beneath tho Chancel's hallowed stone, Exposed to evcrv rustic tread, To few save rustic mourners known, My Brother, is thy lonely bed ; Few words upon the rough stone graven, Thy name, thy birth, thy youth declare, Thy innocence, thy hopes of heaven, In simplest phrase recorded there ; No scutcheons shine, no banners wave, In mockery o'er my Brother's grave. 1845 George Murray, Vicar of Kinlet, now Vicar of Bromsgrove and Hony. Canon of Worcester. 1846 The present Vicar, Edward George Childe, edu- cated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, Vicar of Kinlet, son of William Lacon Childe, Esq., of Kinlet and Kyre. LAY DEACONRY OF CLEOBURY MORTIMER. Of this Office Mr. Blakeway says in his Sheriffs of Shropshire " a singular piece of preferment of which I know not that any second example can be found in the kingdom." It appears probable that its Endowment represents Roger de Mortimer s grant for the support of the Chaplain to St. Nicholas' Chantry, the more so as it is connected with the duty of reading the 1st lesson, and is in the gift of the crown, which (as has already been shewn) now represents the House of Mortimer. Similar endowments have existed in other parishes, but have merged in the endowment of the Church, as at Cheswardine. It is worth about JC50 a year, including a small portion of tithes and some de- tached land in the immediate vicinity of the Town. A LIST OF CHAPLAINS OF THE PERPETUAL CHANTRY OF ST. NICHOLAS IN THE CHURCH OF CLEOBURY MORTIMER, FOUNDED BY ROGER SON OK EDMUND DE MORTIMER. — ( Blakeway1 s MSS.f vnth additions.) Sir William de Curdewall, Vicar of Cleobury Mor- 62 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. timer from 1359 to 1362, resigned this Chantry 1359, presented by the noble man Sir Iloger de Mortimer, E. of March. 1359 Sir Stephen de Derlyng, Chaplain, presented by Sir Roger Mortimer, became Vicar of Neen Savage in 1361. 1361 Walter de Mall eye Priest, presented by Johanna, ( ? Philippa) Countess of March. Sunday before the Feast of St. James, 3G E. 3. Walter de Malleye, Chaplain, grants to Master Robert de Malleye, parson of the Church of Uptime Waryn, a burgage in the new street of Cleburi, between the burgage of Sir Adam Hetbeye, and the way towards Roonhull in breadth and in length from the new street to the field of Roonhull, likewise all the lands and tene- ments foreign which I had of the said Roberts gift and feoff- ment within the Manor of Cleburi Mortimer to have and to hold to ye said Robert for life, remainder to Alice Dygard for life, remainder to Stephen her son in tail, remainder to Laurentia his sister in tail, and to Isabella his sister in tail, remainder to William de Malleye brother of ye said Maitr Robert and his right heirs. Tes. ROGER DE FOXCOTE. JOHN DE SAN GEORGE. WM. DE MALLEYE. JOHN DE WEHINTYNE. JOHN DE LA WODEHOUSE. WM. PETTE. Dated at Cleburri Mortimer, Tuesy. in Pentecost 36 E 3. Blakeways MSS. 1373 Sir William Breylz, Chaplain 1375 Sir John Spechesley, Chaplain presd by Nobilis Dna. Philippa Countess of March. 1387 William Therlwynde resigned. 1387 Griffin Waterden, Chaplain died. Presented by Henry IV. 1412 William Walkysbache, Chaplain presented by Henry V. The Bishop granted him license to build a house for himself in the Cemeterv of Cleobury Mortimer, to be 160 ft. long and 24 ft. broad. 1460 Sir William Dobyns, Chaplain. , . . Sir John Taylor died 1527, he was Vicar of CTeofnuy, from 1479 to 1524. CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 63 1527 Sir Richard Luce, Sacerdos resigned 1531, pre- sented by Henry VIII. Incumbent of Nyen Solers. 1531 Sir Edward Trove presented by Henry VIII. The fol- lowing is a deed of this period from the Ecclesiastical Survey taken in pursuance of an act of Parliament 20 H. 8th, in the First Fruits Office. Cantaria de Clyberye Mortymer. Edwardus Troye Cant : valet per annum in Terris et Tene- ments ad man : mort : ponit : Licenc : Reg : obtent £4 6 9 In 1551 Sir Edward Troye became Vicar of Cleobury. 1580 Oliver Matthews on 22d June, 1580, obtained a lease from the crown for twenty-one years of six acres of land and all tithes of grain in the town and fields of Cleobury Mortimer, parcel of the possessions of the dissolved priory of Wig- more, employed for the maintenance of a " sexton " in the said Parish Church. He was a Welshman by birth, a Mercer in Shrewsbury 1576. Styled of Bishop's Castle, in the Herald's Visitation of Shropshire, and writes from Snead near that town. His wife, Jane, was daughter of Edward Broughton, of Brought on, and was buried at Bishops Castle, Jan. 9th, 1611. In 1615 he mentions being " aged 95 yeres," and in Julie 1616 ho publishes " The scituation, foundation, and ancient names of the famous towne of Salop, by Oliver Matthews, gen." He was pro- bably connected with Cleobury Mortimer. The name of Matthews was known there for many generations, as was also that of Oliver. 1596 "John Cooke, Deacon in the Church of Cleobury Mortimer. " He was appointed by Lord Keeper Egerton, at the suggestion of John Lutwyche, a very eminent attorney of Lincoln's Inn, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth." — Sheriffs of Shrop- shire, p. 189. 1622 Richard Osjand, "Deacon of Cleobury;" his wife ■ 64 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. was Elizabeth, and his name occurs in the Parish Eegister, 1G03— 1609— 1622 as "deacon." 1699 William Osland s name occurs as " deacon " in the Parish Register, 1648—1656. His wife Grace died 1689, and he died 1699. 1727 William Oseland " deacon" died. 1733 "Bradley, an Attorney and Lay Deacon, 1733. The Deacon, now Lay deacon, is said to have formerly officiated at one of the Chapels of Ca- therton and Bransley, whilst the Vicar was at the High Church." — Note in Blakeway's MSS. 1793 " Charles Edmund Wylde, Rector of Letton, Glazeley, and Deuxhill and Minister of Loaton, is Lay Deacon here at a salary of about £30 a year, and which arises chiefly from the great tithes of Cleobury Township, and he has also some land belonging to the Office. The duty done for this is the reading of the First lesson on Saints' Days and Sundays and for which he pays the Clerk £2 or guineas a year for the acting as his deputy."— Duke's MSS. 12018. . . . George Moultrie, Vicar of Cleobury Mortimer, died 1845. 1845 Edward George Childe, present Vicar of Cleobury Mortimer and Kinlet. MONUMENTS IN CLEOBURY MORTIMER CHURCH. h The most ancient is a stone slab in which a rude cross is carved ; it was found in 1874, built into the south wall of the Church. It is now placed in the tower. ON THE FLOOR OF NAVE. 2. W.P. 1651. 3. Susannah, the daughter of William and Margaret Davies, who departed this life May 28th, 1702, aged 18 years. 4. Benoath this stone lie interred the remains of Thomas .... 5. Ann Hammond, May 1st, 17 ... . G. Here lyeth the body of Edward, the son of Edward Oliver and Cattorn, his wife, who doparted this life October the 12th, aged 3 years, 1709. CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 65 7. To the Memory of George Cooper and Joyce, his wife, late of Cleobury Forge. She died March 2d, 1726, aged 55. He died Aug8t 15th, 173 .. . aged 69. 8. Humphrey Stareygent. departed this life February, 1712. 9. Here lieth the body of Elizabeth Starey, 1722. 10. June, 1778 also ye body of Sarah, her sister, who departed this life March y° 21st, 1755, aged 12 years. 11. Mary Newall died June 23d, 1762, aged 67. 12. Thomas Newall senior, died April 27th, 1778, aged . . . 13. Thomas Newall junior, died Jan. 10th, 17G3, aged 27 years. 14. I T 1718. T C 1734. 15. (Mr. Joyce Tyler). (Thomas Collins, a child). 16. J F 1734. 17. W P died March 27, 1766, aged 77 years. 18. Here lieth the body of W I, aged . . . A.D. 1750. 19. George Crow, the son of John and Margaret Crow, died Feb. 20th, 1775, aged 5 years, and likewise William, their son, died Sep. 1st .1794, aged 20 years. 20. Beneath this stone are deposited the remains of Anne Graham, wife of George Graham. She was born at Carlisle, Nov. 19th, 1722, and died in the 81st year of her age, loved and lamented by those who best knew her, April 19th, 1803. 21. Samuel Beddo, late of this town, who died 7th June, 18 . 6, aged 84. This stone is erected at the sole expense of his survivnig wife Mary Beddo. 22. Edward Toldervy, dyed Sep. 27th, 1761, aged 37. 23. Edward Griffin, surgeon, died May 17th, 1794, aged 34. 24. Catherine Griffin, relict of the above Edward Griffin, died Aug8t 20, 1845, aged 85. 25. Beneath lie the remains of Agnes Humphreys, who died the 24th day of May, 1766, aged 31 years — also of Margaret Toldervy, who died i5th day of August, 1807, aged 80 years. CHANCEL FLOOR. 26. In Memory of Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Beddoe j she departed this life March 22d, 1734, aged 46 years. She lies interred, deprived of life, A virtuous woman and a loving wife. 27. Thomas Beddoe, late of Witheypool, died June . . . 1775, aged 66 years. William Beddoe, also of Withypool (son of the above) died AugBt 20th, 1800, aged 67 years. VOL. II. F 66 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 28. I B 1719. 29. West 82 also of West of the Citie of Worcester, gent., departed this life April 30th, 1800 (?) aged 50 (!) years. (Inside rails.) 30. Here lyeth the body of Thomas Read, senr who dep. this life- day of June . . . 31. In memory of Mary, wife of Tim. Colebatch, gent., who died May ye 7th, 1759, in ye 55th year of her age. Also in memory of Timothy Colebatch, gent., who died Jan. 4th, 1783, in the 93d year of his age ; likewise of George, his son, gent., he died Jan. 1st, 1785, aged 53 ; also in memory of Ann, relict of the above named George. She died March 7th, 1789, aged 41. 32. Here lieth the body of William Fox, who departed this life June 21st, 1730, aged 50 years, John Fox, of the Lea, gent., was buried the 13th Dec, 1760, aged 79 years. Also to the memory of John Fox, son of James and Jane Fox, for fifty years known and respected as a Solicitor in this town. Born Nov. 9th, 1762, died Jan. 13th, 1848. 33. Here lyeth the body of William Fox, the elder, who departed this life 10th June, a.d. 1713, aged 73 years. William Fox, of Quatford, gent., was interred Dec. 25th, 1772, aged 55 years. Yeoman Fox, of the Lea, gent., died 6th April, 1777, aged 67 years. 34. The Ilevd. Mr. William Edwards, late Vicar of this Church departed this life Feb. 16th, 1738, aged 77. The ritual stone thy son doth lay O'er thy respected dust, Only proclaims the mournful day When he a parent lost. Fame will convey thy virtue down Through nges yet to corao, 'Tis needless, since so well thcy'ro known, To crowd them on thy tomb. Deep to engrave them on .my heart, Rather demands my care, Ah ! could I stamp in ev'ry part, The fair impression thero. In life to copy thco I'll strive, And when 1 that resign, May some good-natured friend survive, To lay my bones by thine. H S 35. Anna et Edwardus Proles Revd. J. Atwood et Maria conjugis. Anna obit Aug8fc 14th, 1745, Edw. ob. Sep. 15th, 1759. CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 67 Small bras3. Hie jacet Pater predict01 Hujus EcclesiEe olim Vicarius Arnavit protem, amavit gregem, Sorte sua contintus sed Fselicior si digniores pavisset oves Obiit 9 Jul. 1769. Etatis 60 Voluit Lectorem non nescire positos cineres Hoc te saxuin rogat Vias respicere Vale Vigila. Remember my judgment for thine also shall be, So yesterday for me and to day for thee. I H S Epigraphen hane, vivus quam ipso sibimet designaverat tristas posuerunt, quorum inter suit Cura. " In Christ shall all be made alive " 36. Under this stone lie the remains of George 2d. son of the Rev. G. Moultrie, Vicar of this Parish. Born on the 19th of May, 1801, and died on 5th October, 1810. Also of Henry, 6th son, who died Dec. 1815, aged. Here too lie the remains of the above named Rev. George Moultrie, Vicar of this Parish for 45 years, who died May 12th, 1845, aged 73 and also of Harriet Moultrie his widow, who died June 22nd, 1867, in her 92d year. Near this spot was buried Edward Mortimer Moultrte, their 3d. son, who died Jan. 18th, 1851, aged 48 years. " Jesus said behold I come quickly." ON THE NORTH WALL OF CHANCEL. 37. Near this place lyeth the body of Mr. Andrew Boswell, surgeon. Ho was buryed Juno ye 10th, 1738, aged 73 years. Also his two daughters, Catherine and Sarah, who died Oct. 1730. Also Mr. Wm. Gower ; ho was buried in Docomber, 1730, aged 29 years. 38. The Revd. John Atwood, Rector of Wheathill and Burwarton, perpetual Curate of Monk's Hopton and Acton Round, in this County, and some years resident Curate of this Parish. Died Dec. 1st, 1798, aged 63. Mary, his wife, died Dec. 9th, 1808, aged 70. Maria, their eldest daughter, died July 21st, 1822, aged 50. William, their 2d son, died at Claston Dormington, Here- fordsh., Sep, 3d, 1844, aged 67. Catherine, their youngest daughter, died at Claston, June 2d. 1855, aged 82. John, their 3d and youngest son, died at Clifton, Bristol, Sep. 3d, 1856, aged 78, leaving 3 sons and 2 daughtors. 68 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 39. To the Memory of Mary, the beloved wife of James Stevens, gent., who departed this life 24th Sep., 1835, aged 77. She was a grandchild of John and Mary Fox, of the Lea, by her mother, Mary, the wife of Samuel Downes, gent. In grateful acknowledgment for the long and happy union with one whose mind was endowed with every moral and religious duty this monument is erected. Also to the Memory of James Stevens, gent., who departed this life the 22d day of April, 1840, aged 87 years. SOUTH WALL OF CHANCEL. 40. Near this stone lie the remains of James Compson, gent., late an inhabitant of this town, who died Sep. 23d, 1765, in the 47th year of his age. Headers, if ye regard the sacred duties — if ye love honesty, esteem sincerity, and admire the virtue of friendship, if ye rejoice at acts of humanity, have compas- sion for the distressed, liberality for the indigent, affability for the meek, and goodwill for all mankind — Weep for the loss of him who discharged such duties and displayed such virtues — happy in their exercise — here, and in the hope of their reward hereafter. Sacred to the memory of Thomas Compson, Esq., who closed a life of integrity and benevolence, with hopes full of immortality, on 12th Dec, 1808, in the 83d year of his age. Also of Mrs. Elizabeth Compson, a sincere Christian, who died Jan. 7th, 1781, in 56th year of her age. Near the remains of his grandfather are deposited those of Revd. Thomas Compson, whose early virtues and dis- tinguished talents, whose well-regulated zeal and assiduity in his sacred profession evince the heavy loss which his friends and society have sustained by his premature dissolution. He died Feb. 6th, 1809, in 27th year of his age. Sacred to the memory also of James Pennall Bradley and Mary Compson, son and daughter of James and Martha Compson, who died infants. Sacred to the memory of James Compson, Esq., who died Oct. 20th, 1830. Also of Martha, his wife, who died May 2d, 1819. Also of George Compson, Esq., 2d son of the above, who died Aug. 7th, 1842. Also of Rev. James Edward Compson, 3d son, died Dec. 28th, 1834. Also of William Compson, 4th son, died Dec. 2d, 1824. I VESTRY WALL. 41. New to ys place lyeth the body of Judith Rawlings, wife I CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 69 of Edmund Rawlings, late of ye Parish of Salford, in the Coy of Warwick, gent., who departed this life Oct. 29th, 1728, aged 74. CHANTRY WALL. 42. Near this place lie the remains of Edward Toldervy, gen- tleman, who departed this life 27th Sep., 1761, in the 37th year of his age. Also of Agnes Humphries, who died 24th May, 17G6, aged 31 years. Likewise of Mr. Edward Griffin, surgeon ; he married Catherine, daughter of the above Edward Toldervy, and died May 17th, 1794, in the 34th year of his ago. Near the remains of her late husband are depo- sited those of Mrs. Margaret Toldervy, sister of Agnes Humphries, who died Aug. 15th, 1807, aged 80. This monu- ment is erected by Ann and Catherine, daughters of Edward and Margaret Toldervy, as a small token of their regard. Also of Catherine, relict of Edward Griffin, died Aug. 20th, 1845, aged 85 years, and of Anne Toldervy, died March 27th, 1849, aged 89 years, daughters of the above Edward and Margaret Toldervy. 43. Sacred to the memory of (and deposited in a brick grave in the churchyard) the remains of Mrs. Eleanor Hart Morris, who departed this life May 29th, 1816, in 70th year of her age. 44. In a vault under the East window of this House of God lie the mortal remains of John Woodward, Esq., who practised as a Solicitor in Cleobury nearly half a century, and departed this life lamented by an afflicted widow and family on March 26th, 1845, aged 75 years. Also in the same vault lie the remains of Catherine, sister of the above, and widow of Rovd. William Hutchinson, lute incumbent of Stoulton and Wick, in the diocese of Wor- cester, who died March 6th, 1847, aged 81. Also in tho same vault lie the remains of Sally, relict of the above named John Woodward, who died Nov. 28th, 1853, aged 79. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Rev. xiv. 13. 45. Near this place lies interred the body of Mr. Edmund Whit- combe, surgeon, and one of the Coroners of this County. He died Jan. 17th, 1782, aged 49. Also of Martha; his wife, she died Nov. 2d, 1798, in her 58th year. NAVE. SOUTH WALL. '1G. To perpetuate the memory of Mr. William Brown, first master of the Erce School in this town, a truly good man, one of the best Mathematicians of his timo, and whoso mode of in- 70 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. struction excelled most of his cotemporaries. This stone is gratefully dedicated by one of his pupils. He died Sep. 11th, 1773, in 58th year of his age, and lies interred near this place. 47. In memory of Charles Holland, attorney at law, who died Dec. 19th, in the year of our Lord 1781, aged 82 years. He practised the law for upwards of GO years with great repu- tation, and what was very uncommon, he was indefatigable in business to the last, notwithstanding his age. In the same grave lies his beloved wife, Ann Holland, who died Dec. 6th, 1782, aged 85 years. This monument was erected to their memory as a monument of filial duty and affection by Elizabeth Bishop. Memento mori says the doleful knell, Few think of death but when they hear the bell. FONT. 48. In honorem Ejus iiecnon in memoriam uxoris amantissimae Matris eximia) hoc sanctum lavacrum. Conjux et liberi superstites mdccclvii. CHANTRY EAST WINDOW. Glass by Clutterbuck, 49. In memory of Edmund Whitcombe, born Feb. 25, a.d. 1769, died April 24th, 1848. Also Maria Whitcombe, his wife, born Nov. 1st, 1780, died Oct. 21st, 1865. CHANCEL NORTH WINDOW. Glass by Clutterbuck. 50. In memory of Anne Toidervy, died May 27, a.d. 1749, aged 89. This window is erected as a token of gratitudo and affec- tion by her adopted daughter Eleanor Lee. CHANCEL SOUTH. Glass by Wil lament. 51. This window is dedicated to God and the church in memory of Mary Ann, the wife of John Lynn, Priest. EAST WINDOW. 52. In . memory . of . William . Langland . Poet . Born . about. 1332 . died . about . 1400 . who . sang . of . Jesus . Christ . in . tho , Allegory . of . Piers . the . Plowman . The painted glass in tliis window has been recently CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 71, given in memory of the most illustrious of the natives of Cleobury Mortimer, the great 14th Century Poet William Langland. The design by Burrowes was exhibited in the R. A. Exhibition, of 1875. The glass by Powell, of White- friars, is one of his most successful works. The upper compartments represent the principal subjects in Langland s poem, taken from the life of our Saviour. The lower contain fine figures of Truth and Falsehood — in the centre the dreaming Poet reclines by the side of a brook, the Malvern Hills in the distance. Langland was the contemporary of Chaucer, and describes the manners and customs of his time in the quaint and graphic language of the 14th century. Bishop Bale writes thus, in the 16th century : " Lang- lande natus in comitatu Salopie in villa Mortimers Clybery in the Clay land, and within viii miles of Malvern Hills Scripsit piers plowman." In the poem he tells us that his father and friends put him to school (possibly with the Augustine Friars at the Wood- house) and made a clerk or scholar of him---that he lived for some time in Cornhill, London, with his wife Kitte and his daughter Calotte, that he visited Bristol, and at Malvern, on a May morning in 1362, when he was about 30 years of age he commenced his great poem " Vision of William concerning Piers the Plow- man." It is a proof of its popularity in its own day that 47 early MSS. copies of it are now known to exist. It has lately been edited for the Early English Text Society by the learned philologist, the Rev. Walter Skeat, and deserves to be better known at least in Shropshire, where many of its quaint expressions and words are still extant — its perusal will amply repay the task of learning to read it. The first printed edition by Robert Crowley appeared 1550 ; he says in his preface " this writer, in reportynge certaine visions and dreames that he fayned himself to have dreamed, doeth most Christianlye instruct the weake and sharply rebuke the obstinate blynde. . . . The 72 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. English is according to the time it was written in, and the sense somewhat darcke, but not so harde but that it may be understande of such as will not sticke to breake the shell of the nutte for the kernelle's sake." THE CHURCH REGISTERS. The first entry in the oldest Register is on Sep. 21, 1601, but the book, which appears to be a copy of the original, is in a most dilapidated condition. The last entry is June, 1637, but several pages are missing, both at the beginning and end. Register 2 is perfect, written on parchment, and dates from 1648 to 1699. 3 bound in vellum, dates from 1700 to 1753. 4 similar to No. 3 to 1812. 5 a folio of Registers of Marriages, 1754 to 1812, paper bound, in rough calf. 6 1813 to 1837, Marriages. 7 1813 to 1847, Baptisms. 8 ) • 9 > m present use. 10) The Parish Registers, those authentic records, which, with their bare facts, tell the short tale alike of high and low, of rich and poor, hand down to us the notable Christian names of Appolonia (Lady Blount), Minerva (the wife of the Vicar), Fortune, Nathanyell, Ales, Maudlin, Gabryell, Syseley, Chrysynna, Abida, Bet- teridg, Hillarie, Adaniah, Laconia, Fabia, Mehetabeth, Brilihana, Scholastina, Hamlet, Priceilla, Milionah. The following names have either the prefix Mr. or gent, attached to them : — Baldwin of the Forge, 1676-1719 Field of Mawley, 1652—1701 Bradshaw, 1667 Gunter, 1678 Bradley, 1696—1743 Cower of Ilea Sido, d. 1690 Colbateh, 1691—1727 Highmast, 1662 Pannott— 1665 Heightmgtou, 1683 Fox, 1628—1730 Hyde of Hopton, 1650 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 73 Hill, 1689 Jordan of Rea Side, 1697 —1704 Jones, 1687 Kettilby of Catherton, 1621 — 1661 Lacon Thos., 1666—1674 Lacon Fran., 1672 Legast Sebastian, 1690 The following are designated " Minister/' nothing to do with the Parish Church. Lanes Maiden, Minister of the Word, 1652. Francis Pigott, Minister, died 1666. Richard Hall, 1677. Edward Boughton, 1695. Also William Lavender, " artist," died 1670, and Sheffill, artist. Needham, of Catherton, 1671 Porter, 1675 Powell, 1670 Powntney, 1697 Read of Mawley, 1659—1736 South, 1695 Walker of Rea Side, 1650—1661 Weston, 1632—1672 Wright, 1613 Humphrey At the end of the Third Book of Registers the following is written, and refers to the Pews of 1G59 : — Pews erected on ye North Side of Cleobury Church, belonging to 1st Pew. The farm of Ditton Mawley Hall Tho Crown The Heath hills Mill Bridge house York's house John Price Wid. Wyer 5th Pew. Mr. Field Tho. Fox Wm. Fox Wid, Oseland for John Farmer's Wid. Penney Edward Grime Tenement 2nd Wid. Oseland Wid. Chotwiu Wid. Steward Wm. Bishop John Prichard The George house Rowley Farme Pew. Hen. Fox Chris. Gwyer Charles Clows Tho. Hart Wm. Haylcy Andrew Cond Fran. Farmer Rich. Gryme 6th Pew. but had 3rd Joan Bateman Geo. Phillips Tho. Piper Rich. Farmer Joseph Monox John Hill James Davis Tho. Nowull Pew. 7th Pew. Geo. Eaton Ceo. Wheeler Mary Hall Baron's Land Geo. Adams Mr. Pcnncll, of Bransley 74 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 4th Pew. 8th Pew, John Batch Rich. Steward Ralph Cooke Char. Boughton The Barke house Tho. Webley John Maybury Wm. Comber Edward Bateman Mr. PcnDcll for oncles Peter Stringer Mr. Pennell for ye Lion Lea Steward Pews erected on ye South side of Cleobury Church, belonging to 1st Pew. 3rd Pew. Mr. Goodwin for ye Stone house Wid. Munnd Wm. James Anne Newall Fran. Hughes Reese Price Tho. Smith Anne Watmore John Oseland for Wm. Newall John Munday Wid. Foxall Wm. Newall, glazier John Farmer Fran. Kinsman 2nd Pew. 4th Pew. John Batch John Edwards Tho. Barker South Wood house John Wellings Morgan Richards Tho. Foxall Castle ditch house Edward Richards Bannet tree house Geo. Taylor Anne Morgrove Roger Comber These, the residences of some of the above-named in the 17th century, are still inhabited. THE REASIDE. A stone manor house, part of which is very ancient, but chiefly of the 17 th century. The interior betokens the former residence of a family of some local note, and contains a handsome wainscoated room, the ceiling of which is ornamented with medallions of animals, which may be crests. On the exterior is a stone carved with the initials I. T. T. E. and a wheel. In 1G50 — 61 Richard Walker, gent., lived there — in 1690, Richard Gower, gent.— in 1697, John Jordan, gent. — in 1720 it was bought by the Meyseys, and now belongs to Mrs. Wicksted. THE LEA. A gabled stone house, a mile to the East of the CLEOBURY MORTIMER. 75 town, was built by three members of the family of Fox ; whose initials are carved on one of the gables HF — MF — AF — AN, 1665 (flanah Fox Mary Fox Ann Fox). Another stone house similar in style is in ths imme- diate vicinity of the town with the date and letters — I I P. W.P. 1675. On a brick house, opposite the Church is still barely visible John foxall in the yeare of our crowna- tion, 1702. On the cover of the 2d Book of Registers is written, " A true coppy of ye Terrier of Cleobury Mortimer, as it was found in ye Office at Hereford, Jan. ye 20, 1697. Unto ye eighty seventh article we present that ye Queens Majesty is our Parson : And our Vicar has no gleib-land, but a house with a close lying within ye towne of Cleobury. The mark of ye churchwardens — Tho. Tiler, mark, John Wyer, mark, The mark of John Tindy, The mark of John Buckler, the mark of Wm Madley. By me John Booton, By me Richard Wyer, The mark of John Wyer. The following are extracts from an old Almanack, I presume the composition of " Francis Pigott, minister," who died at Cleobury Mortimer in 1666 — his wife Margery Pigott, widow, died the same year: — An almanack for the yeare of our Lord God 16 GO calculated for the meridian and latitude of Cleobury Mortimer, a mar- ket town in Shropshire by Manus Pigot, mathematician, in- habitant of the said parish. If any one desire to have tho ruler yard or water level in the first page mentioned, upon intelligence thereof ■ given unto this author, ho may by him be furnished at an casie rate. If any heroic spirit or generous gentleman be desirous to 76 CLEOBURY MORTIMER. beautifie his understanding with the laudable ornaments of mathematical knowledge, he may be instructed if he please by this author who is well experienced in these practises following : — Imprimu, the making of fixed dyals both in mettal and durable colours in divers forms. Item, the making and use of all sorts of portable and in- strumental dyals, viz : quadrants, quadrat ring- dyals, cilinder dyals, and also the making and use of that Baculum hozarium, or staff-dyal, devised some 40 years ago by this author, of excellent use. Item, the use of the globes, spheres in piano, the mathematical jewels, Mr. Gunter's sector, and many other such mathematical instruments, geometry, or land measuring, with the plain table, theodolite, circumferetor, Mr. Hopton's gedeotical staff e and the use of sines, tangents, and secants, and the art of dyalling thereby performed with great certainty and facility. Arithmetic with its parties, which is the ground of all sciences. Non nobis nati sumus — Deo sali laus omnis et gloria tribuetor. The following are his — "Profitable Directions." — Remove trees in September, October, or November, & be sure to set that side of the tree to the south againe, that was at or towards the south before. * Sow seeds of round roots, as onions, turnips, pompions & the like, three or four days before the full of the moon. After the full shear sheep, cut hair, & sow all manner of seed & grain, the moon increasing. Dung land to destroy weeds in the last quarter. Gather the flowers and seeds you intend to keep all the year at the fall; & the like for herbes — Dry them first in the shadow and then in the sun. Gather fruits in a dry afternoon ; put every sort of jam fruit by itsclfe ; let them be gathered in the last quarter of the ycare ; put not the bruised or the fallings among the rest. Fell timber to build from Midsummer till Twclf'etide, the moon decreasing. Good Lord preservo our English Common Wealth And eke in peace safely keep the same : And give us grace to work for our soul's health In glorifying Thy most holy name. 77 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN SHROPSHIRE. By Charles Callaway, M.A., D.Sc. (London), F.G.S., (of Wellington, Salop.) INTRODUCTION. South Shropshire is classical ground to the geolo- gist. Sir. R. Murchison here first made out his Silurian succession, and this division of the county forms the most important portion of " Siluria," a name as well known to the geologist as " Waterloo " is to the soldier. " Longmynd," " Stiper Stones," " Caradoc," " Wen- lock," " Ludlow," all Shropshire localities, have given their names to great formations, and are known where- ever geology is studied. The worker in the Rocky Mountains, or on the plains of Australia, correlates his rock groups with our Shropshire types. During the life of Murchison, the county was mapped by the Geological Survey, then under his direction, and, as might bo expected, most of his views were adopted by his subordinates. But, since the death of this eminent geologist, the science of petrology has rapidly pro- gressed ; and, in the light of our more advanced know- ledge, the Author has detected many grave errors in the work of his predecessors. Some of the results of his investigations have been communicated to the Geological Society of London, and have been published in their Quarterly Journal, but others are entirely new. The object of the present paper is to give a less detailed account of the general results at which the Author has at present arrived. 78 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS A. TREMADOC ROCKS. No rocks of this age had been previously detected in the county, but, a few years ago, the Author discovered a group of new fossils in supposed Cara doc shales on the banks of the brook below Shineton, which suggested to him a much greater antiquity for the beds. Subsequent investigation proved that these shales were the equivalents of the Dietyonema beds of the White-leaved Oak Valley, Malvern ; and that they occupied a considerable tract in the vicinity of the Wrekin. (a). Separation from similar Caradoc shales. Mr. Salter noticed at Harnage and on Cound Brook certain shales containing Trinucleus concen- tricus, Beyrichia complicata, Diplograpsus pristis, Orthis testudinaria, and other Cambro- Silurian fossils ; and as these shales are very similar in lithological characters to the shales at Shineton, and have the same general strike, both shales were lumped toge- ther by him as Lower Caradoc. After extensive collections of fossils from all parts of the area under consideration, the Author arrived at the conclusion that in no case were the Shineton and Harnage fauna? intermixed. He also observed that there was a distinct lithological difference be- tween the two shales, the Shineton shales being more fissile, the Harnage shales more conchoidal, in their frac- ture. He was greatly puzzled, however, at noticing that, in the Cound-Brook and Harnage area, the shales with a Cambro -Silurian fauna were overlain by utterly unconformable Caradoc sandstone, the unconformability in some cases approaching a right angle. At the same time the shales with the older fauna dipped with apparent conformability under Caradoc sandstone. At last he made out, between Harnage Grange and Little Broomcroft, the true succession ; by which it was seen that the Harnage shales overlaid the lowest beds of the Caradoc sandstone, called the Hoar Edge IN SHROPSHIRE. 79 grits, which, in their turn, overlaid the Shineton shales. The two shales are thus seen to lie at a different horizon. The extraordinary relations of the Caradoc sub-formations on Cound Brook are caused by great disturbance, and are not here discussed. (b) . Area. — The Shineton shales cover an area extending from near Evenwood, on the south-west, to within a mile of Wellington, on the north-east, a distance of eight miles. Their greatest breadth, from Shineton to Dryton, is about two miles ; but where they range towards Wellington the out-crop is contracted almost to a point. The area is roughly triangular in shape, the apex of the triangle pointing to the north- east. Its north-west side is bounded by a fault or faults for probably its entire length, various formations from the Hollybush Sandstone to the Trias abut- ting against the shales. On the south-east side, the triangle is covered in by intrusive basaltic rocks for one-third of its distance from the apex, and the remainder by the May-Hill Sandstone. The base of the triangular area is limited by the Hoar-Edge Grits. The shales are also seen in the valleys S.E. of Caer Caradoc and the Lawley, and in the valley between the Longmynd and the Stiper Stones. (c) . Dip and Strike. — The general strike of the shales is about south-west, agreeing with the direc- tion of the great fault and of the volcanic axis of the district; but towards the south-west end of the area it bends round to the west, corresponding with the strike of the overlying Caradoc. The mean dip of the greater part of the shales is about 30° to the south-east ; but in the lower part of the series, where they approach the faidt, it becomes higher, then vertical, then dips steeply to the north-west, the evi- dence pointing towards the existence of an anticlinal. To the south-west, where the beds incline to the south below the Caradoc, the dips are below 30°. averaging 15° to 20°. (d) . Slratiytaphiccd Position. — The Shineton Shales » 80 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS underlie the May-Hill Sandstone unconformable ; they are, therefore, older than that formation by an interval. They underlie the Caradoc, and are, of course, of greater antiquity. There is no formation which they clearly overlie ; they may, therefore, be of any age anterior to the Caradoc. The Author will endeavour to show that they are of Tremadoc age. a. Evidence from fossils. — Most of the Shineton forms are new specifically, and several new generically. The species which are of geological value are the follow- ing :— Conocoryphe monile, Salter. Olenus Salteri, Callaway, and O. triarthrus, Call. Agnostus dux, Call. Lingulella Nicholsoni, Call. Obolella sabrince, Call. The above fauna has a very ancient facies, and, taken by itself, would suggest an age anterior to the Tre- madoc. Asaphus (Asaphellus) Homfrayi, Salt. An Asaphid with unforked labrum, common in the Upper Tremadoc of Portmadoc, and the only form in the Shineton Shales (except perhaps a hydrozoan or two) which is not new to science. Asaphus (Platypeltis) Croftii, Call. An Asaphoid form with entire labrum, but of a dif- ferent type from A. Homfrayi. The typical Asaphids are Cambro-Silurian ; but the entire labra connect these two species with the older forms of the family, such as Niobe. The majority 1 of the above species have an older facies than the Tremadoc ; but the abundant occurrence of an Upper Tremadoc form and of another Asaphid points in an opposite direction, and it is submitted that the facts of the case, so far as the fossils are concerned, will be best satisfied by referring the beds to the age of the Lower Tremadoc. b. Evidence from Correlation with rocks in otlier localities. IN SHROPSHIRE. 81 Dictyonema-beds at Pedwardine. — About twenty -five miles to the south-west of Shineton there is a small exposure of shales at Pedwardine, near Brampton Bryan. They occur in the same line of strike as the Shineton Shales, and are close to the same great south-west fault on the same (the south-east) side. They dip at a high angle (about 45°) to the west or west-south-west, and are overlain by nearly horizontal May- Hill Sandstone, the relation of the two formations being similar to their relation at Shineton. In lithological character, the Pedwardine beds are undistinguishable from the Shineton Shales ; and they contain in abundance a common Shineton fossil, Lingidella Nicholsoni. It can scarcely be doubted that the two shales are identical. Upper Cambrian of Malvern. — The succession of Cambrian rocks near White-leaved Oak, south of Mal- vern, in descending order, is as follows : — 1. Light-coloured shales with Dictyonema sociale, Salt. 2. Black shales with numerous Olenids. 3. Hollybush Sandstone. The uppermost group, the Dictyonema-shsles, has been generally considered the equivalent of the shales at Pedwardine, since it is lithologically identical, and contains abundance of the same Dictyonema. The Author has examined certain specimens from these shales which are in the museum at Malvern College, and in Dr. Grindrod's collection ; and he had the satisfaction of identifying them as Piatypeltis Croft ii and Conophrys salopiensis, two Trilobites characteristic of the Shineton Shales. These shales are also lithologically identical with those of Shineton, and hold the same relation to the overlying May-Hill Sandstone. They hold a similar relation to the Hollybush Sandstone. This sandstone occurs below the Dictyoncma-sliales at Mal- vern with the interposition of the black Olenus- shales. The juxtaposition of this sandstone to the shales at Shineton and at Malvern is a strong corroboration of the evidence adduced for the identity of the two shales. VOL. II. G 82 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS A comparison of the three formations at Shineton, Pedwardine, and Malvern is very interesting. The Shineton beds are connected with the Pedwardine shales by lithological resemblance, stratigraphical position, and the occurrence of Lingidella Nicholsoni. The Pedwar- dine rocks are correlated with the Malvern Dictyonema- shales by lithological resemblance, stratigraphical posi- tion, and the link of Dictyonema sociale. The Shineton Shales are directly connected with the Malvern beds by lithological resemblance, stratigraphical position, and the occurrence of two species of Trilobites in common ; and indi reedy through their correlation with the Ped- wardine Shales. It may fairly be concluded that the Dictyonema beds at Pedwardine and Malvern are repre- sentatives of the Shineton Shales. The occurrence of Dictyonema sociale in the Shineton Shales at Pedwardine and Malvern furnishes another link in the chain of palseontological evidence. This species is common at the base of the Lower Tremadoc of North Wales, and helps to connect that formation with the Shineton Shales. B. THE HOLLYBUSH SANDSTONE. Forming a continuous band between the Shineton Shales and the quartzite which rests upon the Wrekin, is a series of thin-bedded, micaceous, green sandstones, holding the same geographical relation to the Shineton Shales as the Hollybush Sandstone of Malvern holds to the black Olenus-shales. The identification of this rock with the Hollybush Sandstone is placed beyond doubt by the further evidence of Kutorgina cingidata} Bill., which occurs in abundance and in good preserva- tion at Neves Castle, at the south-west end of the Wrekin, and has also been detected by the Author near Lawrence Hill, one of the lower elevations of the Wrekin range, where the sandstone has been excavated for the purpose of erecting an ancient tumulus. The IN SHROPSHIRE. 83 sandstone covers an area three and a half miles in length by half a mile in its greatest breadth, its length running parallel to the axis of the Wrekin. The dips are very various. At the north-east end of the area, several exposures give a dip averaging 50° to the west-south-west. Near the road ascending from the Wrekin to the Hatch Kiln the dip is 75° to the north- west. One third of a mile to the south-west of this locality, the sandstones dip south-30°-east at an angle of 55°, apparently resting conformably upon the quart- zite which immediately underlies them. In a quarry 250 yards from this, the dip is west-30°-south, at 35°. At the south-west end of the sandstone area, near Neves Castle, are two exposures, one on the north of the road, dipping south-south-east at 50°, and one to the south of the road, with a dip of 50° to the south- 5°- west. This last locality is the quarry in which Kutorgina cingulata plentifully occurs. The same dip as the last is seen in a quarry to the south of the road from Neves Castle to Long Wood. The sandstone and the shales are found in almost imme- diate contact in Back Dingle, to the south-west of Neves Castle ; and, south of the road from Neves Castle to Bank's Lane, a stream-section shows the Shineton Shales plunging at an angle of 65° towards the sandstone. The irregularity of the dips just described shows also a want of conformity between the sandstone and the quartzites, which dip regularly away from the Wrekin to the south-east. It is inferred that the Hollybush Sandstone in this locality is bounded by faults on both sides. This sandstone is also found at Lilleshall, five miles to the north-east of the Wrekin, where it constitutes an inlier a mile long by £ mile wide. It is micaceous, thinly laminated, and of a blackish green colour. It is well exposed in the road through the village, dipping evenly to east-30°-south at 30". On the south-east it is bounded by the Carboniferous Lime- stone and the Millstone Grit, on the north-west by 84 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS a fault which divides it from rocks similar to those of the Wrekin. The quartzite, which in the Wrekin district intervenes between the sandstone and the volcanic rocks of the axis, is here absent. The Hollybush Sandstone is also very clearly exposed on the S. E. flank of Little Caradoc, the north-easterly prolongation of Caer Caradoc, dipping south-easterly at 75° ; but towards the north-east end of the hill, the sandstone shows a tendency to lap round it, and dips to a little north of east. A short distance to the south-west higher beds of the series dip east-south- east at 35°. The Hollybush in places is highly quart- zose, with grains of green earth and decomposed felspar, and is almost undistinguishable from certain parts of the basement beds of the Caradoc which appear against the same side of the axis a mile to the south-west. This similarity doubtless helped to mislead the earlier surveyors, and is paralleled by the equally confusing resemblance between the Shine- ton and Harnage Shales, pointed out in a previous page. In a quarry at the north-eastern extremity of the hill is exposed an admirable section of the sandstone, and one band, about the centre of the section, deserves special attention. It is less than one foot in thickness, and is a dark-coloured compact limestone. Associated with it is a little red shale, and near the surface of the bed the limestone assumes the same colour. This band is very fossiliferous, the most abundant form being apparently trilobitic ; but it occurs in such a fragmentary condition, and is of such an unusual type, that the Author cannot express any opinion on its generic affinities. Brachiopoda are not uncommon : two or three species are undeterminable, save that they belong to the Tretenterata. One form, a minute roundish Lingulid, is apparently new. What is of more importance for our purpose is that the bed contains two well-known Malvern species, Kutor- gina cingidata, Bill., and Serpulltes fistula, Holl, both of which are found in the same formation on the IN SHROPSHIRE. 85 flanks of the Wrekin. The Hollybush Sandstone is thus shown to overlie the quartz-rock, as in the Wrekin district. It is about 300 or 400 feet in thickness, and extends to the south-west for some distance ; but it has not been traced quite so far as the quartzite. Indeed the exact limits of both for- mations are not ascertained, the exposures towards the south-west being very few and slight. C. THE QUARTZITES. On the flanks of the Wrekin and elsewhere is a series of quartz rock, regarded by Sir R. Murchison and the Survey to be altered Caradoc sandstone. The Author contends that it is of much greater antiquity. CI. WREKIN — CHURCH-STRETTON AREA. 1. General Description. a. Wrekin subarea. — This district contains by far the largest horizontal development of the quartzites. They are finely exposed on the south-east side of the Wrekin range from its north-eastern extremity, half a mile south of Wellington, to its south-west end, a length of about three miles. The range is composed of three elovations, separated by two narrow gorges. The soutl i- westerly, and by far the largest, mass is the Wrekin proper, and is 1|: mile in length. The north- easterly hill, called the Ercal, is of less height than the Wrekin, and of about half the length. The central hump, Lawrence Hill, is still lower, and occupies about a quarter of a mile of the length of the range. The quartzites rest against the volcanic axis in a nearly continuous band, striking to the south-west, parallel to the axis, broken by the above-named ravines, and apparently disappearing towards the summit of the chain. They re-appear, however, towards the south- west end, and lap round the south-westerly spur of 8G RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS the mountain. The Author has taken numerous dips on the flanks of the Ercal, Lawrence Hill, and the Wrekin, and finds that the direction of dip is on the average a little to the east of south-east, and its amount about 45°, ranging between 30° and 55°. Other exposures on the flanks of the range are scanty. Judging by the shape of the ground and soil indi- cations, the quartzite is probably continuous all round the Wrekin range, with the possible exception of two points under the summit, one on each side. The thickness of the quartzite, measured at the north-east end of the Ercal, and at Lawrence Hill, is about 200 feet. Lying to the west of the Wrekin, and connected with the quartz- rocks just described by a narrow isthmus, is an irregular area of quartzite, 3 miles in length from north-east to south-west, and 1^ mile in its greatest breadth. Through these strata are thrust up four bosses of bedded volcanic rock, the largest of which is Charlton Hill, with two small masses imme- diately to the south, and a larger exposure a mile to the south-west. The dips of these quartzites are very varied. In the road one-third of a mile south of the spot marked ' ' Charlton Mill" on the Ordnance map, they are displayed in a good section dipping south- easterly at 60°, and resting immediately upon igneous rocks. Two or three hundred yards to the north-east is quartz rock resting on porphyry of the Charlton- Hill boss, and dipping to the south at 45°. One third of a mile to the south of this last spot is another expo- , sure of quartzite, dipping away to the south from the more southerly of the two small volcanic masses. A mile to the east-north- east of Charlton-Hill, at the village of Rushton, quartz-rock strikes north and south at a high dip ; and a little to the north-west of Rushton the dip is westerly. One third of a mile east of liushton, in the quarry marked with an arrow on the map of the Geological Survey, the quartzite dips to the south at 30°. These dips are too irregular to be IN SHROPSHIRE. 87 referred to any one upheaving force. Wherever the quartz -rock occurs in close proximity to igneous rocks, it dips away from them ; and it seems not improbable that other dips at a distance from exposed volcanic masses may be caused by local upheavals of volcanic rock which do not appear at the surface. b. Caer-Camdoc subarea. — The quartz-rock re- appears eight miles to the south-west of the last area, on the south-easterly flank of Caer Caradoc, near Church Stretton, an igneous hill of similar character to some of the Wrekin rocks, and evidently belonging to the same series. It is also less distinctly exposed at the south-west end of the south-east side of the Lawley, a volcanic hill north-east of Caradoc, and separated from it by a gap about a quarter of a mile in width. If the quartzite is continuous under the superficial deposits which lie in the gap, the band will be over a mile in length. At Caer Caradoc it is about 100 feet in thickness, and dips easterly at a high angle. c. Cardington subarea. — A little over a mile from Caer Caradoc to the south-east is an abrupt ridge of quartzite called the Sharp Stones, dipping to the north at from 40° to 50°, and striking east and west for about half a mile. It rests upon the bedded volcanic rocks of Cardington Hill, and is evidently tilted up by the elevation of that mass. Succeeding it to the north is Caradoc Sandstone, with its usual south-west strike, apparently unaffected by the upthrust of the older rocks, and evidently separated from the quartzite by a fault. 2. Relations of the Quartzite to the Associated Rocks. Along the south-eastern flanks of the Wrekin range, the quartz-rock rests upon the bedded tuffs and felstones of the volcanic nucleus unconformably, the igneous rocks dipping north, while the quartzite dips south-east. Towards its base the quartz-rock contains fragments derived from the older series, con- 88 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS sisting of small rounded or unrounded pieces of fel- stone greatly decomposed, but in some cases showing distinctly the banded structure characteristic of some of the Wrekin felstones. At its base the quartzite is brecciated, both the fragments and their cement being quartzose, with the occasional occurrence of barium sulphate. This breccia can be traced along the line of junction through the Ercal, Lawrence Hill, and some distance along the south-eastern flank of the Wrekin. There are also signs of brecciation on the opposite side of the range, near the ravine between the Ercal and Lawrence Hill. This breccia may be a friction breccia, caused by the upthrust of the rigid mass of volcanic rock which forms the backbone of the range ; and the fact that the breccia is not derived from the rock upon which it rests favours this con- clusion. There is thus reason to conclude that the plane of junction between the younger and older series is a fault. As the quartzites are limited by faults on the underside, so it is concluded that in most cases, probably in all, they are separated by faults from the strata which overlie. Details can be studied in the Author's papers in the Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. v. xxxiii. p. 662, and v. xxxiv. p. 760. 3. The Age of the Quartzites. The quartzite is certainly older than the Holly- bush Sandstone, for, in every observed case, the sand- stone rests upon the quartz-rock, or is at least out- side of it with regard to the axis of elevation. This is well seen in the Wrekin subarea, and still more distinctly on the south-east flank of Caer Caradoc. But the age of the Hollybush Sandstone must first be determined. It is commonly placed upon the hori- zon of the Ffestiniog group, on the ground that it underlies the Black Olenus Shales of Malvern^ which IN SHROPSHIRE. 89 are with great probability correlated with the Dolgelley series. But the relations of the Hollybush and Black Shales are very obscure, and it has not been shown that they succeed each other conformably. The late Mr. Belt considered the Hollybush to be a shore deposit of the Menevian sea ; but the former deter- mination is accepted till decisive evidence is forth- coming. The quartzite, then, is older than the Ffestiniog period. But the Hollybush and the quart- zite do not succeed each other conformably. In the Wrekin area the dips are so discordant as to suggest a considerable gap. The quartzite, in most cases, dips away from volcanic bosses, and the direction of dip is determined by these local upheavals. But the dips of the Hollybush are subject to no such law. Their general direction on the south-east of the Wrekin, where the quartzite dips south-easterly, is to the south-west ; but in one place they appear to conform to the dip of the quartzite, and at a little distance they plunge at a high angle to the north-west (that is, towards the quartzite). South of Charlton Hill, also, the sandstone dips towards the quartzite. The apparent conformability of the two formations at Caer Caradoc cannot counteract such clear evidence of dis- cordance. Parallelism of strike does not prove con- formity, since a strike fault might let down the upper of the formations without producing any alteration in the dip or strike. It is clear, therefore, that the quartzite is older than the Hollybush Sandstone by a gap, and, consequently, cannot belong to any part of the Upper Cambrian series. Three hypotheses now remain. The quartzite may be on the horizon of the top of the Lower Cambrian ; | or it may belong to the Lower Cambrian, or it may be j Precambrian. a. The top of the Lower Cambrian (Longmynd series). — The Lower Cambrian of Shropshire, as is well known, is a great series consisting of fine-grained 90 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS slates or hardened shales in the lower part, and of sandstones and conglomerates above. For reasons which cannot here be detailed, the Author believes that neither the base nor the top of the succession is seen, being cut out by faults. Does the quartzite represent a lost capping of the Longmynd rocks ? The great discordance between the quartz-rock and the Holly bush Sandstone appears decisively to nega- tive this supposition. b. The Longmynd Series. — No band of quartzite has been observed in this series from top to bottom. If the quartz-rock represents any part of the Longmynd succession, where are the beds which on this sup- position should intervene between the quartzite and the Precambrian volcanic series ? Or is the quartzite a basement of the Longmynd rocks ? If so, there should surely be some concordance of dip and strike. But the Longmynd strata in their lower part almost uniformly dip at very high angles to the west-north- west, whereas the quartzite, as previously shown, dips away from volcanic bosses at the most varied dips and strikes. c. Precambrian. — On the rejection of hypotheses a and b, the balance of probability is decidedly in favour of this supposition. 4. The Fauna of the Quartzite. For years the Author searched for fossils in vain ; but recently he has detected on the south-east flank of the Wrekin, near the cottage, one good specimen of a worm-burrow, apparently Arenicolites, and portions of one or two more. The burrow is a simple loop, re- sembling a letter U, 2 inches in length by 1 inch in breadth. He has proposed for it the name Areni- colites uricorriends. If his view of tho age of the quartzite is correct, this specimen is, with the excep- tion of tho problematical Eozoon, the oldest known fossil. IN SHROPSHIRE. 91 b. THE QUARTZITE OF THE STIPER STONES, rmd The physical characters of this rock have been so well described by Murchison (' Siluria/ cap. hi), that it will be unnecessary to make additional observations. The Author has but to add a suggestion on its geo- logical age. By the author of ' Siluria/ it is placed on the horizon of the Lingula Flags, on the ground that it is below the Llandeilo, and contains worm- burrows and fragments of a Lingulid, which, it is candidly stated, does not resemble Lingulella Davisii. Geologists of the present day will hardly be disposed to accept such evidence as conclusive. The shales overlying the quartz -rock contain lllcenus perovalis, Calymcne parvifrons, /Eglina, Placoparia, and other Arenig forms. There can, therefore, be little doubt that the quartzite is of Arenig age, and, consequently, quite distinct from the quartzite of the Wrekin area. The recent discovery by the Author of the Shineton Shales below the Stiper Stones quartzite demonstrates the same conclusion. The two rocks can generally be distinguished from each other even in hand speci- mens ; and, when they are conglomeratic, the pebbles of the Arenig quartzite mainly consist of quartz, while the included fragments of the Wrekin quartz-rock are felsitic. D. THE GREAT PRECAMBRIAN VOLCANIC SERIES. Sir R. Murchison described the hills of the Wrekin and Caer Caradoc chain as consisting of volcanic out- bursts altering into quartzite the supposed Caradoc sand- stones on their flanks. That the volcanic rocks could not have exercised a metamorphosing power will be fully evident when it is proved, as the author proposes to prove in this paper, that they consist, not of igneous outbursts of age posterior to the strata on their sides, but of bedded ashes and lavas which were ejected from Precambrian volcanoes. 92 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS a. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SHROPSHIRE VOLCANIC CHAIN. This chain runs through the centre of the county in a N. E. and S. W. direction, its length in Shropshire being about twenty-five miles. (1) . The Wrekin Range. — Lilleshall Hill is at the north-easterly end of the entire chain. It is about one mile in length, and extends from N. N. E. to S. S. W. Five miles to the S. W., we come to the principal mass of the range, which is three miles in length, and con- sists of four distinct elevations, named (taking them in order from N. E. to S. W.) the Ercal, Lawrence Hill, the Wrekin, and Primrose Hill. These hills are separated from each other by deep ravines, except in the case of the Wrekin and Primrose Hill, which are divided by an elevated pass ; but they form one continuous range. Running parallel to the Wrekin on the N. W. is another mass of Precambrian rock forming the elevated ground on which the villages of Wrockwardine and Admaston are situated, but not rising to the dignity of a hill, with two or three small outliers to the S. W., the most conspicuous of which is Charlton Hill. (2) . The Caradoe Range. — This commences about seven miles to the S. W. of the Wrekin chain, and is over six miles in length. It is on the same S. W. line of faulting as the former, and undoubtedly belongs to the same system. Its chief elevations, taking them from N. E. to S. W., are the Lawley, Caer Caradoe, Helmeth Hill, Hazier Hill, and Eagleth Hill. Project- ing from the S. E. flank of Hazier Hill, and running out like a massive promontory to the east, is the out- lying ridge of the Hope Bowdler and Cardington Hills. (3) . The Horderley Group. — This consists of two small elevations five miles S. W. of Pagleth Hill. The north-easterly mass forms a rounded dome in a field east of Carwood. Immediately to the S. W. is tiie more elevated cone of Wartle Knowl. Neither of these hills is of important dimensions, but they are sufficient to prove the extension of the Precambrian rocks so far to theS. W. IN SHROPSHIRE. 93 The Kills west of Kington in Herefordshire probably belong to the same system. b. LITHOLOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS OF THE SERIES. Lilleshall Hill is coloured on the maps of the Geo- logical Survey as altered Caradoc with a boss of green- stone in the centre. It really consists of one unbroken series of bedded tuffs and felstones (ancient lavas), with a distinct dip a little to the west of north, and conse- quently striking across the hill at an angle oblique to its axis. The tuffs are greatly altered, but, in some cases, not so much consolidated as in the Wrekin area. In the large quarry, for example, at the S. W. of the hill, at the N. end of the quarry, an ash (or tuff) which can be scratched with the nail immediately underlies a hard compact felstone. Alternations of tuffs and lavas are also well seen in a long section at the N. E. end of the hill. Triassic sandstones are faulted down against Lilleshall Hill on its N. W. side, and the Hollybush sand- stone occurs with a faulted junction along its S.E. base. The Wrekin Chain is coloured by the surveyors as a linear mass of eruptive greenstone. Its true com- position is similar to Lilleshall Hill. The Ercal mainly consists of pink felstone, which is largely exposed in the N. W. face of the hill. Lawrence Hill partly consists of felstones, but at the S. W. end, where the rock is exposed in a large quarry, there is a magni- ficent section through bedded felspathic tuff, clearly dipping at a high angle to the north, and cut through by two basaltic dykes. The fragmental nature of the ash and the alternations of coarser and finer beds can be most satisfactorily studied in this quarry, and it was here that the Author first became convinced that the rock was bedded, and was therefore of greater anti- quity than the Cambrian strata which it underlies. The Wrekin is made up of a succession of tuffs, volcanic breccias, and felstones. Above the cottage is a boss of intrusive dolerite, which is probably the source of the dykes in Lawrence Hill. Primrose Hill consists of I 94 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS a reddish felstone, which sometimes approaches in its composition to granite. Throughout this chain the usual dip is to the N., or a little to the W. of N. ; but in the large quarry in the Ercal the dip is appa- rently to the S. In the Wrockwardine mass pink and green felstones predominate, with perlites and pitchstones. Near Burcot, is a tuff, containing large fragments, which is so hardened and consolidated as to ring under the hammer like a clink -stone. In Charlton Hill is a band of conglomerate with the usual E. and W. strike. It is composed of pebbles of quartz, felstone, mica-schist, gneiss, and granite, cemented in an ashy matrix. It is clearly a sub -aqueous tuff. These Precambrian tuffs represent the showers of ashes which are ejected from modern volcanoes, and they are perfectly similar in mineral and chemical composition. During the lapse of ages they have been converted into rock as compact as felstone, and, indeed, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between them, though originally they were as dissimilar as the light ash which is wafted by air currents and the molten mass which forces its way up through the rending crust of the earth. The microscopic character of the pitchstones and perlites of this dis- trict has been admirably described by Mr. S. Allport, F.G.S., in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. xxxiii. p. 440. His conclusion, that these (so-called) Silurian volcanic rocks are miner- alogically undistinguishable from their recent repre- sentatives, derives additional interest from the Author's determination of their Precambrian age. The Oaer Caradoc chain, considered by the Geo- logical Survey to be composed of altered Caradoc strata and disruptive greenstone, is on the whole of similar structure and composition to the Wrekin masses. The Lawley consists of ash beds at the N. E. end, and greenstones in the centre. Caer Cara- doc is built up of bedded ashes and lavas, with some IN SHROPSHIRE. 95 shale and quartz rock on the S. W. flank, broken through by several intrusions of greenstone. Its N. E. spur (Little Caradoc) is a mass of true sienite. Hehneth, Hazier, and Ragleth Hills do not materially differ from Caer Caradoc in structure. The Hope Bowdler and Car- dington promontory deserves fuller mention. The beds of feist one and tuff of which it consists dip at a high angle to the N., following the general rule of the Shropshire Precambrian series ; but in this case the ridge also strikes E. and W. This is the only instance in which parallelism of geographical and geological strikes, so frequent in bedded formations, has been observed in the series. The Camvood boss and the conical hill of Wartle Knowl are composed of felstone and breccia. On the Survey Map the former is coloured as Caradoc sand- stone, and the latter as Lower Cambrian. C. EVIDENCE FOR THE PRECAMBRIAN AGE OF THE SERIES. (1) Stratigraphical Evidence. The strike of the beds is uniformly E. and W., varying a few points of the compass to either the N.W. or the N. E., but more frequently to the N. E. Local deviations are sometimes caused by masses of disruptive greenstone, though the general rule is clear and unmistakable. But the strike of the Cambrian and Silurian strata of the district is N. N. E. This discordance is more fully appreciated when we examine the relations of the volcanic system with the strata which rest upon its flanks. The Tremadoc shales, the Hollybush sandstone, and the still more ancient quartzites, agree in strike with the trend of the chain, while the beds of ash and felstone strike right across the axis. In the quarry at Lawrence Hill, for example, the tuffs dip to the north by a few degrees W., while the overlying quartzites, exposed about a hundred yards further along the road, dip a little to the E. of S. E. A greater discordance could hardly 96 RECENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN SHROPSHIRE. be imagined. The quartzite is overlaid by Hollybush sandstone, and the sandstone by the Shineton shales. The same succession is seen on the S. E. flanks of Caer Caradoc and the Lawley. The shales are of Upper Cambrian age. The sandstone is, of course, older, and may be Lower Cambrian. The quartzites are of still greater antiquity, and are probably Precambrian. Even if they are left out of the question, the great discordance between the volcanic series and undoubted Upper Cambrian rocks clearly establishes the Pre- Cambrian age of the former. On the N. W. side of Caer Caradoc, Lower Cambrian slates of the Longmynd group are faulted down against the rocks of the volcanic axis, the slates dipping W. N. W., the volcanic beds with an average northerly dip. It can scarcely be doubted (though the full proof cannot be given here) that the elevation of the Longmynd beds is due to the upthrust of a wedge of preexisting rock, which must consequently be of Precambrian age. Wherever the rocks of the volcanic series come into relation with the lower Palaeozoic strata which flank them on each side, the discordance above indicated is clearly shown. (2.) Evidence from included fragments. In the centre of the Lower Cambrian rocks of Haughmond Hill is a thick bed of conglomerate (coloured " greenstone " on the Survey Map), commenc- ing a little E. of the castle, and running for a mile to the N.N.E. It is composed of pebbles in a matrix of volcanic dust, and shades off on both sides into ordi- nary Cambrian sandstone. The pebbles are chiefly of a purple felstone, closely resembling some of the fei- st ones of the , Wrekin chain, and it is highly probable that the conglomerate is derived from some of the Wrekin rocks, and is therefore of posterior age. A few of the principal facts with reference to these recent discoveries are here given, fuller details being reserved for a future communication. 97 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? Loyal Oswestrians, as in duty bound, have never had any difficulty in answering this question ; and they will tell you that they have their Oswald's Well, and their Cae Nef; that they once had a tree in the locality, whereon says tradition, one of the royal limbs hung ; and that, in Saxon times, the district was called Maserfleld, the place where the battle between Penda, King of Mercia, and Oswald, King of North- umberland was fought. Although this is the firm faith of Oswestrians, there are doubters of the truth of the story ; who say Win- wick in Lancashire has also its Oswalds Well, and other records of St. Oswald, and that Winwick can prove its ancient name to have been Maserfelth, whereas Camden is the earliest authority for the statement that such a name was ever applied to the district con- taming the town of Oswestry. As far back as 1842 a paper was read by Mr. Littler of Pendleton, since deceased, before the members of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, entitled " On the Locality of Mackerfield, the place stated by Bede and the Saxon Chronicle to have been the scene of the battle between Oswald and Penda ; being a contribution to the Anglo- Saxon History and Antiquities of (what now forms) the County of Lancaster." In 1875 this paper was pub- lished in the Manchester Courier, and it was afterwards reprinted in Local Gleanings,1 a Lancashire publication. In the Oswestry Advertizer of June 19, 1872, Mr. Howel W. Lloyd wrote an interesting paper in favour of 1 Local Gleanings relating to Lancashire and Cheshire; edited by J. P. Earwaker, M.A., F.S.A., Vol. L, 1876. VOL. II. H 98 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? Oswestry as the site of Oswald's death, in which he quoted from Nennius, an authority of whom Mr. Littler took no note. And on May 17, 1873, Mr. Oswald Cockayne, in Notes and Queries} wrote a paper to show that Winwick was a more likely site than Oswestry, in which he gave extracts from iElfric's Life of Oswald. Mr. Howel Lloyd, on this, failing to find such a book, wrote to the editor of " N. & Q." to ask where he could get access to it, and in reply got a note from the editor announcing the sudden and lamented death of Mr. Cockayne. The object of the present paper is to string together, from various scattered sources, the chief points in the articles referred to, in the hope that such papers may be interesting to the members of the Shropshire Archaeological Society, and of use to future historians. A. K. Croeswylan, Oswestry. Oswald was the son of Adelfrid, Saxon King of Northumbria, and came into existence a.d. 604. His father being slain in battle, he, while yet an infant, was carried into Scotland, where he was instructed in the tenets of the* Catholic faith. Here he resided for a period of seventeen years, when the death of the monarch who had usurped the throne of his • fathers opened the way for his ascent to it. . . . From his royal seat he looked on the Pagan worship of his British and Mercian neighbours, and his soul was fired with zeal for the honour, and indignation at the rejection, of the pious dogmas which he so firmly believed. He accordingly straightway advanced with sword and spear to demolish the altars of heathen- dom. As was to be expected, his progress was resisted by the combined forces of Cadwalla, King of 1 Mr. Lloyd's and Mr. Cockayne's papers were reproduced in Bye-ffonei (Oswestry) in 1873. WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 99 the Britons, and Penda, King of Mercia. If we be- lieve monkish historians, the saintly piety of Oswald foretold the issue of the contest ere it was entered upon. He erected a cross, at which he and his army worshipped, " and accordingly advancing towards the enemy with the first dawn of day, he obtained the victory as his faith deserved." The impious com- mander of the Britons was slain. His ally, Penda, fled ; was pursued by Oswald, and, on the 6th of August, 642, the contending armies were seen by our Oswestrian ancestors, drawn out in line of battle, on the field which ever since this memorable day has been known by the name of Maes-y-llan. There can be no doubt that Oswald here resorted to the same expedient to secure the success of his arms to which he ascribed the triumph he had just achieved, and in his adoration of a cross gave to our town in the Welsh tongue the new but still familiar name of Croesoswallt. We may suppose the scene of contest to have been within the limits of the triangle of which the site of our Old Church, Oswalds Well, and Maes- y-llan, form the several points. It was then open and waste, presenting every facility alike for action and for flight. . . . But all the saintly precautions of Oswald availed not for his success. His army was defeated, he himself was slain, his body quartered, and its dissevered members hung on elevated points in different parts of the field1 as an object of ridicule and contempt to the excited conquerors. The place of his "martyrdom" was called Hefen-felth (heaven field) and to this day, we believe, is known by the Welsh translation of Cae Nef.2 So much for the popular belief of Oswestrians, which 1 " There was an old oake lately standing in Mesburie, within the parish of Oswcstrie, wherein one of King Oswald's arms hung, say the neighbours, by tradition."— Dames s MS., 1035, (Harl : MSS. Brit. Mus. 1931.) 2 "There is an old survey of Oswestry (whieh 1 know to be authentic) in which appears a • Cae Nef ' (spelt 1 Cae Nc ') and curiously enough this Held adjoins the present Macs-y-llan." (Contributed to Byc-goncs July 3, 1872, by the late Mr, R. J. Croxon.) 100 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? is here very fairly expressed from some sketches on the history of Oswestry, which appeared in a local magazine called Oswald's Well, published by the late Mr. S. Roberts in 1847-8. We now propose to give the substance of the discussions as promised. The first in order is the one by Mr. Howel Lloyd,1 which was written in June, 1872. He says: — Pennant (Tours, vol. L, p. 333, Ed. 1810) quotes the Saxon Chronicle, c. 31, for the statement that S. Oswald was killed, Aug. 5, 642, at Oswestry, then called Maserfield, which he derives from Maes Hir, the Welsh for Longfield. Then he quotes some lines from the Chronicler, Henry of Huntingdon — " Campus Mesafield sanctorum canduit ossa" (the plain of Mesafield whitened the bones of saints, &c), and proceeds to say that " in after-days the name became entirely Saxon : and from the fate of the king was styled Oswald's Tree, now Oswestry, and by the Welsn rendered Croes Oswallt. Before this event, and for a long time after, this tract was the property of the Britons, till it was conquered by Olfa, and brought within the verge of his famous ditch." He also tells us that " near the town is a field called Cae-nef, or Heaven-field (also 1 The paper was not written for the purpose of controversy, but is part of a larger article on " Croes wylan," which was suggested by a private cor- respondence in which the letters on one side bore this name at the head of them, and also in reply to a speculation as to the spelling and meaning of the word as follows : — " My impression is that the old stone, which is known by the name of Croeswylan, and, as some interpret it, the 'weeping cross,' was originally the base, or socket, of the ' Croes-y-llan ' — the cross of the town. This would seem more than probable from its locality, and from the adjacent f laces which take their Cambrian names from the town, or 'llan ' of Oswald; allude to its immediate neighbours, Maes-y-llau, and Fen-y-llan (i.e. 'field' of the town, and 'head' of the town). In approaching the place Welsh visitors would first greet the Croes, then the Maes, and the Pen, and then the Llan itself." To this Mr. Lloyd replies :— " The name would seem at first sight suggestive of a sea-mew, that being the meaning of the Welsh word 'gwylan.' But as sea-mews do not perch on crosses, and there is no stream in the neighbourhood nearer than the Severn, on which those birds were frolicking in the early dawn of the night when the poet Gwalchmai kept watch and ward on its bank, large enough to attract sea-fowl so far inland, the hypothesis falls to the ground. Neither does 'Gwylan' appear to have been a proper name among the Cymry ; therefore the cross can scarcely be surmised to have bceu erected over the grave of any person so called. We can then but suppose that the word, as we now have it, is a corruption of the original term, and to this the clue is, happily, not far to seek. The final ' w ' of Welsh words was often anciently written ' u,' which iteelf, by the careless- ness or ignorance of transcribers, became frequently transmuted into 'n.' Rehabilitate ' Crocs-Wylan ' on the supposition that it has undergone this change, and it becomes * Croes -Wylaw,' words familiar to Welshmen as mean- ing the * Cross of Wailing.' " It is, however, proper to add that this con* WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 101 the name of a place in Northumberland), which some have imagined to be the place of his martyrdom (p. 337), and that at Oswald's Well are the ruins of a Chapel over a remarkably- fine spring. Now all these circumstances seem unquestionably to connect Oswestry with S. Oswald, but do they prove that he was slain there, or that the town is identical with Maserfield ? Unfor- tunately for Pennant, Bede and Huntingdon respectively call the place " Masefield " and " Mesafield," omitting the " r." The English word " field," explanatory of " Maes," became part of the name, but the word " long " would naturally have entered into it had " hir " formed part of the original. Pennant says further on : " There is a mill in Oswestry parish called Maesbury Mill" (p. 349), but this means obviously Burgh-field, i.e., Town field, not Long field. And the Saxon Chronicle says no more than this : — " A.D. G42. This year Oswald, King of the Northumbrians, was slain by Penda, King of the Southum- brians at Maserfield (translated in Ingram's Ed. Mirfield), and his body was buried at Bardney " (an abbey in Lincolnshire), which does not connect the site of the battle with Oswestry at all. But Dr. Cowper, in his notes on his Life of S. Wereburgh (quoted by Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, August 5), speaks of " a large fee called Mackerfield, in which lies part of Win- wick parish (in So. Lancashire), where, and especially in the town of Newton, in that district, is a tradition that King Oswald had a palace or castle thereabouts where he mostly resided." From this, as well as from the fact that there is a St. Oswald's Well at Win wick, A. Butler infers that he was slain there ; but this conjecture is disposed of by Nennius, who (App. 1. Gale, p. 117) calls the King "Osual Lanniguin," thus lecture has now been abandoned by its author on the following grounds : — It appears from the " History of the Parish of Llan St. Ffraid, in Mechain, in the County of Montgomery," (Mont. Coll., iv, 150) that there are in that parish some townships named Trewylan, and that an estate of that name, comprising part or the whole of these townships, once belonged to David Lloyd, called of Trewylan, Esq., ab Meredydd ab Llewelyn ab Gruffyddab Llewelyn ab Dafydd Llwch, a chieftain seated at Halchdyn in Deuddur, whose arms were azure, three seagulls argent. This is probably what is termed ' canting heraldry,' as Gwylan is Welsh for a seagull, and implies that the word had once stood for a proper name, perhaps that of the original founder of the family of Ti e Wylan, itself .signifying the Homestead of Gwylan. By parity of reasoning Croes Wylan would signify Gwylan's Cross, whence it would seem to follow that the Cross was erected either by Gwylan himself, or by others us a memorial of Gwylan. It is customary in some parts of Europe to erect a Cross, commemorative of the event, on the spot where a person has met with a violent death. There is an ancient Cross of this character noar Boulogne, si»;d by tradition to record the death of a Knight slain by another on the spot in single combat. , . . , , 102 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? confirming the fact of his residence at Winwick, which seems by transposition of syllables, and translation of "Llan" by " wick," to be a Saxon version of the old British name, but saying nothing of a battle there. On the contrary, he proceeds in the same sentence to tell us that Oswald slew Cadwallawn, King of Gwynedd, in the battle of the Wall. "Ipse enim Osual Lanniguin, ipse occidit Catgublaun Regem Guenedotice Regionis, in bello Catscaul, cum magna clade exercitus sui." And he proceeds to speak of the death of S. Oswald, a few lines on, as though it came by assassination or by strata- gem : — " Penda . . . sanctum Osgualdum Regem Nor- dorum cecidit per dolum. Ipse fecit bellum Codoy, in quo cecidit Eoua filius Pubua, frater ejus Rex Merciorum, et Osguald Rex Nordorum, et ipse victor fuit per diabolicam artem." (By craft Penda slew S. Oswald, King of the Northmen. He it was who fought the battle of Codoy, in which fell Eobba, son of Pubua, King of the Mercians, his brother, and Oswald King of the Northmen, and he was victorious by means of diabolical skill.) Here, then, we have 'Codoy' fixed by Nennius as the place of Oswald's death.1 The Bruts, nowever, give 1 burne ' t as the locality, and as, in one version, the Brut Tysilio, this is spelt ' Vyrnwy,' it is possible that, after all, the true spot may have been Oswestry. A careful com- parison of the British with the Saxon accounts will render this almost a certainty. Modern historians and archaeologists are agreed that this portion of history has been tampered with by some of the Chroniclers. Cadwallawn was repre- sented by them to the Britons as having, by a succession of victories gained over the Saxons in conjunction with the Saxon Penda, the pagan King of Mercia, recovered the sovereignty over Britain, and, after triumphantly holding his court in London, as having passed away from this life in peace and old age. For this purpose the battle near the Picts' Wall, in which both Bede and Nennius agree that Cadwallawn was slain by S. Oswald, has been wholly sup- pressed in the Welsh Bruts. The latter represent S. Oswald as having been attacked, not by Cadwallawn but by Penda, at a place called Hevenfelth, i.e., Heaven's Field, in Welsh, 'Y Maes Nefawl.' Before the buttle which ensued, Oswald caused a large wooden cross to be planted in the ground, and then called upon his army to kneel and invoke God 1 In a further panur Mr. Howel Lloyd identifies " Codoy " with " Cocdwac" a few oMics'frOmXWostry, and beyond Macsbury and Maesbrook, WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 103 for aid against the foes of their faith and country. But this is exactly what Bede describes him as having done at Denises-burne, before the death of Cadwallawn. The Bruts, therefore, heap together the circumstances of both the bat- tles, and fill up the interval by a pursuit, after which Oswald was overtaken and slain. When this has been thoroughly understood, the entanglement is at once unravelled. The Denises-burne of Bede is the * Catscaul ' of Nennius, where, according to both, Cadwallawn was slain by S. Oswald at ' Hevenfelth.' According to the Bruts, S. Oswald set up the cross before the battle which resulted in his death; but according to Bede, before that in which he slew Cad- wallawn. According to Powell, Oswestry was called 'Maes- yswallt' (Oswald's Field) before it was called Croes Oswallt. This seems to prove that no town had existed there before the battle, from which in fact it took its name of • Maes,' or Field, which the English Chroniclers call it by. The name "Croes Oswallt" (Oswald's Cross) must have been introduced in place of the original name, " Maesyswallt," at a later period by those who, misled by the Bruts, conceived that Oswald's Cross must have been set up before the battle which was followed by his death, instead of, as really happened, before that which had resulted in the death of Cadwallawn. In the same way is the field called Cae-nef, at Oswestry, to be accounted for. This supposition disposes of the whole of the difficulty ; and we need feel no further scruple in accepting as genuine the tradition that Oswestry was the scene of S. Oswald's death, and that at Croeswylan, was a cross where the survivors deplored and prayed for the repose of the souls of those slain in the conflict. The name of Oswestry (Oswald's Tree) may be connected witli the Statement in Higdcn's Chronicle ("Porro caput ejus et brachia jussit Penda suspendi in stipitibus"), that Penda caused his head and arms to be suspen ded on stakes. One of these may have taken root, and grown into a tree, possibly the famous "Mile Oak," if connected by tradition with S. Oswald. The well was not improbably connected with the veneration subsequently paid to the cross set up by S. Oswald, pieces of which, Bede tells us, were steeped in water, which was drunk by or sprinkled upon sick persons, who afterwards recovered their health. — H. W. L. The next paper in order is the one by 'die late Mr. Oswald Cockayne, in favour of the Lancashire site : — It is not soon that any new information recovered from 104 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? the records of the past comes into a shape sufficiently popular to reach the notice of ordinary historians, if com- pilers ever deserve that honoured name. Seven years a°-o enough was publisht from iElfric's Life of Oswald, king and saint and martyr, to reconcile all disputes, ascertain all doubts, and reconcile conflicting claims as to the spot where Oswald fell. Winwic, in Lancashire, has always rightly claimed to be the village next the " Maserfeld," where he was overwhelmed by the united forces of Mercians, Welsh, and Angles. Its name is from Winn, struggle, and Wic, dwelling. Similarly the stream near which the victor Penda lost his life was called Winwaed, whether a reach or bight of the Air seems not so very certain, for that river, the name of which is akin to that of the Yare at Yarmouth, and some others enumerated by Mr. Brewer, was written by the Saxons Yr (yr) ; but we have at least Win, struggle, and Wsed, water. On the church at Winwic, under the wall-plate, an inscription runs, a copy of which, evidently more correct than that which appears in Gough's Camden, vol. iii. p. 128, has been furnisht me by a learned friend : — Hie locus Osvalde quondam placuit tibi valde. Qui Northymbrorum fueras rex nuncque polorum Iiegna tenes ; prato passus Mercelde vocato.1 This Mercelde is Ashton, in Makerfield — so, not Maserfield. At Winwic is also a pure spring, unmuddied by rains, to which people come from even a hundred miles distance for cure of their eyes, and sometimes they derive much benefit, which is set down to the merits of the saint, just as in Beda's time. Penda cut from the king's body his head, both hands, and right arm ; carried them off into the midst of Mercia, and set them up, fixt to a tree, as a proof positive of his success. 1 This happy place did holy Oswald love Who once Northumbra rul'd, now reigns above, And from Marcelde did to Heaven remove. This is the translation of the inscription, as given in Gibson's edition of Camden. Where was Marcelde ? Is not all the alluvial tract of country which lies between Buttington and Oswestry called in the Welsh tongue *« Ystrad Marchell " — Strata Marcella ; at one end of which stood the once famous monastery of Ystrad Marchell or Strata Marcella? Is it not more likely that Oswald should have been overwhelmed by a combined force of the Mercians, Welsh, and Angles somewhere in the large plain of Ystradmarchell which lies oh the boundary of the Welsh and Mercian territories, than at Winwick in Lancashire, and does not the above line prove that Oswald " From Marchelldy [Marcelde the House or Monastery of MarchellJ did to Heaven remove "?— Bonwm, writing in Bye-goncs, August 6, 1873. WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 105 This tree was called Oswald's Tree, and by the Welsh, Croes Oswalt, crux Osualdi ; and the town takes its name from the tree. Near Oswestry is an ancient fortress called, according to Hartshorne, Hen Dinas, old fort, a work entirely formidable to sword and spearmen; it has three high aggeres rising one above another, like the work at Old Sarum ; such that a well- sized elm will have its roots in a foss and its head even with the top of an agger. It was probably constructed to stay the progress of the Romans up the Severn valley. A plan of it is in Gough's Camden, but useless to aid a conception of the fierce aspect of the fortress. It seems very likely that this old fort might be occupied by Penda, when he brought his trophies to hang from the tree in the plain below it.1 Oswy, brother and successor of King Oswald, was nettled at the exposure of the hands, arm, and head, and resolved to attempt, by-and-by, after the lapse of a year, a recovery of 1 Dean Howson, in an address on " St. Werberg and St. Oswald, and their connection with Chester," which he delivered in 1873, before the members of the Chester Arclutological Society, tries to satisfy all parties by a judicious distribution of King Oswald's bones. He remarks : — " It had been said by an old writer that there was as much contention for the dying place of Oswald as for the birthplace of Homer. The great conflict was between the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury and Winwick. He was not going to decide between the claims of the two places, but he was inclined to think that both views might be reconciled, Oswald had a palace at Winwick, and there was a well there that bore his name and an inscription that recorded his attachment to the locality. Oswestry was said to mean Oswald's tree. There was no reason why they should not believe that he was killed at Winwick, and that his head and arms were taken away and put ou a stump of wood at Oswestry. The conflicting statements would then be reconciled." Having shown from Bcde that the head, arms, and trunk of Oswald's body were taken to different places, the Dean remarked that "there was no reason to doubt that the head was embalmed and put in the stone collin that contained the remains of St. Cuthbert, for when the collin was opened a head was found with the body of Cuthbert." This will scarcely satisfy the claims of Oswestry, for we contend that the Saint drew his last breath in our district -somewhere between Maesyllan, Maesbury, Maesbrook, and Coedway — and that in our locality, too, some of his bones were suspended. Our own legend is such a pretty one that we will reproduce here, the version of it told in Oswald's Well, the magazine we have pre- viously quoted : — "It happened once, when Oswald was sitting at dinner, on the holy day of Easter, with Bishop Aidan, whom he brought from Scotland to instruct his subjects in the mysteries of the Christian faith, that a silver dish, full of dainties, was set before him, and they were just ready to bless the bread, when the servant whom he had appointed to relieve the pour, came ill on a sudden ami told the king that a great mul- titude of needy persons were sitting outside begging alms. He immediately ordered the meat set before him to be carried to the poor, and the silver dish to be cut in pieces and divided amou" them. At which si^ht the bishop, much taken with such an act of piety, laid hold of his right hand, and said, 4 May this hand never perish !' A benediction destined to be fulfilled, for the hand which was thus blessed, with its arm, remain to this day free from the taint of corruption. For, when the pious monarch was slain an 106 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE % them. He gathered round him a trusty band, rode from Lancashire to Oswestry through Penda's dominions, at hazard of his own life, and fetched away the remains. On all pressing occasions the Saxons covered the ground rapidly on horseback. Thus when Harold Hardrada, after ravaging Cleveland and capturing Scarborough, sailed up the Ouse, and appeared before York, he was encountered by a great force on horseback, led by Harold, son of Godwine. This king had received intelligence, and come up from the south with a celerity astonishing to our modern War Department. Indeed, in the harrying wars of the Danes, both the inva- ding Here and the native Fryd provided itself with horses, as frequently mentioned in the Chronicle, for quicker move- ment, and even the legal hue and cry was mounted. So that Oswy headed a practised troop, and his ride was one of those honourable adventures delightful to a noble youth. eagle lighted on his body, tore ofT his arm, and flew off with it to a spot where a spring of water gushed up, to this day flowing, and very appropriately bearing the name of Oswald's Well." The incident has thus been translated into ballad form : — 'Twas on a sun-lit Easter-tide, Oswald, the king arose : Like opening morn, open'd his heart, With grace for friends or foes, Uprose the king, a gallant chief, Warrior in might and mail ! Yet eager as the lover's ear, To list lamenting tale. His heart of steel ouail'd not at strife, Yet was by grief beguiled, When foemen harmed the humblest cot : Each subject was his child ! " With me thou feastest," cried the king, To the good priest Aidan ; 11 Summon thy holy friars too, Diuma and Finan." The feast is set in royal hall. While humbly at the door, A hundred hungry ones do stand, From hovels of the poor. The feast is set in royal hall, Right royal meats are seen, No lack of golden goblets bright, Nor silver dish its sheen. Then good King Oswald cried when he, Those hungry ones did spy, " Now God forbid that I should feast, While these with famine die ! WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE % 107 The body of Oswald left upon the field at Winwic was sought and discovered by his relatives, and deposited at Bardney, whence in a.d. 910 the reliques were removed to St. Oswald's, Gloucester. The head was laid by Oswy in the graveyard of the church at Lindisfarne, and the " arms " in a silver shrine in the church of St. Peter at Bamborough, then " regia civitas." Hand and arms were afterwards placed in the coffin of St. Cuthbert at Durham. So the separation of the portions fixt to the tree at Oswestry, from the rest of the body left on the field at Winwic, makes all the details of the history clear. The 6s in Oswald, Oswy, should be pronounced with vowel long. O. Cockayne. The following reply to Mr. Cockayne from Mr. Howel Lloyd appeared in Bye-gones, Oct. 1873 : — Learning and argument, however ingenious, have hitherto failed to set at rest the question what is the precise spot where S. Oswald fell in conflict with the Pagan Penda. One will have it that this spot was Makerfield, near Winwic, in South Lancashire, others Maserfield, near Oswestry, while a third, Mr. Hartshorne, in the Salopia Antiqua, fixes it at Maesbrook, some five or six miles from Oswestry, in the direction of the Severn.1 The account taken from a paper by the late Mr. " Now God forbid I should be rich, While all this poor be here, Break up for them my silver dish, Carry them all my cheer I" "Now perish ne'er this good right hand, (And Aidan held the king.'s) " Oh fill it " Aidan cried to God, " With earth's best, richest things 1" The good king sat him down to feast, Yet fasting, up he rose ; Perish the brand that brought such life Unto a bloody close ! Long as his hallowed stream shall flow, Lot Oswald minded be ; Unwearied heart ! unwearied hand ! King-spirit, peace to thee ! 1 Mr. Hartshorne, in his Salopia Antiqua, places the scene of Oswald's death at Maesbrook, a place in a direct line between Maesbury, and Coedway, and about live miles from Oswestry, and a couple of miles from Maesbury. He says "Tradition, or at least conjecture, has fixed the scene of conilict at Oswestry, but surely it must be considered more probablo to have taken 108 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? Cockayne in Notes and Queries may have been extracted from some mediaeval writer, but is erroneously stated by him to be supported by the authority of iElfric, as no Life of St. Oswald is to be found among the works of either of the two Anglo- Saxon writers of that name. Neither is much weight to be attached to derivations of names of places, whether from words in the British or Saxon languages, as long as they rest only on conjecture. "Win" and "wic" are quite as much Welsh as they are Saxon, if differently interpreted ; and Maserfield (or Mesafield, the Tver Fesen of the Welsh) and Makerfield, which appear to be the same word, differing only as to their hard or soft pronunciation, have been shown to be equally susceptible of the meaning of a field of acorns as of a field of battle. (History of Maelor Gymraeg by the Chevalier Lloyd, K.S.G., in No. of Arck : Comb : for July, 1873, pp. 24G-7). Nor, again, is the word " Makerfield" easy of detection under the supposed synonym of " Marcelde " in the wall-plate inscription at Winwic. And the first line of that triplet which assures us that Oswald had been very well pleased with the spot agrees better with the tradition that he had resided there than with the assumption that it was the scene of his death. place in a situation still bearing the same name as that recorded by the Saxon Chronicler than in one concerning which all early historians preserve silence. Neither does Etymology desert us here, in ascertaining the true locality of the action. Mucsbury [Anglo-Saxon Birgoncs, a place of sepul- ture under a Beorg or mound, or artificial hill. Numerous places in England terminate in burg, and near such is almost invariably found some ancient camp or earthwork which gave rise to the termination!. Maesbury supplies in its termination additional evidence that the place had become sanctified through the slaughter of these Saxon warriors. At Maesbrook, or at Maesbrooke Common, it seems highly probable that this engagement took placo Pennant considers it probable that the Britons bestowed on the spot where the battle was fought the name of Macs Mr, or the 'long field,' or combat, from the obstinacy of the coullict. The Saxons, for a considerable time, retained the name where the action was fought, with the addition of their own vernacular word /e^, ovfelth, a field; as Masafield, Masafelth, and corruptly Masafeld. (Pennant's Tours, p. 259). ' Campus Mesafcld sanctorum canduit ossa.' (Hen. Huntingdon, lib. iii., p. 331.) ' In after days,' says Pennant, "The name became entirely Saxon ; and from the fate of the King was called Oswald's tree, now Oswestry ; and by the Welsh Croes-oswallC (p. 2G0). This is a very ingenious derivation of Oswestry, but it does not at all disprove the conjectures I have advanced, or make the present town the site of the engagement. It has also been sur- mised that Oswald fell in a field near the town, called Cae-ncf, or Heaven- field, and that a tree was planted near the spot called Oswald's Tree, hence Oswestry (Nicholson, p. 1018). In answer to which it has been urged that Jhutfcnfvld in Northumberland has the same meaning ; and received it on account of the victory Oswald obtained there. The derivation of Maesbrook may satisfy the doubts of those who may still be scrupulous, C. Brit. Bret. Armor, macs, prx-lium." WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 109 Again, no probable reason has been adduced for the transpor- tation to Oswestry from Lancashire of the slain monarch's mutilated members, while the event of their exposure there becomes probable enough on the hypothesis that he fell in a battle fought in the neighbourhood. That the King fell at the Oswestry Maserfield cannot be in- ferred positively from the expression "sanctorum canduit ossa" of Henry of Huntingdon, since it implies no more than that the bones were bleached by exposure. The use of ''sanctorum" in the plural may have been a poetical amplification, or the bones of others may also have been exposed together with the King's. Assuming that Maserfield is derived from Maes, a field, and not from Mes, acorns, it does not certainly follow that the name is to be referred to this particular battle, the neighbourhood being remarkable for the number of the conflicts fought in it at different periods, and the phrase 'cad ar faes* being that commonly employed for a pitched battle by the chroniclers. Maesbury and Maesbrook have also been re- garded as names indicating the probable site of this battle ; and, as the contending armies were undoubtedly numerous, it may have been that both were on the same occasion the Mr. Hartshorne also connects an old Shropshire saying, " Forty sa' one like Obitch's Cowt," with the Oswald legend he says :— "The origin of this common phrase has heretofore lurked m impenetrable obscurity. There exists another simile amongst us of like import, and whether Obitch or Khoden was the real owner of the horse in question is a matter much contested. We will not investigate that point now, but illustrate the history of Obitch by a legendary account which has been taken down from the lips of a nurse. She gathered her lore from Mclverley, her birthplace, and coming from so unfrequently visited a quarter, where little corruption has flowod into the language, we may be allowed to receive the history following as a general record of the animal's marvellous qualities. To write, how- ever, without figure, the tale does appear to nave taken its birth from tradition ; and if any reader wishes to know how it first received its present form, and he will implicitly believe conjecture, I start one for his edification. It is one of those • very probable ones which Antiquaries like to produce.'" Mr. Hartshorne precedes to narrate the story, from Bede, of the recovery of the tired hoi se on the spot where Oswald fell, and which will be found in a future page. He adds: — "To this Hagiological legend may be traced the virtues of Obitch's Colt, for the latter fable is in some parts so like the former, that it appears manifestly to have arisen out of it. By degrees the history became distorted, and Oswald merged into the less euphonious name of Obitch." Mr. Hartshorne then gives the Melverley story, but it is so unlike that of St. Oswald, that it is scarcely worth while reproducing it; besides, it seems more reasonable to suppose that "Forty save one like llhoden's colt" was affixed to a thirty-nine year old horse belonging to a modern Shropshire dealer, than that it should be as old as our Oswestry martyr. The phrase might have been connected with Obitch in one locality, and Rhoden in another ; and, as Melverley is on the Welsh border, may we suggest that " Obitch" is a corruption of " Roberts "? We have heard Welshmen address one of the latter name as " Mister 'obitch," or something very like it ! 110 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? scenes of partial conflict. But another place, in the immediate neighbourhood of these, has been named as the actual spot where he fell, and that by an authority to which it would seem strange that so little attention has been given, since his work is probably an edition merely of the earliest, and a probably contemporaneous document relating to it, the Histona Brito- num, said to have been written by Gildas. In the paper on 'Croeswylan' (June 19, 1872) were given two passages from Nennius, in one of which he speaks of the King as Osual Lanniguan, and in the other of his death at the hands of Penda at the battle of Codoy. Now, in the syllable guin of Lanniguin, we find that of Win in Win wick, win in Welsh being tho solvent of gwin or gtvyn. And in wick we find the translation of lan, Llan in Welsh meaning what wick does in Saxon, an enclosure or dwelling. The syllables are merely transposed, as in fact they are also in the Welsh word 'Gwinllan/ a vineyard, though it seems unlikely that this should be signi- fied by 'Llanniguin.' More probably the latter would be cor- rectly modernised by Llan Ty Gwyn, the enclosure of the Sacred House or White House. Be this as it may, Nennius, in calling S. Oswald, Oswald of Llanniguin, that is, Oswald of Winwic, confirms positively the tradition of the King having made it his abode. And a corroboration of the fact is to be found in a paper by Mr. Boyd Dawkins (Arch. Gambr. for July, 1873, pp. 236-9), who has shown that, the battle of Chester, a.d. 607, "having laid South Lancashire at the feet of Ethel- frith," that country was "at this time in all probability occupied by the English." The last passage quoted from Nennius is important enough to warrant me m again transcribing a part of it. "Penda . . . sanctum Osgualdum Regem Nordorum occidit per dolum, Ipse fecit bellum Codoy, in quo cecidit Eoua filius Pubua, frater ejus Rex Merciorum, et Osguald Rex Nor- dorum." (Penda by craft slew Saint Oswald, King of the North- men. He it was who fought the battle of Codoy, in which fell Eobba son of Pubba, his brother, King of the Mercians, and Oswald King of the Northmen.) Here then we have the direct and positive statement of Nennius that Oswald fell at 'Codoy/ It only remains to be shown that Codoy is in the neighbourhood of Oswestry. Now the first syllable 'cod' of this name is, in modern Wolsh, represented by coed, meaning a wood. The last syllable oy may, in modern Welsh, be either wy or wae, the former meaning water, the latter woe. The name, therefore, will be either Goedwy, signifying the 'Wood by Water,' or 'Coedivae,' tho 'Wood of Woe/ the lattor peculiarly appropriate to the commemoration of so sorrowful an event. It appears WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? Ill that on the border line of the counties of Salop and Mont- gomery, about fourteen miles from Oswestry, five or six from Maesbrook, and three from the Breidden, is a place which is spelt in the ordinary maps 1 Coed way,' but in the Ordnance map 'Coedwae.' It is half a mile from the Severn, therefore not likely to have received its appellation from water. That of Coedwy, therefore, may at once be dismissed as untenable. There remains but Coedwae, the Wood of Woe, which may be safely identified with the Codoy of Nennius. — H. W. L. This paper of Mr. Howel Lloyd s did not jump with the humour of the Lancashire antiquaries, and, as we shall see further on, was assailed by one signing him- self "F.S.A." in Local Gleanings, of April, 1876. But previously to this, that publication had given (Nov. 1875), the paper read, as we have stated, by Mr. Littler, in 1842. We quote it entire : — Oswald, King of Northumbria, and the real and effectual establisher of Christianity during the Saxon Heptarchy in that territory, was slain in a great battle fought against Penda, the sovereign of Mercia, and the champion of expiring Paganism (then in violent conflict with the newly-introduced religion), in the month of August, 642, at Mackerfleld. On the locality of this battlefield most of the English histo- rians are much at variance. Speed, in his book published about 1G32, fixes it at "Oswald's Tree." Carter fixes it at the same place. Turner, in his history of the Anglo-Saxons (vol i., page 3G5, ed. 1820), says : " His (Penda's) invasion of Nor- thumbria was fatal to the less warlike Oswald, who fell at Oswestry, in Shropshire," He refers generally to Bede, lib. 2, c. 12 ; lib. 3, c. 9 and c. 10, who is found, upon reference, to say nothing at all about Oswestry, but merely that the scene of the event was at " Maserfelth." Lingard (vol. i., p. 99), says : "The battle was fought by Oswald with Penda and his Mer- cians in the field of Maser, by most supposed to be Oswestre in Shropshire, by some Winwick in Lancashire." "Two counties," says Smith, the editor of Bede, "lay claim to Maserfelth. Lancashire has the name of Maser- felth, near Winwick, and an ancient inscription preserved in the church of Winwick supports this claim, not to mention the argument that Winwick is situated in the kingdom of Northumbria, where Penda attacked Oswald. The other county that puts in its claim is Salop, in which is Maserfold, now called Oswestry." Dr. Ingram states the spot in question to be Mir- 112 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE 1 field, in Yorkshire, and as it would appear very absurdly, be- cause he converts the very word from the text which he is translating, namely, the Saxon Chronicle, which is there name of a place mentioned in a book he is editing and trans- lating, in the same form he found it there set down and as he has actually published it in his Anglo-Saxon original ? Where one person reads the latter, nine hundred and ninty-nine will read only his English translation, and set it down as a settled fact that the Saxon Chronicle alleges the battle with Penda and the death of Oswald to have taken place in York- shire. It is, indeed, little less than to falsify his own author's statement. Such being the discrepancies on this point amongst these and other English historians, both general and local, the author's object is to investigate the subject a little in extenso and to examine minutely the rival claims of the competing localities in respect of the events alluded to, the authorities upon which they rest, and the intrinsic evidence furnished, geographically and otherwise, upon the subjects from the events themselves. Perhaps a further interest may arise from the period at which the events occurred, having been the great crisis in which, in the northern part of this kingdom, the worship of Odin and the Pagan deities was in fierce and convulsive conflict with the recently-introduced religion of the Cross. Oswald was the substantial introducer of the latter into his dominions, and though he perished, a martyr in its defence, he was the main instrument in eradicating Paganism from Northumbria, a dis- trict then comprising the modern counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Durham, Lancashire, and York- shire. It is true that his predecessor, Edwin, was nominally the first Christian monarch of that Kingdom, but he was only a partial and wavering convert, and constantly vacillating between Paganism and Christianity. That he was quite un- influential in promoting the object in question is shown by the monkish historians having environed his name with no parti- cular sanctity ; while, on the contrary, his successor, Oswald, was canonized. But to return to the inquiry proposed, the leading authorities here discussed are the Saxon Chronicle and the Venerable Bede. The following is an extract from the Saxon Chronicle, literally translated, describing the death of Oswald in the year G42. " A.D. 624. This year, Oswald, King of Northumbia, was slain Why should he not have given the WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 113 by Penda the Southumbrian at Maserfield,1 on the fifth day of August, and his body was buried at Bearthanege.2 His holiness and miracles were afterwards displayed on manifold occasions throughout this Island, and his hands remain still uncorrupted at Bebbanburgh.3 The same year in which Oswald was slain, Oswy, his brother, succeeded to the government of Northumbria and reigned no less than thirty years." Bede, who wrote his history about eighty or ninety years after Oswald's death, and probably collected his materials still earlier, is more explicit. He says, in lib. 3, c. 9, Ed. 1722 (translated) :— "A.D. 642. Oswald, that most Christian King of the North- umbrians, reigned for nine years, the one being added which was made odious by the savage impiety of the King of the Britons and the mad apostasy of the English Kings. Which period of years being completed, he was killed in a great battle fought against the same Pagan nation, the Mercians, and their Pagan sovereign Penda, by whom his predecessor Edwin had been destroyed, in a place which, in the language of the English, is called Maser- felth, on the 5th August of this year, in the 38th year of his age. Such was his piety towards God, and such the holiness of his character, that his virtues were testified by miraculous circum- 1 This is spelt Maserfelth by Bede, Marsefeld by Brompton, Marelfeld by Matthew of Westminster. In comparatively late times Mackerfield in Lan- cashire has been written Macerfield. The exchange of the soft for the hard sound of C is fluctuating and frequent ; though now soft before the vowels e or i it was probably with the Romans and in ancient times hard. If Macer- feld was then spelt with a C, it would in sound be precisely our present Makerlield.— A otc by Mr. Littler. 2 Why does Dr. Ingram translate this " Bardney ?" The original is a very different word. Besides, Bardney was in Lincolnshire, part of Mercia. Is it likely that Oswald would be buried in bis enemy's country ? or that the fierce Pemla, who bad mutilated his body, would allow the remains to be reli- giously deposited? Indeed, considering the hatred of Penda to Christianity, could (here possibly have been a Christian establishment of any kind in Lin- colnshire or Mercia at that time where Oswald could have been interred ? Christian it must have been, or why take the trouble to transport the body to that great distance? The Saxon chronicle at the year 909 says : "This year diedDcnulf, Bishop of Winchester "—also "St. Oswald's body was translated from Bearthanege or Beardanigge into Mercia." Florence of Worcester also says, " S. Oswaldi regis et martyris ossa de Barthoneig in Merciam translata sunt An D. 910." As Bardney was in Mercia, how could they be translated out of Mercia into Mercia? There is a place near Winwick called Burton Wood, which might then be called Burton, or Bearthan-ege, which is nearer the Saxon word than Bardney. There is there (as mentioned in this essay) an ancient moated mansion called Bradley Hall, of which a massive stone gateway of high antiquity was lately remaining. Tradition says this was a residence of Oswald. It is only two miles from the field of battle, ami is more likely to have been the place of burial than Mercia or Lincolnshire immediately after the battle. — laid. "The writer of this part of the Saxon Chronicle must have lived shortly after the event. — Ibid. Vol. TI. J 114 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? stances after his death, for in the place where he was slain, fighting for his native country, even to this day supernatural cures of disease both in men and cattle continue to be famed, from whence it has happened that numbers, by carrying away the soil of the spot where he fell, and putting it into water1 and applying it to their sick have greatly benefitted them, which custom has so much increased that by the earth being gradually carried away a hole or excavation in the ground about the size of a man's stature has been formed. Many miracles produced by the virtues of the soil of this spot are related ; but we think it necessary only to mention two which we have heard from our ancestors. Not long after his death, at a certain time it happened that a person riding on horseback near the place had his horse seized with illness. It began to move its limbs convulsively, incline its head towards the earth, throw foam from its mouth, and appeared on the point of falling to the ground with increasing suffering. The rider leaped from his seat, and, stretched upon the ground, awaited the time when the animal should either recover or be left dead. But after it had for some time under- gone great suffering in rolling itself about, it suddenly came to the spot where the memorable monarch had fallen ; upon which the con- vulsions of its limbs immediately ceased, it turned about as if op- pressed with weariness, and shortly afterwards rising up began to crop the surrounding herbage. This being seen by the man, he, as a person of sagacity, supposed some extraordinary sanctity to exist in that spot, and having placed a mark there, shortly afterwards mounted the horse, and proceeded to the house of his original destina- tion. He there found a young woman, the granddaughter of the father of the family, who had long been afflicted with paralysis, and when the inmates of the house were lamenting her long illness in his presence, he related the account of the extraordinary cure of his horse in the place before-mentioned. They thereupon placed the young woman on a vehicle, and had her carried thither. They then placed her upon the spot indicated. Upon this she dozed for a little while, and on awaking found herself cured of that helplessness of the body with which she had been afflicted. She asked for water, washed her face, composed her hair, covering her head with a linen cloth, and walked away with those who had brought her, entirely restored to health." It is to be observed that these stories of a superstitious be- lief, now almost obsolete and effete (though at that period 1 The producing of holy water for religious purposes or as a better means of applying it in order to make use of it more conveniently us a healing appli- cation, is alluded to by Bede, where he speaks of a croBs set up by Oswald, before a battle fought about ten years previously against Ceadwalla, at Denisburn or Heventelth, near the lioman Wall in N. Britain, fragments of which cross ( Astulas Cruris J they put into water and then by making men or cattle drink of it, or by sprinkling them, they were restored to health. Bede, Lib 3, C. 2. r r WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 115 commanding universal credence), are introduced here not in any degree to support the view the Venerable Bede may have had in giving them to posterity, but merely that by means of minute circumstances connected with them we may obtain indirectly and collaterally the particulars of an undoubted historic event ; and it will be perceived that there is not one word hero mentioned of either water, fountain, or spring. The whole and entire miraculous effects are attributed to the soil, the pulvis terrai alone. How could the mention of a fine natural spring have been omitted if such had there existed ? Or how omit all mention of water when he even speaks of their putting the pulvis into water that its virtues might be com- municated thereto ? Bode and tho Saxon Chronicle are the two great historical authorities on the subject of tho locality of this battle and the death of Oswald. The writer in the latter (Saxon Chronicle) appears, by his stating that the hands of Oswald were still un- corrupted at Bebbanburgh, to have lived within a short period of his death, because if they had been kept from decay by the employment of chemical arts, it is not at all probable that he would have used the phrase "remain yet uncorrupted." The most sceptical as to the antiquity of the Saxon Chronicle do not contend for its parent text bemg formed later than the later part of the ninth century — about 870 or 880 — and this phrase, coupled with the death of Oswald in 642, which would give an interval of 230 or 240 years during which it is improbable the hands would have remained " uncorrupted," may furnish an argument independently of the question here mooted that the formation of the early or parent text of the Chronicle (that earlier part of it to wnich lato Saxon writers made subsequent additions) was not so lato as 870 or 880, but probably within loss than a century from tho death of Oswald. Tho elicitation of this argument for the antiquity of the Chronicle is so far satisfactory that it shows that an investigation into a matter of antiquity, apparently only of local interest, may sometimes throw a light upon an important and interesting point of lite- rary chronology, and assist in determining a date as to which investigators of Saxon archaeology have been much at variance. Bede, we know, wrote his history considerably within a century from the time of the battle of Mascrfeld. These authors as being nearly contemporary are in all re- spects tho most trustworthy witnesses. Wo are not aware that Nennius refers to tho circumstance, and all the other writers who do so, follow at an interval of several hundred years, and there is no reason to suppose that they used any other materials for 116 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? their narrative of Oswald's death than Bede and the Saxon Chronicle, as respects the battle of Maekerfield and the death of Oswald. The uncertainty of English historians as to the locality 01 the death of Oswald and the battle of Maekerfield, and the careless way in which they speak of it, clearly indicate that they have bestowed little trouble in their examination of the subject. On what authority does it rest that there ever was a Maser- field or Maekerfield in Shropshire ? Historians seems to infer from the name of the place, "Oswaldstree," that Oswald was crucified or infixed upon a tree there; then, because Bede says it happened at Masertelth, therefore, Oswaldstree was previously Masertelth. " Nil nisi nubes et aer." Being desirous of ascertaining all the reasons that were urged in behalf of Oswestry, and understanding that there was a gentleman of the bar retired from his profession well acquainted with the antiquities of Oswestry, who had adopted the opinion that the latter was the place of Oswald's death, we applied to him on the subject, considering that both from the opinion he held from his local and antiquarian knowledge as connected with Oswestry, and his forensic education and habits, he would be most likely to conduct the case, if we may so say, on behalf of Oswestry, with the greatest ability and effect. Thinking him also quite as much to be relied on as the later English historians, who have so superficially slurred over the matter, we applied to him for a statement of the facts and arguments which induced him to believe that the Northumbrian martyr met .his fate at Oswestry, and in reply received the following observations in favour of the hypothesis. The monks paid moro attention to the jingle of their hexameters (generally rhyming in the middle and on the penultimate syllable) than to accuracy or metre. I cannot however infer either from these or other authority that Oswald was killed at Winwick ; they merely imply that he had a fancy to the place. Ho might have built a church there for he was a red hot promoter of what is called Christianity, even to persecution ; nor have I ever read or heard of his having been killed at any other place than Oswestry ; of which fact both history and tradition give us plenty of assurance. As to Bede's " Dimicans pro patria " it by no means implies in patria, and if you consider that during the Heptarchy Mercia was both the largest and least populous of the seven kingdoms, he (spurred by Christian bigotry against infidels) might easily have marched thirty miles into their country. Camden distinctly says (speaking of Oswestry) WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 117 " Nomen habet ab Oswaldo Nordanhumbrorum rege (cum antea Maserfield vocaretur) quern Penda Paganus Merciorum princeps- hie gravi prsBlio et occidet et occisum summa cum immanitate discerpsit and then follow the verses of a Christian poet descrip- tive of the deed and corroborative of the incident. The earliest name of the town I can find was Blanchminster1, afterwards Macer- field till the great battle of 5th August, 642, after which, in conse- quence of the decapitation, quartering, and crucifixion, it took that of Oswaldestree, and is at this hour invariably called by the Welsh (who in crowds descend to its markets and fairs) Croes OswalJt. Tims having (I trust) made out my case with regard to the killing. and locus in quo, I proceed to the miraculous consequences. A well instantly sprang up which proved to be a true cousin- gcrinan to that of the pretty Saint Winifrede (and others that we have read of), for a poor paralytic falling near the spot and wriggling into it was straightway made whole ; a horse was also cured. Powers like these were not to go unappreciated, and a chapel soon reared its portals. This chapel was standing in Leland's time, and Pennant remembers its ruins. The well is certainly a singularly fine one, and its brilliant waters fall into a pool below and thence run all through the streets of the town, from whose picturesque and vener- able Church it is distant about a quarter of a mile, on a fine woody green slope. The well and pond are now within the play-ground of the adjoining school, under a very fine arch, with a head of King Oswald, which the wanton tenants have battered to a mere mummy. Though when I was a boy a very fine head it was, finely relieved in alto and cinctured with a very perfect mural crown. The fine well is still in full existence, and part of tho arch, over which stand the dead remains of a prodigious old yew tree. Superstition, however, (in these parts) is far from being defunct, and the feeble and infirm still believe and bathe in the well, and did more so until it was enclosed in the noisy school playground. Bottles of its water are carried to wash tho eyes of those who are dim or short-sighted, or tho tardy or erring legs of such as have weak understandings. Thus have I given you as best 1 cau tho faithful history, though, perhaps, at too great length. I may, however, in conclusion, say that you have applied for information to one who lias examined and considered the subject somewhat minutely. I am, &c, John F. M. Dovaston. P.S. The tract of laud near the well is yet called cae nef (Heaven field), which Spencer imagines in Northumberland ; cae (Welsh) is an enclosed field, and maes an open space. There is a hamlet near Oswestry called Maesbury. Maserfelt is the field of oaks, a tree that thrives remarkably well in our soil. Oswestry is placed nearly 1 Blanch is French, and Blanchminster means "the white cathedral." if Oswestry was ever called Blanchminster, it must have been after the ( 'onquest.— Note by Mr. Littler. 118 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? midway between tho Dikes of Offa and Wat (Cadwalader), but rather nearer to the latter, or English borders. Oswald, from his zeal in the cause, and being the heated tool of Bishops Aidan and Colmar, became soon canonized and a favourite saint ; and a very great chain of churches from that at Oswestry, where he fell, all the way to Northumberland, were dedicated to him and still bear his name. The corporation seal of Oswestry has the effigies of Oswald and an oaL It would have been very desirable that Mr. Dovaston should have informed us where he found out that the town was originally called Blanchminster1. The Saxons, then Pagans, could not be established there before the middle of the 6th cen- tury, Pope Gregory having sent Augustin to convert them about A.L). 500 ; yet there must, by Mr. Dovaston's account, have been a Christian temple (here, for whore is minster applied to a heathen temple ? This minster must have been changed into a field (Maser field) and the latter into Oswestry, all before about A.D. 050. The same may be said of its supposed pre- vious name of Maserfield or Maserfelth. Where, as respects Oswestry, does such a name ever occur except in the appli- cation of it by Camden, and his assumption that Oswestry is the place meant by Bede ? Camden has jwobably been the cause of all the mistake. He found a church at Oswestry dedicated to St. Oswald, one of the first introducers of Christianity into the North of England, and a martyr who had shed his blood in the cause. There is a noble spring or fountain near the church, probably called from the patron saint of the church, St. Oswald's Well. He assumes, because Bede speaks of a fossa, this to be the place where Oswald was slain, and though nobody before that time (about 1580 or 1G00) ever heard of a <( Maserfelth " there, he to reconcile it with Bede's account assumes that it was at first Maserfelth, but had afterwards become Oswestry from the above circumstance. He knows nothing ot Mr. Dovaston's Blanchminster. To enter upon the argument which tends to show a well near Winwick, in Lancashire, to have been the spot in question, Ave have first this fact that there is there a hole in the earth known beyond the memory of man as St. Oswald's Well. It is about the measure of the " statura virilis," namely, six feet or thereabouts in depth. There is no spring there ; a little water oozes into it from the adjoining ground, but that is all. It is about a mile north of Winwick Church, on the road from Winwick, through Golborne, passing Parkside (the station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway), to WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 119 Wigan. The road in question at the bottom of a descent from a place called Hermitage Green turns to the right or east for about a hundred yards, it then again turns abruptly at right angles, resuming its former northerly direction leading towards the Parkside station. About a hundred yards north from this town the well in question is situated, and is in the field bounding the high road on the left hand, or westerly side, and about sixty or eighty yards to the west of the hedge separating the field from the highway. It is in a field which slopes gradually up to a farm house, which crowns the ridge, and which, with its appertaining fields, is called Woodhead, and is owned by Mr. Banks, of Winstanley, and now or lately occupied by his tenant, Mr. John Penning- ton. Some large rude stones form the bottom or lower part of the well, but the upper part is without masonry, and it is -clear that but for some strong feeling of veneration, and without its having been hallowed by some religious sanction, it must long since have disappeared under the labours of the plough, the spade, or the harrow, the field where it is situated having apparently for ages been dedicated to the purpose of agriculture, and the well having no pillar, basin, statue, or other conspicuous object to protect it. Religious feelings have always been found to give the most permanent protection to monuments or other objects of antiquity. The well in question has been used by the Roman Catholics up to about five and twenty years past as sacred. The water was sent for from it to be used as the holy water of the neigh- bouring Roman Catholic chapels, and for the religious observances in them. An old man of the name of Henry Roughly, who died about 1830, at the age of 75, and who had lived near it the greater part of his life, informed us that an old Catholic lady in the neighbouring borough of Newton was accustomed to give him three shillings a year in his youth to keep it clear from weeds. A Mr. Adamson, also of Ashton, a gentleman of the Roman Catholic persuasion, pass it without fastening his horse to the hedge, going into the field and impressing upon his forehead the form of a cross from its waters. There is an ancient district of terri- tory here called the fee or Mackerfield, which includes several townships, amongst others Ince in Mackerfield, Ashton in Mackerfield, and Newton in Mackerfield. The well is situated at the south-eastern extremity of the latter township, and about a hundred yards from the division between the town- ship of Newton in Mackerfield and the township of Winwick and very strict in his religious never to 120 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? with Hulme. If any well in this neighbourhood had obtained its appellation from the neighbouring church (which is about a mile distant), it would not have been this one but another which bears no particular name, and is within about 200 yards of Winwick Church, on the left hand side of the lane leading from thence to the Rectory ; or a third now or lately within the very precincts of the churchyard which is called merely the town's well. St. Oswald's Well, as before observed, is a mere stagnant pool, and answers precisely to the term " fossa " used by Bede. He, the great authority upon the question, says nothing at all about tliere being a fountain or spring where Oswald fell. If there had been such " with brilliant waters," as Mr. Dovaston describes it, he could scarcely have omitted men- tioning so remarkable a circumstance. He speaks only of the " terra ablata exinde " and the " fossa," ana that a pool or "fossa" was formed by devotees carrying away the hallowed soil. How is it possible that Bede should have spoken in this language of the place in question, if it was a noble spring pouring out incessantly a redundant stream of "brilliant waters ?" It would surely have been the waters themselves and not the soil, the " terra," which they would have carried off; indeed if St. Oswald had fallen on such a spot as the copious spring at Oswestry, the devotees must have been half drowned before they could get to the soil which Bede mentions. The next argument turns upon the locality. Mercia of which Penda was the sovereign comprised the counties of Lincoln, Northampton, Rutland, Huntingdon, the northern parts of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire. Oswestry is forty miles within the territory of Penda, the sovereign of Mercia, that being the distance from the ford at Warrington over the river Mersey, the southern boundary of the western part of Northumbria, and is also at the very extremity of his Dominions on the edge of Wales. Why should Oswald and Penda be fighting at that; remote corner of Pcnda's dominions unless like duellists they had gone to an obscure corner to have it out privately? But Winwick is in the direct high road of an enemy advancing from Mercia upon an antagonist in Northumbria. The estuary of the river Mersey, and the marshes formed by Sankey Brook, before cultivation had as at present drained WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 121 and laid them dry, would form an almost impassable barrier to an enemy advancing northward at any point west of Winwick, and east of it the immense bog called Chat Moss would at that period form an impassable barrier in the same way for many miles to the east, and nearly to Manchester, whore the Mersey and Irwell would still be obstacles nearly as tar as the Derbyshire hills. The elevated ground near Winwick Church would therefore be the only way by which a military force could then advance into Northumbria on the westerly side of the island. There is an ancient Roman road south of the Mersey run- ning northward to Warrington, nearly parallel to the high road, and which comes from the direction of North wich. This road has been discovered on the north side of the Mersey continuing its course northwards by the Hall or Rectory of Winwick, about half a mile west of the church, and is again found on the side of the present high road from Newton to Ashton-in-Mackerfield. It has been partially explored by the persevering and able research of Mr. Beamont, of Warrington, and the Rev. Mr. Sibson, of Ashton, and from remains of pottery, and other circumstances, it appears to be undoubtedly of Roman construction. The site of St. Oswald's Well is rather more than half a mile to the east of the direction which this road would be there pursuing, following the above line. It is on the ascent of a long ridge of ground which would to the eye of the most casual observer afford a good position for an army acting on the defensive inasmuch as the enemy would have to charge them up-hill. These facts therefore show that there was a great highroad here, existing antecedently to the time of Oswald, running from Mereia into Northumbria — that an invading enemy could (by reason of the natural obstacles before enumerated) only aivance into Northumbria by this line of country, unless he made a very circuitous detour to the right, and would even then meet with very great natural obstacles all the way to the eastward to beyond the Derbyshire chain of hills. And further that the locality would be suitable to the nature of the contest between a ferocious and able military chieftain, such as Penda is described, and a mild and beneficent monarch like Oswald, who would be more probably standing upon the defensive. A fourth argument is furnished by the expression of Bede, " pro patria dimicans," which is much the same in meaning as " pro aris et focis or, in other words, for his altars and his 122 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE % hearths. This, which would comport suitably with the chieftain killed in the defence of his native country, and in a struggle against an enemy invading him there, becomes quite ridicu- lous when applied to a chieftain killed in battle 40 or 50 miles within his adversary's territory. The natural question would be, if he was only fighting in defence of his native country, what business he had in the heart of his enemy's ? What would be thought of an epitaph upon Alexander the Great if he had been slain at Arbela, upon Hannibal at Cannae, or Napoleon at Moscow, hallowing their ashes by announcing that they had fallen " pro patria dimicantes"? To say that a warrior under such circumstances falls " pro patria dimicans " is to confound all distinctions and make the expression of no force whatever, for in that case every slain warrior wqiild fall "pro patria dimicans." Mr. Dovas- ton's suggestion of its not being in patria dimicans is or would be an instance of what Longinus would call the frigid in style, for pro patria, while it almost necessarily implies in patria, means also a good deal more ; in short if " pro aris' et focis" is a rather stronger expression it is not much so and can- not at the very least be rendered by an expression less forcible than "in the positive defence of his country." The Domesday survey states that there was a church here- abouts dedicated to St. Oswald, and upon the church itself is the following inscription yet legible with considerable difficulty : — • Hie locus Oswald o quandam placuit tibi valde Northanhimbroru fueras rex nimque polorum. Kegna tenes prato pasee Marcelde1 vocato Poscimus hinc a te nostri memor esto beato [Lino over the porch totally obliterated.] Anno milleno quingontenoquo triceno Sclater post Cristu muru rcnovaverat istum Henricus Johnson curatus erat simul hie tunc2 An ancient tradition is current that Bradley Hall, about 1 This is evidently put for Macerfeld, which would not have suited the hexameter. — Note by Mr. Littler. 2 It is very unaccountable that Camden should only give the first three lines of this inscription; he also puts " loco " instead of "Prato." Now the latter word even since 1830, and before the late renovation (the inscrip- tion lius been ably renewed within the last two or three years) could by no possible means havo been made into " loco," much less could it in Caniden's time when it was so much fresher. But for the dute contained in the inseription here given one might have thought he had copied an earlier one. It is possible that some felicitous conjecture may reconcile or account for this discrepancy.— Ibid, WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 123 three miles from Winwick, an old moated mansion with an ancient massive and ponderous stone gateway, was one of the residences of Oswald. The fixing of Oswestry as the scene of Oswald's death seems (as suggested before) to have arisen entirely from Camden. What he says upon the subject is as follows (p. 453, ed. 1607), translated : — Further from the river towards the western boundary of the county lies Oswestre or Oswaldistre (called in British, Croix Oswald), a small town surrounded with a wall and fortified by a small castle. It has a very good market, and is celebrated for Welsh cloths of a rare and fine texture, of which a great quantity is sold every week. It had its name from Oswald King of the Northumbrians (having been previously called Maserfield) whom Penda the Pagan sovereign of the Mercians slew here in a great battle, and afterwards mutilated with the most savage barbarity, respecting which a Christian poet of some antiquity supplies us with the following lines : — Cujus, &c. (This does not require translation.) It seems to have had its origin in religious feelings, for the Christians of that age held it to be a very sacred place, and Bede mentions that it was celebrated for some miracles done here where Oswald felL It was built by Madoc, brother to Mereduc, according to Caradocus Lancabernensis. And he afterwards adds : — " And the Fitzallens and Earls of Arundel, who were afterwards Lords of it enclosed it with a wall." Camden wrote or collected his materials in the reign of Elizabeth, nearly one thousand years after the event to which he above alludes. It is not at all probable that he could be in possession of any other documents relating to the matter in question than those we possess, he indeed mentions only Bede. His authority upon the subject, therefore, is of no more weight than that of an inquirer of the present day; perhaps less than that of one who lias devoted exclusive attention to the question. Many churches in this country were dedicated to St. Oswald as being an early martyr to the cause of Christianity, and it is no doubt this circumstance, coupled with the spring at Oswestry having obtained the appellation of St. Oswald's well, that led him (Camden) without a critical enquiry into the subject to fix upon that place as the scene of the Battle of Mackertield j and then by way of reconciling his ideas to the text of Bede (the latter nowhere saying a word about Oswestry) he has made out from his own imagination tho place to be previously called Maccrfeld, and afterwards to have had 124 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? its name changed to Oswestry. Where could Camden have learned that nearly a thousand years before his time that spot was ever called Macerfeld or Makerfield ? It certainly is not so now, nor is any place of Macerfeld or Mackerfield, known there or thereabouts, nor have I ever heard of its being so called in any early record, whereas Mackerfield in Lan- cashire is still subsisting, and comprises the following manors, townships, and hamlets now situated in the parishes of Winwick and Wigan, viz., Newton, Haydock, Golburn, Lowton, Ashton, Kenyon, Southworth-with-Croft, Winwick- with-Hulme, Houghton, Middleton, and Arbury, Woolston- with-Martinscroft, Poulton-with-Fearnhead, Ince, Pemberton, Billings, Winstanley, Orrell, Wigan, Hindley, and Abram. The Court of the fee of Mackerfield is or lately was held regularly at Newton, and constables and other officers ap- pointed by it for the places within the fee. Here then we have substance against shadow, reality against supposition. We ask at Oswestry "where is Mackerfield" and echo answers " where." Whereas Mackerfield at Winwick and Newton is now actually existing. It comprises the whole or greatest part of the extensive parishes of Win- wick and Wigan, and there can be little doubt it must have been anterior to their existence as parishes, because they are subdivisions of it. A second subdivision again took place, as population increased, when those parishes were subdivided into the townships above mentioned, which are now the territorial divisions of the district for all purposes of public business. The arguments here advanced, with all their concurring probabilities, if they do not bring conviction to the mind that the neighbourhood of St. Oswald's Well, in the town- ship of Newton, in Mackerfield, and near to the parish church of Winwick, was the scene of the battle of Mackerfield, will at least show that there is a far greater probability that such was the case than that it took place at Oswestry ; and, if so, as they are the only two candidates in the present ques- tion, the award against Oswestry will dispose of the entire question. Pendleton, June 1841. Thos. Littler. Soon after this paper appeared, the compiler of the present article — at the request of the editor of Local Gleanings — wrote a resume* of the arguments adduced by Mr. How el Lloyd, for that publication, where it WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 125 appeared in 1876. It was after this that the letter of " F. K S." was published, and the writer, overlooking the fact that Mr. Lloyd had explained how Tre'r Fesen of the Welsh, and Maserfield of the Saxon, were in meaning the same, said, "It is interesting to note that neither ' H. W. nor ' A. R' anywhere attempts to prove that Oswestry was ever called Maserfield." He also takes exception to the speculation of Mr. Lloyd as to the possibility of one of the stipites on which St. Oswalds limbs were hung, taking root. Illness, and subsequent pressure of other engagements, have prevented Mr. Lloyd's going into the question further until very recently. He has now, however, completed his argument, by the following reply to Mr. Littlers lengthy paper : — The arguments of Mr. Littler fall naturally under several distinct heads, which it may be as well to enumerate: — ■ 1. Maserfield. 2. St. Oswald's Wells at Winwick and at Oswestry. 3. The inscription in Winwick Church. 4. Nennius. 5. The course of the invasion by Penda of Northumbria. 6. The translation of S. Oswald's body to Bardney. As to the first of these, Mr. Littler asks, " On what autho- rity does it rest that there ever was a Maserfield or Makerfield in Shropshire ? Historians seem to infer from the name of the place ' Oswaldstree' that Oswald was crucified, or fixed upon a tree there : then, because Bede says it happened at Maserfelth, therefore Oswaldstree was previously Maserfelth. 'Nil nisi nubes ct aer.' "l Then he gives a letter from Mr. Dovaston, in which he says, " The earliest name of the town I can find was Blanchminster, afterwards Maserfield till the <*reat battle of 5th August, 642, after which . . . it took that of Os- waldestree." On which he comments thus : — " It would have been very desirable that Mr. Dovaston should have informed us where he found out that the town was originally called Blanchminster. . . . This minster must have been changed into a field (Maserfield) and the Latter into Oswestry, all before about a.d. 050. The same may be said of its supposed pre- vious name of Maserfield or Maserfelth. Where, as respects 1 Query misquoted from Ovid'3 " Qiiottimquo aspicias nihil est nisi pontun ct tier," (the word ' nubes' involving a false quantity), giveu as an example in the Eton Latin Grammar. VOL. II. & 126 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE % Oswestry, does such a name ever occur except in the appli- cation of it by Camden, and his assumption that Oswestry is the place meant by Bede ? Camden has probably been the cause of all the mistake He assumes, because Bede speaks of a Fossa, this to be the place where Oswald was slain, and though nobody before that time (about 1580 or 1G00) ever heard of a 'Maserfelth' there, he, to recon- cile it with Bede's account, assumes that it wras at first Maser- felth, but had afterwards become Oswestry from the above circumstance. He knows nothing of Mr. Dovaston's Blanch- minster." Now it may be difficult to believe, but is nevertheless true, that all these " assumptions" were originated, not in the brain of Mr. Camden, but in that of Mr. Littler himself. Doubt- less it was an error on the part of Mr. Dovaston, owing, per- haps, to a lapsus memorice, to write that the town was first called Blanchminster, afterwards Maserfield, and, after the battle of 642, Oswaldestree. But his mistake was not appro- priated from Camden, whom he simply quotes as stating the Fact that " the town has its name from Oswald, King of the Northumbrians, whereas before it was called Maserfield (' cum antea Maserfield vocaretur'), whom Penda, the Pagan prince of the Mercians, here in a severe engagement slew, and when slain with the greatest barbarity dismembered." Mr. Dovas- ton's error was in saying that the town was called Blanch- minster first and Maserfield afterwards, whereas ho had just quoted Camden as saying that it was called Maserfield before the battle. That the name of Blanchminster or White Minster (in Latin, Candida Ecclesia) was given to the church built there in honour of S. Oswald in Norman times, is proved by tho clement of ' blanch' in the word, and is, moreover, a fact well known to historians, from extant contemporary docu- ments. Mr. Davies, in the portion of his MS. work quoted below on " The Antient and Modern Names of the Towne and Boroughe of Oswestry," quotes a Charter having date from William, son of William Fitzalan, " Recepi in manu et p'tecon, mea Burgenses meos de Blancmonster, &c." ^ He also quotes Godwin ' De Prsesulibus EcclesiaB Anglicanse (fol. 546) as mentioning a grant by Bishop Reyner of Blank Monasterie to the Monks of Shrewsbury, and an anonymous Latin author to the fact that Bp. Reyner converted Blanc Monasterie to bo the first church of Os- westry : — " Reynerus Eniscopus Asaphensis monasterium Oswaldi ecclesiam parochialem Sti Oswaldi fecit." A little further research might easily have convinced Mr. Littler of the WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 127 true nature of Mr. Dovaston's error. It was, however, more to his purpose to avail himself of Mr. Dovaston's slip' though transparent on the face of it, and in reverting after- wards to the point, to remark, " We ask at Oswestry ' Where is Mackerfield' (ingeniously changing the spelling) and echo answers ' Where V Whereas Mackerfield at Win wick and Newton is now actually existing." And so utterly is he car- ried away by his hypothesis of Camden's inventiveness that he ignores altogether two most important additional state- ments in Mr. Dovaston's postscript, viz., " Maserfelt is the field of oaks, a tree that thrives remarkably well in our soil," and " The Corporation seal of Oswestry has the effigies of Oswald and an oak." The relevency of these facts to the matter is conclusively shown by the practical application of them by the recorder of Oswestry, John Davies, m his work still extant in manuscript (Had. MS. 1981), entitled "Transcripts of Charters relating to Oswestry, with Historical Notes, addressed to Thomas, Earl of Arundel, 1G35." He tells us (I condense his language) that Oswestry, also pronounced Osester, was more anciently written ' Oswaldestree' (Gir. Cambr.), by the Welsh Croes-Oswald, q.e. Oswaldi crucem vel arborem, tnat it was called before that by the Saxons Maserfield (written by Bede Meserfelth), signifying ' glandium campus,' which is also signified by the Welsh name ' Trefesen/ as appears by a Welsh Bard, ' Llosgawdd ffaglawdd ei phen, Trwy oer fisif tre'r fesen,' i.e., Glandium Urbs. Whence the Normans called it Glande- ville and Glanvill, and the Welsh Bards Tre Koderi (Coed deri), Town of the Great Oakes. Therefore the oaken bough was antiently the Arms of the Town of Oswestry. On the old Common Seal of brass is depicted a king (K. Oswald ?) sitting on a chair, holding a sword in his hand, and in his left hand an oaken bough. Whence the oaken bough in the mouth of the White Horse, the Crest of the Fitzalans. In the margin is this note : — " Mesbury, (now Maesbury, called in Domesday Meresbury), a hamlet in the parish of Oswestry, is now called 1 Llysfeisir' or Llys feisydd/ Thus a basis is supplied for a correct inference as to the order of nomencla- ture. 1. The Welsh ' Tre-fesen' corrupted by the Saxons into Mesafelth, or Maserlelth, and then into Maserfield, the name of the district in which is Oswestry, as Win wick is in Macker- field. 2. The Monastery founded on the spot in honour of S. Oswald, called Album Monasterium, Candida, Ecclesia, Y Fonachlog Wen (by the Welsh, according to Davies), and Blancmonster and Blancminstcr by the Normans, all meaning the same thing, viz., White Monastery, applied latterly also 128 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? to the town, which grew up around the monastery. 3. Mes- bury, corrupted into Maesbury, when the town in Trefesen, to which a Fitzalan granted a Charter, grew into a borough ; and 4, Oswaldestree, and Oswestry, from the ' tre' or district, or else possibly from the traditional tree, on which the King's arm was recorded to have been hung. A further basis is sup- plied for reconciling the statement of Nennius, that the battle was fought at Codoy, Avith that of the Saxon historians that'it was fought at Maserfield. For, just as Winwick is in Macker- field, so may Codoy have been in the larger locality of Maser- field ; and Nennius, as a British historian, representing, as his editors believe him to do, a much earlier author, gives, as might naturally be expected, the precise situation of the spot, the territorial appellation only for which reached the foreign and more distant chroniclers. From all this it is certain that Oswestry had its Maserfield, as Winwick its Mackerfield, the former, however, more nearly reflecting the ancient British name, as well as character of the place, but both alike desig- nating a district rather than a town, that being the ancient meaning of the word ' tre.' Maserfelth is, therefore, Oak-field, a translation of the original British name of Trefesen (compare English ' mast'), and the Arms connected St. Oswald with the Oak. Again, Davies informs us "There was an old oak lately standing in Mesbury within the parish of Oswestry, where one of King Oswald's arms hung, say the neighbours by tradition ;" whence it appears that I was not so far out in my surmise, ridiculed by "F.R.S." in his letter in "Local Gleanings" in April, 187G, that one of the ' stipites' may have developed into a large tree. Lancashire antiquaries, however, may still fail to be satisfied. " Camden (so says one of them), has been the cause of all the mistake," and Davies was contemporary with Camden. Davies, however, as has been seen, produced evidence wholly inde- fendent of Camden, but let that pass. When, in April, 1876, sent for insertion in " Local Gleanings" a brief communication in reply to Mr. Littler and his commentator " F.R.S.," it was courteously rejected by the Editor on the ground that it gave no " authority connecting Oswestry by name with the scene of Oswald's death before Camden." In my ineffectual search for Anne's Life of Oswald referred to by the late Mr. 0. Cockayne in his paper on the " Death of K. Oswald " in Notes & Queries, May 17, 1873, but which seems never to have existed, I came upon another Life, which I believe to have been that which Mr. Cockayne hacl in his mind, entjtlec} " De Sancto Oswaldo WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 129 Rege et Martire," in Capgrave's "Nova Legenda Anglise," printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1516. Capgrave's represents an earlier Collection of Saints' Lives by John of Teignmouth, the MS. of which was unfortunately destroyed in the fire in the British Museum. This is what he writes : — " Comi8so tandem gravi praelio ab eadem gente pagana, paganoque rege Merciorum Penda, a quo et predecessor ejus Edwinus peremptus fuerat : in loco qui lingua Anglorum Maserfeld vocatur, occisas est anno a)tatus sua) tricesimo octavo nonis Augusti. Est autem locus illo conterminus finibus Armorica) Wallieeque. Antiquitus pars maxima Walliao dicta est Armorica. Ab urbo cnim Salopian septem fere miliaribus versus eandem Walliam distari probatur idem locus, abbatisque Salopiae ditioni cedit. A fossa quoque regis Offao quae Angliam et Walliam dividit, miliario non plene dimidio, et a Wenlociensi cenobio miliaribus sexdecim separantur. In quo quidem campo ecclesia quce Candida Ecclesia dicitur in s'cti Oswaldi honore fundatur, et non procul indo fons percnnis exoritur, qui ab incolus fons Sancti Oswaldi nominatur. Penda vero rex caput Sancti Oswaldi abscissum cum brachiis per annum in stipitibus suspendi jussit. Oswaldus namquer ex regno Merciorum primitus subjugato et rege Penda in Walliam fugato congregatis paganorum copiis in loco memorato sanctum regem Oswaldum interfecit." As some of my readers may be unacquainted with Latin, I subjoin a translation : — " A severe engagement having at length been fought by the same Pagan nation and Penda the Pagan King of the Mercians by whom Edwin his predecessor had also been slain, on the spot which in the language of the Angles is called Maserfeld he (Oswald) was killed, on the 5th of August, in the 88th year of his age. Now that spot is conterminous with the boundaries of Armorica and Wales. In ancient times the most part of Wales was called Armorica. For the same spot is proved to be about 7 miles distant from the city of Salop in tho direction of the same Wales, and is subject to the juris- diction of tho abbot of Salop. It is also separated from K. Ofla's Dyke by not full half a mile, and from the Abbey of Wenlock by 16 miles. In which plain in fact the Church, which is called the White Church, is founded in honour of St. Oswald, and not far from it rises up an unfailing spring, which is named by the inhabitants St. Oswald's Well. But king Penda ordered St. Oswald's head with the arms to be cut off' and hung upon stakes for a year. For king Oswald having first of all subdued the kingdom of the Mercians and driven Penda into Wales, he assembled the forces ot the Pagans, and slew the holy king Oswald on the spot above recorded." Here, then, is tho proof required — the historian prior to Camden — from whom Camden, moreover, clearly derived his information, and who is emoted also by Dugdale as his authority for a similar statement m his Monasticon, The first few lines 130 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? only are taken from Bede ; for the remainder Capgrave must have been indebted to some source dried up by the " Reform- ation." Alford, the historian, commenting on this passage about a century afterwards, says : — " All which things (I translate his Latin) make for Oswestry. And so I fear the Lancastrians must lose their cause (timeo ne causa cadant), especially when it is told there, that Penda had been lately overcome in battle by Oswald, and put to flight. Whence it follows that this part of Mercia had been added to Northumbria, coming into which, and for which Penda now appears to have fought." Whence it seems that the dispute between Oswestrians and Lancastrians for the death-site of Oswald is more than 250 years old ! And their case having thus failed as regards Maserfelth, I trust to be able to show that the facts make for Oswestry rather than Win wick also on the other points. The remaining topics of Mr. Littler's argument are, for the most part, so interwoven together that it may be diffi- cult to take them separately. I propose to deal with them therefore, in the order in which they naturally occur in the course of my argument. And, as the latter part of Mr. Littler's reasoning turns very much upon the direction that might naturally nave been taken in the invasion of Nor- thumbria from Mercia by Penda, I will commence with ex- amining his hypothesis, and the manner in which he brings it to bear upon the conclusion he seeks to establish. " Os- westry," he says, " is 40 miles within the territory of Penda, the sovereign of Mercia Why should Oswald and Penda be righting at that remote corner of Penda's domin- ions, unless, like duellists, they had gone to an obscure corner to havo it out privately? But Winwick is in the direct high road of an enemy advancing from Mercia upon an antagonist in Northumbria." Then ho proceeds to infer that because the Derbyshire hills on the east, and the Mer- sey, the Marshes, and Chat Moss on the west, would present impassable barriers to an army invading Northumbria out of Mercia, therefore Oswald would probably have been slain at Winwick, near which has been discovered part of a Roman road running in a northerly direction, rather more than half a mile to the W. of the Church, while the site of St. Oswald's Well is rather more than half-a-mile to the E. of the direction this Roman road would pursue. It will bo seen at once that this argument is entirely hypothetical, and proceeds on the assumption that tho battle in, or con- sequent whereupon, St. Oswald lost his life, was fought WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE t 131 during the progress of an invasion of the Northumbrian territory^ by Penda towards the north. But the facts of history, so far as they have come down to us, militate wholly against such an assumption, and point really in the opposite direction. To show this it will be necessary to go back a little, so as to trace the course of events from the commencement of the strife up to the date of the last en- gagement. We must look to the origin of the respective kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, and the causes which led Welsh princes to be mixed up in the conflict. It will be remembered that, about the middle of the foregoing century, the Saxon kingdom of Northumbria had been established by Ida, called by the British Fflamddwyn, or the Flame bearer, who landed in England A.D. 547, and after a series of well-fought and bloody engagements, in which he and his Angles were opposed by the heroes of Taliesen's song, Urien Bheged, and his son Owen, by the latter of whom he was at length slain, had succeeded in bringing under his own sovereignty the Cymric territory of Bryneich, called by the chroniclers, who wrote in Latin Bernicia, which comprised the county of Northumberland and the south-east coast of Scotland, as far as the Forth: and by Ella, or Alia, whose followers were also Angles, who established himself in Deifr, latinized into Deira, which in- cluded the counties of Durham, Westmoreland, York, and Lancaster. These two states appear to have coalesced before the beginning of the 7th century. It is said by some that Ida succeeded in uniting the two territories of Bernicia and Deira into one kingdom, and that at his death they were again separated by Ella, who seized upon Deira for himself. It is certain, howevor, that Ethelfrith, the grandson of Ida, found himself at his succession in possession of Bernicia only; and that Edwin, tho son of Ella, who was an infant of three years old at tho death of his father, was forcibly ejected by Ethelfrith from his kingdom of Deira. The child, according to the Welsh Bruts, was carried into North Wrales, and educated at the court of Cadvan, King of Gwynedd, together with his own son Cadwallawn. Grown to man's estate, we find him again at the court of Ethel- frith, possibly in consequence of the introduction of a con- dition to that effect into the terms of the peace made between the latter and Cadvan, who, if the Welsh Bruts are to be believed had pursued Ethelfrith into the north after the victory gained over him on tho Deo by tho united forces of the Welsh princes in reparation of the disaster at Bangor 132 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? Iscoed. According to a paper by Mr. Boyd Dawkins in the Archceologia Cambrensis (iv. 236, 4th series) "in all proba- bility South Lancashire was occupied by the English at this time," when " the Brit-Welsh inhabitants were either put to the sword or compelled to become bondsmen of the con- querors." Thus the establishment of a royal residence in the neighbourhood of Winwick, even prior to St. Oswald is fully accounted for, but it does not seem to have occured to Mr. Littler that the local tradition to that effect, taken in combination with the inscription on the Church, militates rather against the hypothesis of his death there than for it. " Time was," says the inscription, " when this place, Oswald pleased thee well." Why? Because he was slain there? Is the ghost of a murdered man supposed to haunt the spot where he was murdered simply Decause he liked it? But the inscription proceeds to say, "Who hadst been king of the Northumbrians, and now possessest the king- dom of the skies, having suffered %n a meadow called Mercelde!' Does this look like a reference to a place close to Winwick, itself within the very district of Mackerfield, in which, by the hypothesis he was slain ? On the contrary, the allusion to the "meadow called Mercelde" is the style of one who refers to a distant spot ; while the word ' prato ' meadow, seems to agree well with the Codoy of Nennius in giving a distinctive character to the spot, namely, of a wood near water. Edwin, whose life was endangered by the jealousy of Ethelfrith, after a term of houseless wanderings, threw him- self on the protection of Redwald, king of E. Anglia, who received him hospitably, but, at length, pressed by Ethelfrith first with bribes, and then with threats of war, consented to betray his guest. Warned by a friend, Edwin, meditating one night in front of the palace on his dismal future, is said to have been consoled by the vision of a person who told him that if he would follow the admonitions of one who should teach him the way of salvation, he should excel in power not only his own ancestors, but all who had ever been kings in England. Then, laying his hand upon his head, he added, 'When this sign shall be given thee, remem- ber this hour and this discourse.' The sign was afterwards recalled to his recollection by St. Paulinus, when Edwin, after the defeat and death of Ethelfrith at the battle of the Idle in A.D. G17, had been restored to his throne, and ex- tended his conquests so far, that they included even the islands of Mona and Man. Through the agency of St. Paulinus he became a Christian, and married, for his second WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? 133 wife, St. Ethelburga, daughter of Ethelbert, the first Christian King of Kent. We then find him at war with Cadwallawn, Prince of Gwynedd, and by the election of the Cymry, Sovereign Paramount of Britain ; but, as to the cause of their warfare, the history is so vague and meagre as it has come to us through the Saxon Chroniclers, and through the Welsh, so entangled with fable, as to leave but little that can be relied on as truth. It appears certain, however, that Cadwall- awn was in the first instance so thoroughly discomfited by Edwin that he was chased by him into Wales, and compelled to flee into Ireland, where, it is stated in a Triad that he re- mained for seven years, during which his dominions must have remained in possession of Edwin ; so that it would seem not impossible that the settlement of Angles in Flint- shire (in Teg Eingl, the fair Angles), and in Angle-sey (the Isle of Angles), may have dated originally from his reign, and subsequently only from those of Egbert or Edgar, and that from Edwin the founder of one of the Noble Tribes of North Wales may have derived his name. Cadwallawn, say the Bruts, now took refuge with Selyf, or Solomon, King 01 Armorica, returned to Britain, and encoun- tered Penda, King of Mercia, whom he defeated and took prisoner,1 but having afterwards united with him, and married his sister, they jointly attacked Edwin, and defeated and slew him. The spot where the battle was fought is stated by both the Saxon and Welsh Chroniclers, to have been Hethfeltn, that is, Hatfield Chase in Yorkshire ; two, however, excepted, Nennius and Annales Cambriae, who place it at Meigen or Meiceren in Powysland. Nennius has " bellum Meicen" in which he says Edwin and his sons were slain " ab exercitu, Catgwollauni regis Gwenedote regionis," and the Ann. Cambriae A.D. G30, " Gueith Meiceren (MS. B has ' Bellum Meigen') et ibi intcrfectus est Etguin cum duo bus filiis suis : Catguollaaun autem victor fuit." In the Elegy of Cadwallawn the contem- porary Bard, Llywarch Hen, names Meigen as the site of one of his battles. But, as he mentions only that Meigen was burnt, and is silent on the death of Edwin, he can hardly be said altogether to confirm the account of the Chronicles. He speaks, however, of two other encampments of Cadwallawn, one on the Severn, and the other on Mynydd Digoll, the Long Mountain. Both are near enough to Oswestry to prove that its neighbourhood was the scene of more than one battle-field between the Cymry and the Saxons; an important fact, because, as has" been well remarked, " history repeats itself 1 Four Ancient Books of Wales, v. 1, c. 5, p. 09. VOL. H. 134 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? and the same neighbourhood which witnessed the defeat and, perhaps, also the death of Edwin, may, by a natural conse- quence, have witnessed also the defeat and death of Oswald.1 The two sons of St. Edwin, Off'rid and Eadfrid, having fallen together with their father in the disastrous battle of Iieth- felth, the kingdom of Northumbria was left destitute of a direct heir to the throne. On the death of Ethelfrith, his three sons, Eanfrid, Oswald, and Oswy, had taken refuge in Scotland, where they were baptised and brought up in the Christian faith. The three now returned. We learn from Bede that Cadwallawn made a most pitiless slaughter of the inhabitants of Northumbria, and devastated the country for a whole year. Osric, who was the son of Elfric, the brother of Ella, and first cousin of St. Edwin, assumed the sovereignty of Deira, but in the very next summer was slain by Cadwallawn in battle. Eanfrid, the exiled son of Ethelfrith, became king of Bernicia, but having sought a conference with the victor, attended by only twelve soldiers, to sue for peace, was, together with his escort, murdered by him in cold blood. The two princes had reverted to Paganism, and their untimely end was regarded by their subjects in the light of a divine retri- bution for their sin of apostacy from the Christian faith. The year of their reign was, by common consent of the Chroniclers, clotted from the page of history, and added by them as a ninth year to the eight years of St. Oswald, who succeeded them in the united sovereignty of both kingdoms. Before he could reign undisturbed, however, it was necessary that he should rid the land of the invader. He collected what forces he could raise, the number of which proved wholly insufficient to enable him to cope, humanly speaking, with the joint armies of his foes, Cadwallawn, king of Gwynedd, and Penda, king of Mercia, his Pagan ally. They met at a place called Denisesburn, near the Roman Wall from Tyne to Solway. At the time of his brothers' apostacy, St. Oswald had stood firm to his Christian 1 Lluest Cadwallawn ar Hafren, Ac o'r tu draw i Ddygcn, A breiaid yn llosgi Meigen, Lluest Cadwallawn glodrydd, Yngwarthaf Digoll Fynydd, Seith-mis a seith-gad beunydd. An encampment of Cadwallawn on Severn, And on the farther side of Dygen, And men of action burning Meigen. An encampment of Cadwallawn the renowned, At the foot of the Digoll mountain, — Seven months, and seven fights daily. WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE % 135 calling, and now, when " vain was the help of man," he had recourse to the arm of God. He caused a rude cross of wood to be raised on the field, and with his own hands upheld it while being fixed firmly in the ground. No sooner did it stand erect than the king cried out to the army with a loud voice, "Let us all bend our knees, and pray unto the Lord Omnipotent, living and true, to defend us by His pitifulness from our proud and fierce enemy ; for He Himself knows that our war is a just war for the safety of our nation." At break of day the battle began, when Oswald obtained a complete victory, and Cadwallawn was left dead upon the field. Bede tells us only that the impious commander of the Britons (infandus Britonum dux) was slain in this battle ; but Mr. Skene, in his introductory chapters to the Four Ancient Books of Wales,1 is inclined to think that this commander was not Cadwallawn, because Bede does not mention his name, because Nennius says the general slain in this battle, which he calls "Bellum Catscaul" (i.e.) Cad is gival, "battle at the wall," was " Cadgublawn, rex Gwenodote regionis," while he calls Cadwallawn Cadgwollaun ; and because Tighernac, the Irish chronicler, " in G32 records a battle by Cathlon in quo Oswalt mac Etelfraith victor erat, et Cathlon Rex Britonum cecidit ;" while he had named Cadwallawn Chon in the pre- vious year. Mr. Skene supposes, therefore, that the king slain may have been Cadvan, his father, with whom he may have reigned for a time conjointly, and that the Welsh Bruts may bo " not unworthy of credit in representing the reign of Cad- wallawn, the son, as lasting many years longer." " It is, there- fore, not unlikely," he adds, " that Cadwallawn assisted Penda in the war when Oswald was slain, and in the war between Oswy and Penda, in G55, when Penda was eventually slain." Now, whether Cadwallawn did or did not lose his life in this battle, it is manifest that a victory so decisive as to place St. Oswald at once in possession of the entire kingdom or North- umbria, which had been wrested from his predecessors, must have resulted also in placing both his adversaries, the King of Mercia as well as of North Wales, completely hors de combat Left alone Penda would naturally have sought to effect his retreat into his own kingdom of Mercia, and if pursued, would have, in all probability, effected his escape over the borders into North Wales, where his ally Cadwallawn, if he were living, or his late subjects, if lie were dead, would be able and ready to shelter him. A comparison of tho statements of the historians, 1 p.p. 71 and 72. 136 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE? if it does not actually prove, yet shows very strong ground for the belief that this was the actual course oi subsequent events. " Creoda, the first King of Mercia" (A.D. 585—593) says Pal- Northumbria. Penda, a fierce and valiant warrior, cast off this allegiance.2 Oswald would not, then, have failed to take advantage of so favourable an opportunity to recover so fair a portion of the territory of his predecessors ; Mercia, con- sequently, during the interval between the battles of Helth- felth and Maserfelth, would have again become re-united to North umbria, and Maserfelth itself, instead of, as imagined by Mr. Littler, being " a remote corner of Penda's," would be a part of S. Oswald's dominions at the time of the latter en- gagement. What, then, becomes of his argument ? To use his own expression, it has vanished into nubes et aer ; or rather, it has gone over to the opposite side, and added im- pregnable strength to the argument in favour of Oswestry. Capgrave that he did do. " King Oswald," he says, " having first of all subdued the kingdom of the Mercians and driven Penda into Wales," &c. And Bede (III. C) " Rex Osuald— denique omnes nationes et provincias Britannia, quae in qua- tor hnguas, id est, Brittonum, Pictorum, Scottorum, et An- glorurn divisa» sunt, in ditione accepit," That is : — King Oswald received under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain, which are divided into four languages, that is, of the Britons, Picts, Scots, and Angles. "All." Therefore Mercia — for Mercia was one of the parts of Britain in possession of the Angles. Bede likewise disposes of the argument, scarcely, perhaps, worth the space required for stating it, from the supposed non-identity of Bardney, where the body of S. Oswald was buried, to the ' Bearthanege' of the Saxon Chronicle, and the unlikelihood that it should- be carried there. In the 11th chapter of his 3rd Book, he gives a full relation of the translation of his relics to Bard- ney Monastery by Osthryda, the daughter of his brother Oswy, by whom Penda had been slain in battle, and also the reason, viz. : — Because that Queen, together with ^Edilred her husband, held that monastery in <*reat esteem, veneration and affection, and therefore desired to lay in it the honoured bones 1 Hist of Anglo-Saxons, p. 38, Ed. 1870. 2 Nennins says " Penda . . . primus separavit regnum Mercioruni a regno Nordcrum." In CalcsEU. App, p. 117- vassal under the supremacy of WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE ? 137 of her uncle. " Quod eadem regina cum viro suo iEdilredo multum diligebat, venerabatur, excolebat, in quo desiderabat honoranda patrui sui ossa recondere." (Ecc. Hist Hi. 62). We now come to the last argument of Mr. Littler, which deserves attention rather from the importance which he ap- pears to attach to it than from any intrinsic weight in itself. He gives a long quotation from Bede relating to the miracles which he states to have been wrought on the spot where S. Osweld fell, and then proceeds to argue that because that author makes no mention of water, therefore no natural spring could have existed on the spot at the time. And then he argues that, because there is now no spring, but only a hole in the earth, into which a little water oozes from the adjoining ground on the spot known at Winwick " beyond the memory of man as S. Oswald's Well," therefore it corresponds suffi- ciently to the description of Bede, who terms it " fossa," to prove that it was the spot where S. Oswald actually fell. Here, however, Mr. Littler is sufficiently refuted from his own evidence. The spot, he tells us himself, has been known by the name of S. Oswald's Well beyond the memory of man. He informs us, too, that " the well in question has been used by the Roman Catholics up to about twenty-five years past as sacred. The water was sent for from it to be used as the holy water of the Roman Catholic Chapels. An old man of the name of Henry Roughly, who died about 1830, at the age of 75, and who had lived near it the greater part of his life, in- formed us that an old Catholic lady was accustomed to give him three shillings in his youth to keep it clear of weeds." He adds that a Catholic gentleman named Ash ton never passed it " without going into the field, and impressing on his forehead the form of a cross from its waters." How does all this agree with his previous assertion that there was here nothing more than a dry hole, into which a little water oozed from tiio adjoining ground ? But the fact of the existence of a well is confirmed by the Rev. Alban Butler, living about 1700, who says distinctly in his life of S. Oswald, "At Win- wick in Lancashire, is a well still called St. Oswald's." (Lives of the Saints, Aug. 5th.) Where is the probability that people would for miles around have sought a mere hole in the ground for the chance of the overflow into it of a little water, or that it would have needed clearing from weeds, unless it had been a well, or that such a hole would have continued to exist in the same untended condition from the date of the battle to our own day (a. P. (>43— 1874), moro than 1200 years ? Nor does the existence of a holy well necessarily presuppose 138 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE % the site of a battle, or the death by any means on the spot of the person whose name it may bear, however venerated by posterity. Obviously this particular well may have become associated with the memory of S. Oswald from other causes, more especially in a place where he had been accustomed to reside. The tradition of Oswestry is wholly independent of the well1 named from S. Oswald, which existed there till desecrated by persons who cared nought for the Saint, or his memory, and would have execrated as superstitious the belief that his prayers had efficacy with the Almighty for the relief of sickness, or other woes of humanity. Accordingly Mr. Littler sneers at the statement in the Saxon Chronicle that the hand (not hands as written by him) was preserved incor- rupt at Bamborough till the date of the Saxon Chronicle. But William of Malmesbury, 400 years later, is equally ex- plicit as to its preservation in his day. " Nam quod auditor mirari debet, et inficairi nemo audeat, dextra ilia regalis, tan- tarum eleesymosynarum largitrix, hodie cum brachio, cute, et nervis incorrupta viget." For, — a thing which the hearer ought to admire, and no one may venture to deny, that royal right hand, the lavisher of so many almsgivings, is, at this day, together with the arm, skin, and sinews, sound and incorrupt.2 Similar testimony is borne by Hoveden in the 12th, Matthew of Westminster in the 13th, and Capgrave in the 14th cen- turies, and after them by Polydore Vergil and Harpsfield. Harpsfield says that S. Oswald was slain " inter medias ora- tioncs," in the midst of his prayers, as if in reference to some account other than has come down to us through Bede and the Saxon Chronicle. This seems to throw some light on the expression ' per diabolicam artem,' of Nennius, and to inti- mate that he was not killed fighting in actual battle, but at some spot where he was surprised, and taken unawares at a disadvantage. Thus may be reconciled the possibility of the King's death having been compassed at Oswestry, notwith- standing that the principal battle-scene may have taken place 1 We learn from Leland that the tradition respecting the well was "aquilam brachium Oswaldi a stipite proeripuisse, sed excidis.se ei quo loco nunc fons est." An eagle carried oil" an arm of Oswald from a stake, and it fell on the spot where the spring now is. -Malinsbury lib. I. de He. c. 3, quoted by Al ford, who makes the following observation on Camden's disingenuousness in ascribing the incorruptness or the hand to the artifice of the monks : — " lta ille (Caindcnus), Dei mirabilia narrans et eludens : quasi desicrit Sanctos honorare, quia desierunt Sectarii credere illos colendos esse." — So says Camden, when narrating and evading the wonderful works of God : as though lie had ceased to honour the Saints, because the Sectaries have ceused to believe that they ought to be wor- shipped. WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE t 139 at Coedway, the Codoy of Nennius, at a few miles distance near the Severn. " Et quemadmodum per totam prius vitam in orationibus assiduus fuit (adeo ut a nocturnis laudibus ad lucem usque orationem continuare soleret), ita et inter medias orationes, quibus proeter coetera, exercitus sui animos reg- numque Deo commendavit coesus est sexto Augusti." And as he was constant in prayer during the whole of his previous life (so that he was wont to continue his prayer from the praises of the night even unto dawn), so was he slain also in the midst of the prayers wherein, besides other things, he commended to God the dispositions of his army, and his kingdom, on the sixth of August. Of the hand he says : — " There live to this day witnesses most worthy, and above all exception, who have related to me they have seen it them- selves," and adds, " To conclude, on that spot where he was slain for Christ in Wales, not far from Salop has been built a church to his memory called Whitchurch. Adjacent to the church is a well, which, from its name, is deemed to be St. Oswald's. Lastly, the town in the same place, is, in the British tongue, called at this day Oswestry, that is Oswald's town." The head was sent by Oswy to Lindisfarne, where it was put by the monks, when they fled from the Danes, into the coffin of S. Cuthbert, which, when opened a few years since in Durham Cathedral, was found to contain two heads, one of them probably S. Oswald's. His other relics were trans- lated to Flanders, probably to preserve them from the hands of English fanatics, where they were destroyed in the French invasion under King Henry III. in 1558.1 A chain is never stronger than its weakest link. Mr. Baines who, in his History of Lancashire, has adopted the account of Mr. Littler, has been certainly hasty in concluding from it that the " preponderance of evidence is for Winwick." Each link of Mr. Littler's chain of evidence has now been separately and carefully examined, and not a single one has been found to rest upon any substantial basis. To the super- ficial reader the argument may carry an appearance of plausibility as a whole, but will not bear the test of analysis, or comparison of dates and events. Moreover, by those who desire to form a trustworthy judgment in this matter it should be borne in mind that S. Oswald is associated by the tradition of the place with Winwick as Ins residence merely, and not in any way with his death, which, in the case of t;iat town, is 1 Life of S. Oswald by Drogo Moiiachus, Cwuobii Wiuocibcrgcnsis in Flan- dria, quoted by the New Bollandists. 146 WHERE DID KING OSWALD DIE % purely and simply a matter of antiquarian inference. Oswestry, on the contrary, possesses, and has always possessed, in addi- tion to the significance of its name, a clear and distinct native tradition connecting it with the death, and not with the life of S. Oswald.1 The preponderance of evidence is surely, then, in favour of Oswestry. Or, to speak more precisely, the use of the word ' preponderance ' is here altogether out of place. The supposed evidence for Winwick, having been proved to be desti- tute of any real foundation in every particular, has vanished into space, and Like the baseless fabric of a vision, Leaves not a wrack behind. H. W. L. In conclusion, we submit that Mr. Howel Lloyd has the best of the argument, and we think unprejudiced readers will hold the same opinion. As Salopians we must all feel that he has added an interesting chapter to our local history on a subject that has hitherto received but scant justice at the hands of local anti- quaries. Did space permit, we might supplement the foregoing by extracts from other writers ; but we have perhaps given as much room as ought to be devoted to the subject in a publication like this ; and enough to be useful to the future historian. 1 Several incidental, but on that account all the more valuable circumstances in confirmation of the death of St. Oswald at Oswestry have been brought to light by the study of the Welsh language and literature. The Bard Cynddclw, in the 12th century, in the poem entitled " Can Tysiliaw," speaks of the intercession of St. Oswald being invoked by inhabitants of Mont- gomeryshire. The exclamation " Myn Oswal !" By Oswald! occurs in the writings of Guto 'r Glyn, a Bard of the 15th century, in a way that shows it was common in at least parts of North Wales in his time. And there is a proverbial expression given, in addition to the above, by Mr. T. G. Jones in his interesting collection of 14 Welsh Proverbs, Triads, and Truisms," in Montgomeryshire Collections, which, from its character of an " undesigned coincidence," is extremely remarkable. It is in vol. xi., p. 306, and is, per- haps, best stated in his own words : " No. 304. Myn 4 Yswydd' neu 4 Yswyn'; myn 4 Oswy.' (As Oswy liveth ; by Oswy.) An oath, a vow, an appeal to 4 Oswy,' — to 4 Oswald,' we presume. Used mainly when a person threatens revenge on another. 4 Mi wnaf o yn 44 Yswy" man' ; I'll make him painfully small ; I'll cut him up." Literally, " I will make a minced Oswald of him. ' 141 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. By ASKEW ROBERTS, Oswestry. " * Where are Lloyd and George V asked Lord Kenyon, wishing that my father might see them. " ' They are in the garden/ was the answer. " ' And where is Tom V " ' Master Thomas is in the stable, my Lord/ was the reply given by the footman/' * * * * This questioning between master and man took place at Gredington, when the famous " Nimrod," then only a boy of fifteen, was, with his father, a guest at Lord Kenyon's dinner table. Of the three sons of the great lawyer, mentioned here, Lloyd died young, and George (who, Mr. Apperley thought, was never half a dozen times in a stable in his life) succeeded to his father's title ; whilst " Tom" — or " His Honour," as coachmen and guards, by whom he was all but idolized, loved to call him, — throughout his life " delighted in seeing twelve or fourteen coach-horses bedded down, all for his own driving on the Shrewsbury road."1 1 " P.P.," writing in Land and Water, in 1875, says, " The well- known ' whip,' the Honourable Thomas Kenyon, or ' His Honour,' kept his coach regularly at work throughout the year, leaving the Pradoo, if my memory serves me, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The start was to the second, and no latitude was allowed, should even Mrs. Kenyon or the ladies of the family be intending passengers ; so, at least, tho story goes. * The Honourable 1 was very indulgent ; he would give a lift to any decent wayfarer on ono condition ; no sticks were allowed, and tho pedestrian, if he wished VOL. IT. M 142 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KEN YON. Shropshire readers will scarcely need to be reminded that " the most popular man in the county," as for a ride, must throw his stick away. I have seen this done by country people. When I was quite a youth I had many opportuni- ties of seeing the coach at work. 1 The Honourable ' was a stylish, but by no means a rapid driver, the pace being about eight miles an hour. The team, and the whole turn out, I need not say, were first- rate. ' The Honourable,' I believe, never took his coach off the road, as is too much the case now-a-days, in favour of any race meet; only once within my knowledge did he make the slightest variation, and that was on the occasion of the famous sale of Lord Berwick's effects at Attingham, in July and August, 1827. The sale lasted no less than sixteen days, and, for the accommodation of the gentry, Mr. Kenyon lengthened his usual journey by the additional four miles. I was driven by ' His Honour ' from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton on the Salop and London Union coach ; he was very careful, using the skid much more than the ordinary coachmen did, but this was of little consequence, as the Union was not a very fast coach. I need not say that Mr. Kenyon was an admitted authority on all matters connected with ' the road,' A little anecdote bearing on this may not be out of place. Many years ago (1825) a movement was set on foot to improve the communication between Liverpool and Chester and South Wales. Two schemes were proposed, one to adhere to the old route through Llanymynech, lowering the hills and filling up the hollows, the other to construct a new line of road avoiding that village, and keeping through the low-lying district on the east. A meeting of landowners and others was held at Oswestry, and each scheme, of course, had its adherents, who expressed their views pro and con. Sir Watkin Wynn was chairman, and after many opinions had been given, Sir Watkin said, 1 Kenyon, what is your opinion — do you prefer a dead flat or a little hill and dale V * His Honour' replied : 1 Well, Sir Watkin, I always like a little give and take.' Sir Watkin rejoined, * Can't have a better authority, gentlemen ; can't have a better authority.' The final result was the adoption of the present road through Llanymynech, and the construction of the noble stone bridge, designed by the late Mr. Penson, across the Virniew at that village, or rather little town, which, with its pic- turesque church and gigantic clock, bears no slight resemblance to a Swiss village. The public may fairly be congratulated on the result, for a more inspiring sight it would be difficult to find. The view from the Pant above Llanymynech, opening southward, is simply glorious ; a noble panorama embracing immediately in front the range of the Breidden Hills, whose bold outline is not excelled in the Principality, and extending to the Wrekin, twenty-five miles, and to the Clee Hills, nearly forty miles distant. All this is now lost to the general traveller, the railway running in a parallel lino with the before-mentioned road, of course, on the low level." THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 143 the Hon. Thomas Kenyon was very generally called, did not gain this popularity by merely driving coaches ; although so long as the generation lasts that remembers him, his love of horses, and well-appointed coach, will always arise a vivid picture in their minds. As chairman of the County Sessions, and as High Steward of Os- westry (in which capacity he often acted as chairman of the Quarter Sessions of that borough), as well as in various other honorary offices of trust and re- sponsibility, Mr. Kenyon will be remembered in local history ; and his high character for independ- ence and integrity will cause him to be pointed out as a Proud Salopian of the highest type. A memoir of Mr. Kenyon might be extended to almost any length ; and the Shropshire newspapers of the first half of the present century would afford ample material for a goodly volume. Our purpose is, rather to give an outline of the most prominent events in his career, than a detailed account of the various movements for the good of his fellows in which he participated. Mr. Kenyon was born on the 27th of September, 1780.1 He was, as we have incidentally mentioned, the third son of Lloyd, first Lord Kenyon, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, by Mary, third daughter and coheir of George Kenyon, Esq., of Peel Hall, Lancashire. He was educated at Cheam School in Surrey, and afterwards by the Rev. William Jones of Nay land, in Suffolk (by whom his two elder brothers were also educated), and eventually at Christ Church, Oxford, under the celebrated Dean Jackson. The memory of these two persons he always cherished with reverence and warm affection. 1 Mr. Kenyon' s childhood was passed chiefly at Marshgate, near Rich- mond, the residence of his father, and here he often saw the King, George the Third, who would come without any notice and stay for several hours, walking up and down the garden chatting with the Chief Justice ; and on one occasion little Tom, while trundling his wheelbarrow at full speed around a corner in the walks, came into violent collision with His Majesty's legs ! 144 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. Mr. J ones was a very eminent man, and had been recommended to Lord Kenyon as a tutor for his sons, preparatory to their going to the university ; and his lordship, who was naturally anxious on the subject, asked the then Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Moore, who knew Mr. Jones intimately) whether Mr. Jones would be a proper tutor for his sons. The Archbishop replied, " Your lordship may think yourself happy if you can prevail on him to take them : he is everything you could wish ; besides his extensive knowledge of all kinds, and his singular faculty of communicating to others what he knows, he is full of observation, nothing escapes him, the most common occurrences of life supply him with matter for improvement of the mind, and his conversation is remarkably lively and agree- able/' In the Memoir of Mr. Jones (prefixed to his Works), in which the anecdote is given, the author (Mr. W. Stevens) adds, " The connection took place to the mutual satisfaction of all parties, their principles being congenial. His lordship was pleased with Mr. Jones, and he with his lordship; the tutor was much delighted with his pupils, and the pupils highly re- spected their tutor. The acquaintance improved into friendship, and the friendship was founded on the purest motives." The following extract from a letter by Mr. Jones to the subject of this memoir will illustrate the good feel- ing that existed between Mr. J ones and his pupils, and be evidence of Mr. Kenyons early character and abilities from one so competent to judge of them. Mr. Kenyon soon after he had commenced residence at Christ Church wrote to Mr. Jones, who, in an answer dated Nov. 29, 1798, replied as follows : — "I was told that you would write to me, therefore your letter found me in expectation, and I thank you much for it. A letter it is, kind to me, and good from you ; just as it should be : and I have pleasure in believing that some things you carried from Nayfand will help to secure you from danger at Oxford, and bring you from it in safety. It gives me pleasure also to hear of my other pupils, who I hope will come to THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 145 good.1 My eyes are not now over Lyttelton as they used to be, but my heart still follows him with anxiety for his welfare ; and if he should think of me as much as I think of him, it might keep him out of much evil ; what parts can do, he will do : but conduct carries a man through the world ; and in that respect I used to tell him that you had the advantage of him ; and so I think still ; keep it up. " Mrs. Jones is greatly obliged for your kind remembrance of her ; and I can assure you she does not forget you. " I praise your diligence very much, and George2 tells me in a letter of this day, that a theme of yours has been noticed ; an honour that never happened to Lloyd or himself. There's for you ! Edward Walker is with me. You have done what he has not, and he has done what you have not ; he has drawn a map of the celestial globe in two Hemispheres, every line by his own hand ; and he will hobble after you in Homer, &c, &c." Mr. Kenyon took his B.A. degree at Oxford on June 3, 1801. For some time he held the post of Clerk of the Outlawries in the Court of Kings Bench. On the 21st of April 1803, he was married, by special licence, at Aston,3 by the Rev. W. W. Davies, rector of Whittington, to Louisa- Charlotte, daughter of the Rev. John Robert Lloyd,4 and he then fixed his re- sidence in Shropshire, where for half a century he lived one of the most public lives in the county, his services being always at the command of his fellows in every movement for the well-being of his neighbours. Space would fail us even to enumerate the many and important posts he filled, as Treasurer of the County Infirmary, Trustee of Shrewsbury School, Poor Law Guardian and the like. These were of too everyday 1 Mr. Jones here alluded probably to Mr. (afterwards Lord) Lyttelton, and Mr. Edward Berens (afterwards Archdeacon of Berks), both of whom are named in the letter — the latter as " good Mr. Berens." 2 Afterwards Lord Kenyon. 3 Aston Chapel was first erected in 1594, at the cost of Richard Lloyd, Esq., and consecrated in the name of Christ's Chapel. It was rebuilt in 1742, by Thomas Lloyd, Esq. 4 For some records of the career of the Rev. J. R. Lloyd, see vol. J. Shrop. Arch, Trans, pp. 267, 276, 430. 146 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. a character to be of interest to the general reader; but they were duties faithfully performed, and such as occupied much of his time.1 In more public labours Mr. Kenyon's services were such that in more than one instance public recognition of them was made by the parties he so generally benefitted. Thus on the 1st of December 1807, his services as Captain in the Shropshire Volunteer regiment raised earlier in the century2 were marked by the pre- sentation of a sword, on the scabbard of which were engraved Mr. Kenyon's arms, and on the blade (other- wise beautifully decorated) the Royal arms ; the arms of Shropshire ; Mr. Kenyon's arms, and the following inscription : — The gift of the Non-commissioned officers and privates of the 4th Company of Shropshire Volunteer Infantry, to their Captain, the Hon. Thomas Kenyon, as a token of their high esteem and sincere attachment. 1 Dec, 1807. This was not the only military presentation to Mr. Kenyon. The Volunteer Infantry gave way to the Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and up to a couple of years before his death Mr. Kenyon was major of this regiment. He had first held the rank of Lieut. -Colonel, but Government abolishing that office, Mr. Kenyon, with many other gentlemen holding similar rank in the country, severed his connection with the regiment.3 When he resigned the appointment, a silver coffee-pot was presented to him, bearing the following inscription, which explains its purpose : — 1 Iu Sep. 1803, and subsequently, Mr. Kenyon was actively engaged in collecting for the Government returns of arms, waggons, carts, horses, live-stock, &c, for the Hundred of Oswestry, which might be made available in the military defence of the country. 2 The services of this regiment, consisting of 16 companies of 80 men each, was offered to the king by Mr. Kynaston Powell (who had been chosen colonel) early in 1808; and 'Mr. Kenyon was appointed captain of one of the companies. His commission dates 9 July, 1803. 3 Mr, Kenyon's Commission of Lieut. Col, is dated June 1, 1822, THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 147 1825. Presented to Lieut. Col. the Hon. Thomas Kenyon, by the members of the Oswestry Squadron of the North Shropshire Yeomanry, in testimony of their high esteem and respect, and in gratitude for his uniform and kind attention to the squadron. The Presentation took place at the Unicorn Inn> Oswestry, on the 24th of December, 1825 ; the mayor of the borough and other gentlemen being the guests of the officers and men. Major Mytton presented the coffee-pot and stand — which cost fifty guineas — in the name of the squadron, and several pleasant speeches were delivered. On the death of Mr. Mytton, Mr. Kenyon again buckled on the sword, and accepted the rank of Major, his commission being dated May 6, 1834. By the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835 Oswestry lost its right of holding Quarter Sessions ; a privilege it had enjoyed under the Charters of James the First, and Charles the Second. By the terms of the last named these sessions were to be held before the Recorder, the Steward, and the Mayor, two of whom could act, providing the Mayor was one. The Right Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, who was appointed to the office of Recorder in 1809, as years wore on was so much engaged in Parliamentary duties, that the chair- manship devolved, pretty generally, on the Steward. When that office was rendered vacant, in 1822, by the death of Sir John Kynaston Powell, the Hon. Thomas Kenyon was appointed,1 and from that time to the abolition of the office in 1836, he was usually the chairman. The last occasion on which Mr. "Wynn presided was Oct. 23, 1835, and his doing so was due to the fact that, in all probability, his occupation would be gone by the provisions of the new bill. And before dismissing his military career, we may note that on June 1, 1808, the Earl of Powis, Lord Lieutenant of the county, signed his commission as Major in the " North Salop Local Militia." 1 Mr. Kcnyon's appointment to this office, by Edward Herbert, Viscount Clive, (Lord of the Lordship, Manor, and Borough of Oswestry) is dated May 15, 1823. 148 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. and he wished, before their connection was severed, to make some remarks to the jury on the probable consequences of the changes. These remarks it will be foreign to our purpose to introduce here, as they do not concern the life of Mr. Kenyon so much as the history of Oswestry. The last sessions of all was held in April 1836, when Mr. Kenyon presided. Mr. John Miles Hales was foreman of the grand jury ; Mr. W. Roberts and Mr. Minshall were the senior advocates in court. As foreman of the jury the one (in their retiring room) suggested a requisition to the Mayor, to be signed by his comrades, urging that a public meeting should be called to take into consideration the best means of testifying the respect of the inhabitants for one who had so long been the chairman of their sessions ; and the others (in open court), on the part of the legal profession, expressed to Mr. Kenyon the strong feeling of satisfaction all classes had felt at the manner in which he had always filled the office about to be abolished. The meeting was called by the Mayor for April 16, 1836, and was largely attended. A committee was formed, to arrange about the collection of subscriptions, and to " consider the most compli- mentary and satisfactory way of fulfilling the objects in view." The committee seems to have been most judiciously chosen, for all parties were represented ; in trade and profession, religion and politics. The day will come, perhaps, when it will appear strange that any such remark as this should be needed ; but half a century ago, in small boroughs, men were not valued so much for their character and culture, as for their politics and " calling ;" and such a thing as a presentation to a neighbour being a matter in which uninfluenced by party, all, high and low, rich and poor — tradesmen and professionals, Episcopalians and Nonconformists, — would join, and that heartily, was a rare event ; and it says much THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 149 for the estimation in which Mr. Kenyon was held, that no exclusiveness in the choice of committeemen would have been tolerated. That political feeling ran high in the county after the passing of such a measure as the Municipal Corporations Act, we need scarcely say ; and Oswestry in its fight for place in the Council Chamber (in Dec. 1835) when thirty-one candidates sought to fill eighteen seats, was not behind its neighbours in the intensity of its party warfare. In that fight the Nonconformists had been signally defeated ; and only a few months earlier Mr. Kenyon had presided at a public banquet in the town, to celebrate the return of Major Ormsby Gore, a Conservative, as member for the county, in the room of Mr. Cotes, a Liberal. If at any time Liberals and Nonconformists would feel sore, it would surely be at a time like that ; and no doubt they were ; but that did not in the slightest degree affect their feeling even to so pronounced a Con- servative as Mr. Kenyon. He had held firmly to his opinions, as an honest politician would do, and they respected him accordingly ; and, as we shall see presently, no one was more grateful for the generous expression of feeling on the part of his political opponents than was Mr. Kenyon himself. To return to the Oswestry presentation. The Committee were soon in a position to report that a hundred and fifty guineas had been freely subscribed, and that a handsome candelabrum had been pur- chased with the money. On this was engraved the arms of the Kenyons, and those of the Corporation, with the following inscription : — Consumitwr aliis inserviendo. To the Hon. Thomas Kenyon, High Steward of the Borough of Oswestry, in gratitude and esteem from the inhabitants of the Town and Neighbourhood. 9 th April, 183G. The date inscribed on the plate is the one on which the last Quarter Sessions for the Borough, 150 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. under the old regime, was held. The presentation did not take place until the following October ; and on the 21st of that month a large party of townsmen and neighbours assembled in the Oswestry Town Hall, under the presidency of the Mayor.1 to welcome their honourable guest, and assist in the interesting proceedings. Mr, Hales,2 who made the presentation on behalf of the subscribers, was a man well fitted for a task of this kind. His speech is much too long to introduce here, but extracts from it will show how judiciously he steered clear of party politics, in making a presentation that origin- ated in a great party measure. After passing a high tribute to Mr. Kenyon's worth, he said, addressing the Mayor : — It has pleased, Sir, the legislature of this country, to alter the municipal law of the land ; whether that is a wise or an unwise measure, whether it is an act of good or of evil policy, I have nothing to do with, and I would not willingly say one word that could annoy or irritate the feelings of any individual here present; but you, Sir, and all that are here, must agree with me, that whatever advantages other towns might have derived from that bill, whatever may be its general advantages, it has inflicted a deep, a severe injury on the town of Oswestry, for it has severed from us, in an official situation (which he filled so much to his own honour and our advantage), a gentleman whom we greatly respect and esteem ; it has severed from us our inestimable High Steward, the Honourable Mr. Kenyon. Adverting to the fact of how universal was the respect in which Mr. Kenyon was held in Oswestry, Mr. Hales went on to remark— still addressing the Mayor : — I need not tell you, Sir, of his manly honour and honesty ; 1 The mayor was John Croxon, Esq., afterwards of Llanvorda Issa. Ho was at the head of the poll in the East Ward at the election of the previous December, where there were Hevonteen candidates for nine seats. Mr. Croxon was the first mayor elected by the new corporation. 2 Mr. Hales (who had broachod tho subject of the testimonial at the Quarter Sessions) was a veterinary surgeon, and afterwards coroner- He was mayor of Oswestry in 1846, THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 151 of his unflinching integrity, and of his uncompromising independence; and I am sure I need tell no one here of his kindness, urbanity, and attention ; nay, I may say it, of his friendship towards every individual who has business to transact with him, either of a public or of a private nature. At our last sessions it was well said by Mr. Minshall1 that, "although he differed with Mr. Kenyon in politics, although he differed with him in some respects on religious questions ; yet he was perfectly convinced that in all the public trans- actions he nad had with him, those differences had never influenced him for a moment ; that he had always acted upon the conscientious conviction of his own mind, and decided according to the best of his judgment, unswayed by party or sect." I am sure, Sir, that you and every one here will agree with me that those sentiments are just and well-deserved. At the close of his interesting oration Mr. Hales, in very suitable terms (as the newspapers have it), formally made the presentation ; addressing himself personally to Mr. Kenyon, and concluding with the following words : — When the Great Disposer of Events shall take you from this to a better world, may your example live in your family, and may he who succeeds to your honours2 and to your name, inherit your abilities and character. I am sure, Sir, I need not wish him more; for truly and justly can I apply to your life the few classical words inscribed on this plate: — " Consumitur aliis inserviendo." There is much in the speech of thanks, as in that of the gentleman who made the presentation, that would scarcely interest modern readers, greatly as it was to the purpose at the time. Mr. Kenyon never professed to be an orator, but when listening to him 1 Mr. Minshall (the father of Alderman Minshall) had been an articled pupil to Mr. Longueville Jones (the father of Alderman Longueville), and commenced practice on his own account in 1819. He was one of the leading Liberals in Oswestry, and a Nonconformist. 2 Mr. Hales was almost prophetic ! Mr. J. R. Kenyon, Q.C., who succeeded his father at Pradoe, now [1878] worthily occupies his position us Chairman of Quarter Sessions for the county ; and, as Recorder, presides over the Quarter Sessions of Oswestry — a privilege restored to the borough in 1842, at which time he was appointed Recorder, 152 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. his auditory always felt quite sure he meant all he said. " Sir," he said, in reply to the address of Mr. Hales — after the plaudits that gentleman's speech had. evoked had subsided, — I cannot but feel that amongst those who have this day done me so much honour are some with whom I have acted in public life for thirty years, and in whose private friendship and society I have passed some of the happiest days of my existence. To them I would first offer my thanks for their kindness this day; and if I may flatter myself that this piece of plate conveys an assurance of their approbation of my conduct during that period, I would not exchange it for all the gold in the Bank of England ! Again, Sir, there are younger men among my friends here, whose fathers I have for a length of time respected and esteemed. To them my thanks are also due ; and it is with pleasure I mark their progress in every use- ful and honourable feeling, and gratefully do I thank them for their support and confidence. But, Sir, there are others of whose conduct I would (without presumption I trust) speak in terms of the highest admiration. With the two former classes I have acted with the same principle, and with the same feeling; but to these gentlemen it has been my ill luck to be opposed — opposed in politics, opposed in public life : would to God it had not been so. I nave been an opposcr only, not, I trust, an enemy. That these gentle- men should have the magnanimity to put aside all such differences, — that they should without jealousy or scruple consent to honour one who has so frequently opposed them, • — reflects upon me, indeed, the highest pleasure I am cap- able of enjoying, but (I trust I shall not bo accused of flattery in saying it) upon them an honour and a lustre which no words of mine can convey ; and I do hope and believe that the honest conviction they must feel of their high-minded and generous conduct will at a future period be to them their highest and most lasting reward. During the period that Mr. Kenyon occupied the office of High Steward of Oswestry his services were always at the command of the borough, and it would make quite an interesting chapter in itself to narrate the various ways and genial manner in which he exercised his stewardship. On no occasion did he represent the town more gracefully than on the THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 153 4th of August, 1832. That was a gala day in Oswestry, and more than one private as well as public record has been left of the event. On that day the Princess Victoria, and her mother, the Duchess of Kent, passed through the town on their way from Powis Castle to Wynnstay. The time- honoured custom of presenting an address could not be observed, because it had been previously intimated that nowhere were addresses to be offered where the distinguished visitors did not alight. Oswestry that year had for its chief magistrate Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, and that gentleman was too busy nearer home in preparing a Denbighshire welcome to his future Queen, to fulfil his duties as Mayor of the border town ; but we are told in one of the published records of the event — that the " illustrious visitors were received by the High Steward, the Deputy Mayor, the Coroner1 and other members of the corporation, in their robes," and that whilst the horses were being changed at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, Mr. Kenyon " congratulated the Royal Visitors in the name of the corporation, and was commanded by the Duchess to inform the ' good people of Oswestry of the very great satisfaction the Princess felt at the manner in which she was received by the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood/ ". The Corporation felt that then Steward by his promptness, and manner of doing it, had far exceeded the usual formal address, which would have been received with a formal reply.2 Whatever the Hon. Thomas Kenyon did he did 1 Oswestry was then governed by the Charter of Charles II., under the provisions of which the mayor, after he had served his year of office, become borough coroner — and continued a magistrate — the second year. 2 Mr. Kenyon also presented to the Princess Victoria a copy of Price's History of Oswestry, which was graciously received; and on the strength of that presentation the Iloyal Arms were placed over the Bhop of tho printer of the book, where they remained for many years to commemorate the event. Ono record of this Royal Visit 154 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. gracefully, and his bonhomie was irresistible. Never was a man more in demand to heal differences, and many are the instances recorded of the work he saved the lawyers ! As a sample we may take the following : — Somewhere about the year 1832-4 dis- putes arose between several parties interested in the Morda stream, and at the Spring assizes of 1835 the matter bid fair to culminate in a trial. We all know what that means ; the large sums lavished, the bad blood engendered ; and, generally, the un- satisfactory results obtained. Fortunately for all parties the matters in dispute were referred to Mr. Kenyon ; accordingly he held his court of arbitration at the Wynnstay Hotel, Oswestry, examined from eighty to a hundred witnesses ; and the result of his decision was that "all parties expressed their grateful acknowledgments to the arbitrator for his impartial and unwearied attention to the matters brought before him ; and but one feeling, and that of the highest respect and admiration, was enter- tained of his able and very honourable line of conduct on the occasion." The disputants went even further than this in their expressions of gratitude, for they wished there were more Mr. Kenyons to "act as peacemakers between neighbours." Another, and widely different, example of Mr. Kenyons exertions to promote peace and good will, has been related to us by an old inhabitant of the has been preserved in the MS. of a long since deceased tradesman, who kept a diary of events for a series of years, and who recorded facts that more superfine scribes would have wholly ignored. Never- theless, his little picture is a vivid one, from his point of view. He says, " The Duches of Kent and Princes Victoria passed throw Oswestrey from Powis Castil to Winstay, Aug. 4, 1832. Tom Kinaston got drunk and whas turnd from Mr. Knitcs as Post Boy [Mr. Knight was then host of tho Wynnstay Arms Hotel] ; alsow a woman kild at Winstay, thcar being such a crowd to See tho Royal Pursanoags. Oswestrey was the scam as a wood from Pen trey Pooth to Betrcy st. With arches across tho streets and frunt of the houses all covered with Laurel and ock." THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 155 district. There are few middle-aged readers in North Shropshire who have not heard of the Cinder-hill Riots, in the Rhuabon district half a century ago. These culminated at Chirk on the first of January, 1831. Hundreds of special constables were sworn in the district, and the North Shropshire Yeomanry were called out for what bid fair to be very " active service" indeed. The popular idea of the military life of a Yeoman used to be eight days'- " duty," and three- himdred-and-fifby-seven days' repose in every year ; but since the Franco-German war the belief has widened that a reserve force of English "Uhlans" spread over the country, may become, in the event of an emergency, a most valuaable institution. Such an emergency arose on the borders on the memorable New Year's Day referred to. Colonel Sir Rowland Hill (afterwards Lord Hill) was at the head of the regiment, and the Hon. Thomas Kenyon (at that period not attached to the regiment) accompanied the military in the capacity of magistrate. But he was more than this. Arrived at the spot he, with the colonel, rode forward into the crowd of discon- tented colliers, and asked them what it was they wanted ? Even at a time like that there was some " reason " left in the men, and, it is said, he persuaded three of the ringleaders to be taken willing prisoners with him to Oswestry, to talk over, and, if possible, arrange their difficulties. Others were not so wise, and the Riot Act had to be read. That being done, another three were taken compulsory prisoners to the border town. Mr. Kenyon s three, it was discovered, knew Mr. David Thomas of Oswestry, who was a proprietor of some collieries near that place ; so to Mr. Thomas's shop Mr. Kenyon and Col. Hill took them ; and there a conference was held ; which ended in Mr. Kenyon 's promising to use his influence in getting their grievances redressed, and giving them a sovereign to get some refreshments. He also used his influence with his brother- magistrates to shield the other three 156 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. from the terrors of the law, and they were discharged at the following assizes on their own recognizances.1 We mentioned at the outset Mr. Kenyon's love of horses, and well-appointed team, and the next event of his life that comes under our notice has reference to this phase of his character. In 1842 the coachmen and guards connected with the Lion yard, Shrews- bury ; and others associated with them ; resolved that they would, in some tangible form, show the Hon. T. Kenyon how warmly they felt to one from whom they had always been sure of sympathy and advice, and whose devotion to the whip was so strong a bond of union between them. About a hundred and twenty guineas was subscribed, with which a silver salver was purchased, whereon was engraved the following inscription : — A Token of Gratitude presented by the Coachmen and Guards of the Lion Establishment, Shrewsbury, to the Honourable Thomas Kenyon. The Pradoe, Shropshire : May the 18th, 1842. On the day named in the inscription such a gathering of Brethren of the Whip met at the Lion, as perhaps that hostelrie, famous as it was for coaches and coaching, never before witnessed. There was Samuel Hayward the driver, and Ash the guard, of The Wonder ; Ashby, Wilson and Dowse, of the Greyhound ; Mark Herbert and Aston of the Aber- ystwyth Mail ; Brookes of the Worcester Bang-up ; J. Hayward and Walter Price, of the Holyhead 1 " The Battle of Ctiirk Bank " is referred to by the late Mr. Shirley Brooks, in his novel The Gordian Knot, which opens on the steps of the Old Chapel, Oswestry. In one of the earlier chapters the author describes his uncle (the late Mr. Sabine, senr.) under the namo of Cheriton, riding over to Chirk in the middle of the night to meet the rioters, warn them of their danger, and entreat them to listen to reason. The local literature theso riots called forth was extensive, and one burlesquo ballad an eccentiic printer, named liichard Minshull, wrote and issued, is still quoted by older Oswes- trians. Mr. David Thomas, referred to, was the father of Aldorman Wynne Thomas, J. P. sax THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 157 Mail ; Large and Scotman of the Liver ; Leake of the Liverpool Mail ; Reeves of L'Hirondelle ; Ross and Moore of the London Mail ; Vyse of the Stag ; Preece of the Hereford Mail ; and other well-known men of like calibre, whose names, to adopt the commercial formula, are too numerous to mention. Of course there was a dinner — were they not English- men ? — but the novelty of the occasion, and the distinctive character of the guests, gave a tone to the speeches that made it very unlike ordinary every- day banquets. Many amongst us, who do not quite rank as the elders of this generation, can well remember some of the guests whose names are mentioned, and the amount of respect and admiration with which, as youngsters, we regarded them. We take everything for granted now-a-days. Master Jack, coming home for the holidays, has but a vague idea of seeing a man with a smudgy face, at some of the stations ; walking (may be) from the engine to the refreshment room ; whom, if he thinks about him at all, he supposes to be the engine-driver ; and he has probably bestowed a passing glance on a cleaner specimen of humanity, in buttons, who started the train from some of the stations with a whistle ; but far from having interest in these men, he never bestows on them a second thought, although he may have been whirled along, on a wild and dark December night, at the marvellous rate of a mile a minute. It was not so in coaching days. As boys we knew the names of coaches and coachmen ; were pleased to get a friendly nod from the guard ; and felt it as a personal /insult if when we were on the Hibernia the Hirondelle passed us on the road, or vie© versa, on our way to school. Bridgnorth was the goal in our own particular case, and these were the coaches. We knew the points on the road where we were sure of a good spin of ten or twelve miles an hour, and the turns where dilliculties in VOL. II N 158 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. driving were to be encountered, and where our admiration of the coachman amounted to hero-worship. We thought the performance of the guard on his key-bugle the perfection of music ; and it was something to be somebody and have one's name entered on a way-bill. These delightful days were just beginning to fade when the coachmen and guards met to make the presentation to Mr. Kenyon ; and although after the feast the toast " confusion to railroads and a high gallows and windy day to all enemies of the whip" was received with "cheers and laughter," we can readily believe that a twinge of sadness would steal over the faces of some of the guests, at the thought of " the drag " being taken off for a journey down hill, at which " all right " could not be cried out cheerily at the start. The presentation was made by Mr. Taylor, and in the course of his little speech he paid Mr. Kenyon so pretty a compliment that (if it was original) it deserves to be chronicled. Addressing the guests he said, " Mr. Kenyon has been one of the kindest patrons and one of the warmest supporters you ever had. He has deserved at your hands all the compliments and honour that you could pay him. What you are doing this day is only part of what, if you could, you ought to do. I have heard that it is considered impossible to pay oft* the National Debt, but the interest on it is duly paid ; and so, gentlemen, though you can never cancel your debt of gratitude to Mr. Kenyon, you are now taking the opportunity of paying him the interest upon it." Mr. Taylor then made the presentation, and Mr. Kenyon in his reply narrated some interesting experiences of " the road," which, we are sure, our readers will enjoy. He said : — Mr. Taylor is one of the most spirited and respected coach-proprietors in the kingdom. . . At one time he had on the road two of the best coaches that ever ran in England. I mean the llirondelle and the Wonder. On THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KEN YON. 159 the first of May — the exact year I do not remember — the Hirondelle travelled 130 miles, from Liverpool to Cheltenham, in eight hours and twenty minutes. This was speed such as had rarely been attained by any coach, and it was speed with safety also. I was in Shrewsbury on the day when this was done, and saw the team of greys drive into the Lion yard, having done nine miles in thirty-five minutes. I well remember there were two ladies inside who were informed that it was a trial of speed for the coach on that occasion, and the offer was made to them that if they felt at all alarmed, they would immediately be sent on by any other conveyance they pleased to name. Gentlemen, I must say that these ladies were right good blood, for their answer was that they were not frightened in the least — that they were not aware that they had come so rapidly — that they liked going fast — and that they would go on ! And on they went. As for the Wonder, I can say this for it ; I have left the Lion yard at six in the morning and was in London at seven the same evening. When I say London I mean that I wras at Islington. That was pretty fast — Shrewsbury to London in thirteen hours ! The coach was driven by four coachmen — one of them is in this room — as good as ever sat on the box. I see that Samuel Hayward blushes, feeling conscious that he was one of them ! Yes, Hayward was one, and the other three were John Wilcox, Henry Riley, and Wood ; and I repeat that they were four of the best coachmen that ever sat on a- box. I can give you another instance of the character the Wonder had obtained. A friend of mine (Sir Henry Peyton), whose name I see on the list of toasts this evening, told me that, at St. Albans, he has often seen people pull out their watches as the Wonder went by ; not to see if the coach was true to time, but to regulate their watches by the coach! Thus much for one of the most interesting episodes in Mr. Kenyon's life. "The Wonder"1 was a coach amongst coaches, and it was just such a one as would be pointed at as a model vehicle. The fastest locomotive that runs, like the guest at a limited- liability hotel, is only known by a number; but in 1 Although "The Wonder" was represented by one of its crack drivers at tho banquet, its glory had in a large degree departed by the opening of the London and Birmingham railway in 1838. In 1839 the New Sporting Magazine published a serio-comic, poetical (?) 160 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. the good old — and slow — times of our grandfathers the driver and his fare ; the host and his guest ; met each other with smiling faces, and there was a personal relationship between them that will read like a pleasant romance to coming generations. In connection with Mr. Kenyon's coaching exper- iences, we may add that it has sometimes been stated in modern records of old coaching days that " The Honourable " drove regularly to Shrewsbury thrice a week, and that he never varied the journey.1 This is certainly inaccurate. Perhaps on an average he did drive to the county town three times in a week, having generally some county business to attend to ; but he frequently drove to Oswestry, and on some occasions might be seen with his coach full of market- women, and others he had picked up on the road. To Gredincrton and to Hawkstone would he also thus travel, and he very much enjoyed driving parties of friends to Llangollen and Chester for the day. At times he took a longer flight. He was a devoted admirer of Welsh scenery, and in the early days of the Holyhead road he thoroughly enjoyed a drive to Bangor with a party of ten or twelve, making either the Capel Curig Hotel or the Penrhyn Arms, Bangor, his head quarters. As one of the Commissioners for the Holyhead road he took great interest in the under- taking, and in the engineering skill displayed on it and tho bridgo over the Menai ; and he was never tired of pointing out to his passengers the beauty and grandeur of the scenery on the way. The next prominent event in the life of Mr. Kenyon — gratifying as it was, and in every respect address to the travelling public, supposed to be spoken by the coach itself in its decline. From that period the journey was curtailed, and before it was finally run oil' the road The Wonder became a two- horse vehiclo, and no wonder at nil ! In its palmy days it had an existenco of fourteen years, commencing Feb. 1825. It was very gonorally known as " England's Crack Drag." 1 A statement of this sort is quoted in a previous note. THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 161 one reflecting honour on all concerned in it — was yet sad, for it spoke of loss of physical power, and a cessation from that active participation in county business always so closely associated with the career of the honourable gentleman. On the retirement of Mr. Thomas Pemberton1 (who succeeded Sir Corbet Corbet) as chairman of the Shropshire Sessions, Mr. Kenyon was, in 1830, appointed to that dis- tinguished post, and this office he held for twenty years, when the burden of bodily infirmities compelled him to relax his hold on public duties. Accordingly he resigned his appointment in a letter2 which was read at the October Sessions in 1850. Viscount Hill, who presided, very well expressed the feelings of his brother Magistrates when he spoke of the extreme regret they all felt at the cause of the resignation, as well as at the loss the county would sustain. The Earl of Powis, Mr. Uvedale Cor- bett, (who was then a county magistrate, but who had long before been the leader of the Shropshire Ses- sions bar), and others, also uttered a few words of sympathy, and an address3 was adopted in reply 1 Mr. Pemberton's death, in April, 1833, was recorded, by Mr. H. Pidgeon, in the Gentleman s Magazine. He is there described as " Barrister-at-Law, of Millichope Hall, co. Salop, and Belmont, Shrewsbury." He was in his 71st year when he died, and had resigned his office as Chairman of Quarter Sessions, chiefly in con- sequence of weakness of sight. He was also Recorder of Wenlock. 2 The following is a copy of the letter, which was addressed to Mr. John Loxdale, Clerk of the Peace : — " My dear Sir, — I have been so unwell all the summer, and old age and infirmity increase on me so fast, that I feel bound to resign the situation of Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for this county into the hands of my brother magistrates, and shall be much obliged to you to inform them of this my final determination ; at the same time I beg you to express to them, in as strong terms as you can use, the sense I entertain of the great kindness and confidence I have ever received at their hands — a kindness and confidence which, as long as life lasts, I shall ever feel my greatest pride, and which will always be remembered with the warmest gratitude. With the most earnest wish for the honour and prosperity of this great county, I remain, my dear sir, your obliged and faithful servant, Tiios. Kenyon, Pradoe, Sep. 3." a The following is the text of the address: — " The magistrates 162 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. to the letter, accepting with reluctance the resigna- tion ; and on the following day, when the , resignation had heen announced to the bar, on their coming into court, Mr. J. G. Phillimore, at that time leader of the Sessions bar, uttered a warm and eloquent eulogy, ex- pressing the esteem in which Mr. Kenyon was held by himself and his brethren, and their regret at losing him.1 Mr. Kenyon from this time felt increasingly the infirmities of age, and he died on the 4th of November in the following year (1851). He was buried on the 12th of the same month at Westfelton Church; a assembled at this Court of Quarter Sessions, in accepting, as they now do with very sincere regret, the resignation by the Honourable Thomas Kenyon of the responsible situation of chairman of this court, beg to tender to him the cordial acknowledgments of the magistrates of Shropshire for the courtesy and consideration which have characterized Mr. Kenyon's communications with them, and for the great advantage derived by them from his advice and assistance. The magistrates desire also to bear their willing testimony to the zeal and constant attention ever manifested by Mr. Kenyon for the interests of this county, and which have tended materially to the due administration of its financial affairs, and to the ability, energy, and impartiality with which Mr. Kenyon has, for a period of twenty years, to his own credit, and to the public satisfaction, presided over the criminal business of the Court of Quarter Sessions. The magis- trates, at the same time as they thus record their sense of Mr. Kenyon's valuable services — sentiments that will be concurred in by the inhabitants generally of the county — are anxious to convey to him the expression of their cordial hope that he may still continue, as far as may be compatible with his own health and convenience, to aid with his talents and experience his brother magistrates in the discharge of their duties ; and when ho shall retire from the active engagements of public life, may he be blessed with every satisfaction and happiness which can be derived from the respect and esteem of a large circle of attached relatives and friends." 1 In the course of his address Mr. Phillimore said :- — "Mr. Kenyon possessed, in an eminent degree, the firmness and sagacity to which, as every lawyer knows, he had an hereditary title. Proud of a spot- less reputation, which had been bequeathed to him by his father, he was careful to transmit that noblest of all patrimonies unimpaired to his posterity ; and as the great Athenian made it his chiefest boast that for his sake no citizen had ever put on mourning, so might Mr. Kenyon say with truth, that no sentence of his ever drew a tear from innocence. No man's soul vibrated moro instinctively to the touch of humanity — no man had a readier eye for pity— he won the heart THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. 163 church he had enriched three years earlier by the gift of a painted window for the east end of its chancel. The funeral was a strictly private one ; but all the shops in Oswestry were closed on that day, from the hour of twelve to three, as a mark of — we can well believe — more than outward respect for one whose name had been associated for so long a period with the interests of the borough. At Shrewsbury, too, many places of business were closed, and not a few — high and low — felt that the grave that day qlosed over a true friend. Soon after his death, the Rev. T. Hunt, rector of Westfelton, issued a little pamphlet In Memoriam of the deceased, in which he spoke feelingly of Mr. Kenyon's public character ; of his services as a magistrate, of his value as a neighbour ; as " the arbiter of differences, the adviser in difficulty, the defender of the oppressed, the advocate of the poor, the helper of the friendless." He also referred to " his grateful return of public thanks to a kind and watchful Providence which had rescued him from a fearful accident.,, This incident in the life of the Hon. Thomas Kenyon is worthy of record. It occurred in May 1840, in the village of Whittington, as he was driving a party from Pradoe to Chester. He had staying with him at the time Mrs. Mytton, widow of the celebrated Mr. John Mytton of Halston ; and it being the first time she had been in Whit- while lie punished the offence of the criminal — and the people saw that in his hands the rod of justice was wielded from necessity, not from inclination. These qualities could not but go far to givo him credit with the inhabitants of this neighbourhood, and a strong hold on their affections ; for, divided as wo arc in political opinion, every Englishman loves and respects an upright judge. But this is not all ; for he might say that, under his control, there always prevailed in this court that liberal urbanity, and that regard to the refinements and courtesies of life, by which intercourse among gentlemen, what- ever be their relative duties, ought always to be distinguished. There was that trust and confidence between the bench and the bar which so materially assists the administration of justice, which secures the dignity of one, and exalts the character of the other." 164 THE HONOURABLE THOMAS KENYON. tington since she left Halston, some of the inhabi- tants wished to make a demonstration. A bon-fire was lighted opposite the Boot Inn, and as the coach passed a blacksmith's shop opposite the Castle, the zealous blacksmith fired a cannon, which frightened the horses, and they, shying from the bon-fire, ran against a large stone at the corner of the inn, and upset the coach with its load of thirteen, including Mrs. Mytton and her daughter. Mr. Kenyon was thrown on his head, and carried insensible into the Boot Inn, where he lay for three nights before he could be conveyed home. The accident was a very serious one, but no bones were broken, and gradually Mr. Kenyon recovered from the concussion. None of the others were injured. Mr. Kenyon is known to this generation by an admirable likeness often to be seen hanging up in counting houses, offices and libraries ; and there is a fine painting of him, by Eddis, in the Grand Jury Room at Shrewsbury. This was subscribed for, we believe, by the Magistrates of the County after Mr. Kenyon's retirement from the office of Chairman of County Sessions. When the " Shropshire Archaeological Society'* was inaugurated the writer of this paper expressed his belief that a good work might be performed by it in giving sketches of the lives, and forms, of Salopian Worthies ; and his only regret is that the useful and honourable career of one so distinguished as the Honourable Thomas Kenyon should be depicted so imperfectly. 165 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. By DAVID DAVIES. Much obscurity rests on the early history of the Abbey bells. When the monasteries were suppressed, there was a ring or peal of five bells in each of the two towers belonging to this church, the aggregate weight of which is estimated at 145 cwt., one peal weighing 33 cwt., and the other 112 cwt. In an old paper three items are found, two giving the weight of the bells and the other the measurement of the roof lead over one of the towers,1 from which it is inferred by Owen and Blake way that the large bells hung in the rood, or centre tower, and the small ones in the tower now remaining. Some difficulties, how- ever, attend the adoption of this conclusion. In the two items giving the weight of the bells, one steeple is called new and the other great, while the steeple, which is measured, is styled old. The old steeple and the great one are, therefore, identical, and that then known as the new steeple must have been smaller in some way than the old one. Ten yards in length and ten yards in breadth are the plumber's measurements of the old tower roof, for tiie purpose of ascertaining the value of the lead by which 1 In the new stypyll V bells of one accord, l.XP. 2. VIII0. 3.VI0. 4.VC. 5.1I1C. In the great stypyll V bolls of one accord, l.XVc. 2.XXC. 3.XXIP. 4.XXU. 5.XXXC. page 63. Item, the roofe over the old stypyle in lengthe X yardes, and in breadth X yards, p. 54. Mr. Cough's manuscripts in the Bodleian, quoted in Owen and lttakoway's fthttory of Shrewsbury. vol. n. o 166 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. it was protected, and are less reliable than if they had been taken by an architect with the design to obtain the exact dimensions of the tower itself. Out of 22 of the plumbers measurements quoted by Owen and Blake way 19 are stated in exact yards, which fact points to the probability that excesses in yards, in some cases, were counted against deficiencies in others. If we measure the lead, which was placed on the present tower in 1646 or '47 — including gutters and taking into account that on the surface only, at the joint lappings — we get 32ft. 6in. by 31ft. 6in., which give nearly six square yards more than the plumber's measure- ments. The space between the embattled brickwork measures 30ft. 6in. by 29ft. 6in., which is near enough to call 100 square yards. The inference, therefore, is that this is the tower which was measured at the dis- solution, or that both tower roofs were equal in size. Assume the latter ; then the tower called great could only deserve such a distinctive epithet from its com- parative superior height. Ignorant as we are of the original height of either tower, we can only form a conjectural comparison from circumstances or facts, which are supposed to be ascertained, or are accepted as such. Owen and Blakeway speak of an old painting in which the present tower is represented with a fourth story above that of the bell-chamber, built with light grey stone, in which, it will be remembered, they pro- fess to see " very good reason" why this should be called the new steeple. But may not this addition be as good a reason for its being called the great one 1 And it may not be unworthy of remark here that Browne Willis, in describing the remains of the Abbey in 1710, calls this u the great broad tower at the west end." The authors of the History of Shrewsbury argue that one tower only was measured, and because one, therefore that doomed for destruction) and not the present one, which, " being attached to the parochial part of the church, was not taken into the estimate of materials to be disposed of, as was the fate of the middle THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 167 tower." The old steeple is said to denote the centre campanile, " evidently," and thus the matter is supposed to be " satisfactorily solved." This, it must be admitted, is a most important statement, but much of its force is destroyed when we remember that the bells in the western tower belonged equally to the parochial part of the building with the lead on its roof, and in the same old paper — assumed to be an inventory of materials to be sold — the bells of both towers appear. We learn, too, from history that the bells of both towers were seized. Some better reason than the one given is required, therefore, before we can con- sider this matter " satisfactorily solved." We have seen that the old tower was the one measured at the dissolution — that the old tower was the great one and that in the great tower the great bells were hung. We incline to think the present is this tower. Owen, himself, seems once to have held this view, for in his history, published in 1808, he says — " In this tower anciently hung four very large bells, besides the great bell of St. Wenefrid," and we have seen that the main argument by -which his change of view is shielded is far from being impervious. We cannot prove this view to be absolutely correct, but to prove it is not, may be equally attended with difficulties. The great question in either case is, which was the campanile known as the old, and which as the new steeple, at the time of the dissolution ? The base- ments of both towers were probably equally old, and the superstructure, or bellchamber of one of these towers must have been of more recent date than that of the other. We know the probable date of the superstructure of the present tower, but of the bell story of the centre tower — which, possibly, may have been rebuilt at a more recent date — we know nothing, and until we have some clue to its style and date, a decisive comparison between the two towers is impracticable. But corroborative evidence of at least the plausibility of our supposition may be drawn from the fact that 168 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. the large bells are known to have been in the present tower not long after the dissolution. How, when, and under what circumstances did they get there ? Here is a difficulty which our learned historians were fully con- scious was most unfavourable to their conclusion. With them, indeed, it seems to have been the only difficulty, and yet it is one on which they have bestowed little or no effort to remove. Their hypothesis is that the large bells were removed from the centre campanile " and placed in the western tower previous to, or shortly after, its destruction but proof of this is not at- tempted. That such a change took place previous to the work of destruction is too. improbable to call for refutation, and we have only to recall the unsettled state of the times and truly to realise the extensive alterations, the enormous expense, and the long delay it would neces- sarily involve, to be convinced of this. The other part of the hypothesis deserves serious attention, and it is well to remember that the work of demolition could not have commenced earlier than the latter part of 1546, or after Mr. William Langley purchased the Abbey. It is looked upon as a matter " of course" by the author of " Some Account of the Ancient and Present State of Shrewsbury," that Langley hastened to place his purchase beyond restitution by an immediate demo- lition of the greater parts of the fabric and the sale of its materials, from a desire to make the most of his precarious property. To place the budding out of the reach of restitution was without doubt one of the conditions of purchase, but beyond that we demur to the " of course." Some of the monasteries, we know, were destroyed with what looks like irreverent haste ; sometimes even gunpowder was employed as the agent of destruction, and a sort of boasting is still on record of the expedition with which, in some cases, this work of havoc was accom- plished. But we have little cause for supposing there THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 1G9 was anything like unseemly haste in the taking down of this monastery. Nearly two centuries afterwards considerable remains of it were still standing, and de- molition which could have remained incomplete so long could hardly have been began in the spirit of deter- mined and reckless eagerness for selfish profit. To have begun and carried out this work in such a spirit, and from such a motive, would be for Langley to have made his name hateful to all men around him. All esteemed the building an ornament to the town. Some regarded it witli reverence, and devoutly breathed treasonable imprecations when they entered their closets and shut to the door. Some evidenced their public spirit and desire for the progress of the good old town by speculating on the attractive uses to which the building might be converted. The Corporation peti- tioned the King to make it a mansion for the lodgment of royal visitors ; the principal inhabitants pleaded that it might be spared for a college or a school, and when no response was made to these petitions, general regret and mortification must have been felt at its approaching doom. Langley was powerless, save to lessen or increase the bitterness of this disappointment. He could do either, just according to the way in which he went about his work, and we fail to see how it can be so much a matter " of course" that he should have chosen to do the latter. As a townsman and a tradesman-tailor, Langley would have every reason to avoid rash and wanton oifence. It would be his interest to conciliate, but his bane to needlessly enrage his fellow-citizens, and it is not at all improbable that these induced him to make his purchase, from a desire to prevent that hurried havoc and reckless plunder with which he seems to be undeservedly charged, but which there was too much reason strongly to apprehend, had the building remained in the hands of strangers. Langley lived to be possessor of the Abbey about twenty-eight years, and it is more than probable that he 170 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. left much of its destruction to other hands. In 1566 we find him selling stone to the churchwardens, and if there be any truth in the tradition that the White Hall was built of material from this Abbey, much stone yet remained to be sold. The foundation of this hall — first called Prince's Mansion — was laid fifteen or sixteen years after this date, and the addition of the fourth story above the present bell- chamber of the Abbey tower, built with light grey stone, affords presumptive evi- dence that the red stone of which the mansion is built was not to be procured from neighbouring quarries. When Langley was selling stone to the churchwardens, much of the material of the hall probably lay undis- turbed in the Abbey walls ; for when he had sufficiently reduced the building to be regarded as an irreparable ruin, he would best consult his own interest by further taking down material as purchasers were found ; and it is improbable he was personally benefited at all by the sale of stone to Richard Prince, for when the foun- dation of his mansion was laid, Langley had rested from his labours and had lain in his quiet grave for some years. The demolition of this abbey, therefore, seems to have been a slow work, and Langley, in retailing two shillings' worth of stone, twenty years after the Abbey had been transferred to him, shows that he was in no great hurry to recoup himself for the outlay of his purchase, but that, like ill-used men of his craft, he could patiently await his returns. Up to the time of Langley 's death we can discover no trace whatever that the large bells had been transferred from the centre to the western tower. But there is a parish tradition respecting the bells, and our way is now clear to consider it. Owen and Blakeway say — " There is a tradition in the parish that the bells were seized by the lay posses- sors of the Abbey, and that a suit was commenced by the parish for their recovery, in which they succeeded, by the exertions of the then eminent lawyer — Mr. Prince, of the Abbey Foregate ; but still it does not THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 171 appear which of the peals this was." Certainly the tradition does not tell us which, but if we consider it, aid may be supplied in determining which bells they were. At the outset, some evidence of the credibility of the tradition is afforded by the fact that both peals of bells are found in the inventory, and were, therefore, intended to be seized. By the bells referred to in the tradition we under- stand those in the parochial tower ; for the parishioners would have no cause to consider themselves aggrieved, had the bells of the centre tower only been seized. Assume, in accordance with the hypothesis of our authors, that the latter were the large bells, then the parish had no claim on them ; the suit was for the small bells — the parish succeeded. Their success, therefore, was the recovery or retention of these ; but here we are met with difficulties again. By some strange pro- cess these bells disappear from the parish tower, and the large ones are found in their place. How shall we account for the change ? Shall we suppose that the losing litigants had been taught a lesson of unbounded charity by their loss, and that they said to the parishioners — " You have beaten us legitimately and fairly over the small bells, we will now reward you for your victory by gratuitously making over to you the large ones also." That is hardly human nature ; and to suppose that the parishioners purchased these bells from their recent opponents in law is scarcely less im- probable. But however or whenever this change may be supposed to have been effected, it should be borne in mind that it must have taken place after the law-suit, if it took place at all. When then did the law-suit take place ? We learn from the tradition that Bichard Prince conducted the case, and he is described as the then eminent lawyer of the Abbey Foregate. This must guide us. A lease is Granted to Hi chard Prince of the two chambers over the o 172 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY, Abbey north entrance, dated 1553, and it is supposed that the suit took place before this date, and that this lease was a reward for his professional services in respect of the bells. But this can hardly be. In 1551 Richard Prince is described as literatus, a title which, it is thought, was probably intended to denote his desti- nation to the study of the law; and on May 4, 1554, he is admitted to the Inner Temple. We are, there- fore, compelled to refer the suit to a later period. The difficulty, however, is to fix a date. But if a deserted tower and silent bells, and the nuisance of large flocks of steeple birds, be any indication of the time when this suit was pending, we have at least some semblance of evidence that it took place much later than the above date. The words " lay possessors" do not seem strictly applicable to Mr. Langley, nor can we discover to whom they are more applicable. But the seizure of the bells was not a matter of imperative haste, and the parish j would be benefited just as delay was extended. It I could be conveniently and safely deferred till favourable circumstances or inclination prompted ; and, in the order of time, it was one of the very last things neces- sary to be done in the work of demolition. We have evidence that Mr. Langley claimed these bells as a part of his purchase. But as the parish claimed them too, it is quite possible he deferred the seizure of them time after time as an unpleasant piece of business, till he himself was seized by death. And it is quite possible, also, his successor — a young gentleman of 26 — thought the seizure had been delayed long enough, and made it at once. Mr. Langley died Oct., 1574. If the bells were seized this year or the year following, Mr. Prince would be 44 or 45 years of age when he was called upon to conduct the suit, at which period of life we may well suppose he had earned much of his eminence in the legal profession for which he is renowned. In this seizure little further could be needed on the THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 173 part of the lay possessors than to lock the bell- chamber door, take possession of the key, and await a purchaser. |And that this was done at this time, seems not altogether improbable, from the fact that not one single item for bell-ringing is to be found in the Churchwardens' accounts from 1574 to 1576, when the bell-ringers receive xijd in Nov. for ringing on the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's proclamation. During the same interval, too, wild birds appear to have made the church their home or place of gathering, and the cawing from the steeple must have been beyond endurance, for the Clerk1 is paid " for kyllyng the crose " a sum equal to that paid to the woman for keeping St. Gyles s Church clean for twelve months. We are thus brought to the year 1575, and if we could rely upon every step in the process by which we have arrived at this date, we may conclude from this suit alone that the great bells were in the present tower before the dissolution, when the dissolution took place, and had since remained there undisturbed. The same would be the result were we to remove the law-suit as far back as 1565, and it is hardly worth while to inquire whether the legal victory and the exchange of the bells afterwards could take place before Mr. Prince was 35 years of age. But any date con- sistent with the tradition would show that the seizure of the parish bells was long delayed. This could not be the case with the bells of the centre campanile. Before the destruction of this tower could commence at all, it was necessary first to remove its bells. Langley's right to these is undisputed. Who can doubt that these had long ago been sold? For when Richard Prince entered the Inner Temple to study law and argue imaginary cases, Langley had had 1 Phillips says : " One John Capper, Clerk of the Abbey Church, was drawn through Shrewsbury and afterwards hanged at Klngsland, for troason " (March 24, 1581). The above Clerk was probably Capper. His name appears in the Parish Books before this dato, but Kichard Norton appears as Clerk after. 174 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. nearly 8 years' practice in making " the most of his precarious property." Every way then the exchange of bells is improbable. Besides, if it did take place, why is there no mention of it in the tradition ? To have recovered the small bells by law, and then by some strange process to exchange them afterwards for the great bell with its four noble companions, and which together were about four times the value of the small peal ; that, indeed, were a triumph for the parish to glory in, and to hand down proudly from generation to generation. But the tradition is silent on this matter. It says, the bells that were seized were the bells that were recovered. And the plainest and most natural interpretation we can place on that which it leaves unsaid is this : that the bells that were recovered were the bells that remained in the tower. Remarks of a similar character are applicable to Churchyard's description of the bells. In noticing the Abbey Forehed, he says : — Where Abbey stands, and is such ring of belles, As is not found from London unto Welles ; The steeple yet a gracious pardon findes, To bide all blasts, all wethers, stormes, and windes. The bells upon which so much praise was bestowed could not have been the tinkling little peal of five, the smallest bell of which was not one-half the size of the present treble at St. Chad's. For the bells of Wells — and they were hung in one of the western towers of that Cathedral — were held to be second to none in the Kingdom. The " ring of belles" of which the poet speaks must have been the large peal, whose crowning glory was that grand old famous bell which, amid much pomp and ceremony, had long ago been dedicated to St. Wenefrede. Had this ring of bells been transferred from the centre to the western tower, Churchyard, as a con- temporary native of Shrewsbury, must have been aware of it ; and could he have such knowledge, and THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 175 glance at the debris of the unpardoned steeple, as he must have done, without being at once fired by the grateful thought that these noble bells had been rescued from its fall. But no such thought occurs to him. He proceeds, " The steeple yet a gracious pardon findes." Who can doubt that he rejoiced not alone for the steeple, but that in it and with it the bells were spared too. The latent thought of the lines seems to be this : That as from this steeple the far-famed bells had long been heard in the past, so were they likely to be heard long on in the future, since now the steeple itself was spared To bide all blasts, all wethers, stormes, and windes." We now turn to consider how far back we can trace the old large bells in the present tower. Owen and Blake way say : It is recorded in 1570 two women were slain and two men greatly hurt in ringing the Abbey great bell. And Phillips says : In 1570 two men were killed by the fall of the clapper out of the third bell, while they were ringing the great bell, commonly called St. Wenefrede's bell, at the Abbey Church. There is much discrepancy here about the killing, but there is agreement in this that it happened in 1570, and that it was connected in some way with the great bell. We accept it as a fact, therefore, that the great bell was in the present tower in 1570. We think we can safely go rive years further back. The churchwardens' accounts begin in 1565, and one of the earliest items is, " Payd to the clerke at Easter for the ryngers, xijd." In 1568 there are the following j items : — "For lyker for bells agaynst Whitsontide... ijd. „ Allhallowtide... ijd." ! Now if trifling items like these could be deemed i worthy of record, an important item like the transfer of the large bells to the western tower could not be j omitted. But no such entry is found, and, therefore, no such transfer was made during these five years. 176 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. In the Parish Registers there is the following entry : — 1578. 17 Feb. " I buried Rog. Deaeonne mynstrell sonne in lawe to Tompson the mynstrell who was buried at St. Gyles and had his kneele ronge w'th the 1 great bell in the Abbey." Edmund Bennett was Vicar when this strange record was made. He entered on his duties the year of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and was Vicar still after her death. The compiler of the " Notes relating to the Abbey Parish Church Estate " has deemed the entries made during Bennett's incumbency, which commence in 15 GO, of sufficient importance to occupy more than one- I fourth of the space allotted to all the registers he has extracted, and how far the extracts are from being exhaustive of the original registers, may be inferred from these facts : — That out of six specimen registers of this period, quoted by Owen and Blakeway, two are not found in the extracts. And in 1570, the total of births, marriages and deaths, stand at forty in the registers, while the number in the extracts is six. If Tompson's burial took place between 1559 and the 17th Feb. 1578, it should appear in these registers, but careful search has been made for it without success. For several years prior to 15 GO the registers are defec- tive, and possibly Tompson's knelle might have been ronge with the great bell at the Abbey in that interval. But that it was so, we have no available proof to offer. We are equally at fault in respect of the time when this bell was first placed in the Abbey. It is said to have been famous for its fine deep mellow tone ; but much of its fame was derived from the fact that it had been cast and baptised in honour of St. Wenefrede, whose pious memory could not fail to be lovingly cherished by the common people. Wenefrede was a pretty, pure, Welsh girl, who had her head cut off by the wicked Prince Cradocus. St. Bueno — her pious uncle — picked up the head and re- united it in a very clever and miraculous way to the head- less body, and she lived to regard her uncle's kindness THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 177 with grateful recollections for fifteen years, then died again. The two Latin inscriptions on the bell show what qualities and powers were ascribed to her after her death. " Sancta Wynefrida Deo nos coinendare memento, Ut Pietate sua nos servet ab hoste cruento." " Protege. Pvra. Pia. Qvos. Convoco. Virgo. Maria." We have no lack of witnesses as to the time this bell remained at the Abbey. The author of " Some Account of the Ancient and Present State of Shrewsbury " says it was sold in 1673. Phillips says : " About the year 1700, it was cracked, and sold to Mr. Rudhal, of Gloucester, and the money applied to the new pewing of the church." Owen and Blake way say : " It was broken in ringing for the safe return of Corbet Kynaston, Esq., from France, in 1730, and sold to Mr. Rudhall, the renowned bell-founder of Gloucester." Unfortunately not one of these statements is strictly true, which momentarily shakes our faith in history. On the other hand, no one doubts the veracity of our local historians, and it is but charitable to suppose that each deemed he had good ground for his statement. In respect of the first statement, we know that the parish passed a resolution in 1673 that the great bell should be taken down, broken, and converted into money. And in respect of the second and third state ments, we know that the bell was sold to Mr. Rudhall, of Gloucester — not, however, in 1700 or 1730, but in 1733. Possibly Phillips may have had more ground than we can at present discover for his statement that the bell was cracked about the year 1700. We know that it was in a cracked state at least five years before the History of Shrewsbury states it was broken. For in 1725 the Churchwardens pay £1 Is. Od. for an ineffectual attempt to restore its tone, or, as the item states, " For trying to mend the great bell." A similar unsuccessful attempt was made a few years ago to 178 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY, restore the seventh bell at the Abbey, after it had been cracked ten years, and for which nearly five times the above amount was paid, and the present great bell of Tong has been in a cracked state over thirty years. The following resolution in relation to the sale of j the great bell appears in the parish books : — "Novemb ye 7th. 1731. Mem11(i it is agreed by a Genaral Parish meeting yl ye great Bell now cracked and useless & ornament shall be sold for ye use A of ye church, Provided a faculty may be obtained for so doing. Witness our hands "John Latham, Vicr., &c." The interpolation of " ornament " is suggestive of the thought that a little warm discussion might have taken place at this Parish Meeting on the subject of church ornamentation. For John Latham was the obnoxious Parson who had removed the painting of the crucifixion from the church against the wishes of many of the parishioners, and of whom it was said — " The Parson's the man Let him say what he can Will for gain leave his God in the lurch ; Could Iscariot do more Had it been in his power, Than to turn his Lord out of the church." Official authority for selling the bell must have been obtained forthwith. For in the same year Benjn Povey is paid £l 2s. for taking down the bell, and 2s. 8d. is paid for drink for men that broke the bell. The Parish, however, seem to have had some trouble in finding a customer for the metal, for it is not until the early part of 1733 that Abraham Rudhall becomes purchaser, and in the same year Tho8, Evans is paid 3s. for carrying ye bell to ye water side, and Wm< Haynes is paid 13s. 9d. for carrying ye bell to Glouces- ter, and another item states, Pd for carriage of ye bell mettal 3d. The parish soon determine how tlioy shall appro- priate tho proceeds, as tho following shows : — THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 179 " March 10, 1733. — At a Parish meeting held this day, accor- ding to notice given, it is unanimously agreed that the charges of repairing the houses late in the possession of Powell be defrayed and paid by ye churchwardens out of the money due from Mr. Abraham Rudhall for the great bell, according to the power given them by a faculty granted from the courts. — Witness our hands the day year above written, " J. B. Benion, jun., Jos. Barnes, &c, &c." But the " money due " from the " renowned bell- founder of Gloucester " was not so easy to get. Over 1 5 months pass, and the following resolution appears on the Books : — "June 30, 1734. — At a ' Publick parish meeting of the Parishioners of the Parish duly assembled, according to the usual notice given, it is agreed that the last and present church- wardens, or such of them as Council shall advise, shall com- mence, prosecute, or proceed agt Abraham Rudhall and John Latham, clerke Vicor of the Parish, or either of them, in such action or suite in Law or Equity as Council shall advise for recovery of the money due from the said Rudhall, for the metal of the great bell sold to him, which he refuses to pay for, under pretence that he has given a note for the same, which is in the hands of the said Mr. Latham, and wch he refuses to deliver, and that all the said churchwardens shall be indemnifyed by us and the rest of the parishioners.' " As witness our hands, " Richd Jenkins, Warden, &c, &c."' Proceedings were instituted against Rudhall alone, as the following items show : — Rocoived of Rudhall, in part £80 0 0 Of Rudhall in furthor part 63 0 0 £143 0 6 On March 30, 1735, the following resolution was passed : — " At a parish 'meeting held this day, according to notice given, it is unanimously agreed that the church shall be white- washed, and several places of the covering repaired, and the charges thereof defrayed and paid by the churchwardens out ; of the money paid by Mr. Abr Rudhall for the great bell, according to the power given them by a faculty granted from the court. — Witness our hands, "Richd Jenkin. " Wm. Betton, &c, &c." 180 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. The following items appear later : — Of Rudhall's attorney towards costs ... 7 7 0 Do. towards the bell metal ... ... 5 19 10 Of Ball & Harries to Bal. ... 0 118 £13 18 6 It does not seem clear whether the lis. 8d. was for law expenses or for bell metal, or both, which leaves us! in doubt whether the bell fetched JC148 19s. lOd. or £149 lis 6d., or something between these two sums. But in either case the very explicit statement of Owen and Blake way, That the bell weighed "35 cwt., and <£147 was received for the metal at the rate of 9d. per lb.," cannot be correct. Thus ends the sad history of the great bell. Its four companion bells, the second of which had been recast in 1589 by "Larry oldfield and Larry j Danne, of Notingham," with three small bells from, St. Gyles', weighing together 104 cwt. 1 qr. 20 lbs, left the Abbey in 1673, when eight new bells were cast for the tower by Mr. George Oldfield of Not- tingham. The following are the items and resolutions relating to these bells : — "1672 — Paide Thomas Jones for taking down St. Gyles' bells, 10s." " Paide J ohn Everall for carrying Saint Gyles' bells down to the Abbey Church, Is. 6d." " In goods of the parish — 3 bells from St. Gyles." " Apl. 15, 1673 — Mem. that it is agreed upon by the assembly of the parish this day that ye Churchwardens shall treat with a bell-founder about the casting of the foure lesser bells, St. Gyles' his bells to make a ring of eight, and to let the greate bell remaine as at present." " At an assembly of the parish of Holy Cross and St. Gyles, upon 7 Octr. 1673, ordered that the greate belle, called by the name of St. Winefred's Bell, or the greatest of the 5 old bels, be taken down, broken, and converted for the u^e of the Parish Church, in consideration of the great want of money for the satisfying and supplying of the work now in hand, which is the making of 8 new bells in the said church." THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. 181 " 1674— Reed, of Mr. Oldfield for 15 hundred and 46 lbs. of bell metal — St. Gyles' bells being included — the sum of £65 0 0." " 1674— Pd Mr. Georg Old of Nottingham for casting of 8 bells wayeing four score (tons) and nine hundred and two pounds £89 0 3." Seven of these bells have been recast or replaced since that date — two of them more than once — and the Abbey tower is now distinguished by containing the oldest and the newest church bells in Shrewsbury. The eighth or tenor bell was recast in 1682 by Tho8, Roberts, with additional metal, which naturally leads to the inference that the original tenor was not suffi- o ciently powerful for the peal, as was the case with the original tenor of St. Chads. It was recast again in 1713 by Abraham Rudhall. Motto, Religion and loyalty do make the best harmony. The sixth bell was recast in 1745 by Abel Rudhall. Motto, Prosperity to the Church of England. The fourth bell was recast in 1743. This was cracked in 1807 in ringing at the election of that year,, when the Hon. William Hill and Tho8, Jones, Esq., were returned Members of Parliament, and was recast again in 1812 by Mr. J. Briant, of Hertford. The treble and second bells were replaced in 1825 by voluntary subscription, the old bells being ill-tuned. T. Mears, of London, founder. The fifth bell was recast by C. G. Mears, of London, in 1846. Motto, Come when I call to serve God all. The old bell was cracked on Sunday, the 1st of Novr- 1840, in ringing for the Rev. Edward Bickersteth (now Dean of Lichfield) and his bride, who had just returned from their wedding tour. The seventh or Victoria Bell was cast by John j Warner and Sons, London. On one side it bears the following inscription : — Victoria, cast 1877. Purchased with subscriptions raised by David Davies, in lieu of old bell, 1673, P. Whitcombe, B.A., Vicar, H. Wade, j T. Wilkes, Churchwardens. On the other side is a j well executed profile of Her Majesty — a duplicate of vol. n p 182 THE BELLS OF SHREWSBURY ABBEY. the one on the great bell at Leeds Town Hall — and is the only one which has been struck from the same stamp. The old seventh bell was cracked on the 9th of Nov., 1862, in celebrating the coming-of-age of the Prince of Wales. Motto, God save the King. The third is the only bell remaining of the peal of eight cast in 1673, and bears this inscription, G. Oldfield cast thees 8. We call this the lying bell. 183 i j THE BECOBDS OF THE COBPOBATION OF OSWESTRY. The manuscripts in the possession of the Corporation of Oswestry commence with a grant by a Fitzalan to the Burgesses in the year 1324. ; There is, however, iis X'ni lidolibus p'scntem curiam ins|>eeturis Tliom's Comes Arulideltie et Surr' Dn's Dosewaldcslre Salt/m in D'no. OF OSWESTRY. 199 Sciatis q'd cum villa n'ra Dosewaldestre in Marchia Wallie tarn ex concessionibus diu'sorum Antecessorum n'rorum p' diu'sa cartas sc'pta et munimenta p' nos et consilium n'rm inspecta qam ex possessione antiqua de diu'sis lib'tatibus et franchesiis ville et burgo im' catorio p'tinentibus p'uilegiata extitit et adhuc existat videlicet q'd Burgenses ville n're p'd'ce p' commune consilium suu' elig'e debent duos de legalioribus et discrecioribus burgensibus eiusdm' ad custodiend' pl'ita corone et alia que ad nos p'tinent in eodm' burgo sub gub'na- cone Sen1' n'ri et heredum n'rorum qui p' tempo fuerit et ad vidond' q'd subballiui burgi illius iueste et legitime tractent tarn paupes qarn diuitcs. Et q'd ijd'm burgenses p' t:insgres- sionibz sou forisf'curis s'uicntiu' suor catalla vl' bona sua in manibus suis inucnta sou alioubi locorum p' ip'os s'uiontes deposita quatenus sua esse sufiioient' p'bare pot'mt non amit- tent. Et eciam q'd si p'fati burgenses aut eor' aliqui infra terram et potestatem n'ram testati decesserint vl' intestati nos ncc hcrodes n'ri bona nec catalla ip'orum confiscari non faciemus quin eor' hcrcdos sou cxecutores ip'a h'eant quatenus d'ca bona sou catalla ip'orum deffunctorum fuisso constit'it dumtamon de d'cis heredibus aut executoribus noticia aut fides sufficient' h'eatur. Et q'd liceat eisdem burgensibus distrin^'e in burgo p'dco debitoros suos forincecos et oxtancos p' victuali- bus ois vonditis infra lib'tatem ville p'd'ce. Et q'd assise de victualibz facte et constitute p' p'bos lio'ies eiusdem burgi et p' ministros et balliuos n'ros teneantur et cons'uentu sup foris- factam n'ram. Et q'd burgenses eiusdem burgi habent lib'am et plonam potestatem faciondi burgenses cis acceptabl'es vsuros lib'tatibus et franclicsijs burgi illius iuxta cartas et concessiones tarn antecessorum n'rorum qam p' nos ab antiquo et de nouo conccssas et q'd nullus qui non sit burgensis eiusd'm burgi aliqua lib'tate burgensiali ib'm conta voluntatem burgonsiu' p'd'corum infra villam p'd'cam nec lib'tatem eiusd'm quorhodo- lib't gaudeat nec vtatur. Et q'd burgenses p'd'ci quieti sunt infra villam p'd'cam et lib'tatem eiusd'm de theoloneis lestagio et stallagio. Et eciam q'd nullus emet infra burgum p'dc'm nec lib'tatem eiusd'm pannu' crudum nec coria recencia nisi sit in lotto et skotto in assissa et tallagio cu' burgensibus p'dc'is. Et q'd p'd'ci burgenses hcredes nec successores sui nec eor' bona sou catalla quocu'qz locor infra t'ram sen potestatem n'ram inuenta non arestent' p' aliquo debito de cpio fideiussores aut principl'es debitoros non extit'int. Et ecip.m q'd nullus burgonsiu' ville n're p'd'ce s'uio.ntiu' ncc tcnentu' suor' infra lib'tatem eiusd'm ville residentiu' impl'itet11 noc occasioned1 sup' aliquibus appellis rettis iniurijs t;lnsgrcssionibus criminibus 200 THE RECORDS OF THE CORPORATION calu'pnijs indictamentis seu aliquibus alijs rebus eis seu alicui ip'orum imp'oitis seu imponendis infra libtatem d'ce ville factis seu qualit'cumqz em'gentibz nisi solomodo coram Sen10 n'ro et balliuis eiusd'm ville nec convincetur p' aliquos forincecos sed p' pares suos ville et lib'tatis p'd'c' nisi res ille tangant nos vl' Co'itatem eiusd'm ville et tunc in casu illo t'minent' s'cdm leges et consuetudines burgensiu ville Salopie approbatas et hactenus rac'onab'lit' vsitatas. Et q'd nullus burgensis eiusdem ville ponetu in assisis iuratis recognic'oibz seu inquisic'oibz aliquibz, sup' aliquibz criminibz tangressionibz seu aliquibz alijs ncgocijs vl' rebus coram aliquibus ministris n'ris vl' heredum n'rorum capiendis nisi infra dictam villam n'ram Dosewaldestr' coram Sen10 n'ro et balliuis eiusd'm ville, et hoc de rebus factis infra lib'tatem eiusd'm et non alibi. Et q'd ijdm' burgenses habent attachiamenta et p'sona' p'p^m ac custodiam o'im p'sonu' attachiator' et attachiandor' seu ad p^sona' adiudicator' vl' adiudicandor' qualitcuqz infra lib'tatem ville p'd'ce eodm' modo quo habent seu h'ere debent burgenses d'ce ville Salopie nisi de ill is qui attachiati seu attachiandi fuerint p' ministros n'ros vl' heredum n'rorum diebus Curiar n'rar fornicecar. Et q'd om'ia pl'ita et querele infa d'cam d'cam villam n'ram seu lib'tatem eiusd'm em'gencia coram Sen10 n'ro et balliuis eiusd'm ville ten'i deb'nt et non alibi du' tanem h'ui' pl'ita vl' querele in aliqua pte tangant burgenses tenentes seu s'uientes suos eiusd'm ville ex vna pte et Wallicos ex alt'a. Et eciam q'd nullus minist' nec balliuus nost' quicuqz nec heredu' n'ror ingredietur villam n'ram p'dc'am nec libtatem eiusd'm nec in aliquo se int°mittet sup' burgenses nc ho'ies quoscumqz ville et lib'tatis p'd'car seu eor' alique' de aliqua querela occasione t'rnsgressione seu alia re quacu'qz infra dc'am villam seu lib'tatem eiusd'm em'gente nisi in defectu eord'm burgenciu. Et q'd nullus burgensis ville n're p'd'ce cogi pot'it a nobis nec heredibus n'r'is fieri Rece'ptor gcn'alis dn'ij n'oi Dosewaldestr' scd tantu' modo collector exitum' quorcu'qz infra lib'tatem d'ce ville em'genciu'. Et q'd burgenses eiusd'm ville fugitivu' aliquem ad ecc'liam vl' cimit'iu' fugientem p' quacu'qz causa custodire non tenent' nec ad h'ui' custodiam obligantu p'ter tantu' p' vnu' diem et vnam noctem p'mos post h'ui' fugicom'. Infra q'd tempus ip'i burgenses tenentu inde p'munire balliuos n'ros liundredi Dosewaldestr' qui balliui siml' cu' alijs h'oibus n'ris eiusd'm liundredi custodiam fugitiui illius recipe et extunc facere tenent'1. Et q'd burgen's ville n're p'd'ce successores sui ac eor' tenentes et s'uientes quieti sunt i;t esse debent impp'up de 'oimodis feodis constabulary hostiarij ac janitoris Castri n'ri Dosewaldestr' p' quibuscuqz OF OSWESTRY. 201 folonijs tr'nsgressionibz seu occasionibz eis impositis seu impo- nendis exta lib'tatem d'ce ville factis p' quibz eos seu eor' aliquem contig'it imp'sonari in Castro 'nro p'd'co p'ter q'd con- stao'larius eiusd'm cast1 n'ri p'cipict semel annuati in festo S'ci Stephani martiris vnu' pancm de singl'is domibz mansionu' d'coru' burgensiu' et eor' tenenciu' vl' alias nu'nu denariu' de singl'is aulis et vnu' obol'u de singl'is cotagijs mansionu' eiusd'm ville in elecco'm d'ci n'ri Constab'larij. Et eciam q'd burgenses ville n're p'd'ce non deb'nt cogi posicione alicuius pene nec alio modo quocu'qz ad reddend' conta voluntatem suam aliquod iud'm int' ])'tes pl'itatumin p'ma nec in scd'a Curia si dieere seu allcgare velint q'd ad illud iud'm tunc reddend' aliqua eis latet ambiguitas. Sod h'ere debent diem rac'onab'lem ad plenu' auisiamentu' capiend' ad illud reddend' Ita q'd h'ui' iud'm t'ciam curiam millatinus p' longetur. Et q'd burgenses ville n're p'd'ce ex antiquo tenent mesuagia sua in ballio eiusd'm ville scituata ab 'oimodis prisis et tolnetis c'uisie lib'a et quieta Ita q'd in eisd'm mesuagijs c'uisiam brasiare et vendere possunt sine aliqua prisa seu tolneto aliquo inde soluendo. Quibus lib'tatibus et franchesijs p'd'cis p'd'ci burgenses n'ri et eorum ( antecessores ante liec tcmp'a vsi sunt et gauisi Nos autem p'd'cus Thomas Comes ex mera voluntate n'ra et p' auisiamen- tum consilij n'ri om'es et singl'as suprad'cas lib'tatuu' et franchesiar' concessiones et possessiones antiquas ratas et gratas h'entes p'iter et acceptas illas om'es et singl'as p' nobis et heredibus n'ris dilectis burgensibus n'ris p'd'cis eorum here- dibus et successoribz plene imp'puu' vtendas possidendas et congaudcndas approbam' ratificam' et in om'ibus p' p'sentes conurmamus. Volentcs q'd licet p'd'ci burgenses n'ri vl' ante- cessores sui aliqua vl' aliquibz lib'tatuu' seu franchesiar' p'd'car' aliquo casu em'gente ante hec temp'a absque int'rupc'one vsi non fuerint vl' eis vsi fuerint min' plene ijdm' tamen burgenses eorum heredes et successores om'ibus et sing'lis lib'tatibz et franchesijs p'd'cis et earum qual't decet'o gaudeant et plene vtantur sine int'rupc'one seu p'turbac'one quacu'qz n'ri vol heredum seu ministrorum n'ror' quor'cumqz imp'puu'. Et nos eciam id'm Thomas Comes de g'ra n'ra sp'iali ad releuiacom' et melioracom' ville n're p'd'ce l)oswaldestr' p' Wallicos rebclles dudum combuste et deuastatc volentcs p't'ea burgensibus n'ris eiusd'm ville ac com' heredibus et successoribus gr'am in hac p'te fae'e vt'iorem. Concessim' p' nobis et heredibus n'ris et hac p'senti carta n'ra [conlirmam'] eisd'm burgensibus n'ris eor heredibus et successoribus q'd imp'pm' quieti sunt de 'oimodis theolouis lestagijs passagijs pontagijs stallages et de lene et de denogildes p' totam t'rain et potestatem n'ram tain in Anglia 202 THE RECORDS OF THE CORPORATION qam in Wallia et in Marchia Wallie : Et eciam concessimus cisd'm burgensibus n'ris eor' heredibus et successoribus q'd om'ia mesuagia tenementa et burgagia sua infra d'cam villam suburbm' et lib'tatem eiusd'm scituata imp'pm' teneant lib'a et quieta ab 'oimodis prisis et tolnetis p' brasiac'one et vendic'ono 1 c'uisic ante hoc temp'a nobis solui consuctis videlicz soptem denarijs do qual't bracena e'uisie vendicoi' expoi' ib'm eod'm j modo quo tcncntu ex antiquo mesuagia in ballio ville n're p'd'ce vt sup*. Concessim' p't'ca p'd'cis burgensibus n'ris q'd tam ip'i | eor' heredes et successores qam sui tenentes et s'uientes I quicu'qz infra lib'tatem d'ee ville vel cxta vbilibet residcntes imp'p'm quieti sint do o'imoda consuetudine amobragij alias dic'ti leyrewytc. Et eciam concessim' p'd'cis burgensibz n'ris i eor' heredibus et successoribus q'd nullus ip'or' decet'o impl'ite- tur nec occasionetu sup' aliquibus appellis rettis iniurijs tans- j gressionibz criminibz calu'pnijs indictamentis seu aliquibu- j alijs rebus eis imp'oitis seu imponendis vbicu'qz locorum factis seu qualit'cu'qz em'gentibz nisi solomodo in curijs Anglicanis p' iud'm et det'minacom' anglicor' tantum et non Wallicor' conuincendus nisi res ille tangant nos vel heredes n'ros : Et eciam concessim' p'd'cis burgensibus n'ris heredibz et succes- soribz suis q'd cu' aliquis extaneus seu alius quicu'qz residens sup' lib'um tencmentu' vel lib'am terrain cuiuscu'qz burgensiu' illorum hcrcdum vel successor' suoru' infra villam p'dc'am v'l lib'tatem eiusd'm decesserit id'm decedens det burgensi illi sup' cuius terram seu tcnementum sic ib'm residens fuerint rac'ona- bilc h'icttum eod'm modo quo h'ui' residentcs sup' terrain rn>'onun Uiiienciu' d'nij n'ri do liundredo Doscwaldestr' voeat' vgholours cisd'm dare consueuerunt. Et concessim' eisd'm burgensibz n'ris corum horodibus et successoribus q'd nulli decet'o liccat tahun'izare nec vendere c'uisiam Salopie infra villam n'ram p'dc'am nec lib'tatem eiusd'm absqz sp'iali licencia eor'd'm burgensiu' inde ei concessa du' tamcn suliiciencia abilis c'uisic infra villam p'dc'am inve'iri pot't ad vendend' et hoc sub pena sex solidor' et octo denarior' argenti vnde vna medietas nobis et heredibus n'ris et alt'a medietas C'oitati d'eor' burgensium h'ui' penam fractam p'sentanciu' Concessim' eciam p'd'cis burgensibus n'ris corum heredibus et successoribus q'd nulli decet'o liceat aliquam c'uisiam ad vendend' infra p'riam n'ram Dosowaldestr brasiare nec aliquam c'uisiam alibi locor' qttam infra villam n'ram p'd'eam brasiatam vender' infra p'riam n'ram p'd'eam sub consil'i pena sex solidor' et octo denarior' vnde vna medietas nobis et heredibus n'ris et alt'a modiolus burgensibus p'd'cis illaiu penam fractam p'sontanljbz et q'd det'minaco' h'ui' pene cum acciderit fiat in Our' lib'tatis OF OSWESTRY. 203 d'ce ville n're et non alibi si quis v'sus p'sentatores accom' inde p'sequi volu'it. Conccssim' p't'ea p'd'cis burgensibus n'ris com' heredibz successoribz q'd nulli decet'o liceat tuhunt'izare nec vendere c'uisiam Salopic infra d'nia n'ra de Chirkeslond' Melu'dley et Kynardlcy nec in aliquo eoru'd'm nisi solouiodo j infra villain n'ram de Chirc sub pena quo supa vnde vna medietas nobis et heredibus n'ris alt'a C'oitati d'cor' burgen- j sium penam h'ui' p'sentanciu'. Concessim' insup' p'd'cis bur- gensibus n'ris eor' heredibz et successoribz' q'd nulli decet'o liceat cu' aliquibz au'ijs bladis victualibz m'candisis seu alijs rebus venalibz infr' d'nia n'ra Dosewaldestr', Melu'de- ley, Kynardeley, Eg'ley, Ruytoun seu vndecim vill' exis- tentibus ad aliqua' feria nec aliquod m'catu' forincecum ad ea ib'm vendend tansire nec ead'm p' aliu' vendenda mH'e j priusqam cu' eisd'm m'catu' d'ce ville n're Dosewaldestr' ead'm ibi vendic'oi exponendo attemptau'it ac si cu' eisd'm seu illor' 1 aliquo ib'm sic vendico'i expo'itis et non venditis ad aliqua feriam sive aliquod aliud m'catu' forincecu' extunc fnsierit et deinde cu' eisd'm seu eor' aliquo in d'nia n'ra p'd'ca seu aliquo illor redierit teneatur it'um m'catu' ville n're p'dce Dosewal- destr' attemptare tociens quociens sub consili pena vt sup*. Concessim' eciam p'd'cis burgensibz n'ris eor' heredibz et suc- cessoribz q'd nulli decet'o liceat pon'e nec p'scntare crucem nec penam aliqua' sup' aliquem burgensem ville n're p'd'ce p' quaeu'qz causa sed inde p'sequatu v'sus eu' p' accom' in Curia n'ra p'd'ca Et eciam concessim' p'd'cis burgensibus n'ris eor' heredibus et successoribz q'd nulli ip'or' decet'o indigeat nobis nec heredibz n'ris reddm' aduocarie solu'e p' saluac'one honor' seu catallor' suor' quor'cu'qz infra quodcu'qz d'nium n'rm existenciu' Sed q'd eor' bona et catalla quecu'qz rac'one h'ui' n're concessionis eisd'm salua sint et quieta imp'p'uu'. Con- cessim' insup' p'd'cis burgensibus n'ris eor' heredibz et succes- soribz q'd si aliquis decet'o fecerit affraiam pacis infra villam n'ram p'd'eam et ptr h'ui' affraiam factam ad stand' et obediend' aresto balliuor' eiusd'm ville inobediens seu in aliquo rebcllis fu'it extunc h'ui' affraiam faciens et inde conuict' incurat penes nos et heredes n'ros penam viginti solidor' cuius pene volum' q'd null us SenluS nec alius M inist' nost' quicu'qz mitigacom' aliqua' fae'e valeat. Et eciam concessim' eisd'm burgensibz n'ris eor' heredibz et successoribz q'd si aliquis ip'or' cu' ad aliquod tempus oportunu' p' balluios n'ros eiusd'm ville seu eor' aliquem rac'onabl'it p'munit' su'monit' et vocatus merit ad int:ind' infra muros illius villo in meliori araia sua deffensibl'i p' custodia et dellenc'one eiusd'm sic in eand'm villam Intro tiolu'it sed so o'ino exta tenuerit oi'modu' b'nficiuin lib'tatis 204 THE RECORDS OF THE CORPORATION ville illius p' p'petuo amHat. Concessim' p't'ea p'd'cis burgen- bus n'ris eor' heredibz et successoribz q'd nullus i'por' decet'o coget' y' nullum ministru' nee s'uientem n'rm nee hereclum n'ror' aliquem equm ip'or' burgensiu' nee alicuius ip'orum ad vsum li'iu' Ministri n'ri vl' s'uientis seu alt'ius cuiuscu'qz absqz mera voluntate sua accomodare nee locare nisi solomodo ad sp'ialeni vsuni n'rm et heredum n'ror p' balliuos n'ros eiusd'm ville tantu et non alios lib'and. Et eciam concessim' p'd'cis burgensibus n'ris eor' heredibus et successoribz q'd si ip'or' aliquis quod absit decet'o deueniat rebellis adherens et se annectens p'ditoribus Regis et regni Anglie vel p'ditorie p'ponat seu concenciat cum aliquibz p'ditoribus vel rebellis dampnu' decepiom grauamen seu aliud p'iud'm quodcumqz inferre ville n're Dosewaldestr' p'd'ce ecu alicui fideli h'oi eiusd'm seu eciam si quis ip'orum cum ad aliquod onus statum d'ee ville vel c'oitatis burgensium eiusd'm tangens decet'o ex c'oi considerac'one eiusd'm c'oitatis assedatus et adiunctus fuerit et h'ui' onus suum debite adn^t'e et portare noluerit sed co'mune factum et I iud'm C'oitatis p'd'ce oi'no contrariau'it et inde p' vtlag'iam seu aliam qu'acumqz debitam det'minacom' in Curia n'ra ville p'd'ce conuictus fuerit a lib'tate ville illius et oi' beneficio j eiusd'm cum tota sequela sua penitus imp'puu' priuetr. Et nos p'd'eus Thomas Comes et heredes nostri om'es et singl'as lib'tates et franchesias p'd'eas dilectis burgensibz n'ris p'd'cis eor' lieredibus et successoribus plene et pacifice imp'pm' vtendas possidendas et congaudendas Warantizabim' et imp'pm' deffendemus. In cuius rei testion' liuic p'senti carte n're sigillum n'rm fecimus apponi Hijs testibus Johanne Boerlee Douid llolbache Johanne "Wele Johanne Babelake Rieardo de Laken Johanne Bartelot Will'mo Ryman et multis alijs. Dat' apud Osewaldestr' vicesimo quinto die mensis January anno regni Regis Henrici quarti post conquestum octauo. ABSTRACT OF THE CONTENTS OF THE ABOVE. To all the faithful in Christ avIio shall see the present charter Thomas Earl' of Arundell and Surrey Lord of Oswaldestro Greeting in the Lord. Know ye that whereas our vill of Oswaldestre in the Marches of Wales as well by grants of divers of our predecessors in divers charters writings and muniments inspected by us and by our council as also from the ancient enjoyment of divers liberties and franchises belonging to a vill and burgh-merchant lias been and is still privileged to wit. (1,1 ore follow an enumeration of the privileges granted or continued, of which the Following are the principal) : — OF OSWESTRY. 205 Right to lovy distress. Exemption trom right of lord to seize goods on decease of a burgess dying with or without a will. Right to levy a tax on strangers for selling provisions within the Borough. Right to levy a tax upon provisions. Right to elect who shall be burgesses. Exemption from toll, lastage, pontage, stallage, lene and Prohibition on all who are not in scott and lott and under assessment and tallage from selling undressed hides or new cloth within the Borough. Exemption of burgesses from liability to seizure of their goods by the Lord in certain cases of debt. Right of Burgesses to be tried only before the Steward and Bailing and before their peers and not before foreigners, except- ing only in matters affecting the Lord or the Borough in which cases the trial shall be according to the customs of the Bur- gesses of the vill of Salop. Exemption of Burgesses from sitting on juries outside the Borough. Right to have a prison. Cases within the Borough to be tried before the Steward and No steward of the Lord to interfere with the franchise of the Borough. No Burgess to be made the Lord's receiver-general for the Lordship of Oswestry but only a collector of the dues arising within the Borough. The Bailiffs are not to be obliged to keep the custody of fugitives for more than a night and a day, but within that time to give information to the Bailiffs of the Hundred. Exemption of Burgesses from all fees to the constable and officers of the castle in respect of offences committed outside the Borough for which persons are brought to the castle prison ; nevertheless the constable may claim one penny from every mansion house and one farthing from every cottage once a year. Rights with regard to pleading. Exemption from tax upon beer within the Borough to wit the accustomed tax of 7 pence upon every brewing of beer. Exemption from every kind of custom of amobragium other- wise called leyrewyte. (This was a fee payable to (he Lord of a manor on the mar- riage of his tenants.) Bailiffs. 20G THE RECORDS OF THE CORPORATION Burgesses to be tried in English Courts by Englishmen not by Welshmen. Burgesses to be entitled to a heriot on the death of a tenant of their houses or lands in the same way that the Lord is entitled in the lordship of Oswestry to what is called " ughe- lours." Fine of 8 shillings and sixpence of which half is to go to the Lord on the sale of beer within the Borough without a licence. The same for brewing without a licence. The same fine to be levied in Chirkland, Melverley and Kin- nerley but Shrewsbury beer may be sold in the vill of Chirk. No merchandise to be offered for sale within the Lordship of Oswestry Melverley Kinnerley Edgerley or Ruyton of the eleven towns until it has been first offered for sale in the Borough of Oswestry. Penalty for affray within the Borough 20 shillings which the Htiiwurd &L&11 not mitigate. Any one refusing to assist in the defence of the Borough No horse of a Burgess to be seized against the will of the owner for the use of the Lord's officers. If any Burgess join the rebels or robbers or become an out- law (quod absit !) he loses the benefits of his rights as a Burgess. In testimony of which to this present charter of ours our seal we have caused to be affixed. These the witnesses lJo\m Boerley 2David Holbache, John 1 " John Boerley, or Burley, was an eminent person in his day, and a barrister at law. He was nephew to Sir Richard Boerley, K.G., and father of William Boerley, Speaker of tho House of Commons. His wife, for wham jointly with himself a chauntry was founded in the Abbey of Shrewsbury in 1414, was a lady of quality, daughter of Reginald Lord Grey de Buthyii." — (Blakeway's Hist, of Shrewsbury. "He was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1409. He was seated at Brom- croft in Corvedale. lie was one of the standing council to the Earls of Arundell and Stafford, and in that capacity attests the charter granted by the former nobleman to the Burgesses of Oswestry in 8 Hen. IV. The family became extinct in the male line on the death of his son William, who was Speaker of the House of Commons in 143G."— (Blakeway's Sheriffs of Shropshire.) He was M.P. for Shropshire in 1399 and in 1410. — (Prynne's Drevia Pal. rediviva.) - David I folbacho, probably the same as the founder of tho grammar school at Oswestry. Cathrall, in his History of Oswestry, says he was ua lawyer, steward of the towne and lordship, who was made a Vol. II., p. 139.) OF OSWESTRY. 207 Wele, John Babelake, 1Ricbard de Laken, John Bartelot, Wil- liam Ryman and many others. Given at Oswaldestry the 25th day of the month of January in the 8th year of the reign of King Henry the fourth after the conquest. No. V. 25 Jan. 8th Henr. IV. A.D. 1407. Of the same date as the foregoing is this Release by the Earl of Arundell to the Burgesses of Oswestry. Deed of Releaso by the Earl of Arundell to the Burgesses of Oswestry. Vniu'sis ad quos presentes l're p'uen'int Thomas Comes Arundell et Suit' sal'tm in D'no. Cum Ric'us auus n'r mip' Comes Arundell' et Surr' p' testamentum suu' legauit C'oitati Burgensiu' et tenendum ville sue Dosewaldestre in Marchia Wallie centum libras argenti in auxilium et rcleuamen genciu' illius ville p' mercandisis faciend' vt pro thesauro eiusdem ville ib'm p' p'petuo remansuras. Cuiusquidm' su'me Centum librar' due p'tes expendebantur p' C'oitatem genciu' pred'cor' in diu'sis arduis et necessarijs negocijs coe'm statum eor'd'm tangentibz temp'e quo Ric'us vltimus Rex Anglie D'nim n'rm ib'm ocupauit et residuu' su'me suprad'ce p' maiori p'te in manibz taliu' creditor' remansit quor' quidam p' p'sentem rebellionem Wallie finalit' depaup'ati decesserunt et alij quidam in diu'sas p'tes regni Anglie p' victu eor' querendo et niendicando so retraxerunt undo nulla distrinco' capi potuit p'ut p' debitam cxaminac'oem inde p' nos et consiliu' n'rm lactam plene concepimus Sciatis nos p'd'cm Thomam Comitem p' auisiamentum consilij n'ri p'dci considerantes tarn paup'tatem Burgensiu et tenenciu n'ror p'd'eor qam graue onus quod ip'i ad sustcntac'oem et saluam custodiam ville n're p'dce p' tempus p'sentis rebcllionis Wallie sustinuerunt et adhuc sustinent denizen or free citizen of England." As colleague of John Bocrley he appears as knight of the shire in 1410, and in 1414 as colleague of Richard Laken. — (Prynne's Brevia Pari, rediviva.) 1 Richard Laken, Kt, was of the ancient family of that name seated at Laken, or Lacon near Wem. By marrying the heiress of Hamond Peshall, of Willey, he greatly raised his family, as from this match a moiety of tho barony of Corbet, of Cans, devolved upon his descendants, Sir Richard was ancestor in the seventh degree of Rowland Lacon, Knight of K inlet, whose only daughter married Sir William Childo, Kt. He was knight ol' the shire in 1414, and sheriff in 1415. — (Blake way's Sheriffs of Shropshire.) 208 THE RECORDS OF THE CORPORATION Remissimus relaxauimus et om'io pro nobis et hcrcdibz n'ris imp'pm' quicte clamauimus C'oitati p'd'cor' Burgensiu et tenenciu5 villc n're p'd'ce 'oimodas acciones iura clamea et demandas que nobis competebant seu compet'e deberent quoiusmodo in p'd'cis Centu' libris argenti seu visu ear' dm' rac'oe legacionis aui n'ri p'd'ci. Ita q' nec nos p'd'cus Thomas Comes heredes nec executores n'ri aliquod ius clamen accionem vel demandam in pred'cis centu' libris argenti nec in visu ear'dm' decet'o exig'e vel vendicare pot'imus quoiusmodo set ab om'i accione iuris et clamei in eisdem p' p'sentes simus exclusi imp'pm. Et nos p'terea id'm Thomas Comes de g'ra n'ra special! m auxiliu' et confortamen Burgensiu' quor'cumqz tenenciu et residenciu' ville n're p'd'ce p' nobis et heredibz Burgensibz tenentibz et residentibz ac eor' cuil't 'oimoda calu'pnia acciones querelas seu demandas que h'uimus habemus seu h'ere debuissem' vl' potuim' v'sus p'dc'os Burgenses tenentes seu residentes vel eor' aliquem tarn r'one alicuuis m'candise fee cum rebellis Wallensis in emendo vendendo seu excambiandc au'iavictualia seu alias res quascumqz qam alicuius insurrexionis transgrecionis colloquij seu comunicac'ois fact' cum h'ui rebelli& vel eor' aliquo seu cuiuscuqz manucape'ois vel plegiagij a prin- cipio mundi Vsqz in diem confectionis p'senciu'. Ita q' nullus Burgensiu' tenenciu' nec residenciu' p'd'cor p' nos heredes nec Ministros n'ros quoscu'qz occasione p'd'cor' seu eor' aliquo ex p'te n'ra nec heredu' n'ror occasionctur molestetur nec quo quo modo grauetur infuturu' Sed ab oi'modis calu'pnijs accionibz et querclis v'sus eos vel eor aliquem inde ex p'te n'ra vel heredu' n'ror' conceptis vel concipiendis que ante f'm Epiphanie D'ni vltimu' p't'itum in rotulis Curiar' ville n're p'd'ce p' plenu' et patens recordum det'minata non fuerunt quieti sint et quil't eor' quietus sit et indempnis conseruetus imp'pm. In cui' rei testi'om huic p'senti scripto n'ro sigillum n'rm fecimus apponi. llijs testibz Joh'ne Boerly Dauid Holbach Joh'ne Babolake Joh'ne Bartlet Ric'o Laken' et alijs. Dat' apud Oswaldestr' vicesimo quinto die mensis Januarij anno regni Begis Henrici A release of 100 pounds which the grandfather of Thomas Richard Earl of Arundell and Surrey had left to the Burgesses together with a pardon for all those Avhohad held converse with tin1 Welsh rebels during the late disturbances. These (he witnesses: John Hoerley, David Holbach, John Babclako, John Bartelot, Hichard Baken, and others. n'ris rcmisim' relaxauimus quarti post conquestum octavo. ABSTRACT OF THE FOREGOING. OF OSWESTRY. 209 No. VI. 13 Sep. A.D. 1432. This is a lease by the Abbot of Haughmond of the Heath mill at Ruyton to Roger Adcot. On the back of this lease is a transcript of the first charter in this catalogue. There is also on the back another defaced document, which will be here copied as far as it can be deciphered. The Iieligious House of Haughmond, originally a Priory, afterwards an Abbey, was founded about the year 1 130 by William Fitzalan. It was the burial place of the family of its founder, and in successive genera- tions was richly endowed by them and by others. The patronage of the Abbey was in the gift of the Fitzalans. Richard Burnell was elected Abbot in 1421 and re- signed in 1463. — (Eytons Ant. of Shrop.) The Heath mill (molendinum de Bruerio) with its fishery was given to Haughmond Abbey by John Le Strange IV. about the year 1270. One moiety of the profits was to go to the Canons of Haughmond them- selves ; with the other moiety they were to provide two candles to burn at the head and foot of the tomb of Johanna, the grantor's wife. — (Ey ton's Ant. of Shrop. Vol. X., p. 115.) From the same source we learn that in 14G8 John, Abbot of Haughmond, demised the Hethe-mill for 61 years to Richard Irlonde, of Oswestry, gentleman, at a rent of 10s. for 41 years and of 13s. for 20 years. Perhaps this last paragraph may indicate the channel through which this lease has found its way among the Corporation records, for its term was only half run out when the new lease was granted. The site of the Heath mill -pool and dam may still be traced on the Weir brook between Pradoe and Hanley Hall. The mill was taken down late in the last century, the embankment was levelled early in this, and cattle now graze whore the swans used to swim. The mill-stones form part of the 210 THE RECORDS OF THE CORPORATION pavement in front of a cottage which stands where the mill-house probably stood. Lease by the Abbot and Convent of Haughmond to Roger Adecot, of Hethe Mill, in the Lordship of Ruyton. Sciant p'sentes et futu'i c-'d nos Ric'us Burnell Dei g'ra - Abbas Monast'ij S'ci John'nis Euangl'iste de Haughmond' et eiusd'm loci conuent' ex vnaie' concessu concessini' et hac ! p'sonti carta n'ra indentata ad firmam tadidimus Rog'o Adecot Molendinu n'rm aqxiaticu' vocatu Hethe Mulle cu' stangno et cusu aque eiusd'm Mol'i infra D'nm de Ruyton. Hend' et j tenendp'dc'mMolend' et stangnu' eiusd'm cu' cllsu aque et om'ibz p'tin' suis de nobi et successoribz n'ris p'd'co Rog'o Adecot et [ suis a festo S'ci Mich'is Arch'i. Anno D'ni Mttl'imo Quad- ringentesimo Tricesimo s'cdo vsqz ad fine' sexaginta annor' p'x'ior sequenciu' et plenarie completor'. Reddend' inde annuati' nobis et successoribz n'ris quatuordecem solid' Reddit' annual' ad festa Sci Mich'is Arch'i et Anunciacionis beate Marie p' equales porc'ones. Et edificando rep'ando manutenendo et sustcntando p'd'cm Molend' et gurgite' eiusd'm Mol' cu' stangno p'd'co et pisces eiusd'm stangni sup'tubz suis p'p^s et expensis m'emio D'ni d'co Rog'o et suis ad noc lib'ato tociens quociens t necesse fuerit t'm'io durante supa d'co. Et utlerius res'uand' nob' et successoribz n'ris medietate oi'm pisc'm et Angillar' eiusd'm stangni et g'gitis ib'm. Et cu' stagnu' fuerit fractu' et ad pisces capiend nos et successores n'ri nec ne et ip'e Rog'us seu sui facient et rap'abu't d'cm stangnu' adeo b'n et secure sicut erat p'antea. Et ecia' p'd'cus Rog'us et sui custodiant duos vet'es cignos sup' stangnu' ib'm ad cust' sustencom' ip'i' Rog'i et sui t'm'io p'd'co durante res'uand' nob' et successoribz n'ris vna' medietatem anu' et pullor' eor'd'm de anno in annu'. Et si d'cus reddu's aret0 fuerit in p'te vel in toto ad aliqua' t'mu' quo solui debeat q'd tunc b'n liceat nob' et successoribz n'ris in p'd'co Molend' cu' p'tiu' p' reddu' sic aret0 distring'e et distrinc'oes captas retinere q°usqe de d'co reddu' sic aret0 vna cu' Arreragijs si quo fuerint plcnar' fuerit satisfac'm vel p' solut'. Et si sufficiens distrinc'o in d'co Molend' inueniri non pot'it post vnu' quart'iu' anni q'd tunc b'n liceat nob' et suc- cessoribz n'ris in p'd'co Molend' cu' ptiu' reintaare et in p'stiuo statu rehabe'r. Condicionibz p'd'cis in aliquo non obstantibz Et ecia' i'pe Rog'us et sui in fine t'm'j p'd'ci lx annor' p'd'cm Molend' cu' 'omi ap'patu eiusd'm Mol'i cdificac'oe Molaribz fcrris at; alijs om'ibz p'tiu' suis snsum reddet etdimittet in adeo bono statu sou melion qua' illud aliquo tomp'e lactu' fuerit pona (Vs D'uo sen sueeossorilbz suis incurenda vn t'cia p'.s pcnepM'co OF OSWESTRY. leuab'lis D'no Curie in qua Cur' placitu fuerit. Et nos v's p'd'ci Abbas et Conuentus p'd'cm Molend' stangnu' et cusu'. Aque cu' om'ibz suis p'tiu' p'd'co Rog'o Adecote et suis vsqc ad fine' p'd'ci t'nij sexaginta annor cont'a om'es gentes. War- rantizabim' et indampne deffendem'. In cui' rei testiom' vni p'ti hui' carte indentate penes p'dc'm Rog'm' remanenti nos p'd'ci Abbas et conuent' sigillu' n'rm co'ie apposuim'. Alt'i vero p'ti eiusd'm carte indentate penes nos res'uati p'd'cus Rog'us sigillu' suu' apposuit. Dat' in co'i cappitl'o n'ro die Martis p'xi'a ante festu Sci Mich'is Arch'i Anno D'ni supad'co. [On the dorse of the foregoing document there is a copy of a charter from the Earl of Arundel to the Burgesses m 47 Henry III., A.D. 12G2-3. Also of certain "Compositions."] ABSTRACT OF THE FOREGOING. Richard Burnell, Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Evangelist, of Haughmond and the Convent of the same place, to Richard Adecot. Lease of Heath Mill with the mill-stream and stank, within the Lordship of Ruyton, for GO years at 14 shillings a year rent. Agreement by lessee to repair, etc., and to preserve the fish at his own cost. Half of the fish and of the eels to go to the lessors. Two full-grown swans to be kept on the pool, and half the cygnets to be reserved for the lessors. Power of re-entry in case of arrear of rent. Premises to be returned on expiration of the lease in as good or better state under penalty of 100 shillings. No. VII. This document, which is on the same parchment as the preceding, is so greatly defaced, that we merely print what can be deciphered without note of any kind. Incip* composiciones confect' Burgenc' vnT dos' In ptais qd Caritas 1) . . . . maneat hit' nosmetip's in etuna vna* .... in assensu in nostris act'. Et qd balliui n'ri vident oo's capl'nos eccl'ie re sint et gerunt de bona gest et g ad excrcend' diuinis suic' scd'm online' clerical' et spiritual' et qd caplns see Marie V'ginis q* p' tem- pore fu'it sit paratu cotidie asclebrand' missa' m ca'c ^ rio b'te Marie q'1 (sic) hora' sexta' in aurora p't' < in auUi'pno tempore sclebra ap'1 horam qui'ta' et qdsaensta et aquarij pukont oampanaa ignitog' diatim dimid, hor' ante hora1 212 OSWESTRY CORPORATION RECORDS . viij0 et dimidiu' post in vesp'e viatores att'at' ac alicnigene p unt defendere hospiciu' et om'es artific' cessare do labore . . mpana' die' in te'pore hyeme' et ver viz' de festo S'ci Luce enangelist' usc fest S'ci cegorie' pape et aiieuigene et artific' p . . , . . . unt ut supa et qd sac'st custon' horitud' sic1 qseut' fuerit p' stipendis xxli solid' It q's de ga statu erit moverit ac temptau'it mat'ia causa' 1' aliqu aliam reur sona't' et tangent' int'upc'one' et p'turbac'o conf ribz n'ris resident' 1' libertat' et vtilitat' n'ra p tuc balliui ac om'es T res congreg' aule sue p' nicone' dat ex .... ' satelit n'ror' hora' assignand' ad avisame p'pt' deffenc'one' abinde It'm eat alicui burgenc' h'ent' neqe terras .... tenement' descendere in ope' ut non possit ad honest canf'ribz suis et libe vill' opportun' erit de quilibet tenec' es de ad suu' supportand' vnu' denariu' soluend' quilih't quatu .... ig'e vnu' honest' hoie'm forinc' de artific' . . . . erit p't' mercat' de grossar' Et ille forincic' sit lib . . . occupand' libertat' burgenc' p't' durant' vit diet' confris p veniet voc t' honest confratn. The following is also on the dorse : — Molin' dimitti'bat11 Edward Slym ...... a0 xxxvrij0 Reg' Henric' vj1' Et redd'us ij'8 dimitt' Ric'o p a0 p'mo Edward iiiju Et t'min' fiuict in a0 D'ni Mill'mo CCCCm0 monagesimo scd'o Et sic rem' aretro aor xiij an'i. Also endorsed : — Pertinct' Abbat Haugmond'. (To be continued). 213 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE, SALOP, AND THE FAMILIES CONNECTED THEREWITH. By H. F. J. VAUGHAN. The following account has been drawn up principally from deeds relating to the estate and notes given by Rev. R. W. Eyton to a family formerly resident at Ruckley Grange. Other sources have been searched for information too numerous to mention, and since con- stant reference to each authority would break the con- tinuity of the narrative, it has been thought best to omit them, with this explanation on the part of the writer, who is rather a compiler than an author. The use of the above-mentioned notes and other documents was placed at his disposal some years ago, in order that he might draw out from them a short history of this beautiful little estate for the owners of it. Rokeley, Rocley, or Ruckley as it is now called, is a property of some 400 acres, partly in the parish of Tong and partly in that of Shiffnal, from which latter town it is distant about three miles. It originally formed part of the manor of Tong, which in the time of Edward the Confessor was held by Morcar, Earl of Northumberland, and is traditionally said to have been the seat of j Hengist, the Saxon leader, who was invited by Vorti- t gern, the British King, to assist him against the inroads ! of the Picts and Scots. In this tradition there is pro- ! bably, as in most, a residuum of truth ; but, like so many of those relating to the British Kings, which have j been imported into Britannyand there localized, this also ! VOI-. II. It 214 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE was probably imported from Kent, which we know was given by Vortigern to the Saxons he had invited to assist him, and where also there is a Tong Castle, sur- rounded by very ancient earthworks, which may have formed the stronghold of the British King's brave but treacherous ally. At the Norman Conquest Tong was taken from its Saxon possessor, and conferred by William on Hugh de Montgomery in 1071. It must not, how- ever, be supposed that the Saxons quietly acquiesced in the forfeiture of their estates, since they held out against the Norman rule, both in the Fen Countries and in the Western Counties ; and even towards the end of the first William's reign, the Earls Morcar and Edwin were sufficiently formidable to make William Giffard, then Chancellor, induce the Sovereign to emancipate the Saxons from some of the most trying disabilities under ; which they were suffering, and restore some of the laws of Edward the Confessor. Earl Morcar survived until the reign of William Rufus, though then a prisoner on account of his having become an outlaw and being cap- tured at Ely. William, however, acting upon the dying wish of his father the Conqueror, released him with others, but he again fell into captivity, and was finally killed by some of his own people. Roger de ! Montgomery, the Norman Lord of Tong, was one of the j most powerful of William's friends, and connected with j the Conqueror by his father's marriage with Joscelina, niece of Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy, who was great- grandmother of the Conqueror. He was created Earl i of Arundel, and married twice. By his second wife Adeliza, daughter of Ebrard de Pusaic, he had a son, JCbrard, a priest and chaplain to King Henry L, and by his first wife Mabel, daughter and heir of William Tal- vace, Lord of Belesme in La Perche, he had, with other issue, Robert de Montgomery, generally called from his mother Robert de Belesme, Earl of Arundel and Shrews- bury, to which he succeeded on the death of his brother Hugh in 10(J8. This Robert de Belesme was the most powerful subject of his day, and, according to Orderic, RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 215 cruel and rapacious. He does not seem to have resided at Tong, though there was apparently a castle there at that date, (on a different site from the present one, how- ever, and from which the name of Castle Hill is derived) ; but it was during his tenure of these lordships that the Churches of Donington and Tong were built. His principal foundation was the Castle of Bridgnorth, whither he fled when accused of treasonable conduct in favour of Robert, Duke of Normandy, against Henry L, calling around him his adherents, and bidding defiance to the King. Three months served to reduce Arundel Castle, and immediately, the monarch, pursuing his rebellious subject into Shropshire, laid siege to Bridg- north, which contained a garrison of 700 men. The Inhabitants of the town, however, at the invitation of the King, and probably also fearing the consequences to themselves if they abetted Belesme's treason, turned upon their defenders and delivered up the town. Thence Henry marched to Shrewsbury through a thick wood, which was felled to afford a passage to his troops, and upon his arrival the Earl in despair gave himself up. His life was spared, but he was compelled to quit the kingdom, and retired to Normandy, where he still possessed thirty-four castles after the forfeiture of his English estates. Here he continued to espouse the side of Duke Robert, until again falling into the bands of Henry, who was then trying to obtain possession of the Norman Dukedom, he was imprisoned for life in Wareham Castle, thus sharing a similar fate to that of the Royal Duke whom he had served. Belesme's con- nection with Tong ceased in 1102, when his English estates were declared forfeited, and his castle of Arundel was conferred on the Queen, Adeliza, daughter of God- frey Lorraine, Duke of Brabant, who after the death of her first husband married William de Albini, in her right Earl of Arundel, and their great grand-daughter and co-hoircss, Isabel de Albini, carried the Earldom and estate to the family of Fitzalan, by her marriage with John, son of William Eitzalan, Lord of Oswestry, 216 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE who married the great Shropshire heiress, Isabel, Lady of Clun, daughter and heir of Ingelram de Say, and with their representatives it remains to the present day. Henry Plantagenet did not long retain the manor of Tong in his possession, but conferred it upon an aspiring Churchman, Richard de Belmeis, Bishop of London. This family of Belmeis has been represented as belong- ing to that of Belesme, of which, however, there is no proof ; but they certainly were in high favour with the Earl, and attest many of his charters. They may very probably have been stewards for his estates in this part of Shropshire, and took their name from their seat in the parish of Donington, now called Beamish. There was a most interesting and picturesque old house there called Beamish Hall, standing within the memory of man, but the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway passing over its site, it was pulled down, and a commodious, but ugly, farm-house built in its stead. Bishop Belmeis was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1102, and dying in 1127, was interred in the Priory of St. Osyth, the following inscription being upon his tomb : — Hie jacet Richardus Beauveis cognomine Rufus London Episeopus, yir probus et grandawus, per totam vitam labor- iosus, fundator nostcr religiosus et qui multa bona nobis et ministris ceclesia) suae Set1 Pauli eontulit. Obiit XVI. Jan- uarii MCXXV1I. Cujus anirnoe propitietur Altissimus. He was succeeded by Philip de Belmeis, the son of his brother Walter de Belmeis, in his Lordships of Tong and Donington. It is difficult to say when these two lordships were divided, but the family of De Belmeis were Lords of Donington after the Lordship of Tong had passed away with an heiress of the elder branch. Philip de Belmeis took the side of Stephen in the civil war of that period, and was present at the siege of Shrewsbury. He was also a great benefactor to the churc h, being a co-founder of (or at least greatly enrich- ing) Buildwas Abbey on the banks of the Severn near 1 roiibridge, and subsequently, having received a company of Canons of St. Augustin from Dorchester, about nine RUCK L Id Y (4EANGE ESTATE. 217 miles from Oxford, where they had located themselves after their introduction into England in 1140, he gave them a temporary domicile at Lizzard Grange in Shrop- shire, and afterwards built for them — about 1150 — the magnificent Abbey of Lilleshall, whose ruins still serve to beautify the estate of the Duke of Sutherland, at that place. It may be remarked in passing, that another author states that, on the death of Bishop Belmeis, the Lordship of Tong passed to his nephew Philip, that of Donington to Richard de Belmeis. Here the history of Ruckley becomes distinct from that of its parent estate of Tong, for it was this Philip de Belmeis who, in con- junction with Richard de Belmeis, gave the Iiuckley estate to Buildwas Abbey, whence it became church land and a Grange, as Abbey farms were called. The follow- ing is the deed of gift : — Notum sit omnibus ecclesie Christi fidclibus, clericis et laicis modernis et postcris quod ego Ricardus de Belmeis cum eonsensu et consilio uxoris mea3 et fratrum meorum concessi et dedi Abbati et Monacliis de Bildwas totam com- | munem pasturam per totam terram meam ovibus suis et I ceteris animalibus qiue liabent apud Rochele. Et ut ad illam pasturam sine ullo impcdimento possint venire dedi eis in perpetuum tres acras de terra mea juxta rivulum subtus Ohalfesford, ubi pontem suam ultra aquam ponant. Hanc itaque terram cum predicta pastura dedi Deo et Sanctse Mariie et predictis Monacliis in perpetuam elemosinam pro salute aninice mese et patris et matris meie et ceterorum parentum meorum ita libere et quiete ab omni terrene ser- vicio et exactione seculari ut nihil mihi ncc meis in ea retinuerim nisi tutelam et protectionem contra omncs qui eis in aliquo adversari voluerint. Hujus nica3 donacionis et con- lirmacionis isti sunt testes, Barnardus de Saint, cum Alano de Bildwas, et Ada Sacerdotc, Philippo fratre ipsius Ricardi, I Radulfo Venatore, Humone de Shakerlaw, l)e Monacliis Adam et Gaufridus cum fratre Rogerio, totusque convent us. This Ilichard Belmeis is supposed to have been cousin to Philip Belmeis, Lord of Tong, though he calls him frator and apparently had other fratres. Indeed Philip, the donor of the Buckley estate, though he left two sons, viz., Philip, who died in 1159 without issue, 218 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE and Ralph or Eanulph, who died without issue in 1167, was ultimately represented by his daughter Adelicia, the heiress of her brothers and wife of Alan la Zouche. And yet, we have the following notices of members of this family at subsequent periods. Robert de Beaumes was a vassal at Tong in 1255, whose son, Hugh de Belmeis, fought for Henry III. at Kenilworth, where he had two horses killed. He was an attendant on that monarch, who granted him permission to hunt the fox, badger, and wild cat in the royal forests of Shropshire and Staffordshire, and in 1267 gave him the marriage of Isabella, widow of Robert de Bey sin, as a recompense for his good services, and again somewhat later, viz., July 5th, 1270, the fine arising from Hillaria de Harcourt's marriage. Walter de Beaumes also appears as defendant in a suit at the assizes of 1221, for stop- ping up a road in Brewood to the injury of Leticia, relict of William de Omfreiston of Omfreston. The Abbey of Build was, the ruins of which are beautifully situated on the river Severn, and attract the attention of passengers in the Severn Valley Rail- way, was founded in 1135 by Roger de Clinton, Bishop of Chester. It has, however, been asserted that the Bishop only gave the site, and that Matilda de Bolmn, wife of Sir Robert Burnell, was its true founder, though this seems not to have been the case. It was dedicated to St. Mary and St. Chad, and was of the order of Sevigny, which was subsequently united to that of the Cistercians. The Abbeys of Ystrad Marchal in Mont- gomerj, and St. Mary in Dublin, were subject to its Abbot as visitor. It will be seen, that the gift by Philip and Richard de Belmeis, of Ruckley, was amongst the earliest benefactions to the newly founded institu- j tion, the date of the above deed being about 1139, but it was not a very valuable gift so far as the land was concerned, since at that time it was probably little more than uncult i\ ated common laud, and being very sandy, its produce on the higher parts would not keep many sheep or other cattle ; the valleys, however, near the streams RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 219 which after their union form the river Werf, would be much more productive of good pasturage. The monks are known to have been very good landlords, and in many instances studied agriculture with the intention of improving their lands, while the fact that their estates were preserved by the ban of the Church, before which, at that time, even kings trembled, enabled their tenants to live in peace, and expend with security far more labour and wealth on their holdings than the vassal of any lay lord dare attempt. There is no doubt that Church tenants were somewhat despised by those of the neighbouring Barons, who were more warlike, but the lands of the Religious must have been nearly the only ones which received proper and regular cultivation in that rude state of society, and they performed a valuable ; service to the community at large by the abundance and excellence of their produce, while they also enriched their immediate owners. It was probably from this cause that Buckley has been always in a state of high cultivation, while the neighbouring land of Upton con- tinued a wild common until within the memory of man. The only persons in those days who could in any sense be said to enjoy a peaceable possession of their property were those who were either themselves Churchmen, or held under some monastic body, and there are not wanting cases in which hard-pressed families resorted to the expedient of giving up their lands to a neighbour- ing Abbey and receiving them back as tenants, thus rendering them more secure than they would otherwise have been. The Cistercian Order was really a reforma- tion of the Benedictine rule, which had been gradually relaxed, and numbers among its members many eminent men, such as the Abbots Stephen and Bernard. One of the rules of the Order was, that its houses should not be in cities, but that spots in the country should be selected, where the brethren might live a life of contem- plation away from the World, and since a considerable poll ion of the time not employed in singing the Divine Olliee was given to manual labour in the fields, the lands 220 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE of the Religious were well cared for, and from their own knowledge of agriculture they were likely to introduce all possible improvements amongst their tenantry. We have only the names of the following Abbots of Build- was : Nicholas in the time of Walter de Dunstanville, Simon, Henry II., Ed. II., and Stephen the last Abbot. In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas the Abbey and its lands is valued at £104 18s. 7d., by the Com- missioners of Henry VIII. at £129 6s. 10d., or a net income of £110 19s. 3^d., and at the dissolution it con- tained 14 monks. Before passing on to the tenants of Buckley, the following charter referring to the estate will be found interesting, marking as it does a subse- quent grant of land on the Upton side, by Alan la Zouche, and this probably bears reference to the land near what is now called Monk's pool, and other parts which are in the parish of Shifmal. Noverint universi (mod ego, Potronilla de Monteforti domina de Ideshale, filia quondam de Walteri de Dunstanville j inspexi et sensibiliter inspexi, cartam patris mei quam fecit vins religiosis Abbati et conventui de Bildewas &c. in hoec verba, Haoc est conventis facta annis regni regis Henrici xxxij inter Nicholaum abb et conventu de Buldewas et Dominum 1 Walterum de Dimstanvile, dominum de Ideshale, videlicet quod | pnedietus abbas et conventus remiserunt et conccsserunt dicto Waltero et lueredibus suis villain de Upton cum pertinentiis | suis quam habuerunt de Alano de la Zuche tenendam et I habendam sibi et ha^redibus suis de dicto Abbate et successor- ibus suis pro xl sol argenti annuatim ad duos terminos silicet ad Festum Beatic Mariaj in Martio xx sol et ad Festum St1 Michaelis xx sol apud ecclesiam de Ideshale dicto Abbati et successoribus suis, vel eorum nuncio, de liberis hominibus \ suis subscripts et eorum hujrcdibus imperpetuum, videlicet de Hereberto de Wyke xvij sol pro una virgata terras quam habet I in Wyke, de Ricardo de Castello octo sol et dictus etiam Walterus rcmisit et quietam clamavit imperpetuum de se et hajredibus dicto Abbati et conventui et successoribus suis redditum iiij quam ab eis annuatim percipere consuevit pro brueria de llathtono. Dedit etiam et concessit pnedietus Walterus pnclatis Abbati et conventui pasturam habendam ad ccc oves per iiiajus contuin cubaiit.es et lovantes ad gran- gias suas do Hal tone et do Koclego per totam infra has di- HUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 221 visas, exceptis bladis et fratis scilicet a terra de Haltone per viam regiam qiue ducit de Bipeswic usque ad Villam de Upton, et de Upton per eandem viam usque ad Stauntone et sic subtus Stauntone per Sichetum quod vocatur Sparkmore descendo usque ad Wornh et indc usque 'ad pontem de Rocleg sine impedimento alicujus. Et 'sciendum quod bene liceat dicto AValtero appruare sibi et suis infra dictas divisas, ita tamen quod iidem Abbas et conventus et successores sui habeant liberum et largum ingressum et regressum et snmcientem pasturam omni tempore anni ad pnedictas ccc oves, et postquam blada et faena levata iuerint fiabebunt pasturam per totum infra pnedictas divisas. Et pra> dietus Abbes et successores sui praeuictam villam cum pertin- entiis pnedicto Waltero et ha3redibus suis contra omnes homines warintizabunt &e. Hiis testibus, dominus Henrico de Penne- burg, Waltero de Pedwardine, Johanne filio PhiUppi, Hugone de Westone militibus, &c. This charter, confirming a previous one, was made by Petronilla de Montfort, who was the daughter and finally heir of Walter de Dunstanville, 1270, Lord of Idsliale. The pedigree begins with Reginald de Dun- stanville, 1124, the second husband of Adelinade Insula, daughter of Humphrey de Insula, a person of distinction in Wiltshire. They had issue, Alan de Dunstanville, Lord of Tdshale, 1 1 5 6, whose son Walter married Hawise des Priaux, I 195, and had issue Walter de Dunstanville, T240, who married Petronilla, daughter of William Fitzalan, by whom he was father of another Walter de Dunstanville, 1270, who by his second wife Hohesia left a daughter and heiress Petronilla de Dunstanville, the wife of Robert de Montfort, whose son William de Montfort sold Idsall in 1310 to Bartholemew de Baddies- mere, and from that time, it has been said, it was generally called ShHfnal. The above Reginald de Dun- stanville is also called Fitzroy, from being one of the numerous illegitimate sons of Henry I., by Adela or Sibil Corbet, the daughter of Robert and niece of Roger Corbet, Baron of Cans. This family of Montfort must not I>e confused with the family of the celebrated Earl of Leicester, who was descended from the Kings of France. The De Montforts of Sliiffnal were akin 222 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE to Peter de Montfort, Sheriff of Shropshire in 1250, 1 and their chief residence was at Beldesert near Henley, in Warwickshire ; they took the side of the Barons, it is true, and the head of the family fell at Evesham under the Earl of Leicester's banner. The Alan la Zouche mentioned in the deed was Lord of Tong, which came ! to him through Alicia, the sister and heir of her brother Ranulph or Ralph de Belmeis, last Lord of Tong of that race. He was himself descended from Geoffrey Viscount Rohan, whose son, Alan la Zouche, is called Earl or Count of Brittany ; he was father of Roger la Zouche, father of another Roger la Zouche, whose son Alan is the person before us. He was in high favour with the King, who made him Chief Justice of Chester, and North Wales was com- mitted to his trust. It is related of him that about the year 12G8, John, Earl of Warren and Surrey, had a I grievous quarrel with him about some land, and the | Earl when worsted in his suit, finding he would j have to submit to the law, overcome by passion, vented : his rage in foul language, and at length rushed upon Sir j Alan and his son in Westminster Hall so violently, that j he almost killed the one and wounded the other, immediately after which he fled to his Castle at Reigate, where, being too hotly pursued by Prince Edward and a j large force, to remain in safety, he humbled himself and | promised to make satisfaction. He was fined 10,000 marks, but the amount was subsequently considerably reduced. It is also recorded that during the Abbacy of John, the 23rd Abbot of St. Albans, in 1252, Queen Eleanor and her children visited that Abbey, and during her stay there a violent thunderstorm took place, the lightning striking and shivering to pieces the mantel piece of the room wherein the Queen was sitting. The laundry of the Abbey burst into flames, and such terror was caused by the elements, that Alan la Zouche, the King's Chief Justice of Chester and of the Welsh district (w ho was at that time escorting two carts full of treasure and had stopped to rest at the Abbey), RUCKLE Y GRANGE ESTATE. 223 rushed out with his attendants into the highway, imagining the Abbey would be destroyed. Roger la Zouche had sided with the Barons against King John after the murder of his nephew Arthur, son of Geoffrey Duke of Brittany, and on this account the Lordship of Tong had been seized into the king's hands and given to Breose ; it was, however, recovered upon payment of 100 marks. Alan la Zouche gave this lordship in frank marriage with his sister Alicia la Zouche, 1267, to William Harcourt, by whom however it was again forfeited, he having adhered to the king's enemies, and only restored after his death to his two daughters, at the intercession of their uncle, Alan la Zouche. By his wife Helen, daughter and co-heir of Roger de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, Alan la Zouche had issue two sons, Eudo or Ivon, ancestor of the Zouches of Harringworth, Codnor, &c, and Roger whose son Alan left three co-heirs ; 1. Elene wife of Alan de Charleton, whence the Charltons of Apley ; 2. Maud, wife of Robert de Holland, and 3, Elizabeth, a nun of Brewood. Return- ing from this digression, which however seemed neces- sary to shew the last connection for some time between the lords of Tong and Ruckley, we must take notice of the tenants of Ruckley under the Abbot of Buildwas, but of these there is less known than even of the Abbots, since apparently none of their names survive until the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. That event is looked upon as a cala- mity or otherwise- for the most part, according, to the animus of individuals, but the temperate and unprejudiced must confess that their destruction was not an unmixed good, nor the way in which it was done a legal act of unmixed justice, though there can be no doubt that the clergy of that day brought it upon themselves by their overbearing pride, self-- pidulgcncc, and coveteousness, all characteristics directly opposed to their duty as Christians and vows as monks. The last Abbot of Buildwas, Stephen, had granted a lease dated April 14th, 1521, of Ruckley Grange, and 224 SOME ACCOUNT Ob' THE some other land in Buildwas, to John Foster of Welling- ton and Isabella his wife, for the space of 99 years, at the rent of £6 13s. 4d. for the land in Build was and 10 shillings for Buckley per annum, with a heriot, how- ever, upon the death of each possessor, of 20 shillings, in addition to the rent. It is not certain whether the Foresters or Forsters had any previous connection with Buckley, or whether the deed of gift was not signed by one of them under the Latin form of Badulfus Venator. The family is undoubtedly of very ancient date in the county, and has been said to derive its name from a common source with the Welds of Lulworth and Willey, that is, from Edric the Forester, called in Latin Edric Sylvaticus or the Wild, who was Lord of Wigmore and son of Alfric, brother of the celebrated Edric Streone or Stretton, Earl of Mercia, of whom it is related, that desiring the death of Althelm, one of the blood royal, he invited him to hunt with him near his residence at Shrewsbury, having previously placed in ambush in the thickest part of the forest, one Godwin Porchund, or master of the boar hounds, to kill him as he passed. Upon hearing of this treacherous murder of his relative, Ethelred, the Saxon King, put out the eyes of two of Kd tic's sons as a punishment for the deeds of their father. The first of the name of Forester mentioned is Hugh, son of Bobert, in 1214, who at the request of King John, had married a niece of John le Strange, for which he was recompensed by a remission of certain sums of money which he owed. Robert le Forester of Wellington appears in 1287, .and in 1319 his son Roger was made a Burgess of Shrewsbury. His son (or grandson) Roger was made keeper of the Chase of Wellington in 141G by the co-heirs of Thomas Fitzalan, viz., his sisters Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk (at that time, lor she had four husbands), and .Joan, who had ( married ( ioorgo Beauchamp, Lord Bergaveuny. Richard, (lie sou of William and grandson of the last mentioned Roger, was lather, by his wife Alice, of William Forster, who married Elizabeth, daughter of John RouHbrd of j RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 225 Butlos in Herefordshire, and had issue John Forster, who by Anne, daughter of Thomas Bannester of Hadnal, Sheriff of Shropshire in 1403, was father of two sons, Richard, whose issue died out, and John, who was the John Forster mentioned in the Abbot's lease. It is evident, from the alliances above and those which suceeed, that the family of Forster ranked amongst the best in the county, and it is more than might have been expected from the various changes and chances of life, to find their descendants and representatives still holding a good position and ranking amongst the largest landed proprietors of Shropshire. John Forster married Isabel, daughter of William Lyster of Rowton Castle ; she, how- ever, was his second wife, his first being Alice, daughter of Thomas Charlton, by whom he had a daughter, Alice, wife of John Shee. The Lysters of Rowton Castle are a family still known in Shropshire. William Lyster, the father of Mrs. Forster, had married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Leighton by Angharad, one of the co- heirs of De Burgh. It will have been observed that the Abbot's lease of Ruckley, &c. would end in 1620 ; before that date however the Reformation had taken place, and the dissolution of religious houses, so that the Abbots had ceased to be owners of land, and the estates of Buildwas had passed into the possession of Henry VIII. He thus acquired the rights of the Abbot of Buildwas, but the rights of the tenants of the Abbey remained in force, and thus the Abbots lease held good after the lordship of the estates had passed into the hands of a layman. The accounts of the Abbey of Buildwas had been sent to the King in 153G. In the following year the lands of the Abbey were conferred upon Edward I Grey Lord Powis, and on July 4th, 1545, he received ; also the lands of the Abbey of Ystrad Marchall, so that John Forster was now tenant at Ruckley under Lord Powis, of whom we must say a few words. Sir John Grey, lit, son of Sir Thomas Grey of Berwick, by his wile Jane, daughter of John Lord Mowbray (a, descendant of the All >i nis), w;is created in J 118 Furl of Tankcrville, 226 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE in Normandy, on account of his great services in the French wars, and was also invested with the Order of the Garter. He married Joan, the elder co-heir of Edward Cherleton Lord Powis, who had died on March 14th, 1421, and thus left to his descendants a claim to that Barony, but he himself predeceased his wife, being slain in a marsh near the Castle of Beaufort, April 3rd, 1421. His son, Henry Grey, succeeded him as Earl of Tankerville, and was apparently a strong adherent of the house of Lancaster, since he is said to have beheaded Sir Griffith Vaughan in the courtyard of Powis Castle, at the order of Margaret of Anjou, without any trial and in violation of a promise of safe conduct which had been given in his name, because Sir Griffith was suspected of corresponding with the Yorkist leaders. Others have said that family motives influenced him in this, since Sir Griffith's grandmother was 4th in descent from Gwen- wynwyn Prince of Powis, and stood on an equal footing as an heiress of Powis with Lord Tankerville's ancestress, Hawise, wife of John Cherleton. He married Antigone, the natural daughter of Humphrey (surnamed the Good), Duke of Gloucester, 4th son of Henry IV. by Mary, daughter and co-heir of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and by her had issue Richard, Humphrey, who died without issue, and Elizabeth, wife of Sir Roger Kynaston. Henry Grey, Earl of Tanker- ville, died on the feast of St. Hilary, 1450, having never been summoned to Parliament. Ki chard succeeded his father, and is said to have taken his seat in Parliament between Lords L ovell and Stourton, the position which his ancestors the Cherletons Lords Powis had held ; he then swore fealty to Henry VI. Indeed, Richard Lord Powis lived in difficult times, for the struggle between the rival houses of York and Lancaster was at its height. At the battle of Blore Heath, 1449, Sir Roger Kynaston, who had married the sister of Lord Powis, slew with his own hand (it is said) James Lord Audley, the leader of the Lancastrians. A lew years afterwards we i'u id Lord Powis and Sir Roger Kynaston together RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 227 with Walter Hopton and Roger Eyton, Esquires, re- deeming their heads with their lands. In July, 14G0, the battle of Northampton changed the aspect of affairs, and two years later Lord Powis was at the siege of Alnwick Castle with the Earl of Warwick. He married Margaret, daughter of James Lord Audley, and relict of Vaughan, by whom she had had two daughters. By Lord Powis she had a son, John Grey, six years old at his father's death, and a daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Ludlow of Stokesay. John Grey served in the French wars, and having married Anne Herbert, daughter of William, first Earl of Pembroke of that family, left at his decease in 1497 a son and heir, John Grey Lord Powis, who died at the early age of 19 years in 1504, having married Margaret, daughter of Edward Lord Dudley, K.G., son of John, who was son of Sir Edmund Lord Dudley by Joyce, sister and co-heir of John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester, and daughter of John Lord Tiptoft by Joyce, the younger co-heir of Edward Cherleton Lord Powis. Edward Grey Lord Powis succeeded his father, and through his mother repre- sented the other co-heir of the Cherletons, thus uniting the blood of the old Lords Powis in himself. During his youth he had spent much of his time with Charles Brandon, Duke of Sullolk, to whose care he had been committed. It will be remembered that this Charles Brandon had married Mary, daughter of Henry VII., and relict of Louis XII. of France, and was aperson of great distinction, which points out the importance which was thought to attach to the education of youngEdward Grey. He frequently visited Shrewsbury and spent his time at his house there, called from its builders, Charlton Hall. By his marriage with Anne, daughter and co-heir of his former tutor, he connected himself with the royal family, but died of the sweating sickness July 2nd, 1551, without any legitimate issue, his wife surviving him and marrying as a second husband Handle Han worth. Lord Powis had, However; contracted an intimacy with Jane, daughter of Sir Lewis Orwell by Elizabeth, I 228 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE daughter of Morris Ludlow of Stokesay Castle (or perhaps a former wife), and by her had several natural children, viz., Edward Grey of Build was, &c, Jane, wife of William Booth of Dunham Massey, Co. Chester, Anne, wife of Christopher Haywood, Joyce, wife of Humphrey Freewood, and Cecily, wife of Humphrey Freere of Charlton, Co. Worcester. This brings us down to the time of our History, for it was to his connection Edward Grey Lord Powis, that Henry VIII. granted the lands of the Abbeys of Buildwas and Ystrad Marchell as related above, at a rent for the former of <£55 8s. 8d. After the death of Lord Powis, Jane Orwell married John Herbert, and survived until 1596. Edward Grey, the natural son of the last Lord, came of age in the year 1568, having been an infant at his fathers death, but succeeding under a will dated June 11th, 1544, to the Barony and Manor of Powis, the Castle and Manor of Poole and other estates of his father, with the exception of the Castle and Manor of Cherleton and Manor of Pontesbury, which were settled on his mother for her life, but came to him in reversion. We may anticipate events so far as to say that immediately upon his suc- cession, he was attacked upon all sides and entered upon a series of legals truggles with his opponents, of so costly a nature, that probably on this account he sold the Lordship and Castle of Powis in 1587 to Sir Edward Herbert, 2nd son of William Earl of Pembroke, and took up his residence at Buildwas. Having married Grisagona, the daughter of John GilFard of Chillington, by his wife Joyce, daughter of James Leveson of Lilleshall, he had issue five sons, Edward, Walter, Andrew, Thomas and Devereux, and four daughters, Jane, the wife of William Seldon, and afterwards of William Leighton, Lettice, Cecily and Grisagona, wife of Sir Moreton Briggs of Haughton (created a Baronet August 12th, 1641), by whom she was mother of Humphrey, Morton, Ilobert, Anne wife of Thomas Draper, Priscilla, Frances wife of loners bowko of Little Wyrley, and Martha. Tho family of Grey, so far as the representatives of Edward RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 229 Grey are concerned, seems to have melted away, and left only a trace behind in those descended from the daughters. Indeed most of the estates were sold during Edwards life time, or granted to claimants to secure peace. It is thus that in 1G00 we find him joining with Vernon to sell Charlton Hall, the old family house in Shrewsbury, to William Leigliton of Stretton, though it was then, and had been for more than two centuries pre- viously in the occupation of the Waring family, and it finally came to the Warings and descended through their heiress Dorothy Waring to Jonathan Scott of Shrewsbury, her son, who by Mary, daughter of Humphrey Sandford of the Isle, was father of John Scott- Waring and other sons, and Dorothy, his only daughter, wife of Henry Stokes. It will be necessary here to enter upon some explanation of the different claims and claimants on the estate of the last Lord Powis. Foremost amongst these, of course, stands his natural son Edward Grey, who claims under his father's will ; then come the Vernons, who claim through their ancestress Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Grey Lord Powis, and finally come the Kynastons, who claim as representatives of Lady Elizabeth Grey, sister of Richard Lord Powis and daughter of Henry Grey, Earl of Tankerville. It will be remembered that the last Lord Powis died in 1551 or 1552, and as early as 1554, Thomas and George Vernon began to prefer claims to the estates and title of Powis, especially the latter, since the former might follow the will of the deceased peer, and of right pass to his son Edward Grey. From which, it is evident, that there was no secret as to the Vernon claims, nor were they preferred after so long an interval that any reasonable doubt of their justice could arise. Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Richard Grey Lord Powis, who died in 14GG, by his wife Margaret, daughter of James Lord Audley, married Sir John Ludlow of Stokesay Castle, and was by him mother of two daughters and co-heirs, Anne the elder, and Alice the younger. Anne married Thomas Vernon, a younger son VOL. II. s 230 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE of Sir Henry Vernon of Tong Castle, and was in her right of Stokesay Castle. They had issue a daughter, Elinor, wife of Francis Curzon, and a son and heir, Thomas Vernon, who married Dorothea, daughter of Sir Francis Lovell of Norfolk (whose mother was aunt of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk), and was father of a son, Henry Vernon, claimant to the Barony in 1584, and a daughter, who on the death of her brother without issue became his heir, named Dorothy, the wife of Humphrey Ludlow, by whom he had a daughter and heir Elizabeth Ludlow, who married Humphrey Hill of Hill's Court, and was by him mother of George Hill and other sons, and a daughter Anne Hill, wife of Charles Adams of Caynham, and subsequently of Cleeton, by the marriage of his grandson Francis Adams with Anne, daughter and heir of William Adams of Cleeton. Anne Adams survived her husband, and was living as a widow at Broseley in 1G37. The younger co-heir of Sir John Ludlow and Elizabeth Grey, Alice Ludlow, married Humphrey Vernon, in her right of Hodnet (also a son of Sir Henry Vernon's), and was mother of George Vernon of Hodnet, father of Richard Vernon, who died without issue, and John Vernon, who succeeded to Hodnet, and was father of Sir Robert Vernon of Hodnet, the father of Sir Henry Vernon of Hodnet, from whom derived the Vernons of Hodnet. It would take us too long and draw us too far from our subject to enter on the various proofs adduced by Henry Vernon of his right to the Barony of Powis ; one however must be noticed, namely, certain books of pedigrees shewing his descent from Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Lord Powis, as above related. These books were referred to the Heralds' College for their opinion upon the subject, and the answer of the Heralds was to the effect that though their own books contained no record of any daughter of the later Lords of Powis except Elizabeth, wife of Sir Roger Kynaston, yet the documents sent up showed that there was a daughter of Richard Lord Powis, called also Elizabeth, and that they considered RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 231 them worthy of credit in that behalf. There would appear then every reason to believe that Henry Vernon of Stokesay would duly have received his summons to Parliament as Lord Powis, but unfortunately he died at this time without issue, and nothing further was done. So far the Kynastons seem to have made no claim ; indeed the matter rested for more than a century after the death of Henry Vernon, but upon being revived in 1729 by Sir Nathaniel Curzon, he was opposed in January 1730 by John Kynaston (a descendant of Sir Eoger Kynaston and Lady Elizabeth Grey), who in 1731 claimed the right to the Barony of Powis, asserting that there was no such person as Elizabeth, daughter of liichard Lord Powis and wife of Sir John Ludlow. He accounted for none of his ancestors having laid claim to the Barony, by saying that though of good birth and position they were too poor to do so effectually. It is certain, however, that from the first the Vernons and Kynastons were interested in the Powis estates, which at the accession of Edward Grey were estimated to be of the value of £5,000 or J£6,000per annum; and he undoubtedly gave the Manors of Plas y Dinas and Trewcrn, Co. Montgomery, to Edward Kynaston in 15G8, in satisfaction for any claims of his on the Powis estates, and thus bought his interests against the Vernons ; but it must also be remembered that a moiety of the Manors of Charleton and Pontesbury descended to the Vernons, and that, when the latter was alienated by Edward Grey to William Leighton, the title to the estate was not considered secure without the confirma- tion of Henry Vernon. There is extant a letter from Edward Grey to his loving cousin, Edward Kynaston of Hordley, dated at Buildwas 29th Sept., 1597, which says that Vernon intended to indict him, his cousin, Mr. Leveson, and their servants, for an affray at Bridg- north, in revenge for their having indicted some men of Vernons. From what has been said it is evident that, as previously observed, Edward Grey, upon entering into possession of his fathers estate, found that he had 232 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE only entered upon a disputed title, and was obliged to buy off his opponents or make some compromise with them. This bears considerably upon the History of Buckley, which formed part of the disputed possessions, and it would be impossible to understand it without some explanation of the claims of the claimants, and of these persons themselves a short account may not be uninteresting. The Vernons became connected with Shropshire through marrying the heiress of Tong. It will be remembered that that estate passed from the family of Belmeis to that of Zouch. Alan la Zouch and his wife were succeeded by their son William, who died in 1199, when his brother Boger succeeded, during whose tenure Tong was forfeited and given to De Breose. He died in 1238, when his son Alan la Zouch became Lord of Tong, which he settled as a marriage portion on his sister Alice, wife of William de Harcourt, by whom it was again forfeited, but restored, as pre- viously stated, at the intercession of their uncle Alan la Zouch, on his daughters and heirs, of whom theyounger, Margery de Harcourt, married John de Cantilupe of SniMeld, brother of Walter Bishop of Worcester, and j uncle of S. Thomas of Hereford. She, however, died without issue. The elder co-heir, and finally sole heir, Orabel de Harcourt, married Henry, son of Henry de Pembruge by Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Godfrey de Gainages, and grandson of another Henry de Pembruge of Pembruge, Co. Hereford. The father, Heury de Pembruge, was an adherent of De Montfort's party, even after the battle of Evesham, and is said to ! have insulted Prince Edmund and set fire to Warwick. ! He was, however, taken prisoner and handed over to the j Mortimers, who consigned him to the dungeons of Wigmore Castle and took possession of his lands, from which they refused to part even upon the release of I'embniL^who never regained the whole of them, though his estate was considerable ; and we lind that his son, besides liis wile's dower, had lands in Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Wiltshire, and Leicestershire. King RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 233 Henry III. granted to Henry de Pembruge a charter for a market at Tong on Thursdays, and an annual fair to be held on the Vigil, the Feast Day and the morrow of St. Thomas the Apostle. At his death in 129G, he left his son and heir, Fulk de Pembruge, an infant five years old, who afterwards took part with the Barons against the King's favourites under Thomas Earl of Lancaster, and was amongst those who received a pardon for the execution of Gaveston. There is some difficulty as to the exact descent of Tong here, but a third Fulk de Pembruge, his son probably, succeeded him in 132(5, who died without issue in 1334, when his brother Robert succeeded, father of Fulk de Pembruge, Lord of Tong in 1371, who married firstly, Margaret, sole heiress of William Trussell of Cublesdon, and secondly Isabel or Elizabeth Lingen, who is sometimes called the Foundress of Tone Church. Fulk de Pembruge died in 1408, leaving no issue by either wife, the latter of whom indeed survived him and had a grant of the Church of St. Bartholemew at Tong in 1411, for which she paid c£50, and being piously dis- posed rebuilt to a great extent the church (the arcade oi the south aisle being part of the original structure), tc which she added a College consisting of a Warden and Canons. Henry V. subsequently endowed it with the Manor of Lapley and lands in Leicestershire. In 144(i Tong came into the possession of Sir Richard Vernon a.c heir, being the grandson of Juliana de Pembruge, sistei and heiress of Fulk de Pembruge, with Richard Vernon of Ilarlaston, in Staffordshire, which he derived from ar heiress of the family of Fraunceys, and of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, /which he derived from heiresses of the families of Avenel and Peverel. This Richard Vernon had by his wife Juliana a son and heir, Richard Vernon who married Joan, the sole issue of Sir Rhys ab Griffith of Wichnor, and his fust wile Isabel, daughter and lieii of Sir Kobert Staekpole. It was thus that the Vernon { became representatives of the Staekpoles, though not of the Griliilhs of Whiehnor, which estate passed on to tin descendants of Sir Rhys by his 2nd wife Margaret 234 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE daughter of Nicholas Zouche of Codnor, now represented by Sir Henry Boynton, Bt.,of Burton Agnes. Richard Vernon and his wife J oan had issue Sir Richard Vernon, who succeeded to the Tong estate, and married Benedicta, daughter of Sir William (or John) Ludlow of Stokesay Castle and also of Hodnet through an heiress of the De Hodnet family, they had issue Sir William Vernon, who married Margaret Swynfen, heiress of Pipe, her grand- father, Robert Swynfen, having married the daughter of William and sister and heir of Sir Robert Pipe of Pipe Ridware, Co. Stafford. William Vernon and his wife lie in a tomb erected to them, of free stone, with a grey marble slab inlaid with figures and scrolls of brass, near the south-west pier of the tower in Tong Church. He died in 1467, and his wife in 1460. They were succeeded by their son Sir Henry Vernon, K.B., 1467, Lord of Tong, Haddon, &c, &c, and governor or tutor of Prince Arthur, the elder brother of Henry VIII., who resided with him both at Tong and Haddon, and subsequently held a miniature Court at Ludlow Castle. Sir Henry Vernon rebuilt his Castle at Tong about 1500, and it substantially forms the present edifice. Prints of the building as it stood last century show that it consisted of a centre, wherein was the great Hall, and two project- ing wings, all of brick with stone facings and mullions, many of the principal corners being ornamented by octagonal turrets ; the chimneys were also of brick, some twisted, some constructed with other ornamental devices, so that the whole formed a mass of most picturesquely broken buildings, though rather a castel- lated mansion than a castle. It was probably the second castle built upon the present site, since in Fulke de Pembruge's time, circa 1320, mention is made of land called *' The Olde Castle." Sir Henry Vernon married Lady Anne Talbot, the daughter of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury (who was killed in 1460), by Elizabeth, daughter of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormcnd. (This line of Talbot died out with Edward Talbot, the 7th Earl of Shrewsbury). Both Sir Henry and Lady Anne RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 235 are buried under a richly carved alabaster tomb in Tong Church, which partly forms a screen between the Golden Chapel (which was a chantry of the Vernons) and the chapel at the east end of the south aisle. He died in 1515, and Lady Anne in 1530. There seems some difficulty as to his issue, since for the most part he is called the father of : — 1st. Sir Richard Vernon, his heir, who married Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Dymoke of Scrivelsby. 2nd. Thomas Vernon, jure uxoris, of Stokesay. 3rd. Humphrey Vernon, jure uxoris, of Hodnet. 4th. Sir John Vernon, of Sudbury. 5th. Sir Arthur, a priest, Rector of Whitchurch, and some daughters, of whom Elizabeth was the wife of Sir Robert Corbet of Moreton Corbet ; but another authority calls Thomas and Humphrey Vernon younger sons of Sir Richard Vernon, and so grandsons of Sir Henry, which seems very probably correct. The arms of Vernon were, argent fretty sable ; those of Pem- bruge, Barry of 6 or and azure; those of Harcourt, or two bars gules ; those of Zouche, gules 10 bezants 4, 3, 2, and 1. These last arms surmounted by a chief or, are also given as those of Belmeis. The arms of Ludlow were argent, a lion rampant sable. With this know- ! ledge of the persons mentioned before us, we may return i to the Ruckley estate, which had been leased to John Forster by Stephen, last Abbot of Build was. Through the contentions of the various competitors for Lord Powis' estate, Ruckley became divided into two moieties. On June 22nd, 1599, Henry Vernon gave a lease on Cosforde or Gosforde, Byldwas Hayes and Ruckley Grainge (late in the occupation of John Forster), to Thomas More of Reding, Berkshire, gent., at the rate of ^4 per annum. It has been supposed that this lease was given principally to strengthen Henry Vernon's position, but his right to give it was questioned in 1657. It would itself have expired June 10th, 1679, but could not take effect until the expiration of the lease given by the Abbot. This latter lease had descended after the death of John Forster, by gift and grant to Richard 236 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE Forster of Brockton and liuckley Grange, who however was sued for it by Robert Cressett, gentleman, though without success. Cressett seems to have been connected with the Forster family, though it is rather difficult toj see how he had any claims in the matter. Richard: Forster of Brocton, liuckley Grange and Sutton Madoc, | was the son of John Forster and Isabel Lyster, and) brother of John Forster of Upton and Easthope, 1544, 1 an attendant on Henry VI 1 1., who granted him a license! in 1520, "to use and were his bonet on his hede at alii tymes and in all places, as well in our presence as else- j where." This John Forster married Joyce, the daughter i and heir of Philip Upton, called in one place of Upton I under Haghmond, in another of Oteley, Co. Salop ; and' left a numerous issue, of whom Edward, the 5th son; had by his wife Margaret, daughter of Thomas Bostock,1 a daughter, Isabel, who married her cousin John Forster. The eldest son of John Forster, of Upton, was William, who by Mary, daughter and co-heir of John Weaver of Strangford, Co. Hereford, was the ancestor of the present Lords Forester of Willey, who still retain the right of appearing covered in the royal presence. On February 6th, 1603, Thomas More of Beading, Berks, entered into; a bond for £60 to Gilbert Watkis (probably Watkins) of Peplowe, in the County of Salop, yeoman, binding him- self to keep certain agreements, the purport of which is; that by a deed dated February 15th, 1604, More should sell to Watkis for the sum of 40 marks i.e. £26 13s. 4d., his interest in Gosforde Grange, &c, and other lands in the occupation of John Forster of Sutton Madoc, for the residue of the term of 80 years then unexpired, that is, his interest in the lease given by Henry Vernon, and1 which would, if undisputed, come into operation after, the convent lease of 99 years (under which John; Forster held those lands) had expired. It is evident' from what has been said, that this interest which wasj bought by W atkis could not be of any very great value at! some sixty years before it could come into operation; and/ indeed, the whole of such an interest seems to have been IlUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 237 created by Henry Vernon for his own purposes. How- ever, it seems subsequently to have been deemed of some value, or if not of much value in itself, still the possession of it might prevent further disputes. It also speaks well for the improving state of the Huckley pro- perty, when we find the tenants, John Forster and his heirs, anxious to obtain the lease, and thus extend their right over it. This was done by a deed dated June 16th, 1G04, wherein Gilbert Watkis of Peplowe assigns to Francis Forster, eldest son of John Forster of Sutton Maddock, the remainder of the term of 80 years, reserving however to himself Cosforde Grange. To this deed is added a memorandum, stating that Gilbert Watkis having purchased the lease from Moore, subject j to a rent of £4, payable by him for all the lands to Henry Vernon, Francis Forster would be liable to the I same rental, but in consideration of the reduction of j Gosforde Grange, he should pay to Henry Vernon, his i heirs, and assigns, the sum of <£3 lis. 8d. during the time he should enjoy the premises. But before going further we must speak of Richard Forster, the son and heir of the John Forster to whom the Abbots lease was given. He married Margery, daughter of Wildgoso or Wildgote ol Wolverhampton, by whom he had several children, viz., John, his heir, born 1554; Elizabeth, wife of ' Robert Bowyer ; Anne, wife of Richard Baxter, and j Frances, wife of William Adams of (Jlecton, some of whom were born before the marriage of their parents. This John Forster, son and heir of Richard, who also succocdod to the Abbot's lease, states that in the year 1G04, June 16th, his grandfather John Forster, the original lessee, was dead, and he himself was in posses- sion of the lease of a moiety of Ruckley, the reversion of which would rest in Henry Vernon and his heirs expectant. He, therefore, promises to pay to Henry (Vernon half the sum of MO 1 3s. id. per a-inuin, and u\m la defend his tit le to that moiety of the estate ; and Ilonry Vernon promises upon his part to pay back ! vol. n, T 238 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE to John Forster the rent if he be evicted of his title, and also to acquit John Forster of all arrears due, either to himself or to his grandfather Thomas Vernon. This agreement was, of course, entered into on account of the disputes affecting the estate of the last Lord Powis, and indeed legal disputes and litigation seem an heritage entailed upon the Ruckley estate and its possessors. In 1606 Henry Vernon died without issue, and we hear little more of him, until at a later date a claim to the Barony of Powis was taken up by the Curzons, the descendants of his aunt. It is worthy of remark, how- ever, that on the very day on which John Forster entered upon the above agreement with Henry Vernon, i.e. June 16th, 1604, he also entered upon a similar agreement with Sir Robert Vernon as to his moiety of Ruckley, and the same conditions are recited with respect to Sir Robert's father, John Vernon ; so that it is evident the two Vernons acted together, deriving their rights from the same source, their ancestress Elizabeth Grey, wife of Sir John Ludlow. They had both given leases on Ruckley, and both these leases were vested in their joint tenant John Foster, son of Richard, son of John Forster, the Abbot's lessee. He seems to have had so great an affection for the place that he was desirous of extending the period of his holding there, after the expiration of the Abbot's lease, which would expire, be! it remembered, on April 4th, 1620 ; and so he obtained from Sir Robert Vernon for the sum of £50 a further, lease of his lands in Build was Hayes, Ruckley Grange,' &c, for 21 years beyond the term of the Convent lease,; at a yearly rent of £3 lis. 8d. The death of Henry Vernon, without any issue, seems to have simplified matters, and Sir Robert Vernon was able in September,' 1609, to come to an agreement with Edward Grey of Buildwas, who was the son of Edward Grey, the natural son of Lord Powis; and on Dec. 2nd, 1610, there is a deed between Thomas Hanyes, Sergeant-at-Law, Rondle Crowe of Lincoln's Inn, Edward Grey of Buildwas, Esq., William Jones of Lincoln's Inn, Esq., and on the RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 239 other part John Forster of Sutton Maddoc, gentleman. The object of this deed is, that Edward Grey should guarantee John Forster against all claims made by him or by Henry Vernon, deceased, and renew the Abbot s lease of 99 years for 21 years more, at the rate of £6 13s. 4d. per annum. In fine it covenants that nothing shall bind to further warranty Harries, Crewe, or Jones. The leases given by Henry Vernon and Sir Robert Vernon included Buildwas Hayes, Abbot's Orchard, and Iluckley, but though their joint claim upon Ruckley was allowed, that upon Buildwas was conceded to Grey, no doubt by an arrangement of compromise. Forster then would receive from the Vernons only the renewal of the lease upon Ruckley and would have to look to Edward Gray for the renewal of that upon Buildwas ; he may have obtained the foregoing- deed as a precaution against any claims of Edward Grey on the Ruckley estate. It is remarkable that John Curzon (son of Francis Vernon by Eleanor, aunt of Henry Vernon) unites with Sir Robert Vernon in alienating their claim upon Buildwas in 1612 to Thomas Chamberlain. On the 3rd November, 1034, Sir Robert Vernon, Kt., obtained from the Crown a permission to alienate the fee simple of his portion of the estate of Ruckley Grange to Francis Forster, gentleman ; the deed is signed by Lord Bacon under the great seal of England. The Francis Forster here spoken of was one of the sons of John Forster previously mentioned, who was the only son of Richard Forster, to whose property he had succeeded, and had married his cousin Isabel Forster, daughter of Edward Forster, 5th son of John Forster of Upton, by whom he had issue three sons, Francis, Basil, and Edward. Sir Robert Vernon soon acted upon the permission he had obtained, for by a deed of Nov. 8th, 1G34, he, for the sum of .£100, enfeoffed Francis Forster of Sutton Maddoc, gentleman, in the moiety of Ruckley Grange, which belonged to him, and John Huxley of Broseley, gentleman, acted as Vernon's attorney in this matter, so that Francis Forster 240 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE thus became actual possessor of a portion of the Ruckley property. But on the 5th of November in the same year Francis Forster assigned Ruckley Grange, as held by him by virtue of two se v^eral indentures of demise, to his brothers Basil Forster and Edward Forster, gentle- men. On the following tenth of November, seizin was given to Francis Forster by John Huxley in the capital house, so that he now entered on possession of his pro- perty. The capital house here spoken of was doubtless old Buckley Grange, a farm house facing the south, and of which some vestiges remain in the kitchens of the present mansion, though the greater portion was pulled down. Francis Forster married Mary, daughter of Thomas Scott, but died Dec. 17th, 1652, apparently without issue, and she married again. The family of Scott became much connected with Shropshire, probably through an early intermarriage between one of them and Lord Wenlock. The principal branch of the family, which came from Scot's Hall, in Kent, was that seated at Shrewsbury and Betton Strange, through a marriage of their ancestor with the heiress of Betton. Mary Scott, the wife of Francis Forster, and who subsequently bought up the interest of her nephews in the Buckley property, was the daughter of Thomas Scott of the Heath, Shifihal, who died about 1 630, by Elizabeth Mitton, his wife. This family of Mitton were owners of Weston, which had come to them by the marriage of Richard Mitton (son of Reginald Mitton of Shrewsbury) with Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Sir Adam Peshale, whose great- grandfather, Sir Adam Peshale, had married as his first wife the heiress of John Weston of Weston-under- Lizzard. The Mittons of Weston finally vested in the Wilbrahams, whose heiress married a Newport, and the estate thus passed to Sir Henry Bridgman, ancestor of the Earl of Bradford, the present possessor. Thomas Scott was llio son of Anthony Scott, who is stated, in a manuscript formerly belonging to Scot's Hall, Kent, to have married the heiress of Betton Strange, Co. Salop. Anthony was son of Charles Scott of Egerton, in God- RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 241 mersham, who died 1617, and Jane, his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Wyatt of Allington Castle, who was be- headed ia the second year of Queen Mary's reign. Charles was the son of Sir lieginald Scott of Scot's Hall, by Mary, daughter of Sir Bryan Tuke, who had formerly been a secretary of Cardinal Wolsey. Sir Reginald was son of Sir John, Sheriff of Kent, by Anne his wife, daughter and co-heir of lieginald Pympe of Nettle- stead, who was attainted in 1483 for assisting the Duke of Buckingham against Bichard III., but the attainder reversed by Henry VII. Sir John Scott was the son of Sir William, and Sybella his wife, daughter of Sir John Lewkenor, slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, 1471. Sir William was son of Sir John Scott, by Agnes, the daughter and heir of William Beaufitz, son of William Scott, by his second wife Isabel, daughter of Vincent Herbert or Finch of Netherfield, son of John Scott by the heiress of De Cumbe, son of William, son of Michael, son of Sir William, son of John le Scot, of Brabourne, Co. Kent, son of Sir William Baliol le Scot, youngest bro- ther of John Baliol, King of Scotland; he died circa 1313, and is buried at the Monastery of the Whitefriars, in Canterbury, being the son of John le Baliol, Lord of Bernard Castle, and founder of Baliol College, Oxford, who died 1209, by Devorgilda his wife Countess of Huntingdon, and Lady of Fotheringhay Castle, foundress also of the Abbey of Dolce Cor, where she was interred in 1288, together with the heart of her husband. The Lady Devorgilda was heiress of the Crown of Scotland, through her mother, Margaret, who was the direct descendant of the Kings of Scotland and Saxon Kings of England. It must, however, be observed that these Scotts who were of Cosford and Tong Norton were not the eldest branch of the family, which was seated at Shrewsbury, and which has previously been noticed as representing through marriage the very ancient family of Waring. We must now turn our attention to the oilier moiety of Buckley, concerning which changes also were shortly made, for on October 1st, 242 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 1656, Sir Humphrey Briggs, of Haughton, Kt., and Bart., gave to John Smith for the sum of £90 the moiety or half of Buckley Grange, all which premises were given to Sir Humphrey for 500 years from the date Novr. 6th, 1654, by Thomas Grey, Anne, his wife, and Walter Grey, of liatton Grange, to be held by the said John Smith, during the remainder of the 500 years, i.e., until Novr. 6th, 2154, and that he shall have all the rents, &c, during that term of years after the expiration of the interest in the estate now claimed by the executors of Frances Forster, deceased, who died Deer., 17th, 1652. On the 2nd of October, 1656, John Smith granted all his interest in the said Grange to his brothers Thomas and William Smith. Sir Humphrey Briggs was acting as trustee of Walter Grey, when he granted the above lease. He was connected with the Grey family through the marriage of his son, Sir Morton Briggs, with Grisagona, the daughter of Edward Grey, of Buildwas, by Grisagona, daughter of John Giffard, of Chilli ngton, and grand -daughter of Edward Grey, the last Lord Powis. He was also connected with the Forster family, through his wife Anne, the daughter and co-heir of Robert Morton, whose sister Elizabeth married George Forster, great grandson of John Forster, of Evelith. Sir Humphrey Briggs was the son of Oliver Briggs, of Ernestree, by Ann, daugh- ter of Humphrey Coningsby, of Neen Sobers, son of Brian Briggs, by Cecilia, dr. and h. of Oliver Gilpin, of Westmoreland, son of Simon Briggs, son of Thomas, son of Simon, son of John, son of Edmund, son of John Briggs, Lord of Sail. They are represented in one branch by the family of Brooke, of Haughton, near Shifthal, Walter Grey is called the son of Thomas Grey, of Hatton Grange, and is (probably erroneously) ; said to l)e of Enville or Enfield ; bis mother's name was Anne, and he himself, is said to have married Dorothy (probably Briggs). Thomas Grey was one of the sons of Edward Grey, of Buildwas, and may have named his son Walter alter his brother, but there is evidently a RUCKLEY C! RANGE ESTATE. 243 confusion between this family of Grey and the Greys of Enville, wliicli are an entirely distinct family. The Greys, Lords Powis, were a Northumbrian family, and bore as arms, yules a lion rampant within a bordure engrailed argent. The Greys of Enville, were the descendants of Reginald, 2nd Baron Grey de Ruthyn (a descendant of John de Croy), by his wife the Honble. Joan Astley, daughter and heir of William Lord Astley. Robert Grey, the third son of the above Reginald Ld. Grey, married Eleanor, the daughter and heir of Humphrey Lowe of Enville, and thus brought that property into his family, where it continued until it was purchased from them by their cousin Henry Lord Grey, of Groby, father of Henry, 1st Earl of Stamford, and Ambrose Grey, whose daughter Mary married Sir Walter Wrottesley, of Wrottesley. The Greys of Enville, now represented by Lord Stamford, bear Barry of G argent and azure. By a Deed dated October Gth, 1G50, Walter Grey, for the sum of £120, to be paid at once, and £90 which had been previously paid to Sir Humphrey Briggs by his appointment, enfeoffs John Smith, yeoman, in his moiety of Ruckley Grange for ever, and promises that he and Dorothy Grey, his wife, will duly deliver the said premises to John Smith. It will be remembered that Sir Robert Vernon had sold his part to Francis Forster, for the sum of £100, and thus it is evident that about the year 1G40, the whole estate, consisting of Ruckley Grange and Ruck- ley Wood, was sold for the sum of £310 ; the possessor of Ruckley Grange, being Francis Forster, gentleman, and that of Ruckley Wood, being John Smith, yeoman. In the same year in which he accpiired his new property John Smith gave Waiter Grey a lease of 98 years, on a messuage called the Hole or Heath House and Cosford Leasows (i.e. the portion of Ruckley Wood which adjoins Cosford, now called Hell Bank), the rent to be £10 per annum so long as the interest of the assigns of Francis Forster, in Ruckley shall continue, and after that at a peppercorn rent. There were evidently 244 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE cross interests in the two moieties of the Ruckley pro- perty, of which more is evident hereafter, but in order to preserve the sequence of events we must here return to Mary, the daughter of Thomas Scott, who had mar- ried 1st Francis Forster, of Ruckley Grange, but had by him no issue ; she married subsequently, Sir William Glascock, of Hertfordshire. Basil Forster, her first hus- band's brother, had married a wife whose Christian name was Frances, and had by her a son Francis Forster of London, named after his uncle. This Francis Forster (the nephew) sold his property in Ruckley Grange, on June 2Gth, 1G57, to his aunt Mary Forster, of Wormley, Co. Herts, relict of Francis Forster, of Sutton Maddoc, for the sum of £60 paid, and £140 secured ; the whole j affair was concluded upon the same day, the receipt for J the £60 and security for £140 bearing that date. It is evident that the value of the property was increasing, since this is double the sum paid to Sir Robert Vernon for it. But the troubles arising from the disputed state of Lord Powis's Estates were not yet over, for about this time Walter Grey as complainant instituted a suit in Chancery against Mary Forster, widow, defendant, pressing her to produce a title to her Estate of Ruckley Grange. This suit has been supposed to have been instituted in favour of John Smith, to whom Walter Grey had sold his moiety of Ruckley, but who found his claims met by the counter claim of Mary Forster, the widow, who declared her rights to include the fee simple of one part of the estate, and a term of years on the other part. We next find a tripartite Deed dated July 20th, 1059, between firstly John Smith, of Ruck- ley Grange, yeoman, secondly William Salter of Tong ! Norton, gentleman, and Edward Jobber, of Woodhouses, j gentleman, and thirdly Thomas Smith, of the Hem, yeoman, by which John Smith, for the sum of £210 paid by Thomas Smith, grants half of Ruckley Grange j to William Salter and Edward Jobber, firstly to the use of John Smith and Mary his wife, or the survivor of 1 them, at £10 per annum. Secondly after the decease ! RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 245 of John and Mary Smith, or in default of payment for 20 days to William Salter and Edward Jobber, to the use of the said Thomas Smith and Anne, his wife, and their heirs. The contending claims between the owners of the two moieties make it necessary again to refer to the other part. Mary Forster, the widow, had married as her second husband, Sir William Glascock, of Wormley, in Hertfordshire, and by a deed of April 4th, 1GG4, devised all her interest in the Ruckley property to Henry Dunster, of London, Esq., John Easby, of Lon- don, merchant, and John Rruere, of Wormley, Herts, gentleman, in trust for her husband after her death. She died before him, on March 31st, 1670, when the Trustees conveyed the property to Sir William, by a deed bearing date May 5th, of the same year, and therein is a declaration that her rights in the Ruckley Estates are — the fee simple of one moiety and a term of years on the other moiety; these rights, therefore, passed to Sir William Glascock. On the 12th of November, 1071, some further trouble seems to have fallen to the lot of John Smith, of Ruckley Wood, for a Latin deed is still extant by which John Smith, and William Smith, ' quer ' (sic) agree to give Walter Grey, armiger, and Richard Basnett and Margaret his wife, the sum of £100 for full and quiet possession for them- selves, and their heirs in perpetuum. This would seem rather unjust to the Smiths, if it referred in any way to the fee simple which they had already purchased, but it may have had reference to some other interest which had been created in John Smith's estate as that by the deed of October 14th, 1G5G. However, they seem at length to have had a better prospect of peace, for on December 12th, 1G73, Sir William Glascock, and Anne Smith of the Hem, let Ruckley to John Smith, of Ruckley, yeoman, for the space of 14 years, at the rent of £20 per annum, reserving timber, &c, of which JClO was to be paid to Sir William and £W to Anno Smith, widow. A nolo on the agree- ment says that until ' June 10th, 1G79, (which evidently 246 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE refers to Henry Vernon's lease of 1599, for 80 years), Smith is to pay all his rent to me W. G.' Tliere were numerous claims upon the Ruekley Wood property (the portion of land held by John Smith). The original John Smith, named in the deed of July 26th, 16 59, and also his wife Mary, were dead. Thomas Smith, who is men- tioned therein, was also dead, so that the fee simple vested in his widow, Ann Smith ; but Sir William Glascock had derived from his late wife certain interest in the property during a term of years, and hence we find him uniting with Anne Smith to grant the above lease. Land had rapidly risen in value, since an estate, which in 1521 was let for ten shillings was worth so much higher a price rather more than a century later, that the half of it produced a rental of .€20 per annum. It is also curious to observe the fate of the two moieties of the Buckley property, one of which was transmitted through the hands of gentlemen while the other became the property of yeomen, and this may account for the fact of the former receiving the name of the whole estate, and being in after times the seat of the owner's residence, while Iluckley Wood sank in importance, and became a dependent farm. Sir William Glascock, at his death, bequeathed the property given him by his wife to their son, William Glascock, of Barton Mills, Co. Suffolk, who married a wife also named Mary, This latter William Glascock is called esquire, and bore as his arms ermine, a chevron between 3 (crescents '?) Crest, a stag's head. There can be little doubt but that these arms should be, ermine, a chevron between 3 cocks, azure. The Glascocks were an Essex family, and their pedigree is traced to John Glascock, who was living in the 38th year of Edward III. On the 27th Novr., 1691, William. Glascock, of Barton Mills, sold to Goldsmith Mills, Proctor of Doctors Commons, for the sum of 10 shillings, his moiety of Iluckley Grange, to be held lor one year, and next day (Novr. 28th) he sells it for over for the sum i&QO, and enters into a bond ofl'lO to perform the above contract, and also gives RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 247 a receipt for JC100, having received security for the other .£100. Thus the Buckley estate became entirely estranged from the Forster family and its connections, after they had held it for about 200 years, and their only interest re- maining in the neighbourhood was what they possessed in Ruckley Wood. This, however, did not long continue, for John Smith had already sold the fee simple of that farm to Roger Roden, and on February 9th, 1G92, there is an agreement of salo of certain lands between Roger Roden, plaintiff, and Goldsmith Mills, gent., and Francis Forster, gent., for which acknowledgment Roden pays £100. These lands are marked on the Duke of Kingston's map as acres 142 3 24, being the Ruckley Wood Farm, and thus it is to be presumed Roden became quietly possessed of Ruckley Wood, having bought up all the Forster interest in that property. Before quitting this name, which has been so long before us, it may be allowable to mention some members who are distinguished, in both branches of the family, for the Forsters of Evelith and those of Ruckley are evidently of the same family, though the connection between them is not known. Isabel Forster, of Tong, daughter of Thomas Forster was so handsome and engaging as to captivate Edward, 1 2th Baron Stafford, and it is she of whom Rowland White peevishly writes to Sir Robert Sidney, ' My lord Stafford's son is basely married to his mother's chambermaid/ Though the Forster family was not so illustrious as the great House of Stafford, still it was of no mean antiquity and was of good standing in its own county as its con- nections prove. Tt is true that her immediate fore- fathers may have been poor, and indeed her grandfather, Robert Forster, of Tong (Evelith), is called a 'yeoman,' yet he married the daughter of William Barker, of Coulshurst, what we now call a good family, and her undo, Robert Forster, married Joane, daughter of Edward Milton, of Weston, who was undoubtedly of a good family. Another member of tins family has been written dow n by a more illustrious person than Rowland 248 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE White, being none other than Anthony Forster, of Cumnov Hall, in Berkshire, whose name Sir Walter Scott has introduced into his tale of Kenilworth. He was the son of Richard Forster, of Evelith, by Mary Groseley, and grandson of John Forster, of Evelith, by Isabel Kyffin, of Abertanat. Anthony Forster would appear to have been a second son, his elder brother being Thomas Forster, who by Frances Gift ard, his wife, had a son George, who married Elizabeth, daughter of "Richard Morton by his wife Cecilia, daughter of William Charlton. This Elizabeth had a brother, Robert, who by Jocosa, daughter of Thomas Lee, of Langley, had two co-heiresses, Anne, wife of Humphrey Briggs (vide supra), and Jane, wife of Thomas Corbet. She had also a sister, Margaret Morton, wife of Roger Fowke of Gunstone, whose daughter Joan married Roger Fowke, of Brewood, the grandfather of Ferrers Fowke, who married Frances, daughter of Sir Morton Briggs, by Grisagona, daughter of Edward Grey, of Buildwas. Anthony Forster probably became connected with Ox- fordshire (on the borders of which county Cumnor is situated) through his wife, Anne, niece of Lord Wil- liams, of Thame, by whom he had three sons, John, Robert, and Henry. His connection with Leicester, and the fact of his possessing the house wherein the un- happy Amy, Countess of Leicester, passed some years of her life, suggested the idea of introducing his name, though with a fictitious character, into the romance. It is singular that Amy Robsart s mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Scott, of the Mote, Iden, son of Sir William Scott of Scot's Hall, by Sybilla Lewknor. There is also the tomb of one of this family under an arch on the North Side of the Chancel of Shifihal Church, with the arms, quarterly per fess indented sable and aiycnt in the first and fourth quarters, a pheon point downwards, second and third a hunting horn stringed, all counterchanged. He is lying on an altar tomb, in t lie sac-rod vestments, above which is the in- scription ; — " Here lietli the body of Thomas Forster, RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 249 sometime Prior of Wombridge, Warden of Tongue, and Vicar of Idsall, 152G." Francis Forster went up to London after selling liis interest in Ruckley < to his aunt, and his third brother Edmund is stated to have been one of the City Captains in 1G33, and to have married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Marmaduke Rawdon, another of the City Captains. It will be remembered that Roger Roden had made himself entire master of Ruckley Wood, having pur- chased up everybody's interests therein, but in order to do this money had to be borrowed, consequently William Roden (whose interest appears to have been identical with that of Roger Roden) gave a deed of mortgage on the Ruckley Wood property for the sum of .£200 to John Smith of the Hem. The deed is dated Nov. 25th, 1718, and recites that the estate was to be held at a peppercorn rent for 200 years, unless the sum borrowed were returned before Nov. 25th, 1719. The above William Roden, together with John Roden, were executors of Roger Roden's will, and we find them con- stantly acting together in matters connected with Ruckley Wood. William Roden gave a note of hand for £3 12s. 9d to Mr. Humphrey Pitt on Oct. 30th, 1731, the receipt for which was given by Mr. Pitt, on Nov. 11 th, 1 740, probably by Roden's executors, for his will is dated July 1st, 1735. This was a long time to take for the payment of so small a sum, and we are not sur- prised to find that the Ruckley Wood Estate was at this time purchased from Roden, by the Duke of King- ston, and so reunited to its parent estate of Tong. The family of the Eodens, who were yeomen, had members living in the neighbourhood of their former property, the Ruckley Wood Farm, as late as 18G0, when one of them was tenant of the Neachley Farm, which borders upon it. It may be remembered that we left Tong in the possession of Sir Richard Vernon, the son and heir of Sir Henry Vernon and Lady Anne, daughter of John, second Karl of Shrewsbury, and its history from that time until it came into the hands of the Duke of Kings- 250 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ton is as follows : Sir Richard Vernon had issue by his wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Dymoke, of Scrivelsby, co. Lincoln, Sir George Vernon, of Had- don and Tong, who lived in great magnificence, and married Maud, daughter of Sir Ralph Longford, by whom he had issue two daughters and co-heiresses, Margaret and Dorothy, the latter so well known for her escapade with Sir John Manners, whom she mar- ried, and to whose family she carried the Haddon Hall property. Margaret Vernon, the heiress of Tong, married Sir Thomas Stanley, second son of Edward, third Earl of Derby ; he was reported by the Puritans to be " a great and notable papist," but now lies quietly in Tong Church, where is a veiy fine monument to him- self and his lady, formerly placed in the chancel, but afterwards removed, by Mr. Durant, to the East end of the South aisle. Sir Thomas Stanley died Dec. 18th, 157G. They left issue Henry, who died young, and Sir Edward, who succeeded to the estates in Shropshire, and also to that of Eynsham, in Oxfordshire. He mar- ried Lady Lucy Percy, daughter and co-heir of Thomas, seventh Earl of Northumberland, and by her had several daughters, of whom Frances married John Fortescue, of Seldon, co. Bucks, and Venetia married Sir Kenelm Digby, of Drystoke, Rutland, but, before his death, he sold Tong Castle (circa 1G10) to Sir Thomas Harries, an eminent lawyer of Queen Elizabeth's time, son of John Harries, of Cr uck ton, co. Salop, which estate was in the family two centuries earlier, and still continues in their line. There are two families of Harries, of some distinction, in Shropshire, not at all related to each other, but much connected ; one is the ancient family of which Sir Thomas, of Tong, was a member, and which bears as arms : Barry of 8 ermine and azure, over all 3 annulets or. This Sir Thomas was created a Baronet in IG23. The other family, however, which bears or 3 hedgehogs, 2 and 1 azure, had also a Sir Thomas Harries, who was created a Baronet in 1622, and was RUCKLE Y GRANGE ESTATE. 251 also a lawyer. The two families owned property in the same parishes, and seem to have been occa- sionally executors of each other's wills ; they became indeed subsequently connected by marriage with the same families, so that there is considerable danger of confusion between the two. Sir Thomas Harries, of Tong Castle, and Dame Ellinor, his wife, had two daughters and co-heiresses, the elder of whom, Ann, married John Wilde of Droitwich, Co. Wor- cester, and died after the birth of her first child, May 6th, 1024, being then in her sixteenth year ; she was buried in Tong Church, where there is a monument to her. Elizabeth, her sister, and finally sole heiress of her father, succeeded to the Tong Estate about 1640, having married the Honble. William Pierpont (second son of Robert, first Earl of Kingston), who was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1638. His arms are argent semee of cinquefoils gu., a lion rampt. sable. William Pierpoint's brother George married Mary, daughter of Isaac Jones, Esq., of Berwick Park, near Shrewsbury, whose sister Sara married Sir Thomas Harries, of Boreatton, and William's aunt, Grace Pierpont, married Sir George Manners, of Haddon, thus making a sort of connecting link between the Vernons (Dorothy Vernon being mother of Sir George) and the Pierponts. The first Earl of Kingston had been a zealous royalist, and lost his life in the service of Charles I., but his son William was more inclined to the principles of the Parliamenta- rians, and there are several notices of his having troops at Tong. The north side of the church bears traces of ; the small cannons of that period, probably owing to a few stray shots from a passing troop. Indeed, parties i were much divided in this part of the country at that time, Tono- bein£ in the hands of a Parliament man, while in the neighbourhood were the Boyalist Giffards, and the Humphrestons, whose old moated Hall in the neighbouring parish was nearly destroyed between the contending parties, though a Mr. Waring settled himself there, having expelled the old family, and 252 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE became Sheriff of Shropshire. Tong Castle itself does not seem to have sustained any very great injury, and William Pierpont was a very moderate man, apparently no great enemy to either side. By Elizabeth Harries he had a large family, of whom Gervase Pierpont, a younger son, was created Baron Pierpont, of Hanslop, and took much interest in Tong. He gave a large and valuable library to the church there, for the use of the Curates, who were then Chaplains at Tong Castle. His only daughter, who died September 1st, 1(397, in the eleventh year of her age, was buried in the church, and he himself was also placed in a vault there, upon his death, which took place on May 22nd, 1715, in his sixty-sixth year. The eldest son of William Pierpont, Robert, married Elizabeth, the daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Evelyn, but died during the lifetime of his father, leaving Robert his eldest son, who succeeded his great uncle, as third Earl of Kingston, but dying in 1082, unmarried, his honours passed to his brother William fourth Earl, who also died unmarried in 1690, when his youngest brother, Evelyn Pierpont, succeeded as fifth Earl, and was created Duke of Kingston, by Queen Anne in 1715. It was he who purchased the Ruckley Wood property from William Roden, and reunited it to the Tong Estate after a separation of about 580 years, and there for the time we must leave it, and return to the other moiety of the property. Ruckley Grange, which was at the time we last spoke of it in the hands of Goldsmith Mills, next became the possession of a family named Wightwick, which is of very ancient date on the borders of Shropshire and Staffordshire. Alex- ander Wightwick, of this family, was great grandson of John Wightwick, uncle of Richard, co-founder of Pembroke College, Oxford. The daughter of Alexander Wightwick married Edward Jorden, and had issue, Edward Jorden, who married the daughter and heiress of John Wyke of Prior's Lee, near Shiffnal, by whom he was father of another Edward Jorden, of Priors Lee, who was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1720. At his death RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 253 lie left a daughter and heiress Sarah, who carried that estate by marriage to Humphrey Pitt, the original possessor of the old Ballads which now bear the name of Percy 's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, from the clergyman who arranged and edited them. This no doubt was the way in which Humphrey Pitt became connected with the Huckley property, and accounts for William Hoden's note of hand to him. On Dec. 9th, 1802, a lease for GO years was given by Sarah Wight- wick to Thomas Wiglitwick, at the rental of iU05 per annum, and his name occurs in deeds of 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1810. On November 23rd, 1805, George Durant, of Tong Castle, gave a lease of the small tithes of Huckley to Anthony Titley, of Seighford, Co. Stafford, and upon the same day we find Thomas Wiglitwick making arrangments by which Titley had power to erect some flood gates. Titley s lease was to last for 21 years, from March 25th, 1805, at a rental of Jb\8 per annum. And now we must take leave of old Huckley Grange, which stood upon part of the same ground as the present house, but faced the south. The farm yard which was attached to it is now occu- pied by part of the walled gardens, and indeed part of the wall on the south-east side seems to be identical with that of the old farm yard. Mrs. Wiglitwick, a widow, was the last inhabitant of the old house, and was living within the memory of some who were alive in 18 GO. On June 19th, 1810, Thomas Wiglitwick sold Huckley to Moreton A. Slaney, a gentleman remembered in the neighbourhood as the last who wore a pig tail. The old house of Huckley received many improvements, and was fitted up as a gentleman's residence, to receive the new owner and his wife, Mary daughter of Richard Prince Corbet, by Mary, daughter of John Wickstead, of Wem. The Slaneys are tradi- tionally said to have come from Bohemia. Their scat, however, before coming into Shropshire was at Mytton in the neighbouring County of Stallbrd, where they resided lor several generations. Robert Slaney, in 1672, von. ii. u 254 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE married Anne, daughter of Thomas Moreton, of Brocton Grange, son of Richard Moreton, whose elder brother Robert had, as previously mentioned, two daughters and co-heirs, Anne, wife of Humphrey Briggs, through whom he got Haughton, and Jane, who in 1588 married Thomas Corbet of Longnor. Robert Slaney had two sons; the elder, Robert, had a daughter and heir who married William Mack worth Praed, but died without issue. The younger son, Moreton Slaney, married the daughter and heir of John Aglionby, of Knoll, in War- wickshire, and had issue by her, Robert Aglionby, Moreton and Elizabeth, wife of John Wallhouse, of • Hatherton, Co. Stafford. The eldest son, Robert Aglionby Slaney, married Frances Teresa, daughter of William Plowden, of Plowden, by Mary, daughter of John Stonor, of Stonor, and had issue, Plowden Slaney, of Hatton Grange, and Richard, of Shiffnal, whose son Moreton Aglionby Slaney, is the gentleman mentioned above as purchaser of Kuckley, who married Mary Corbet, by whom he had an only child, Mary, wife of John Somerset Packington, of Westwood, Co. Wor-~ cester. Plowden Slaney married Martha, a daughter and co-heir of Humphrey Pitt, of Prior's Lee, by whom he was father of Bobert Slaney, the father of Robert Aglionby Slaney, and William Henry Slaney, of Hatton. It will thus be seen that the Slaney family were connected with Ruckley, not only through the More- tons but also through the families of Wight wick, Jorden, and Pitt. On December 1st, 1810, there is an agreement between Robert Slaney and Moreton Aglionby Slaney for making floodgates, stank, and weir in Far Moor and New Moor, and this is the beginning of the large sheet of water at Ruckley. Moreton Slaney laid out money upon the estate with a more lavish than prudent hand, and his affairs becoming embarrassed the estate was sold on March 25th, 1813, and purchased by Thomas Bishton, on behalf apparently of John Bishtun, who was born in 1802, and was hence quite a boy at the time of the sale, but lie subsequently lived RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 255 here, and made Buckley the beautiful place it is at the present day. The Bishtons had held land in Donning- ton, the neighbouring parish, for three centuries, and were descendants of the ancient Cheshire family of Beeston, of Beeston Castle. Their arms are argent, a bend between six bees sable. John Bishton, of Buckley, enlarged the sheet of water in the valley below the house and planted the woods which now adorn the estate ; he also built nearly a new house, only reserving a portion of old Buckley Grange, for the kitchen and scullery of his new mansion, which had its principal fronts to the I North and the West. The new house was built about 1820, \ all the farm buildings of the old Grange giving way to I grassy lawns and pleasure grounds. Traces of former ; buildings were found in 1865, when a mound of earth on the west side of the house was cleared away. It is ; evident that though Mr. Bishton thus formed the nucleus of a lovely spot in future days, and a memorial I of his excellent taste, yet the sums of money expended i upon the place were large, and the returns very small , in comparison. He consequently found himself like his ; predecessor involved in difficulties, and having sold the Buckley Grange Estate, emigrated with his family to Van Diemans Land. Buckley now became the pro- ! perty of the Bev. Balph Harvey Leeke, sometime Bec- tor of Longford. This kind and amiable gentleman, was the brother of Thomas Leeke, of Longford Hall, | and son of Balph Leeke of the same place I (which he had purchased in 17 80 from the Earl i of Shrewsbury), by Honoria Frances, his wife, daughter of the Bev. George Augustus Thursby, Bector of Abington, and Vicar of Penn. Becords of the Leeke family appear as early as 1324, and the line is regularly deduced down to the time of Thomas Leeke, of Well- ington, a lawyer, who went out to India, under the auspices of his relative, the Governor of Calcutta, where he amassed a largo fortune, and upon his return pur- chased Longford as previously related, from Lord {Shrewsbury, to whose forefather it had dcscondcd upon 256 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE the death of the last of the Talbots, of Longford, in 1743. Mr. Leeke had delicate health and lived a somewhat retired life with his sister at Buckley, taking an interest in the beautiful Parish Church of Tong, to which he presented some handsome service books. He died at Buckley about 1849, when the estate was again sold, and purchased by George Jones, of Shaekerley Hall, in the Parish of Donnington, who was the descendant, and upon the death of John Jones, of Chilton, in 181(5, the representative, of a family seated for many generations in the Parish of Atcham. He was the son of John Jones, of Broseley, by Anne Adams, his wife, and grandson of William Jones, whose father-in-law, Mr. Kyflin, of Oswestry, was an agent for Lord Bridgewater. Mr. Jones, in the early part of the present century, purchased estates in the parish of Donnington, and its neighbourhood. The greater por- tion of his property and wealth he left to his only son, but the Donnington estates he entailed upon his des- cendants, giving his son only a life interest in them. By his wife Catherine, born 1775, daughter of Daniel Turner of the Brownhills and his wife Sarah, daughter of William Hanbury, of Norton Caines, whose wife was grand-daughter of Ferrers Fowke, of Little Wyrley, Mr. Jones had issue, besides two daughters, Theodosia and Eleanor, an only son, John Jones, of Buckley Grange. George Jones purchased the Buckley Grange Estate for about <£l 5,000, and upon the sale of the Tong Estate by George Durant in 1855, though unsuccessful in securing the bulk of that property, he bought the Buckley Wood Farm, which was sold separately, for about 1M,000, and thus these two portions of the Buckley Estate were conjoined, which had formed dis- tinct properties since the time of the Abbots of Build- was. It will be remembered that the Buckley Wood Farm had been sold by Rodentothe 1st Duke of Kings- ton, and so was united to the Tong Estate. The J Hike married twice; by his second wile, Isabella,, daugh- ter of William, Earl of Portland, lie had issue, Anne, RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 257 who died unmarried, and Carolina, wife of Thomas Brand ; by his first wife, Mary, daughter of William Karl of Denbigh, he had issue, Mary, wife of Edward Wortley Montague, Frances, wife of John, Earl of Mar, Evelyn, wife of John, Lord Cower, and a son William, who died during the lifetime of his father, but by his wife Kachael left a son, Evelyn, who succeeded his grandfather as second Duke of Kingston, and a daugh- ter Frances, who married Sydney, son of Sir Philip Meadows, and ancestor of the Earl of Man vers. Evelyn, the second and last Duke of Kingston, was famous, not only for the extravagance of his own character, but also as being the husband of the unfortunate lady who was tried for bigamy, she having married the Duke during the life of her first husband, Captain Harvey, who afterwards became Earl of Bristol. His Grace seems not to have lived much at Tong Castle, which was let at one time to the Hon. Henry Willoughby, youngest son of Lord Middleton, who died here in 17.34, and was buried in Tone: Church. There was in the dining room j of Tong Castle, in the time of the last Mr. Durant, a ; magnificent suite of carved ebony furniture, which had belonged to the Duke of Kingston , and also what then were used as two side tables, but were said to have originally formed the cover of a large silver punch bowl, which had belonged to the Duke. Besides Tong, and : the Nottinghamshire estates, he possessed others at Bradford, in Wiltshire, where there is on the banks of the river Avon a house of his, a singularly beautiful specimen of Elizabethan architecture, and admirably restored by its present owner. Evelyn, second and last Duke of Kingston, avIio had succeeded his grandfather in 1726, died without issue in 1773, when his sister became sole heir of what was left of his great possessions, lie had sold the Tong Estate in 1702 to George Durant ; but before speaking of this family it may be interesting to revert to some facts connected with the Church and Tithes of Tong. (Jcrvais Lord Lierpont granted an annuity of £30 out of the Manor of Tong, on trust for 258 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE the use of the Minister of Tong, so long as he was unable to enjoy the small tithes of the parish. He had also the privilege of holding a certain chamber in Tong Castle, with its furniture and presses of books, and also stabling in the Castle stables, for one horse, with pasture for it in the Park. In order to ensure the performance of these grants Lord Pierpont gave the trustees three other annuities of £5, forty shillings, and forty shillings, issuing out of the said Manor, Castle, and premises, to be respectively forfeited and to continue payable so long as the Minister should not enjoy the aforesaid chamber, stabling, and pasture. By an Indenture of August 11th, 1725, it is recited that the premises had descended to Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, upon the death of Gervais Lord Pierpont, and that the Castle had been for a long time uninhabited, and the Park disparked and enclosed, and that the said Duke at his own charge had built with brick a strong, handsome, and convenient house in Tong with a room for a library and stable, &c, for the habitation of the Minister, and had delivered the books to him and his successors, so that the covenants made by Lord Pierpont were no longer necessary, and the annuities granted to enforce them should be repealed, and that the common fields of Tong having been enclosed and converted into pasture, the revenue of tithes granted to the Minister had been reduced to £12 per annum, but that the Duke was j willing, on condition that the said small tithes should be vested in himself and heirs, to be discharged from the trust, that the said annuity of £30 should be abso- lutely and indefeasibly settled and assured to the said Minister and his successors for ever, which together with the annuities of £30, <£14, and £6, make altogether .£80 per annum. George Durant, who purchased the Tong Estate from the Duke of Kingston, was a military man, and the son of a clergyman. Having been asked when a young man, by the first Lord Holland, to allow a friend of his to succeed to a position which would have j come by rotation to Mr. Durant, Lord Holland never RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 259 forgot his acquiescence, and subsequently obtained for him a most lucrative post at the Havannah, where he speedily amassed so large a fortune, that upon returning to England, and looking out for some estate in the neighbourhood where his family had been long seated, j he was able to make terms with the Duke of Kingston J for his property at Tong, of which he desired to dispose, j The Durant family was of Norman extraction, and the j name appears among those of William the Conqueror's I companions. They seem to have settled in the South j West of England, and we find Sir John Arundell mar- ) lied Jane, daughter of Lupus, of Carantoch, and heir • of her mother, who was a daughter and heir of Durant — sable, a fess indented and in chief three fleurs ! de lis argent; and again, three generations later, Margaret, daughter and co-heir of John Durant (she died January 1st, 2G. Henry VIII.), married James Erisey, of Corn- j wall, whose daughter Julian married John Arundell, of Trerise. The branch of the family with which we are ; concerned were settled in Worcestershire, and it is ; related that one of them, who was Yicar of Barcheston, Co. Warwick, during the civil wars, was ejected from his home during an inclement winter night, with his wife and eleven children, by some of Cromwell's soldiers. The Durante had been at Barcheston for some time, since John Durant bought it in the eighth year of Henry VI., who was succeeded by Thomas Durant, in the time of Edward IV., then William in the time of Henry VII., whose son, Henry Durant sold the Manor to William Willington, on September 14th, 23 Henry VII. In the market place, at Worcester, is a curious half-timbered house, bearing over its entrance the inscription " Love God [W.B. 1577. R.D.] Honor the King." In this house Charles II. is said to have stayed before the disas- trous battle of Worcester, and here he retreated with Lord Wilniot when all was lost, but so closely pursued by Colonel Corbet that lie only just cllected his escape by the back door, as his enemy entered by the front. The house was at that time the residence of Richard 2G0 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE Durantj to whom the second part of the Inscription applies, the first part having reference to William Berkeley, who built it at that date. The father of George Durant, who purchased the Tong Estate, was Rector of Hagley, and the Lord Lyttleton, known by the ghost tale attached to his memory, speaks somewhat slightingly of the young man who was so happily patron- ized by Lord Holland, but there had been some unplea- santness arising out of Mr. Durant 's official duties, which may account for the animus exhibited in Lord Lyttelton's words. He returned to England, while still a young man, and after acquiring the Tong Estate spent a large sum in embellishing it; indeed it is said on good authority that <£ 100,000 was spent on the Castle, and improvements on the estate. It was he who made the place what we now behold it, though he never lived to see the fruits of his outlay, dying at the early age of 48 years. There can be no doubt that judged from our point of view, much of Mr. Durant s work would be condemned ; it must indeed be allowed that the present Castle, imposing as it is, is very incorrect in detail, and scarcely recompenses us for the turrets, twisted chim- neys, and mullioned windows of the old brick and stone castellated mansion of Sir Henry Vernon, which is enclosed within the present structure, and portions of which are still visible. And again in the beautiful old parish church, though there is a gain in the removal of the Stanley Monument from the chancel to its present position, near the Vernon Chapel, yet, to say the least, the propriety of stripping Hi chard Vernon's tomb of its carved alabaster work in order to ornament or make the communion table, is very questionable ; and when we know that the vaults below were invaded, and the dead removed from their places in order to make way for the family place of sepulture of the Durants, it becomes difficult to withhold strong censure. The first George Durant, of Tong Castle, married Miss Beaufoy (whose family still live in Lambeth), and was succeeded at his death, which is said to have resulted BUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 261 from his physicians having mistaken his symptoms, by his son, George Durant, then a minor, and it was daring this period that Mr. Plowden was tenant of the Estate. Tong, like Holyrood, has its tragedies, and its oaken floor like that of the northern Palace, is stained with | the deep and ineffaceable traces of human blood, though 1 the story has less of romantic interest than that of the 1 death of the ill-fated favourite of the lovely Scottish j Queen. The incident, as related to the writer by his friend, the late Madame Durant, was as folloAvs : — Mr. Plowden had a companion who had been brought up with him, been to the same college with him, and lived 1 with him at Tong Castle. One day Mr. Plowden was i sitting in one of the reading rooms or studies which adjoin the Library, and the windows of which look out to the south across a path to the flower gardens, and then over the Castle Pool on to the lands and woods of . Neachley and Kilsall Hall. His friend who had been out shooting came with loaded gun along the garden walk and so must pass the windows of the study, when presently a scuffle was heard, then a loud report, and the servants rushing into the reading room to ascertain the cause, found the body of the unfortunate man stream- ing with blood, lying lifeless upon the floor while near stood Mr. Plowden, who explained that he had attempted to get through the window with his loaded gun, which had exploded with fatal effect ; hence the dark stains which at least a few years ago were still visible on the floor of one of the reading rooms. The second George Durant, of Tong Castle (who gave the lease of the tithes of lluckley Wood to Anthony Titley), married Marianne, daughter of Francis Eld, of Seighford, Co. Stafford, in 177D, by whom he had a numerous family, but their life was not a happy one, and resulted in a separation, after which Mr. Durant spent his time principally upon the Continent, near Paris, where he had a villa, over the gates of which were the family Arms and ( Vest, the lleur-de-lis. In the revolution of I8;]0 the mob tore down these emblems, and broke 262 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE them to pieces, at the same time plundering the villa of its wines and its plate, and carrying off as a trophy the state carriage. It was the fate of the building itself to survive until the Franco -German war, when it was blown up by the Prussians. The first Mrs. Durant died in 1829, and Mr. Durant subsequently married Madlle. Celeste, daughter of Monsr. Csesaf Lefavre, of Lorraine. This amiable, handsome, and accomplished lady preferred their continental home, or their town house in Kensington, to the country which had been the scene of so much which was painful, and conse- quently they resided little at Tong Castle, which, how- ■ ever, was kept ready for their reception whenever they might wish to visit it, though the fishing and shooting of the estate had been let by Mr. Durant to his neigh- bour and friend, John Jones, of Kilsall Hall, the only son and heir of Mr. Jones, of Shackerley, who was devoted to field sports. The grounds of Kilsall, adjoining those of Tong Castle, with only a stream to separate them, made this arrangement convenient. Mr. Durant had by his second wife seven children, and settled upon their mother and them his property at Childwick Hall, near St. Albans. His eldest son, George Stanton Eld Durant, predeceased his father in 1831, but left an only son named George, who succeeded to the Tong Estate, upon the death of hisgrandfather, on November 2 9th, 1844, and having no pleasant associations with the place, and little interest in it, he sold the Estate in two lots, the chief competitors being the second Earl of Bradford, whose Weston Estate joined the Tong property, and Mr. Jones, of Shackerley Hall, whose Estate also adjoined that of Tong, on two sides, and who desired it as a family seat. The former was successful, and obtained Tong for about £190,000, while the second lot, which, as before stated, consisted of Buckley Wood, became the property of Mr. Jones. Many of the paintings, and most of the beauti- ful inlaid cabinets which Mr. Durant had taken an interest in collecting at Tong Castle, remained in London for some years until a large sum of the purchase money of RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 263 the Tong Estate being lost in an unfortunate specula- tion, and the George Dm: ant, who sold the Tong Estate dying without male issue, they were all disposed of to various collectors. We have seen the Kuckley Estate again united in one owner by the purchase of Kuckley W ood, in 1855, after a division of about three Centuries. George Jones, of Shackerley Hall, lived a quiet and retired life on his Donnington Estates until his death, which took place in March, 1857, employing his time and wealth in works of charity, but his oidy son, John Jones, of Kilsall Hall, removed to Kuckley in 1851, and upon succeeding to the estates at the death of his father prepared to make that the future seat of the family, with which intention he laid down much of the estate in turf, altered the arrangement of the woods, and had plans prepared for considerably extending the house, building also a wall as a boundary, near the high road, where formerly there had been a dilapidated fence ; thus he quite changed the character of the place. Being so ardent a lover of field sports, he kept the coverts well stocked with game for shooting, and foxes for hunting, but like his predecessors his affairs became entangled, and he lost large sums of money ; then numerous law- , suits ensued, when Kuckley seemed to vacillate between its former owners and a new one, George Jones, ol 1 Shackerley Hall, having entailed his Donnington pro- perty on his descendants, but left Huckley with the bulk of his wealth and other estates absolutely to his son. Finally, however, it was ordered by the Court ol Chancery to be sold, and was purchased on July 28th, • 1874, by T. E. Horton, of Priors Lee, near Shiffnal, for the sum of £l 5,700, who also at a subsequent period . purchased the Kuckley Wood Estate, and is the present possessor of the whole. There is a superstition in the neighbourhood that the Huckley Estate brings " ill luck,'3 but the foresroino- account shows that there was a con- siderable connection between the several persons and families owning the property, up to the present century, and when it is considered that some of those who came 2G4 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE in later times were not rich men, but expended the bulk of their capital upon a property which afforded a very low rate of interest, and further, laid out consider- able sums in ornamental woods, sheets of water, and buildings, it is not surprising to any prudent man that their affairs became embarrassed ; such would probably be the case under any circumstances, and such " ill-luck " cannot be laid to the account of the Ruckley Estate in particular. We may hope, therefore, that the future of this property will prove the folly of the popular im- presssion. For the sake of reference and making the foreo-omo- account more perspicuous and intelligible, a few Pedi- grees of the principal families mentioned are added. 265 266 SOME ACCOUNT OE THE IN Ph ft w £ tJ > p C ® 2 - 3 ^ g as rt rt 03 rt 5? - N rC3 o I rt i m H Pn a., S rO"o c/2 a? -si c ft 8 to« | .9 'T* C **H R rt i « ► ^ .c rt ft^T^ r- > Op- O a &t o a in Ih o o ■So rt S SO S3 O o ^3 Tog .a ® a n> .9 rt O O m > rt a to a o H o g o o -a O K% 3 ^ V) 1 — o a rt C/2 3 S| Hati 1 WW Slaney of S3 M p— C O ^ 3 3 <3 RUCK LEY GRANGE ESTATE. 26f RUCKLE Y GRANGE ESTATE. 269 P5 w H CO Ph O O W W o Q W Ih to o h W o Ih- a < Ih to o Ph •3 £ o o> ~ c3 'CO -3 VOL. II. <£ 3 o o 270 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ° «B d L- P" tl£ P. 2 t4_, C3 O rG £3 o o SO If- - Q) G Wc/2 o Ih £ d 5^ o •-3 "J O - CO 7; ? a Jh -It- pq Ih " d d III ~ o o ■5 ^| . > o S drl ^3 d s 1° C3 1-1 P d d S 3p « d is RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. 27 o A»p ^2 o *-« . & is 111 II to ° o "a-s r in >> P o o 3 h?# 05 •»}' Cj 5 2 fid M O if si C/2 'o 11. K O S S to t—( K* «M IT" S3 o a ^ 3 3 . rt a o h M ° M — o w O 03 ^2 s So If— •a © C hi r3 O 3 o Ph o u3 o >+H O o 02 0> rH _ . - - ,228 o 3 rt * a rt,H o^-hh . 3 fyS O > . <+-! O .|J3 a s 3 -q ^3 3 272 RUCKLEY GRANGE ESTATE. O MH I- (X, O o rt — 2 o o r-1 Eh o a .o I— I 0 gj tc - O w ° ~£3 =2 02 2 o O r« -6 B O fa -SB © 5o 111 "is t; - O It: WW 273 DIARY OF THE MARCHES OF THE ROYAL ARMY DURING THE GREAT CIVIL WAR (SO FAB AS RELATES TO SHROPSHIRE), Kept uy RICHARD SYMONDS, a Captain in the Royal Army. [Published from MS. in British Museum, by the Camden Society, 1859, from which booh it is extracted]. 1045. — Colonel Michael Woodhouse governor of Ludlow, (p. 1G8.) Saturday May 17, 1G45. — His Majesty marched by Tong, ! com. Salop, a faire church, the windows much broken, and | yet divers ancient coates of armes remayne. [Vide for these C. 35, f. 18, 39, etc., Coll. Arm.] A fayre old castle neare this church called Tong Castle, belonging to Pierpoint this 18 yeares ; it was the antient scate of Stanley, who came to it by marrying Vernon of the Peake at Iiaddon. Thence thorough Newport. Newport Church, com. Salop, (p. 170). North window, north yle, these two, old. Az. a chevron between 3 mullets or. — arg. a chevron gu. bet. 3 leopards' faces set. [Newport]. East window, ibidem. Quarterly France and England — Quarterly France and England within a bordure arg. East window, same yle — Quarterly 1. or. 3 roses gu. [Younge]; 2. arg. 7 lozenges conjoined sa. 3. 3. & 1 ; 3. or. a pale nebuly sable ; 4 or. a less gu. bet. 3 lions ramp1. Younge's coate of Keynton, within 2 myle off. An altar monument of alablaster, two statues of a man and woman. An escochcon within an orlo of martlets ; impaling barry nebuly, on a chief, a lion rampant. Forjudge Salter, 1492. Livers liat stones of common people. 274 MARCHES OF THE ROYAL ARMY His Majesty lay at Mr. Pigott's at Chetwynd, one myle beyond Newport. The two troopes at Edgmonde. In Edgmond Church, com. Salop. South Avindow, chancel, very old : — ga., a lion rampant or. — or. frctty gu. North window, ibide7ii : — az. a stag's head caboshed ary. — Cheeky or. and az. [Warren] Mortimer. (p. 171). In north window, north yle church, and yle belong- ing to Mr. Young of Keynton, in this parishc: — Quarterly, shield defaced, third quarter apparently, gu., 2 bars erm. impaling, arg., a chevron between 3 martlets sa. Quarterly 1. "gone." [Younge] ; 2. 7 lozenges conjoined; 3. arg., a pale nebuly sa. ; 4. or., a fess bet. 3 lions ramp1, gu. In the upper south window of the church, these two coates and inscription at bottome of the window : — az., a chevr. bet. 3 roses or., — quarterly, 1 and 4, sa., G martlets arg., 3. 2 and 1. Arundel; 2. Scrope ; 3. cheeky, or. and sa., a chief arg., gutty de sang. Orate pro sta'tu Joh'is Pigot de Chatwyn Ar.qui hanc fenestram an'o D'ni, 1501. This second coate is in 2d. and 3d. south window church, with this miter. As also in the east window of the church. The same quarterly coats, surmounted by a mitre. [John Arundel b'p. of Lichf. 149G, transl. to Exeter.] Upon a large flat stone in the middle yle of the church, the statues of a man and woman inlayed in brasse, two shields, and this inscription : — Quarterly, 1, Younge ; 2, seven lozenges conjoined, 3, 3 and 1 ; 3, a pale nebuly ; 4, a fess bet. 3 lions ramp1. ; impaling quarterly, 1 and 4, a fret [Eyton] ; 2 and 3 two bars ermine. Quarterly, 1 and 4, a lion ramp1., debruiscd by a bend ; 2 and 3, ten roundles 4, 3, 2 and 1 ; impaling, 1 and 4, two bars ; 2 and 3 cheeky. Of your charite ye shall pray for the sowle of Francis Young, sometyme of Caynton, Esq., son and heire of Sir William Young, Knight, and dame Margaret his wife, daughter of Nich. Eyton, of Eyton, Esq., ob. 1533, &c. Mr. Corbett is lord of this manor, oOOl. per annum. At Longford, the parish adjoining, and neare Newport, the Earle of Shrewsbury has a large brick house and seate, spoyld and abus(l. A garrison of the rcbclls, 1644, delivered up to Prince Rupert. (p. 172). Garrisons in com. Salop. K. — Tong Castle ; first the King had it; then the rcbclls gott DURING THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 275 it ; then Prince Rupert tooke it and putt in a garrison, who afterward burnt it when he drew them out to the battaile of York. K. — Longford Howse, the Earle of Shrewsbury ; first the rebells made a garrison 1044, and held it till Prince Rupert tooke it at tho same time he did Tong Castle. Colonel Young is Governour. Young's Estate 300£. per annum, his wife a clothier's daughter. K. — Lindsill, three myle from Newport, a howse of Sir Richard Leveson's. (Lindsill Abbey.) Sir Richard L. made it himself abouto hallo wmas 1G44, and still rcmaynes so pro Rege, 1G0 men in it. (Ho lives in tho lodge.) Rostock Governour obiit. K. — High Arcall [Ercall] ; a howse belonging to the Lord Newport, made a garrison about the same time that the former was, made a garrison by my lord himselfe. 200 men in it. Captain Nicholas Armor is Governour. R. — Wemme, a towne pro Pari; King, a chandler in Chancery Lane, is Governour. K. Castle, Sir Henry Fred. Thinne owes it. R. — Morton Corbet Castle. Sir Vincent Corbett owes it. Pro Rebells. 4 myles from Shrewsbury. R. — Shrewsbury, betrayed to the rebells in winter 1644. K. — Bridgnorth Castle, Sir Lewis Kirke Governour : 300 foot. K. — Ludlowe towne and castle, Sir Michael Woodhouse. K. — Stoake Castle, Captn Danet commands it under Wood- howsc. (Lost in June following.) K. — Shraydon [Shrawardine] Castle. An Irishman under Sir Wm Pall commands it, K. — Chirke Castle, Leift Colonel Watts, Governour. R. — A howse within three myles of Bridgnorth. (p. 173. 174). Chatwyn [Chetwynd] Church com: Salop. East window chancel, this, very old : A male figure, having apparently wings depending from the shoulders, holding in the right hand a sword, and bearing on the left arm a shield, charged with arg., a cross flory sa. [Peshall.] Sa., a chevron bet. 3 crosses flory arg., " old." [Chetwynd.] Az., a chevron bet. 3 mullets or., "newer." Upon the ground in the chancel, against the north wall, lies a knight crosse-leggcd, with a shield on his left arme. They call it the monument of Chetwyn, ante Conq. In the middle of the chancel a fiat stone, thus : An ancient cross, with ilorcated stall, resting on a lion ; on 276 MARCHES OF THE ROYAL ARMY the right side of the cross is a circular shield bearing the coat of Chetwynd. This flowery cross is wrought handsomely and embosses out. Against the south wall of the chancel two monuments, statues lying in armour about Henry 5 or G time. Alablaster, very curiously wrought. Under their heads upon a helme, forth of a wreath, a fox head. He next the east end oldest, and a chayne about his neck. The other in a different fashiond armor, and a chayne of collar of S and a rose at the end hanging about his neck. Two angells support at west end these two shields : Quarterly, 1. Ermine, 3 fusils conjoined in fess sable. [Pigott] ; 2. az., a chevron or. bet. 3 mullets or. [Chetwynd] ; 3. arg., a cross flory sa,, on a canton gu. a lion's head erased arg. [Peshall] ; 4. vert, two lions rampant, or. Quarterly, but arranged perpendicularly, 1. Pigott, 2. Chetwynd, 3. Peshall, 4. Vert, two lions rampant in fess or ; with two impalements, 1. arg., a lion ramp1 gu. within a borduro engrailed set,., bezanty [? Cornwall] ; 2, Barry nebuly or and sa. [Blount]. In the parlour windowes of this pretty howse of Mr. Pigott's: A blank shield quarterly, above which is written " former quarterings." Pigott ; impaling, az., a fess nebuly per fess arg. and sa., bet. 3 laurel leaves slipped, or [Leveson]. Or, a raven sa., [Corbett] ; impaling Pigott. " And many more." (p. 175). Tuesday, May 20, 1G45. His Majesty with his army removed from Chatwyn through Drayton com. Salop, and lay a myle farther. Earl of Lichfield &c, at Norton, at a howse sometimes the habitation of Grosvenor, now Cotton's. The King lay at Church his howse in Drayton parish. This Grosvenor built it [i.e., the house at Norton] temp. Qu. Mary. Az., a garb or, a crescent for difference [Grosvenor] " This garb is impaled often in this howse, lately.' The elder howse of Grosvenor in this county is Bellaport in the parish of Norton, com. Salop. These are painted in a ehamber window of this howse: A large crucifix, before which kneel the effigies of a male and female. The male is habited in armour, but without the helmet, and wears a surcoat embroidered with his arms, viz., arg., a cross fiory, sa. In the upper part of the surcoat there is DURING THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 277 a slight difference in the charge, being per saltire and a cross flory, counterchanged. Over his head is a talbot'shead erased or. for crest. Upon the lady's mantle is this coat, az. 3 water- bougets or. [in black lotter.] Thomas Grosvenar Esq. and Margery his wife, da : of J ohn Cottes of Woodcott, Esq. [This must be an error. The male is a Peshall, and the female coat is not that of Cotes. Thomas Grosvenor of Bellaport marra Isabella d. and coh. of Richard Peshall] Wednesday the army rested, because Sir Marmaduke Lang- dale, the Major-Generall, was sent the night befor with a party of horse and foot to surprise Wemme, which then had but 150 men in it, but coming too late, fayled. Thursday May 22 Wee marched from Drayton to Stone in com. Stafford. (p. 218). Thursday [1G45 Aug. 7] to Ludlowe. In this march lie was accompanied by these horse : General Gerard's. His Life-Guards 300. Sir Marmaduke Langdale's— Sir Wm Vaughan's. (p. 210). Friday 8 to Bridgnorth, a pretty towne, one church beside that in the castle. Sir Lewis kirke is governour. In the hall windowes of Ludlowe Castle : Quarterly France and England, a label of 3 points arg. ; impaling gic, a saltire arg. [Neville.] Arg., a less bet, 4 barrulets gu. [Badlesmere.] Or, a fess gu. (Blank) [J.3i6rc], three barnacles extended in pale or, on a chief or a demi lion ramp1 gu. " Pembridgc " [an error — Gencsnell]. Sunday to Lichfeild 24 myles. Three garrisons of the enemies lately erected in com: Salop, since Shrewsbury was lost — R. Stoke Castle. R. Broncroft, the howse of Mr. John Lutley in Dilbury parish. R. Benthall. (p. 244). 1045 Monday Sep. 29. Leaving Oswestree (a gar- rison of the rebells) on the left hand, to Llandisilio and Llan- drenio in com. Montgomery, where the army lay in the feild ; some chief in some ho wses. Tuesday, from thence early at day breake, marched, leaving Shrewsbury three myle on the left hand ; that night late and tcadiously to Bridgnorth; the rere guard gott to Wenlock Magna com. Salop. In this marche 3 or 4 alarm es by Shrews- bury horse, and 5 or G of them crosst the way and killd and took some. Thursday 2nd The King marched to Lichfeild. Upon the rendezvous going to Lichfeild the King knighted Sir 278 MARCHES OF THE ROYAL ARMY Horwood [not mentioned in list of Knights Coll. Arms, nor is his pedigree in Vis. Slirop.] of com. Salop, no soldier, nor in armed'. This day General Gerard's regiment retturned from the rendezvous quia tired, to have refreshment under Bridgnorth garrison. Ego etiam. This day, by reason of the long and tedious marches, divers fell off, some, as six went into Bentall howse. Prince Maurice this morning, with his owne troope (partly commanded by Lord Molineux, and partly by Sir Thomas Sandys) went towards Worcester. (p. 247). Alveley Church com. Salop, 5 myle from Bridgnorth. In a south window, next the south dore of the church, three times this escocheon, and underneath coat, helme, mantle, and creast . — A shield surrounded by a " glory," two coats one above the other ; 1. Barry nebuly of 6 or and sa. [Blount] ; 2. arg., a lion ramp1 gu. within a bordure sa., bezanty [Cornwall] ; impaling, quarterly per fess indented az. and arg. a lion passant in the first quarter [Croft] ; the whole surmounted by a helmet, with, for crest, Out of a ducal coronet or, a demi lion ramp1 gu., crowned or, bet. 2 human arms embowed, " armes gules hands proper ; " " mantle gules, dowbled argent." (p. 248). In the chancel, an altar tombe for Grove, a mercer of London. (Grocer added) Ermine, on a chevron engrailed gu. 3 escallops or, a crescent for difference, [Grove] of London. Now Mr. Grove lives here. Quatford Church com. Salop, a myle from Bridgnorth. South window and north window of this church, this is old and small : — Mortimer. The same, the inescochcon charged witli 3 [? nails sable, or, a mistake for ermine]. An altar tombe against the north wall chancel ; incription in brasse circumscribed. Quatt is the next parish, wher Sir Thomas Wolrich has an old scate. Garrisons in com. Salop, 15 October, 1G45. K. — Ludlow. Sir Michael Woodhowse, Governour ; quond. pag o' Marq. Hamilton. gL — Bridgnorth. Sir Lewis Kirke, Governour. Sir Tho3 Woolrich Avas first Governour 3 years since ; then Sir L. Kirke. 200 in the Castle. DURING THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 279 Leift. Governour Thomas Wyne, Sir Rob1 W. [Wynne's] son. Major Fr Billingley junr. com. Salop. K. — High Arcall, the house of Sir Richd Newport, now Lord Newport. Armorer is Governour. R. — Shrewsbury governed by a Committee. R. — Oswestree. R. — Wemm. Major Bryan is Governour. R. — Lindshall [Lilleshull] Abbey. Sir Riehd Leveson owes it ; Major Duckenfeild lost it. R— Dawley Castle, 7 myle from Bridgnorth, 4 myle from Wellington. Fouke is Governour; Duckenfeild was, and lost it. R, — Bromcroft Castle. Mr. Lutley owes it, the Lord Calvyn Seotus is Governour. R. — Bonthall. Mr. B. howse, 5 myle from Bridgnorth. Tho8 Brereton is Governour. R. — Stokesay, a house of the Lord Craven's, 4 myle from Ludlow. (p. 250). Captain Gatacre, of the county of Salop, killed in Bridgenorth by a quartermaster, the quartermaster killed too by him. One endeavored to hang himsclfe the next day here. Bridgcnorth Church. East window, north yle, church : The kneeling figure of a knight in chain armour, over which he wears a surcoat marked "or" round the waist a belt " sable " from which the " sword " is suspended " on the right side." In front of him is a shield azure, a cross moline or. North window, north yle, towards the west end: Two shields erased. Qides, frotty or. Azure, a chevron gules. . . . . , on a chief gules three plates. Oules, a chevron or. Against the north wall, same yle, upon an altar tombe, lyes the statue of a man in armour and a woman. Many escocheons painted on the side: Gules [Argent] on a chief or a haAvk sable " Hoord." Tho same impaling a crescent bet. 3 roses. The TToordes lived in this parish. Hoord's park still. Nearo the former monument, and against the north wall, Upon an altar tombe, lyes the statue of a woman faireiy guilt in alablastor. This incription is circumscribed and coato of armes : Here lyeth the body of Frances Former, daughter of Thomas 280 MARCHES OF THE ROYAL ARMY Hoordc Esq. and wife of Thomas Fermer Esq. who dyed 10 day of July 1570. On w. s. I. h, m. Quarterly ; 1 and 4, or, on a less sa. bet. 3 lions heads erased gu. 3 anchors erect [of the first, Farmer] ; 2 and 3. a chevron bet. 3 escallops, impaling, 1, Hoord ; 2, an inescocheon charged with 3 roundles or within a bordure. [For the coat of Palmer see this and G other coats not here given, in Vincent's Salop. Coll. Arm.] (p. 251). In the north window, ncare the former monument very small: Or, on a cross gules a hurt. Or, a fess gules. Or, three chevroncls gules [Clare]. Quarterly or and gales [ Vcre]. Gules, three Hours do lis within a bordure or. Gules, a crescent subverted or, in base an escallop of the last. In the same north window this picture of a saint : — Rude sketch of a male figure, habited in a long robe marked " or!' With his right hand he supports a staff having a cross pattee at the top, and on his left arm is a shield, bearing arg. a cross pattee gules. In the middle yle of the church a flat stone, and these fashioned and numberless shields are embossed upon it, and worne : A sketch of the stone is given, upon which is sculp- tured the shaft of a cross raised upon 3 steps, at the top a shield, and on either side 0 other shields, all blank. This coat in the west window, church : Arg. on a bend cotised sa. 3 cross-crosslets fitchy arg. In the church within the castle of Bridgenortn is nothing of observation. Medeley. Upon this river of Seavcrnc they use here a little boate for one to sitt in ; they call them corricles, laths within and leather without, from corium. Friday, Oct. 17, came intelligence to Bridgenorth the King had left Newarke, and gone towards Scotland to Montros the Sunday before. (p. 252). A parson may be tryed at a councill of war, and Avas so at Bridgenorth. A Scott was tryed at a council of war there, and he putt on his hatt before them, and being reprehended for it by the Governour, he told them he was equall to all except the Governour, and they committed him for it. 20 Oct. Severall Colonels whose regiments were in Bridcre- north. DURING THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 281 Foot, Sir Lewis Kirkc's, Governour ; Colonel John Corbett's, Colonel Billingsley's, the trained band, — this regiment watches in the towne ; Sir Mich. Earnley's, one company of them ; Sir Charles Lloyd's came hither from the Devizes, GO. Foot about in all, of all these 2G0. Horse. Sir Francis Ottley the high sheriffe, Sir Edwd Acton 10, Governor's troops GO ; — Horse not 100. Wednesday Oct. 22. Lcift. Colonel Slaughter marched out of Bridgnorth about 2 of the clock afternoon. Governour's troope commanded by Capt" Singe 40, Sir Francis Otteleyes &c. That night by eight to High Ercall. Thence marched 30 horse and 20 dragoons with us about 12 of the Clock that night. By nine next day to Chirke. (p. 25(5). An. D'ni. 1G44. Sir Wm Vaughan was Generall of Shropshire. In the winter he made these his garrisons to quarter his owne regiment : — Shraydon Castle, commanded by Sir Wm his brother, a parson ; lost it to the counties of Salop, Chester &c. Cavves Castle, Davalier. High Arcall, Armorer. Linshull and Dawley, Major Duckcnfield. Oct. 1G45. When the King was at Ncwarke, he made Sir Wm Vaughan Generall of the horse in the counties of Salop, Wigorn, Stafford, Hereford, South Wales and North Wales. (p. 2G7). Leominster Church, com. Hereford. An old altar-tombe with alablaster on the topp, in black lynes the two pictures, and in a large forme the effigies of our Saviour on the crosse. Thome Phillips, ob. 1530, and Isabela ux. ejus. (p. 27G). Bard Kye at Oswestree. Mr. Jones of Caus, com. Flint, now prisoner in Chester Castle. 1G45 Friday Dec. 3 to Kinvcr between Kiderminster and Bridgenorth. Saturday 5 to Bridgnorth. Here Lt. Col. Slaughter's troope and Col. Dixies stayed, and Col. Gradyes. Sir Win Vaughan with his troope to Ludlow, but his men not admitted. Capt. Bowmer and Capt, Vaughan to Arcall, which was shutt up by 3 or 4 petty garrisons. Thursday Dec. 18 Sir W1" Vaughan drew out the horse he had with him afore, and some of Dudley and Ludlowe, G or 700 foot commanded by Lt, Col. Smyth, horse 5 or GOO; marched from Bridgnorth, and had a rendezvous towards S. Friday morning came intelligence to B. that llerefordwas lost. 282 MARCHES DURING THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. The following Pedigree of Symonds will explain who HE WAS AND HIS CONNECTION WITH SHROPSHIRE. Arms : az. a chevron engrailed between 3 trefoils or. Crest ; out of a mural crown or. a boar's head arg. tusked or. John Symonds of Croft, co. Lanc.=p ... d. of Sir Wm. Lording, knt. Robt. Symonds, went into— d. and h. of . . . . Concave of Staffordshire. I Stratton. John Symonds of Stratton=f= d. of Gravenor of liellapnt, co. Salop, Esq. Thomas Symonds, of Stratton=p d. of Thos. Robert Symonds, 2nd I Worthington, gent. son m'd and had issue. John Symonds, of Newport, co. Salop=pMargaret d. of Thos Maynard. John Symonds, of Newport=pAnn d. of Thos. Bendbow ! Richard Symonds, of the Poole,=Eliz.|2d. d. of Robt. Plume, William m'd and in par G't Ycldham, co. Essex, | of YeldhamHall,gent. bur'd had issue. came out of Sluopsh. one of the Cursitors of Chancery— bur'd in Yeldham ch. July 8, 1627. Yeld. ch. Jan. 27, 1611. Roger. [Erm, a bend vaireor. and gn. cotised vert.) Edward Symonds 2nd s.: born at Yeldham — m'd in St. Gregorie'sof Paul's, London, 1614, Feb. 2, died 9 Dec, 1636, bur'd at Black Notlcy, co. Essex. Anne, only d. of Joshua Draper, of Brayntree, co. Essex. Samuel, 3rd s.=f=d. of Thos. Harlahenden. John, eldest s.=fAnn d. of Thos. Elyot. Thomas, 4th s., ob. s p Richard, 5th s.=j= Margaretef Edmund Eyre. Richard Symonds, bap. at=f= Nolley, 12 June, 1617. (The author of the Diary.) Edward Ann=f . . John. Wright. N° 3 ENLARGED 283 I ON THREE ANCIENT RINGS FOUND IN SHROPSHIRE. By Rev. W. A. LEIGHTON, B.A., Camb., F.L.S., F.B.S., Ed. 1.— THE COLE HALL RING (See Jig. 1). A plain massive gold seal-ring, bearing on its oval face an incised figure of a pelican standing up in her nest, with wings displayed, and feeding a young one with drops of blood, which she is pecking from her breast, encompassed with an incised fretted border. This device is emblematical of the Blessed Saviour feed- ing the members of His Body with His own most precious Blood in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. This ring was found many years ago on the site of Cole Hall, Shrewsbury, and is now in the possession of Samuel Wood, Esq., F.S.A., of St. Mary's Court, Shrewsbury. The family of Cole is one of the most ancient of those who lived in Shrewsbury, and members of it occur amongst our earliest Provosts in the time of Henry III. Their mansion was called Cole Hall, and with its appendant court, out-offices, and garden, occupied the space or " block " now and then bounded by Barker Street, Dog Lane, Mardol, and Hills Lane, and was separated from Rowley 's Mansion by the narrow shut or passage leading from Barker Street to Hill's Lane. The entrance was probably through the archway of the Trumpet Inn, in Mardol. These ancient Mansions were not simply large houses 284 ON THREE ANCIENT RINGS in or near a street, but were detached inclosures com- prising large spaces of ground similar to what in India are termed "compounds." We have in Shrewsbury several of these Mansions, e.g., Charlton's Mansion (now the Theatre) in Shoplatch, whose domain was bounded by the Lee Stalls, Swan Hill, Cross Hill, and St. John's Hill. The entrance was through a pointed arch nearly on the spot now occupied by the hall of the George Hotel — and the gateway to the inner court was through what is now called Scotland Yard. Vaughan's Mansion on College Hill (part of which is now our Museum and part the Music Hall) is another example, and enclosed a space bounded by the Talbot Chambers, Swan Hill, and College Hill, and by the attendant Coffee-House Shut. The chief entrance was on College Hill, into a vestibule from which a very fine pointed and elegantly moulded arch opened into the hall, now the Museum. The court-yard entrance was through the Fire- Office passage — and the Talbot Chambers were the principal out-offices, underneath which were the singular and intricate stone-vaulted cellars and their long passages. I can myself well recollect the boundary-wall along Swan Hill, from the Talbot Chambers up to the Museum on College Hill, and which had on the interior a row of timber trees whose branches over- shadowed the adjoining street. Ireland's Mansion in the HighStreet, Shutte Place, between Shop- latch and the Market Square, and Bennett Hall at the bottom of Pride Hill, are also similar examples. And I suspect we have another in the Turf Tavern on Claremont Hill, whose large court-yard was entered by a gate or archway near the top of Claremont Hill, and extended down to St. Romald's Chapel in Barker Street, which probably was the domestic chapel. This was most probably the Man- sion of the old family of Gamel, of Bomaldesham, of 1 2th century period. We must be careful not to confound these Man- sions with the ancient hostelries of which we have FOUND IN SHROPSHIRE. 285 many examples still traceable, as in the Old Fox Inn (which stood on the site of the present Working Mans Hall), the Raven and Bell, the Lion Hotel, the Unicorn Inn, and Elishas Passage. All these had a wide entrance or approach from the street into a large open court, around which were the buildings of the hostel, and whose upper story was surrounded by an open balcony or corridor, from which access was obtained to the upper rooms, precisely as in the old Belle Sauvage and Four Swans, Bishopsgate Street Within, in London. Again we must be careful not to confound the owners and occupiers of these Mansions with the tradesmen burgesses. They were not retired or wealthy tradesmen, but in reality the gentry and freeholders of the town, possessors of large or con- siderable freehold landed property, and having, as was required by the law and usage of early days, as freeholders, a special seal of each family, which they attached to all deeds or transfers of the patrimonial estates. Such were the Shutts, the Prides, the Bernards, the Gamels, and the Coles, and many others. The Cole family, according to deeds, temp. Charles II., which I have seen, were possessors of the manors or lordships of Uprossall alias the Isle of Bossall, Yeaton, alias Yetton, Yagdon alias Jagdon, and Wigmore, co. Salop, and also other considerable property in Wigmore, Salop, Monkforgate, Oxton, Shelton, Montfort, Forton, Hunkington, Child's Ercall, Sarefeld alias Shutfeld, Old Wood, Udlington, and Frankwell, co. Salop. In G Elizabeth, 1564, they also owned " All that voydo place or ground upon the whyche heretofore was founded and builded a chappell dedycated to Sainte George commonlye nomynated Saint George's Ghappell wytlie all emoluments comodytyes and prohtes thereof to be takon, sett scytuate and beinge in Frankewell within the suburbcs of the towno of Salop nigho the Walsho gate of the sayd towno and is in long the from VOL. 11. W 286 ON THREE ANCIENT RINGS the howses or tenemets erected of charity e for the reliefe of the poor people co'monly called Coles Alms- houses to the King's highe waye leading towards Severne eighteen yards, & is in bredthe from a tenement or howse now in the tenure of Hughe ap Ye van to the hyghe waye fowrete yards." A deed, 32 Elizabeth, 1590, informs us that John Cole obtained by purchase from Edwd. Mynton, draper, Richd. Mynton, his eldest son, and Richard Heynes, slier - man, " All that one messuage, tenement & Chap- pell with the appurtenances called Saincte John's Chappell lyinge and beinge in Eranckwell aforesaid nowe or late in the tenure or occupation of the said Edward Mynton & Richard Mynton, and also all those three messuages or tenements called Saincte Johns Almeshouses to the saied tenemente and Chappell called Saincte John's Chappell adjoyninge now or late alsoe in the tenure of the said Edwd. & Ricd. Mynton." The Coles appear to have resided at Cole Hall until the year 1681, when it is stated in a deed to be in the occupation of Edward Grinshill, and perhaps their residence was continued even to 1751 when the last male Cole died. The hall itself has long ago disappeared, and we know nothing of its appear- ance or architecture. But of the extent of the domain around the mansion we have evidence in a deed of 14 James I., 1616, whereby Thomas Cole, the younger, grants a lease of a parcell of ground, being part of an orchard called Cole Orchard, situate in Shrewsbury aforesaid, in or near a certain " street called Dog Lane." The arms of Cole were arg. a chevron gu>, between three scorpions reversed 2 and 1, set. The following imperfect pedigree is drawn up from Heralds' Vis. Shropshire, 1623, Parish Registers, family deeds, &c. The family is believed to bo now extinct in Shrews- bury. Nicholas Cole. FOUND IN SHROPSHIRE. Nicholas Cole, 1270-1294=f I 287 Hugh Cole, Provost of=pAgnes Salop, temp. II. 3., 1270-1294. William Cole, Chaplain 1270-1294. Simon Cole, 1290-1322. Thomas Cole, 1290-1322=fAmy. Richard Cole, M.P. for Shrewsbury, 1313. 1301. Junr., Pi Hugh Cole, 33 E. 3, 1359-G0.=r Thomas Cole, Junr., Provost of Salop, Edw. 3, 1290-1322. M.P. for Shrewsbury, 1337. Thomas Cole, 15, II. G, 143G-7. John Cole, 15 II. G, 143G-7. Pailifl* of Salop, 1453=jj=Agncs. John Cole, of Salop, Esq. Bailiil'=fElizabcth, d. & h. of Thos. Onslow, of Salop, 14GG-1475. William Cole, Bailiff of =f Elizabeth, d. and h. of Edward Colo, Bailift Salop, 1493, 149S, 1502. Nicholas Eyton, of Eyton, Esq. of Salop, 1522-1533. Sibilla Cole, great-— John Otcley, of Edmund Cole, s. & h.=f= Alice, d. of grandmother of Salop, draper, of Arcoll, co. Salop, f>:..>. f Shropshire, and Branches throughout England and Scotland. 1 vol. 4to. 304 SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. Shropshire, W. A. Leighton's MS. Collections relating to Trade Companies of Shrewsbury. 1 vol. 4 to. W. A. Leighton's MS., Transcripts of ancient Deeds and other documents relating to Shropshire. 3 vols. 4to. Acton Burnell, Account of Turner's Dom. Arch. I. 1G0, 108, 171. Hi. 403. Antiquities of, by A. F. Pelham, in Trans. Severn Valley Club. 1873. Brass of Nicholas, Lord Burnel, 1382, in Bout ell's Brasses. Castle, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxxi, ii, 17. by Buck. 1731. „ by Orme. 1805. Church, East End of, in the Building News, Oct, 13, 1871. Jo. Arch. Inst, ii, 325-38. Alberbury Church, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxxii, i, 9. Alberbury, Old Parr, in Dickens's Household Words, 1857. Old Parr, in Taylor's Life. London, 1G35. „ in Chambers's Book of Days, with View of Cottage. Old Parr, in Cassell's World of Wonders, with Portrait. „ in Thorns' Longevity of Man. 1873. Crown 8vo. Albrighton, Tomb at, Gent. Mag., 18G2, 314. Atcham Church, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxvi., 1001. Journ. Brit, Arch. Assoc. xii, 219. Attingiiam, View of, 1799, Brit, Mus. Hall, View of, in Neale's Seats. Baschurcii, by W. A. Leighton, in Reliquary, vol. vi. Battlefield Church, View of, Gent. Mag., lxii, 893, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Church, View of before Restoration, by Jas. Sayer. 185G. Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc. xii, 214-5. Stained Glass, Gent. Mag., 184G, 377. Sedilia, Archajol. xiv, 279. Benthall Church, and Hall, Journ. Arch. Assoc. xii, 50, Gent. Mag. 18G0, ix. NS. Berwick Mavison, with View, Gent. Mag. x, NS. 1838, G03. Berwick, View of, 1815, Brit, Mus. Bishop's Castle, Roman Pig of Lead, Gent. Mag. lvi, 924. View. 1, Eliz. Brit. Mus. Coll. Bitterley Church, described Gent. Mag., 18G3, 9:*. „ Court, Antiquities, Gent. Mag., 1805, 009. Cross, in Rimmer's Stone Crosses SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. 305 Boscobel, Account of, by Rev. H. G. De Bunsen. 16mo. Lowe, Shifnal, 1878. Account of, by W. Parke, Wolverhampton. 1858. Prattinton MS. Soc. Antiq. Lond. Boscobel Tracts, Blount, &c. Guide to, by J. Penderel-Brodhurst. Steen, Wolver- hampton, 1SG7. Sm. 8vo. History of, by John Hay, in St. James's Mag., 1849. Historical Description of, by John Danvers. 4to. 1GG2. Lecture on, by Rev. W. Dodd, about I860. Novel by Ainsworth. 8vo. With views. 1872. Paper by 11. W. Ralph, in Reliquary, Oct., 1874, and Trans. Severn Vail. Club, 1873. View, by Walker, Brit. Mus. xxxvi, 24, 1. View of Oak, Gent. Mag. lxii, 113, lxxix, 105. Bueidden Hills, Rev. G. Sandford. Powysland Coll. 1875. By Prebendary Davies. Ditto 1878. BitiDGENORTH, View of Church, Gent. Mag., lxxi, 977. Antiquities of, by Rev. G. Bellett. 185G. 12mo. Bridge, View of, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Bailiffs, and Borough Seals, Archoeol. xv., 401, 380-389. Castle, Grose's Antiq., with View. 1774. History of Ancient Borough and Castle. 1821. 12mo. Hermitage, by Hubert Smith. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. i. On the name Bridgnorth, by W. P. Phillimore. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. i. Tourists' Guide to. 1875. 12mo. Views, by Buck, 1732. L. Wynne, 1774. Sandby, 1778. Farington. 1797. Williams, 1789. West Gate at, in Antiquarian Itinerary, vol i. Broseley, Burning Spring at, 1711, Phil. Trans, v. GSO. Biiom field PitioitY, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxxvi, ii, 209. „ in Gent. Mag., 1816. Buildwas Abbey, Architectural Antiquities, J. Britain. Vol. iv. 1824. 4to. Account of, G. M. Hill's Collect. Archajol., 99-112. Account of, R. W. Eyton. 1858. 8vo. Jo. Arch. Inst., xv, 318. Account of, J. L. Petit. 1858. 8vo. Jo. Arch. Inst, xv, 335. Buck's View, 1731. Buildwas Abbey, by Rev. A. T. Pelham, in Trans. Caradoc Club, 1809. Earthquake, Effects of, 1773, a View, Brit, Mus. Coll. Eour Minsters round tlx; Wrekin, Mackenzie Walcott, 1877. 4t<>. Remarks on, Jo. Arch. Inst., xi, 140. 30G SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. Buildwas Abbey, Visit to, Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc., xii, 48. View, Grose Antiq., 1772. Calverley Church, with a View, Gent. Mag. 1822, ii, 489. Cheney Longville. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. i. Chetwynd, Slab at, in Cutis' Slabs, pi. 58. Church Stretton, Geology of, by Rev. W. S. Symonds, Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. i. Clee Hills, Coal Mines, 1780, Gent. Mag. 18G0, 473. Cleobury Mortimer, History of, by Mrs. Chikle. 1874. 8vo. Clive Chapel, Gent. Mag. lxxxii, i, 009., View. House, Gent. Mag. lxxxi, ii, 505, View. Clun and Purslow, Map of, temp. Eliz., O. R Libr. Brit. Mus. Clun Castle, View of, Gent. Mag. lxiii, 17. Buck, 1731. Documents relating to the Borough of, T. Salt. 1858 .4to. Coalbrook Dale Bridge. View of, Gent. Mag. Ixii. Many Prints in the King's Library, Brit. Mus. 1758-1782. Stoppage of lliver Severn near, 1773, by J. Fletcher. 1773. 8vo. Plan of Earthquake at the Birches near Buildwas, 1773. Account of this Earthquake in Edinburgh Evening Courant, 1773. Condover, View of, 1800, Brit. Mus. Coll. Monument of Judge Owen in Westminster Abbey. Corvedale, The Anglo-Saxons in, by T. Wright, in Once a Week, 18GG. Cound Church, Gent. Mag. 1820, i, 201. By J). Parkcs. in Gent. Mag, 1820. CllESSAGE, Account of, Gent. Mag. 1852, ii, 58. Crossmere, Lost Bells of, Gent. Mag. 18G4, 72. Doddington, Deed relating to, Jo. Arch. Inst, xxviii, 1G5. Dudmaston, View of, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Ellesmere, View of, Brit. Mus. Coll. Eyton House, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxxvi, i, 315. Gatacre House, View, Jo. Arch. Inst, viii, 315. Glyn, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxxiv, i, 217. Hadnall Chapel, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxxii, i, GOO. II Alston, Levans, View. Hanlys Spa, Mediaeval History of, Dr. Linden. 17G8. 8vo. Hales Owen Abbey, Views of, many in King's Library, in Seago, Green, Buck, Phillips. Gent. Mag. lxix, 113, lxxviii, 577. Jo. Brit. Ach. Assoc. 1878. Account of, Prattinton Coll. Soc. Ant. Lo-id. Church, View of, Gent, Mag. Ixxiii, GI3, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. 307 Hales Owen, S. Kcnelm's Chapel, View of, Gent. Mag. lxvii,'738, lxxii, 1 177, Brit. Mus. £3Q.xxxvi, Green's View, 1778. S. Margaret's Well, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxvii, 801). Shenstone's School, View of, Gent, Mag. lxv. 905. Stone Coffin at, View of, Gent. Mag. lxi. 1097. Tiles at, Jo. Arch. Inst, xxviii, 247. View of, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. „ Grose's Antiq., 1775. Haughmond Abbey, Turner's Dom. Arch, ii., 307. Buck's View, 1731. Four Minsters round the Wrekin, Mackenzie E. C. Walcott. 1877. 4to. Gent. Mag. lxxxiii, ii, 539, lxxxiv, i, 12. Grose's Antiquities Suppl. 1780. H. Pidgcon. 18G7. 8vo. Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xii, 21 G. Memoir, Jo. Arch. Inst, xii, 39G. It. W. Eyton, xiii, 145. Seal found, Gent. Mag., 1861, G5G. Tombstones of Fitzalans at, in Gent. Mag., 1825, and in Cutts' Sepul. Slabs, pi. 13. ITaughmond Castle, View of, 1815, Brit. Mus. ll.uuiMON, Extracts from Cliartulary, and List of Abbots by W. A. Leighton, in Nichols' Collect. Topog. &c.,and in Arch. Trans. Shropshire, vol. i. Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 2188 and 44G. IIawkestone, View of Pillar, Gent. Mag., lxvii, 377. Antiquities of, T. Kawdenhurst. 12mo. 1807. [1st Edit., 1784.] Description of, by Rodenhurst. 179G. Sm. 8vo. Hermit of, by Charles Ash. 12mo. 181G. Mason's Description of. 1827. 8vo. Salmon's Beauties of. 1809. 12mo. Hodnet Church, with View, Gent. Mag., xci, 392. Hopton Castle, Buck's View, 1731. Huck's Bark, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxx, ii, 305. Ightfield, Tombstone at, Brit. Mus. Kinlet, House there, Jo. Arch. Inst., xxx, 9G. Kinardsey and Doxnington, G. Plaxton, Phil. Trans, v. 307. Langley Hall, Turner's Dom. Arch, iii, 3G5. Leasowes Priory View of, Gent, Mag. lxv. 457, 1823, 105. Account of, S. J. Pratt. 1814. 12mo. Companion to. 1789. 12mo. Gent. Mag., 1823, 105. Shcnstone's House, View of; Gent. Mag. lxxxi, ii, 505. 308 SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. Leasowes Priory, Urn, for Somerville, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxviii, 809. View of, by Jenkins ; H. F. James ; Hearne, 1702. Leebotwood Church, with View, Gent. Mag., 1831, 393. Lilleshall Church, by llev. H. G. DeBunsen. Sh. Arch. Trans, Vol. i. Lillesiiull Abbey, E. Jones. 18G5. 8vo. Buck's View, 1731. By Rev. R. W. Eyton, vol. 12, p. 229. Excerpta e Chartulario Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 20G0. Font, Jo. Arch. Inst, xi, 413. Four Minsters round the Wrekin, Mackenzie E. C. Walcott. 1877. 4to. Gent. Mag., lxxxix, i. 597. Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xii, 151, xvii, 2C5, 271, xv, 2G5 Kerrich's Sketch, Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 6750, fo. 140. Memoir, Jo. Arch. Inst, xii, 228. Linley, Roman Villa at, Gent. Mag, 185G, ii, 500, Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xii, 213. Linley Ford, Jo. Arch. Inst, xii, 210. Llanvair Waterdlne, Jo. Arch. Inst. 2G9, 404. Lononor, View of, 1805, Brit. Mus. Coll. 1828, Gent. Mag. xcviii : ii, front. Chapel with View, Gent. Mag.. 1831, 393. Church, in Gent. Mag. 1831. Ludlow, Gent. Mag, lxviii, 5G1. Cambrian Arcrueol. Association Meeting, 1851. Castle, Account of, W. Hodges. 1803. 8vo. [1st Edit. 1794.] Castle, and its connection with the Marches, by Rev. G. Sandford. Sh. Arch. Trans, Vol. i. Castle, Views of, Stukelcy, 1721. Hodges, 1728. Wright, 1812. Buck, 1731. Castle, lxvii, 475, 751, lxx, 958, Journ. Brit. Arch Assoc, xii, 159. Castle, Turner's Dom. Arch, 81. Chapel, ii, 305. „ Plan of, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. „ View of, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll, Grose's Antiq. 1774. „ Account of Architectural Antiquities, Britton. 1824. 4to. Castle, Two Views, by Hearre. 1798. Fol. Castle, Historical and Descriptive Sketch of, 1848. Castle, in Antiquarian Itinerary, vol. iv. Church, Gent. Mag. Ixxiv, 744, lxxviii, 1087, 1142, lxxix, 37, lxxxii. ii, 209. SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. 309 Ludlow, Churchwardens' Accompts, T. Wright. 18G8. Camd. Soc. Publ. 1770. Church, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxxii, ii, 209. West. 1800. Coll. Ant. Soc. Lond. Church, Historical Description of, Evans. 18G0. 12mo. Corve St., View of, Brit. Mus. Description of, W. Bewley. 1811. 8vo. Documents connected with the History of, R. H. Clive, 1841. 8vo. Grey Friars, Archa3ol. xxxix, 173-8. Restoration and Plan, Coll. Soc. Ant, Lond. Guide. 1808. 12mo. Guide to, W. Felton. 1797. 12mo. Handbook to. 18G5. 8vo. 1878. 8vo. History and Antiquities, T. Wright, 1822 and 182G. 12mo. 1843. 8vo. 1852. Palmers' Gild, by Dr. Sparrow. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. i. Sketches, by T. Wright. 18G7. 8vo. St. John Baptist, Brit. Mus. Add. MS. G27G. Views of, Published by Hodson, 1830. View (Deare's) from Bridge at, 17G0, Add. MS. Brit, Mus. xxxvi. Madeley Wood, Perry's Plan of Ironworks, Brit. Mus. ftl< xxxvi. Court, Sundial, Journ. Arch. Inst, xi, 413. Market Drayton, J. R. Lee. 1861; Svo. Melverley, Font, Jo. Arch. Inst, i, 161. Mkole Brace, Gent, Mag., lxxvii, 807. Description of Windows and Reredos in Chancel of Church. 1871. 8vo. Middle, Antiquities of, R. Gough. 1834. Fo. New Edition, Adnitt and Naunton, Shrewsbury, 1875. 4to. Castle, Turner's Dom. Arch., ii, 30G. Milliciiope Manor House, View of, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Moree, Forest of, Map, temp. Eliz., O. R. Libr. Brit. Mus. MouviLLK, Font, Jo. Arch. Inst., xii, 210. Munslow Cnuiu'ii, with View, Gent. Mag., 1839, {). Nesc'EU Ke, by T. M. Bayncy. Six Views of. Folio. Oswestry, Church of St. Oswald, Monumental Inscriptions, by Stanley Leighton, M P. Collections of Powysland Club, 1872. With West View of Exterior. Chureh of St. Oswald, some Account of Restoration, by Askew Roberts. Ditto 1875. W ith Autotype View of Interior. 310 SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. Oswestry, Corporation Records, by Stanley Leighton. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. ii. Davies's MS. History, in Brit. Mus. 1635. History of the Church. Wootlall and Venables. 1874. With South View of Exterior in 1808. Sm. 4to. History of, W. Price. 1816. 12mo. „ Edwards. 1819. 8vo. Cathrall. 1855. 8vo. „ in Oswald's Well, a Magazine, published by S. Roberts, 1847-8. Life of the Rev. James Owen, minister of the Old Chapel, Oswestry. London: Lawrence. 1709. Sm. 8vo. Map of Hundred, temp. Eliz., 0. R. Libr. Brit. Mus. Naturalists' Field Club, Excursions of. Askew Roberts. 18G5. 8vo. Oswald's Well, View of. Geo. Yates, about 1825. Reports of Society for Bettering Condition of Poor. Edwards. 1812-17. 8vo. Siege of Oswestry. Account of, in Bye-Gones. 1874. Letter to Lenthall. 1(344. „ Two Groat Victories. 1064. Tokens, by Askew Roberts. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. i. Topographical Description of, in Gent. Mag., 1810. „ Universal Mag., 1757. Trial of the Phipps's for Forgery. Salter. 4to. 1789. (Supposed to be the first book ever printed in Oswestry). View of Oswestry from Shelf Dank, by E. 11. Buckler. Roberts, 1853. View of Church, Gent. Mag., lxxx, i, 409. View of Church, European Magazine, 1809. Where Did King Oswald Die ? by Howel W. Lloyd, &c. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol ii. Oxenbold, Turner's Dom. Arch., iii, 365. Park Hall, Sundial, Jo. Arch. Inst, xiii, 417. By J. Rowland. By Evans. Plaisil Haul, Turner's Dom. Arch., iii, 365. Pontesbuuy Church, Avith View, Gent. Mag. 1827, 297. Quatfokd Cnuitcn, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxxviii, 1, 17. Roman Pigs of Lead found, Jo. Arch. Inst, xvii, 32-34. Roads, Gent. Mag., 1862, 64. Ruyton, Silver Mace, Jo. Arch. Inst, x, 263. Sjiklton Oak, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxx, ii, 305, in Owen and Blake way's and Leighton's Shrewsbury Guide. SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. 311 Shiffnal Church, J. L. Petit, Collect. Archaeol., 90-98. Journ. Brit: Arch. Assoc., xii, 150. By Rev. J. Brooke. 1879. 4to. Shrewsbury Abbey, Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc., xii, 4:3. with View, Europ. Mag., vol. 5G, Gent. Mag. lxxxiii, i, 305, lxxxvii, i, 105, [described, lxxxiv, i, 13, lxxxviii, ii, 511, iii, 20], with view. Seal, xliii, 271. Slab in, Collect. Arch., 163-170. Seal, Archceologia, xx, 576. Gent. Mag., xliii, 271. Mint, Archceologia, xxvi, 13. 17. Abbey, Cartulary of, in Collect, Topog., Publ. Lib. Camb. Dd. ix, 62 Abbey Parish Church Estate, in Shropsh. Arch. Trans., vol. i., by W. A. Leighton. Abbey Church, in Ncale's Churches, 3 plates, 8vo. Abbey, W. View, Buck, 1731. N. W. View, J. Buckler, 1814. Bells of, by D. Davies. Sh. Arch. Trans., Vol. ii. Shrewsbury, Account of Ancient Guilds and Shrewsbury Show by H. Pidgeon. Account of Taking of. Lond. 1645. 4to. Account of, by Owen. 1808. 12mo. Akatt's Chantry, Gent. Mag., lxxvi, 38. And Crewe Railway, Notes by the AVay, by E. Edwards, 1857—8. Antient Mansion at, (Jones' Mansion bottom of the Wyle), in Gent, Mag., 1829. Ancient House, with View, Gent. Mag., 1821, 489, Turner's Dom. Arch., ii, 163, 316, iii, 12, 68, 366, 469. Antiquities of, Gent, Mag., lxxviii, 1057. Antiquities in, Jo. Arch. Inst,, xvi, 68. A Prospect of the South Side of, taken from ye Coney- Green. A Prospect of the Town of, taken as it appeared in the Great Frost, 1738. Armorial Bearings of Bailiffs of, in Shrewsbury School Library. Battle of, Gent. Mag., lxxxiii, ii, 433. Benefactors to Schools Library, in Shreds and Patches, vol. 1. Bird's Eye of the Town of Shrewsbury, looking from Column down Abbey Foregatc in London Illus- trated News. Bird's-Eye View, temp. Eliz., O. R. Libr. 312 SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. Shrewsbury, Bishoprick of. Homy V1IL, Scheme of Bishoprieks, p. 23. 11. Cole. 1808. 8vo. Bridge, Old, P. Sandby, 1778. Welch, B. Green, after Sandby, 177G, another 1778. Bridge, Old West and Welch, Bluck. Bridge, Old Welsh, Pennant's Tours. 1810. Castle, View of, Gent. Mag., lviii, 7G5. „ Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Keep of, Turner's Dom. Arch., hi, 3GG. Castle, N.W. View, Buck, 17:31. S. View, Sandby, 1777, and Schools, Williams, 1789. Castle, Sandby 's View of Castle, South View of, by Watts, after P. Sandby Castle, by Watts, after P. Sandby. 1778. Coloured " Roman Pavement at the Lea, near Shrews- bury," discovered 1703, published by J. Haynes, 1794. Coloured Plate of Jesse, in East Window of St. Mary, by W. Fowler, 1832. Coton Hall, Gent. Mag., lxxix, 1097. The Portrait of Benbow, Gent. Mag., 1819, 9. Customs of, Gent. Mag., lxii, G89, lxiii, 42, lxx, 918. Coloured View, by Bedford, of Hospital of Holy Cross, 1853. From Coton Hill. Published by Harwood, 2G, Fen- church Street, Grey Friars, View of, Gent. Mag., lxv, 13, lxxxviii, ii, 297. Guide to, by Rev. W. A. Leighton. 183G. 12mo. History of, T. Phillips. 1779. 4to. Owen and Blake way. 182G. 4to. Hulbert. 1837. 4to. Handbook, Crumpton. Handbook to, Pidgeon. 18G0. Historical Guide, by S. F. Williams. 12mo. Hospital, Gent. Mag., lxxiv, 749. House of Industry, J. Wood. 1800. 8vo. In Gent. Mag., 1818. Inventory of Church Goods at. Arch. Jo. vol. ii., p. 1G9. John Buckler's View of St. Marv's and Abbey Churches. 1815. Lord Hill's Column, View of, Gent. Mag1., lxxxvii, ii, 393. „ Description of, with View and Portrait. 8vo. Map of, published by J. Davies. Map of Borough of, by A. Hitchcock, 1832. SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. 313 Shrewsbury, Market House, in Rimmer's Stone Crosses. Matthews' History. New Edit. 1S77. Medical Topography of, by Dr. Ward. 1841. Svo. Memorials of, H. Pidgeon. 1837. 12mo. Memorials of Shrewsbury School, by C. W. Radclyfte. 1843. Fo. MSS. respecting, Gent. Mag., lxxxiii, i, 581). Norman Earls of, Collect. ArchoeoL, 07-78. Old St. Chad's, in Gent. Mag. Parliamentary Elections for the Borough, from 1283 to 1859, by Edward Edwards. 1859. 4to. Pengwern the Palace of the Princes of Powysland, Arclueol, i, 289. Perspective View of, in Complete English Traveller. Perspective View of Guild Hall during Election, 1774. Plan, by Speed „ Rocque, with Market-House, School, and Castle, 1740. Plan, 1818, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Plan, French, of, 1050, Add. MS. 11, 504, art. 15. Plan of, 1830, by Fereday, with Shelton Oak in margin. Pulpit in Pennant's Tour. 1810. Quarry, The, A Poem, by Jones. 1770. Svo. S. Alkmund's, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxvii, 309, Ixxxi, i, 9. S. Chad's, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxvii, 297. Gent. Mag., lviii, 049, lxx, 918, lxxi, 978, lxxiv, 1000, xii, 45, Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. S. Chad's, 1393-1780, View, Sanders and Basley. New, 1791. Stewart and Miller, 1791. Account of, by II. Pidgeon. 1842. S. Giles, YicAV of, Gent. Mag., lxiv, 094. 901, descri- bed Gent. Mag., lxiv, 094, 1830, 199. Stone Cross of, Gent. Mag., 1852, i, 580. St. Julian's, Lithograph of (South), published by J. II. Leake. S. Mary's Gate, View oi; Gent. Mag., lxxviii, 1057. St. Mary's Church, Ancient Sepulchral Stone, in Shrews- bury Chronicle, 1850. St. Mary's Church, Jo. Arch. Inst,, xi, 143, Gent. Mag., Ixxxvi, ii, 553, Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc., xxv, 235-0. Glass in, Jo. Arch. Inst., i, 101, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. S. Mary's, J. Buckler, 1815. S. Nicholas, View of, Gent. Mag., lxxx, i, 017. Genl. Mag, lxxx, i, 017, ii, 458, 550. 314 SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. Shrewsbury, School, View of, Jo. Brit. Arch. Assoc., xii, 231. A great deal about Shrewsbury School, in Baker's Hist. St. John's Coll. Camb, 1869. 2 vols. 8vo. Seals, Engravings of, Bailiff's. Borough, A.D. 1425, Gent. Mag., 18G2, 580. Shrewsbury in 1830. Published by Hulbert. Shrewsbury Show, by T. Wright, in Chambers's Book of Days. Some Account of Shrewsbury School. 1869. 8vo. South View of, published 1825 by C. Hulbert. South View of, taken from Hermitage Coliee House, 1778. South West Prospect of. Stranger in, T. Howell. 1815. S. W. Prospect, (1) Buck, 1732. (2) Ryland. (3) Bakewell. S. W. View, Lond. Mag, 1792. Taylor's MSS, in Shrewsbury School Library. Tesselated Pavements, at the Lea, 1794, Brit. Mus. Topog. Dept. Tiles; Engravings of, Gent. Mag., xxviii, 1057. Tower of the Town Wall, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxix, 1097. Tower on Welsh Bridge, 1789, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. View of, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll, from Mod. Univ. Brit. Traveller, Walker, 1799, Soc. Ant. Lond. Views in, King's Library, British Museum. Views of, Dray. Visit of Royal Archaeological Institute, Gent. Mag, 1855. Visit of British Archaeological Association, Journal, vol. xii, Gent. Mag, 1860. Welsh Bridge at, by Godfrey, after P. Sandby, 1776. With the English and Coleham Bridges. Published by Harwood, 26, Fenchurch Street. Sheinton, Effigy at, Jo. Arch. Inst, xi, 417, Stanton, View of, Gent. Mag. lxxvi, 1017. Long, Plan and Sketch, Add. MS. Brit. Mus, 6738, fo. 132, 6757, fo. 88, 6736, fo. 77. Stanton Lacy Church, Jo. Arch. Inst, iii, 285, 297-98. Stokesay Castle, Turner's Dom. Arch, i, 62, 82, 157-160, iii, 403, Buck's View, 1731, Grose's Antiq, 1780. Views of Gatehouse and Hall, 1844, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll, Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc, xii, 155. Stokksay CastLe, Six Views of, by Mrs. Stackhouse Acton, fo. Sthetton, Gent, Mag, 1860, 467. SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. 315 Sundorne Castle, View of, 1815, Brit. Mus. Coll. in Neale's Scats, 182G. Token, Salop, 1667, Gent. Mag., Ixxviii, 1057. Tong Church, B. Botneld. 4 to. Jo. Arch. Inst., ii, 1-13. Castle, View of, Buck, 1731, Gent. Mag., 1863, 202. Castle, in Neale's Scats, ' Head of Lady Vernon, 1467, in Church, in Boutcll's Brasses. Vernon Effigy, Jo. Arch. Inst., xii, 208. Wattlesborough Tower, Jo. Arch. Inst., xxv, 97. Wellington Church, 1798, Brit. Mus. tt> 19, 1. Wenlock Priory, Views of, and Seal, Gent. Mag., lxxvi, 1017 1842, 145. Buck, 1739. Mayor, 1779. Grose's Antiq., 1774. Account of, W. K. Eyton. 1853. 8vo. E. S. A. 1853. 8vo. E. Roberts, Collec. Archceol., 145-162. Architectural Antiquities, J. Britton. 1824. 4to. Four Minsters round the Wrekin, Mackenzie E. C. Walcott. 1877. 4to. Extracts from the Registrar of Sir Thomas Butler, C. H. Hartshorne. Gent. Mag. lxxvi, 1017, with the Seal. Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc. xii, 50, i, 58, iii, 119, xxix, 52, 104. Prior's Lodge, Turner's Dom. Arch., ii, 306, iii, 145, 366, 368. Priory, in Antiquarian Itinerary, vol. ii. Wem, History of, Rev. S. Garbett. 1818. 8vo. Account of Dreadful Fire at, by Rev. S. Garbett. 1802. 12mo. Windlebury, Jo. Arch. Inst., xxx, 183. White Ladies, View of, Gent. Mag., lv, 89, lxxix, 809, lv, 89, lxx, 121, lxii, 893. Gent. Mag., 1863, 202. Seal, Gent. Mag, xliii, 281. Whitchurch, Narrative of the Fires in 1830-1, by Rev. J. Evans, Whixall Wihttington, View of, Gent. Mag, lxxxiii, i 9, lxxx, 1-617. Castle, Gent. Mag, 1814, p. 105. History of, by D. Davies. Oswestry, Edwards. About 1818. 32mo. Winnol House, View, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Wrekin, Camp on, Jo. Arch. Inst, xvi, 56. Attempt to Ascertain the Limits of the Horizon of, Darton. 1824. 316 SOURCES OF SALOPIAN TOPOGRAPHY. Wrekin From Wellington, View by W. Emans. Guide to, with Map, 1862. Hill, Chatelain's View, 1748, Brit. Mus. WuoxETEit, Ruins of Uriconium, T. Wright. 1859. 8vo. II. M. Searth, Jo. Arch. Inst., xvi, 53, xxi, 121 Arclneologia, ix, 21, pi. xxii, and Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Archceologia, ix, 323-8. Church and Monuments of, Rev. H. M. Scarth, Arch. Soc. Excavations at, Jo. Arch. Inst., xvi, 174, 215, 387, xvii, 54, 73, 240, 269. Excavations at, Arch. Cambrensis, July and Oct., 1850. Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc. xii, 151, 214, 218. Pavements at, G. Maw, Arch. Soc. Plan, by Davies, 18G2, Soc. Ant. Lond. Coll. Roman Coins found at, by G. Morris, in Eddowes's Journal, 1825 and 1826. Rome and Turnips, in Dickens's All the Year Round, 1859. Ruins of, by J. C. Anderson. 1867. Svo. Roman Engraved Stones at Uriconium, by T. Wright. Seal with word FELIX, found at, in Gent. Mag. Uriconium, Views of Excavations, Hypocaust and Relics, in Illustrated News of World, 1859. Roman Wall of, by D. Parkes, 1812, in Gent. Mag. „ Roman Cemetery of, by T. Wright. Svo. „ Stevens' Ten Coloured Plates of Pavements, Urns, Altars, and Sepulchral Stones. 317 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE, By W. THOMPSON WATKIN. In drawing the attention of the Society, to the above- named subject, I am desirous of stating, that I by no means intend venturing into the various controversies which have arisen as to the scene of the operations of the Roman Generals, within the county, such as the locality of the defeat of Caractacus, &c, but simply to describe the existing Roman remains in Shropshire, including the stations, roads, villas, temporary camps, &c, and to identify the first named, from the authentic works of Roman authors, which have descended to the present time. That Shropshire was colonised by the Romans at an early period of their rule in Britain is certain. From Ptolemy, the geographer of Alexandria, who lived in the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius, or the first half of the second century, we know that the chief Roman station in the county, which he calls Viroco ilium, was in existence in his time. In the Antonino Itinerary, which was compiled circa A D. 138 — 144, this fact is confirmed, the name of this station being there given as VRICONIYM and VRIOCONIYM. The late Mr. Thomas Farmer Dukes, F.S.A., in a paper on this station in the Gloucester Volume of the Proceedings of the British Archaeological Association , says at p. 67 — A recent, accidental discovery lias thrown some valuable light on the historical question. In the year J 841, a largo brass coin of the Emperor Trajan, in a high state of preserva- tion and freshness, was found imbedded in the mortar of the Koman wall (usually denominated the "Old Works") still VOL. ir. Y 318 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. remaining at Wroxeter. This fact warrants the conclusion, that although the erection of the station, or its enlargement, might have been posterior to the reign of Trajan, it would seem to be clear and decisive that it could not be raised at an earlier period .... and consequently it may be presumed from the perfect condition, and freshness of impress of the above-mentioned coin, that Uriconium was built early in the second century. This, as I hope to prove, is certainly an erroneous statement. Mr. Hartshorne in his Salopia Antiqua does not allude to the date of the erection of the station. Mr. Anderson in his Uriconium, p. l,says, " Uriconium owed its foundation it is conjectured to the campaigns of Ostorius about A.D. 50." Mr. Wright in his Uriconium, p. 65, says, " Uri- conium probably came into existence at the time when Ostorius Scapula was building towns and fortresses to establish the Roman power on our border. It is first mentioned in the Geography of Ptolemy, believed to have been compiled about the year 120 Very few relics have been found, which even by the imagination can be carried back to this remote period of Uriconian history." Mr. Wright then alludes to a Roman consular coin, and a Gaulish coin found on the site, as being of this " earliest period of the Roman domination." But these conjectures as to the date of the erection of Wroxeter, are in themselves of no value whatever, and Mr. Wright's statement as to the two coins he names being the sole representatives of its earliest exis- tence is equally invalid. In fact these coins may not have been brought to Wroxeter until it had been in existence for two or three centuries, for the Roman consular coins (and others) were in circulation all through the period of the Empire, as numerous " finds" have proved. Am I havo previously shown, however (Shrewsbury Chronicle, May 1 7 th, 1872, under the signature of " Anglo-Roman "), we have sure evidence of the erec- tion of Wroxeter about the time of Ostorius, and conse- ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 319 quently some 50 years before the coin imbedded in the 14 Old Wall " was struck. It is as follows : — From Tacitus we learn which of the Roman legions came over to Britain at the time of its conquest by the Emperor Claudius. They were the second, ninth, fourteenth, and twentieth. Leaving the history of the other three, we find that the fourteenth was recalled from Britain in A.D. G8, by Nero, that in the following year it was again sent to our island by Yitellius, and that in the next year, A.D. 70, it was finally recalled by the Em- peror Vespasian. Now only four complete tombstones of military men have been found in the cemeteries of Wroxeter — of these four, two are of officers of the fourteenth Legion, one a standard bearer (si(j)iifcr), the other the eagle bearer ( aquilifev). I think it will be patent to every one 1 who studies the subject that these interments were : — First.— Prior to A.D. G8. Second. — They were of members of the garrison. To me it seems impossible that they could be erec- ted to the memory of officers who had died, or had been slain on the spot, whilst the legion was marching north or north-westward (for it went to Anglesey with Suetonius). There would not be time or opportunity for carving such large and costly stones, the inscription on one of them ending with an hexameter verse. The only alternative therefore is, that prior to A.D. G8, the fourteenth legion formed the garrison of Wroxeter, and that as it was Ostorius Scapula who reduced this portion of Britain beneath the Boman sway, he erected Uriconium as one of the fortresses necessary to consolidate the Boman power in Shropshire and on the Welsh border. Of the first of these two tombstones found, Mr. Wright, p. 359, says that it " was raised over the body of a soldior of the fourteenth legion, which most pro- bably was at that time on the continent;" This is a most improbable theory. There is no date on the 320 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. stone (such as the names of the consuls for the year), but its style is that of the early part of the Empire, and that two officers should come over from their legion, quartered in Pannonia, and be buried at Wroxeter, is contrary to every reasonable probability. Assuming then on this basis, which I conceive to be a firm one, that Wroxeter was erected about A.D. 50, it is certain that the county was well colonised by the Romans at that date, for the station could not exist without roads connecting it with the rest of Roman Britain, and other stations were placed on these roads to guard them. The Second Iter of Antoninus, which is a long and winding one, commences at Middleby, in Dumfries-shire, and is carried to Richborough, in Kent. From Carlisle to York, it proceeds in a proper direction for its ulti- mate goal, but then deviates to the west, evidently with the primary intention of connecting Deva (Ches- ter), the head quarters of the twentieth legion, with York, the head quarters of the sixth legion. From Chester, if taken directly to London, it would of necessity pass through Wroxeter, but instead of connecting these stations directly, another slight deviation is made, so as to include a station named Mediolanwn, which must have been from all we can gather concerning it, an important one. Very numerous are the theories concerning the site of this station, the chief point of dissension being, whether it was situated east or west of a direct line from Wroxeter to Chester. For my own part, I believe it to have been situated, as I have before stated ( Archaeological Journal, Vol. 28, p. 123, and Vol. 30, pp. 153-173J at Chesterton, near Newcastle-under-Lyne, where the remains of an unexplored Roman station exist, the dis- tances from which along the line of Roman roads, to 1 the surrounding stations, agree with the numbers of : the Itinerary as near as possible, if not completely. This site was first recognised as that of Mediolanum at the close of the last century by Dr. Bennett (Bishop of ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 321 Cloyne), and the Rev. T. Leman, who personally explored it — but I cannot enter into the subject at length here, merely remarking that the only bearing it has upon " Roman Shropshire," is whether the station Rutunium was placed, as many antiquaries have sup- posed, at Rowton Castle (where nothing Roman has been found), or as Horsley imagined, at " Bury Walls," near Hawkstone. This latter site, I believe, to be the true one, as I have stated in the papers above referred to. This will be better explained by introducing that portion of the text of the Second Iter which relates to the stations between Deca (Chester) and Etocetitm (Wall, near Lichfield), with the modern names of the sites. A Deua (Chester) Mil Pas. JJovio (Tiverton, near Beeston) decern. 10 Mtdiolano (Cheaterton.) viginti 20 Rutunio (Bury Walls) duodecim 12 Vriconio (Wroxeter) undecim 11 Usocona (Oakengates) undecim 11 Pennocrucio f On the Penk near ) 1 Penkridge J duodecim 12 Etoceto (Wall) duodecim 12 The Roman road from Chesterton to Bury Walls, is still partly visible at its eastern end. Its modern name is " Pepper Street " and it passes to the west of Keel (near Newcastle), but as all the roads round the " Bury Walls " station have been, owing to the nature of the soil, long buried, its presence cannot now be detected in that neighbourhood. From the MSS. of the Rev. T. Leman preserved in the Bath Scientific Institute, we find that he traced this road, which he calls the road : from Wroxeter to Chesterton, in some parts, at the close of the last century. Whether this is the same road as that which Dr. Mason, of Trinity College, Cambridge (ir a letter to Dr. Wilkes, dated 15th March, 1758, pub lished in Shaw's History of Staffordshire, Vol. I pp 13-15), says that he traced " from Wroxeter ten mile; towards Chester, but there lost it," is very doubtful 322 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. though any road from Wroxeter to either Chester or Chesterton must have passed the "Bury Walls " station — but this we shall look into immediately. The first notice taken of the Roman station at " Bury Walls " was by Camden, in his Britannia, who, speaking of " Bed Castle," in Hawkstone Park, says, " Scarce a mile from hence is a spot of ground where a small city once stood, the very ruins of which are almost gone, but the Boman coins found there, with such bricks as they used in building are evidences of its antiquity and founders. The people of the neighbour- hood call it Bery, from Burgh, and affirm it to have been very famous in (King) Arthur s days." 1 The antiquary, Gough, in his additions to his last edition (1806) of Camden's Britannia, says of this place, Vol. 3, p. 31, that it is" a square Boman encampment, in which coins and armour have been found." The celebrated Horsley, in his Britannia Romana, p. 418, when treating of the stations of the second Antonine Iter, and especially of Rutunium, places it at "Bury Walls," and says, "Remains, distance, and the course of the military way favour, as I think, this opinion, which may make it the more deserving of some regard. And Bodan is not unlike to Rutunium, so that the affinity of name makes also for us ; for I have had frequent occasion to observe that the ancient name is often preserved in the name of the river. The way from Wroxeter to this station seems to be the con- tinuance of the military way from Monmouthshire." It was not, however, until the publication anonymous- ly (though the writer was probably one of the ladies of the Hill family) of a little work called the Antiquities of Hawkstone, in or about 1829, that any attention was paid to the site. In this work we have some in- teresting statements concerning it. l Neither Mr. Wright in his Uriconium, nor Mr. Hartshorne in his Salopia Anliqua, mention tho existence of a station at "Bury Walls," though both incidentally name tho existence of a camp there, but no description of it is given. The discovery of the road and the mile- stones is completely ignored. ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 323 At p. 59 it is said " The only part of the rocky emin- ence which is not inaccessible or nearly so was protect- ed by a triple entrenchment. The wall encloses a plain of twenty acres, and may be traced round the brink of the hill, leaving, indeed, four narrow chasms, which seem to point out the spots where the gates of the city stood. A fine spring rises within the walls, one still more abundant and translucent immediately beyond them." At p. 87, it is said in a note, et It is probable that [ many precious relics lie hidden in this neighbourhood. A farmer who rented the land within the " Bury Walls " had a few years since collected from it several j pieces of earthenware, bricks, &c, of antique appearance. These fell into the hands of servants and were disposed of as rubbish. In the year 1821, a spur of well-finished workmanship, pronounced by competent judges to be , Roman, was found in the garden of the Bury Farm, dis- tant a quarter of a mile from the Bury Walls. The spur is at Hawkstone." Coming to p. 88, this passage occurs — " The following account of a remnant, unquestionably Boman, was drawn up by that excellent and learned man, the Bev. John Brickdale Blakeway : — In the year 1812 in draining Moston Pool and an adjoining morass of 250 acres by Colonel Hill, there were found at the bottom of the pool, which was but a few feet deep (and apparently of recent formation by throwing up a dam to confine the water of a rivulet which flowed through the morass) four large stones, of the figures and dimensions sub- joined. The whole of the soil, at the bottom of the pool and the morass, consisted of peat to the depth of fourteen feet, with tho exception of the spot on which these stones were found, which was a bed of gravel evidently brought from a distance, and that the morass existed upwards of seven cen- turies ago is manifest from the name of the neighbouring village (q . d. Moss Town) which occurs in Domesday. Tho stones have originally formed two rude four-sided shafts surmounting quadrangular pedestals. Tho proper height of tho shafts cannot be ascertained as the summits of both are broken oil* ; but the present height of shaft and pedestal of one is 324 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 4 feet (3 inches, besides 1 foot 8 inches to let into the ground of the other 4 feet 8 inches. Both of the shafts and one of the pedestals have borne inscriptions : from the letters IMP. CAE. on one, they are undoubtedly Roman, from M.P. on the other they are probably Miliaria ; perhaps records of distances along a whole line of road. If so the loss of the inscriptions (for they are irreparably defaced) is a deplorable injury to the Roman Geography of Shropshire. It is difficult, however, to conceive how milestones should be found anywhere except on the side of a public road ; while it is certain that no road ever passed by this spot, for the moss has been cut to the depth of fourteen feet in every possible direction, without finding any- thing but peat except the above-mentioned heap of gravel. • . • . " Since the above was written, very deep drains have been cut in many parts of the moor, and traces of a road about nine feet in width are evident in six or seven places. This road was close to the spot on which stood the stones already described ; it passed from south to north, corresponding with the situations of Wroxeter and Chester, and at the distance of a mile from the Bury Walls." " During the heat and drought of the years 1825 and 1826, in consequence of the contraction and cracking of the peat of the morass, several oak trees, in a state of perfect preservation, became visible. They were by the side of the road, with the construction of which they had, perhaps, interfered. On one of them the marks of the axe were clearly seen. The lower ends of the trees were very near the surface of the earth, the tips of them seven or eight feet beneath it. The form of the ground shews, that a pool of greater depth than the one before-mentioned lay beside the road, and into that pool the trees had fallen." With regard to this account, we may gather, that the Romans cut this road through a wooded, though marshy country, and that to prevent the milestones at its side from sinking into the ground, thoy were raised considerably above its level upon a mass of gravel. HO MA N SHROPSHIRE. 325 The great depth at which it was found accounts for the absence of vestiges of the Roman roads connecting the " Bury Walls " station with the other Iloman stations in the neighbourhood, while its narrowness seems to prove that it was not the road named in the Itinerary, which beyond Wroxeter, and in other places where it is found, is a large, wide one. It was no doubt made at a period subsequent to the compilation of the Itinerary, with the view of connecting Wroxeter and Chester more directly than by the large road which went round by Medio- lanum. The most regrettable fact is that these stones are (for the present at least) lost. They appear to have been removed to Hawkstone, where the Dowager Viscountess Hill remembers to have seen them some forty-five years ago. Lord Hill has at my request, made some enquiries about them, but they cannot yet be traced. I have no doubt (from what is said to have been legible) that skilled antiquaries could have made out the greater portion, if not all the inscriptions upon them. In the one the letters M.P. have been preceded by the name of the nearest town, (as in similar inscriptions) which name would probably bo A. IIVTVNIO. And they have been followed by the numerals marking the distance from it. The author of this work thinks that the road found ran through Hollo way Mouth and Prees, and that Stanton takes its name from it, (i.e. Stone Town). In this I agree with him. As to the camp itself, it is quadrangular, its name " Walls," is derived certainly from the Latin word " Vallum" and " Bury " is invariably a corruption of the word " Borough " or Brough." The tenant of the land, Mr. Wm. Massey, wrote to me in November 1871, as follows:— There is nothing to indicate foundations of walls or buildings of any description within tho camp. The only felling found worthy of note, since I have held tho land, was a large hewn stone, which had something tho appearance of vol. ir. z. 326 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. a tombstone, but it was disturbed and broken before noticed. There is a spring within the area with remains of stone-work round it below the surface, supposed to have been a bath. The land has been under tillage some years. A silver spur was found some years ago. The fosse is much overgrown with underwood, and some large trees have recently been felled within it. The rampart is still 3 to 5 feet high, above the level of the interior, There appears to be a great quantity of stone in it, but whether the foundation of a stone wall yet remains, only excavations can shew. No facing or dressed stones or tiles are now visible, but the rampart seems very different from the large intrenchments on the undefended side. I have little doubt that this site represents Rutunmm. Mr. Reynolds, in his Iter Britanniarum (pub. 1799), conies also to this conclusion. The next station VEICONIVM is so undoubtedly the great town of which the ruins remain buried at Wroxeter, that it is needless to say anything as to the grounds upon which it is placed there by anti- quaries, though it evidently derived its name from that given by the Britons to the neighbouring hill " Wrekin." Vviconium is merely the Latinisation of it. We have another example of this in Northum- berland— where the name of the Roman station of Boreovieus is derived from a hill named " Borcum ;; ; Vicus in this case — and the well known termination iam at Wroxeter — are similar examples of Britanno Roman etymology. In face of the interesting works by Mr. J. C. Anderson, and the late Mr. Thos. Wright, it Avould be superfluous in the limits of this paper, to enter into an account of the whole of the discoveries at Wroxeter. I shall therefore only briefly enumerate them, and also briefly in the first place describe the station. Its present size, or Ave may say the size to which it had attained when the Romans left Britain, was 223 acres, and nearly three miles in circumference. Subur- ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 327 ban buildings, no doubt, lay outside of the city walls, still further increasing the inhabited area, but what was the size of the original cast rum we have yet to learn. In the Magna Britannia (pub. 1727), p. 639, (Shropshire), it is said that Wroxeter " was encom- passed with a wall built upon a foundation, for the most part made of pebble stones, about three yards thick, and a vast trench round it which in some places appears exceedingly deep at this day." In 1 80 1, Mr. Wright made some excavations in the Glebe land, to endeavour to uncover the wall ; but he found here only the ditch, which was 95 feet wide, with banks on each side of it faced with clay. ►Soon afterwards he found the foundation of the wal in the adjacent ground. " It consisted merely o large cobble stones (or small boulders) and brokei stones from the quarry, which had been placed togethe] without any order, and imbedded in the clay. The remains of the wall wrere subsequently found in several places, always presenting the same appearance, and on an average six feet thick." — (Urieonium, p. 96. J These walls are, by the mode of construction, sc evidently of the Lower Empire, that we are compelled to look lor those of the original castrum within the area. The site was well protected by the rivers Severn and Tern, which unite close to the city. The Wrekir which is only a mile or two distant, would form a grand look-out post. On its summit are vestiges oJ entrenchments, its height is 1370 feet, and it lies between the Watling Street and the Severn. The Bell Brook, a small stream, passes through the northern portion of the city, and the soil in the interior is of a black colour, as on most Roman sites. The vallum and fosse are still discernible. Horsley in his Britannia Romana (1731) says that this rampart and ditch is above hall' a mile square. The chid' discoveries recorded within the area (exclu- sive of inscriptions, which 1 shall treat of separately] before the excavations in 1859 were, first, a building 328 ROMAN SHROFSHTIiF, furnished with a hypocaust found in 1701 (Phil. Trans, vol. 25, O. S., p. 290). It was about 40 perches north of the " Old Wall " (this wall will be referred to presently). It was in perfect preservation, the roof and floor remaining ; being 7 feet high by 9^ wide. A small doorway, 2^ feet high led into it. The roof was supported by pillars of very unequal length and dimensions, and the intervals were made up with tiles, taken from some previous building. A square tesselated pavement was found in 1706. The centre was com- posed of red, white, and blue tesserae, with a guilloche border of the same colours, and outside of the whole a plain border of green tesserae ; an engraving of this I annex. In 1722 two clay moulds for casting coins were found and exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries. They were then in possession of the incumbent. . One bore an impression of a coin of Severus, the other that of a coin of Plautilla. In 1730 a piece of sculpture was found in a well, described as representing " a naked figure of a boy, leaning on a wand, and standing in an alcove." It is now lost. Another tesselated pavement found in 1734 is re- presented in a drawing at p. 34 of Mr. Duke's MSS. It was oblong, with a semicircular extremity, and formed like the last named, of blue, white, and red tesserae, with an outside border of green. In 1788 a collection of buildings were found, forming a rectangle of between 50 and GO feet by 30. There were several rooms with hypocausts and others without, and a bath of 7ft. 4in., by 3ft. 7in. In 1818 some fragments of what was believed to be bronze armour were found, and in 1820 a bronze figure of a lion (drawn in Mr. Dukes MSS). In 1827 a bronze statuette of Apollo holding the lyre, came to light ; the whereabouts of which is unfortunately not now known. In the same year another fine tesselated pavement was found, described (in the Gent. Mag., March, 1828, p. 255) as having " formed the floor of an apartment 15 feet square, The ground K dm art i'*r»i>lairb |aonn ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 329 ot the whole is a dark purple. The ornamental part formed a parallelogram, the upper and lower parts of which appear to have been occupied by a broad border of convoluted wreaths of tessellae, red, green, and white enclosing, within each compartment formed by the curves of the wreaths, a roundel of red and white tessellae. The central figure consisted of four square compart- ments, formed by narrow borders of convoluted wreaths, red, green, and white, having the four corners of each worked with semicircular ornaments by similar borders of wreath- work. A circle of beautiful interlaced work, red and white, within two intersecting squares, of con- voluted wreaths of red, green, and white, and green and white, occupied the centre of each square. A bor- der of similar convoluted wreath-work surrounded the whole pavement, which was terminated by a deep border of plain green tessellae of a larger size, divided from the former border by three very narrow stripes of small tessellae, white, purple and white." Unfor- tunately this pavement was soon destroyed by being- taken away piece-meal by visitors, but a drawing of it had previously been made, which is preserved in Mr. Duke's MSS. In 1848 bronze figures of Diana and Mercury were found, and 1854 in digging in the fold yard of Mr. Stanier, for the foundations of buildings, four square bases, with square columns upon them, were found placed regularly nine feet apart from each other, form- ing a frontage facing the Wrekin of 36 feet. They seemed to be part of a portico of some building. At the same time were found at a depth of four feet some iron bars, which had apparently undergone the action of great heat, and a little lower were the remains of a lime floor with broken pottery upon it. A number of wells have been found at various times, which after being cleaned out have been adapted to modern use, and it has been ascertained that lloman buildings of consider- able extent lie under the lawn of the vicarage. Im- mense quantities of coins of every period of the lloman 330 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. Empire, Samian ware, and other pottery, have been found from time to time, also a number of shafts, bases, and capitals of columns, some of the latter being richly decorated. A paved ford is visible in the river, and also the foundations of the piers of a large bridge. Near the ford are some high mounds on a knoll, appar- ently the remains of a fort guarding the passage of the river, and on the northern side of the city where the wall leaves the river "the remains of a cut or canal, by which boats could be brought up to the wall, may be discovered, just beyond Mr. Stanier's cottage, on the road leading to Attingham." (Archceologiccd Journal, Vol. 1G, p. GO note). But the grandest and only relic above Ground is a hu^e fragment of Avail, known for the last two centuries as the " Old Wall " which is 72 feet long, 21 feet high from the modern ground level, and 3 feet thick, built of large blocks (externally) of stone, with courses of Roman bonding tiles, as in other buildings in various parts of Britain, as St. Albans, Colchester, Hichborough, &c. It stands nearly in the centre of the city, and upon almost the highest ground. Various have been the speculations for the last 200. years concerning it. It has been called the praetorium, a basilica and a forum, &c. What it was we shall see directly. Little beyond this was known of the buried city, when, in the beginning of 1859, the late Mr. Beriah Botfield, M.P., and the late Mr. Thos. Wright, F.S.A., aided by a public subscription, having obtained the consent of the Duke of Cleveland, commenced a series of excava- tions, which continued at intervals until 18G2. But for a full account of these, the works of Mr. Wright and Mr. Anderson (before named) must be consulted. Suffice it to say that on opening the ground on the north side of the " Old Wall" at 14 feet deep its foundation was reached, and by further excavation it was found to \)e part of one of the sides of a huge building forming a, parallolograin of 22G feet by 57, with passages along its longer sides, 14 feet wide, in which ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 331 portions of several rich tesselated pavements were found. The whole of the two acres, placed at the disposal of the excavating committee, were found to be full of the foundations and remains of large buildings. A number of hypocausts were found, in one of which were the skeletons of four females and an old man, who had evi- dently fled there for refuge when the city was destroyed. With the latter were found the remains of a small box, which had contained 132 small brass coins, ranging from Tetricus to Valens. it was proved, from the evidences of burning, found on every side, that the city, like most other Britanno-lloman cities, had been des- troyed by fire. Many of the houses had been roofed with micaceous slate, which seen from a distance in the sunshine must have given the city a glittering appear- ance. A number of private houses, several paved streets, workshops, huge cloacae or drains, a latrtua, great numbers of coins, fibulae, and fragments of pottery, several cornelians, and other stones from rings bearing devices, bone hair pins, implements in bronze and iron, quantities of thick plate window glass, and stucco from the walls with fresco painting upon it, were found. In October, 1862, Mr. Wright, when excavating, in order to find the wall and ditch of the city, came upon what he calls the north-east gateway, where the Wat- ling Street enters the city from London. He says the gateAvay was " a mere discontinuance of the wall,5' the latter being found on each side of it, four feet high, and comparatively perfect, the sides of it being even and tolerably smooth, but there was no evidence of facing stones (Uncomuni, pp. 97-8. ) I am doubtful, whether this gap in the wall, described by Mr. Wright, was the gateway which he supposes. It seems totally different from any gateway of the Boman period which has been discovered in Britain. The mounds above the ford were excavated in 1859, and found to contain remains of foundations of buildings in a confused mass. If is possible that part of them Were not Roman, but of the mediaeval period, erected 332 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. to guard the ford — but numbers of Roman coins were found amongst them, also a coin mould with the impress of a coin of Julia Domna, the wife of Severus — and a Roman sculptured head in stone. One of the cemeteries of the city was also partially trenched and excavated by Mr. Wright. It was on the south side of the Watling Street, as it approaches the N. E. gateway. Numerous interments were brought to light, chiefly by cremation, the ashes being placed in urns. Only two inscribed portions of tombstones were found, which, with the inscriptions previously discovered, form probably the most interesting remains from Wroxeter. The whole of these, I will now give. (1) C. MAN MVS C. F. POL. SECV NDVS. POLLEN MIL. LEG. XX ANORV. LII STIP. XXXI. BEN. LEG. PR. II . S. E. (2) M. PETRONIVS L. F. MEN. : VIC. ANN. XXXVIII MIL. LEG XIIII. GEM. MILITAVIT ANN. XVIII SIGN. FVIT H. S, E. (3) D. M. D. M. PLACIDA DEVCCV AN. LV. S.AN. XV. CVR. AG. CVR. AG, CONI. A. PATRE XXX. (4) TIB. CLAVD. TER NTIVS. EQ. COH . THRACVM. AN. ORVM. LVII. STIP ENDIORVM H. S. . (5) D. M. ANTONIAE GEMELLAE DIADVMENVS PIENTISSIMAE FECIT V1X1T. ANN IS. XXX11I LERI . FGAL MILES (?) BONA. REI PVBLIC/E NATVS Utftmtu i)ui>'rrijphtfit*s fuuufc at COlvaxehT. Roman ^htrfiTtplian* founb tti Wraxehv. &OMAN SHROPSHIRE. 333 (8) . . AMTNIVS. T. POLIA . . NORVM. XXXV. STIP. XXII. MILLEG . . II. GEM. MILITAVI AQ. NVNC. HIC. S . . . . . LEGITE ET FELICES VITA PLVS IVTA AQVA . . G T ADITISVIVITEDVMS DATTEMPVSHONEaTE. (9) (10) (11) (12) D. M. FELIX I. SVM IB ... CORN REI . . . ALLIGN (13) (14) (15) (16)' ' ' TIB.CL.M \ ARCA CAAM. DICINIVMA DIALBA AD. OM NE. VIT 0. EX. 0. . (17) DEABVS NYMPH IS BRITANNIAE L. CARACTACVS CORNAVTVS V. S. L. M. Of these inscriptions the three first were found in 1752 in the cemetery, outside the north-eastern gate. One of them was accidentally turned up, when some of the neighbouring gentry had the ground near where it was found bored with spits," and the two others were discovered. No. I. reads: C(aius) Mannius C(aii) F(ilius) Pol(Vta) Secundus, Pollen(tia) Mil(es) Leg(ionis) xx Anoru(m) LIT StipfendiorumJ xxxi, Ben(eficiarius) LegfatiJ Pr(ovinciae). ITficJ Sfitus) E(st); i.e. in English, lt Caius Mannius Secundus, the son of Caius, of the tribe Pollia, a native of Pollentia, a soldier of the twentieth legion, fifty-two years of age, of thirty- one years of service, a pensioner of the legato of the province. He lies here." VOL. IT. A A 334 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. In the same way No. 2 commemorates, " Marcus ! Petronius, the son of Lucius of the tribe Menenia, he lived thirty-eight years, and was a soldier of the four- teenth legion, surnamecl Gemina ; he served for eighteen years and was standard bearer (signifef). \ He lies here." The abbreviation VIC. in the third line, is peculiar. Some antiquaries think it is the abbreviation for vic(sit), a form of vixit, which we Often find in Koman inscriptions of a later period ; bat this seems to be of too early an age for the use of such a word ; others think it may stand for a cognomen of Petronius, Vic( etinus) , so that his full name would be Marcus Petronius Vicetinus. No. 3 is a family tombstone divided into three panels. In the first one the husband, whose name does not transpire, commemorates his wife, thus To the gods, the shades. Placida lived fifty-five years. (This was) done under the superintendence of her husband for thirty years." The second panel is evidently dedi- cated, by the same person, to his son, Deuce us, who lived fifteen years. Here, also, he avoids giving his ! name, merely calling himself the father. The third S panel is blank, but had, no doubt, been intended for his own name at his decease. The engraving in Plate No. 2. will shew the ornamental nature of this stone. Two dolphins flank a pediment containing a head of Medusa, in its upper portion. No. 4 commemorates a soldier, whose name appears to be Tiberius Claudius Terentius, who was a horseman, (eques) of a Thracian cohort, the number of which is I lost (but it was probably the sixth, which, at one time, was stationed at Gloucester). He lived fifty-seven years ; the number of his years of service (stipendiorum) ! is also lost. The usual formula H.S.E. (Hie Situs Est) at the close, shews that he was laid where the stone was placed. This tombstone was found in 1810, near the same spot as the others. No. 5. was presented to the Shrewsbury Museum in 1841. It was supposed to have come from Wroxeter, j ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 335 but this has been doubted on the ground of its being composed of marble, and the absence of any record of its discovery. Hence some antiquaries have thought it is a Continental inscription, brought over by some curiosity-hunter, and, in course of time, its origin had been forgotten. But as undoubted Roman monuments of marble have since been found in Britain, on this score at least, there need be no hesitation in accepting a Uriconian origin for it, had we some further evidence as to the time and place. It is erected by Diadumenus to Antonia Gemella, the most dutiful (wife ?), who lived thirty-three years. No. G is a fragment of another tombstone, probably found near the others. It appears to have been first described by Gough in his 1789 edition of Camden's Britannia. Dr. Hubner (Corpus Inscr. Latinarum, vol. 7, No. 157) expands it, supplying some missing letters, as (L. VA)LERI (VS. L.) F. GAL . MILES (LEG) . . . . , or, being expanded, L(ucius) Valerius L(ucii) F(ilius) Gal(eria) .... Miles Leg- (ionis) etc., i.e., Lucius Valerius the son of Lucius, of the Galerian Tribe, a soldier of the legion. No. 7 is on an altar-shaped stone, which appears to have been used during the middle ages as a holy water stoup. It was found in 1824 near the vicarage. Dr. Hubner considers it to be a portion of a Roman mile- stone, or miliary, thus altered. Certainly, inscriptions of this nature occur more on milestones than on any 1 other Roman stone, but as a similar inscription BONO RP NATO occurs upon an altar shaped stone found at Caermarthen, I think it may fairly be concluded that altars were sometimes so inscribed ; though since I republished the Giermarthen inscription (which Dr. Hubner omitted in his large volume of British. Inscriptions), Dr. Hubner asserts that it is, also, a portion of a milestone altered ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. to the shape of an altar. I think it very unlikely that the only two examples we have of this inscription on altars should be portions of milestones. The meaning of the Wroxeter inscription is simply " Born for the good of the republic," a compliment frequently bestowed upon an Emperor.1 No. 8 is a very interesting inscription. It was found near where the other tombstones had been found, in 1861, during the excavations undertaken by Mr. Wright. It commemorates a soldier whose nomen was Flaminius of the tribe Pollia. He was eagle bearer ( aqitilifer) of the 14th legion, in which he had served twenty-two years at the time of his death, which took place at the age of thirty-five. The last four lines contain evidently some hexameter verse. Dr. McCaul of Toronto, has effected the best restoration of them, though it is by no means certain that he is absolutely correct. He reads them as Perlegite et felices vitd plus minus jutd Omnibus aequd lege iter est ad Tcenara Ditis Vivite dum St (/gi ns vitae dat tenqms honeste. From the engraving in plate 2, it will be seen that this stone was originally surmounted by a full length representation of the deceased, of which only the feet, and those in a damaged state, remain. No. 9 is a fragment of a tombstone, of which the re- maining letters are D.M. for D(iis) M(anibus), followed by I. SVM . . . probably for J ( alius) Sum No. 1 0 is a fragment of a miliary or milestone, which has borne an inscription similar to that on No. 7. No. 11 is an inscription on a small seal, of an opaque greenish substance, discovered in 1827. It was first described and engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine for January, 1828, p. 18, by the Ilev. W. A. Leighton, of Shrewsbury. The reading of it is simply " Felix," 1 As will be seen by any one conversant with Latin, the construc- tion of this sentenco is erroneous. The usual form of these inscriptions is Bono rcipubikm natQ. ROMAN SHIIOI^HIRE. 337 either as a proper name, or signifying " happiness " or " luck." No. 12 is a fragment of an inscription on a milestone which in 1855 was preserved at the vicarage, where it was seen by the Iiev. Prebendary Scarth, who has favoured me with his drawing of it. It has never before been engraved, but the fragmentary nature of the inscription precludes us from gathering its meaning. No. 13 is the medicine-stamp of a Roman oculist, found in 1808, not far from the " Old Wall." It is of stone, -| of an inch in diameter, and formed of a fine green schist. Many readings of it have been given, (the two last lines being obscure,) but the best and most recent is that of Dr. Hubner, who expands it as Tib(erii) CI (audit) M(essoris ?) dlal(i) ba(num) ad omne vitium oculorum ex o(co.) It may be read as " The dialibanum of Tiberius Claudius Messor (made) out of egg, for all blemishes of the eyes." The first and second letters of this inscription, TI, are ligulate.1 No. 14 was painted in fresco upon a fragment of stucco, found in 1861 (Wright, Uriconium, p. 113). No. 15 occurred upon a stone found in 18G7, during the excavations (Gent. Mag. Oct., 1807/ No. 10 is the inscription upon a stone tablet, which Mr. Wright calls a painter's pallette, but which Dr. Hubner treats as a small tile. Two of them were found together, but only one was inscribed ; the first letter D is reversed, thus, Q. I am not aware that any reading has been given of this. 1 Other antiquaries read the letter M as standing for M( edici), and the meaning of ex dvo " to be used with egg." I cannot see how they arrive at the latter conclusion. If the M stands for a proper name, I would prefer the name " Menander" to that of "Messor," as we have, for instance, the name of a Tribune on the Koman Wall, Marcus Claudius Menander, and the name of one of the witnesses to the Malpas tabula is Tiberius Claudius Menander ; in fact " Menan- der " seems to have been a cognomen frequently used by the Claudian yens. 338 BOM AN SHROPSHIRE, As regards No. 17 it is very probably a forgery. It is said to have been found at Wroxeter, but no particu- lars have been given of its discovery. It appears very new, and the letters freshly cut. Mr. Roach Smith writes me that it is decidedly a forgery, Dr. Htibner does the same. It was formerly, and I believe still is, preserved in Frodesley Park. Its purport is, " To the goddess nymphs of Britain, Lucius Caractacus, Cornau- tus performs his vow willingly to a deserving object." It is possible that Cornavius may have been the word in the fifth line, thus meaning that Lucius Caractacus was a Cornavian, or one of the tribe of Cornavii, which occupied Shropshire at the time of the Roman invasion. The only work in which I have seen a copy of the inscription given, is the Journal of the Arclutectuud, Arcluculogical, and Historic Society of Chester , Vol i., p. 430. ' The first four of these inscriptions are preserved in the Shrewsbury Grammar School, Nos. 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, and (I believe) 16, are in the Shrewsbury Museum. No 10, is in the garden of Mr. Oatley, at Wroxeter, Nos. 6 and 12 are lost, No. 17, as before said, is in Frodesley Park, whilst I am not aware of the present whereabouts of Nos. 11, 14, and 15, though the two latter ought to be in the Shrewsbury Museum. Amongst the most recent discoveries at Wroxeter, before the excavations, was a copper gilt ring contain- ing an antique gem with a figure of Cupid, facing a child, with its head covered with a Silenus-like mask. (Gloucester Vol. Brit. Archl. Assn. p. 73.) It was exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries in January last by Mr. S. Wood. The potters marks recorded to have been found at Wroxeter are few. On Samian paterae we find IAN V API. , IVCVN., and — ELSI. (the last probably when entire CELSI. M.). On the rim of a mortarium in Mr. Stanier's possession, is inscribed DOCTLIS. F. (This gentleman also possesses the IANVARI. stamp.) On a lamp found was the maker's name MODES. \ ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 339 The next station, which is placed in the Antonine Itinerary at eleven milss from Wroxeter, on the Watling Street, towards Lichfield, was named VSACONA [Usacona or Uxacona). From its proximity to its great neighbour, and from the fact of only small remains of it having been found, it was probably merely a small mansio or vuitatio, such as Brige between Winchester and Old Sarum, and many others named in the Itin- erary. The site of it has been hxed at Oaken Gates, or (as the place was formerly called) Oconyate. Here about 1767 the celebrated antiquary, Pennant, accompanied by the Rev. S. Dickenson, saw the remains of a Roman hypocaust in a ruined state. (Gent. Mag. Feb. 1797, p. 111). I have heard that a few coins have since been found, but for my own part I am not quite satisfied that this is the site of Usacona, though, undoubtedly, some Roman building, possibly a villa, has stood here. The distance from Wroxeter is only about eight miles along the Watling Street, and the Itinerary distance between the two stations is eleven. I have a suspicion that Vsacona may have been near Stoneyford, where another Roman road crosses the Watling Street, but still this is as far over the Itinerary distance as Oaken Gates is under, and I cannot hear of any remains having been found. About two miles South of Stoney- ford, the name Stanton (i.e. Stonetown) occurs. There appears to have been another lioman station at a spot called Yarchester, about a mile N. W. of Much Wenlock, and between there and Harley. Mr. Wright in his Uriconium says, at p. 35, "I am told that there have been met with here traces of the remains, under ground, of very extensive buildings, and the sur- face earth of the field in which they occur is thickly intermixed with fragments of Roman bricks and pottery." Mr. Wright thinks it the site of a large villa, like that at Woodchester, in Gloucestershire, but the extent of the remains seems rather in favour of a small town having existed. Excavations on this site would probably well repay their promoters, as far as 340 ROMAN si-mopsftittft discoveries of interest are concerned. At p. 47, Mr. Wright speaks of a road which he thinks Roman, run- ning on the southern side of the river to Wenlock, and onward to Bridgnorth." This would of course jDass near this station. It has long been a matter of doubt whether the strongly intrenched camp at Old Oswestry, if not ori- ginally made by the Roman forces, was not altered and occupied by them as a permanent station. Its form is that of an oblong parallelogram, and it contains over 1 5 acres of ground. Two trenches surround the whole area, and on the weakest side are five ramparts and ditches. The area has never been excavated, and the accidental discoveries have been few, but, says Mr. Wright p. 23 "Among the latter are a well, a pavement, and pieces of iron-like armour," which he thinks shew a Roman origin for the fortress. Here again, excavations would be veiy useful in unravelling the question.1 Although, at present, they have only the appearance of temporary camps, I am not disinclined to believe that the works at Rushbury, Nordy Bank, and Norton, which I shall describe presently, were permanent stations. They were certainly erected to guard lines of road ; if so, they would be occupied for a considerable time, until the country was in a settled state, and there is little doubt that buildings would be erected in them. These, forming small towns, would not be likely to be utterly abandoned, even when the country was in a peaceful state, but would continue to exist with a civil, if not military population. The next class of remains of the Roman period to be described are the villas. Of these only three have been discovered, and they are all south of Shrewsbury. None have been found in the north of the county, though it is possible we have some traces of one, or perhaps two, in that district, and of two others in the southern portion. 1 f ho British name of this, " Hen Diiias," means " Old City," HOMAN SHROPSHIRE. 341 The first villa recorded to have been discovered was situated near Pontesbury, and is thus described in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1793, p. 1144 : — "A beautiful tesselated floor was lately discovered on the farm of Mr. Water, at the Lea, between Hanwood and Pontes- bury, in Salop. It is between 13 and 14 feet square, consisting of small tesselae of red brick, whitish marble, and brown, black, and grey stone, and appears to have belonged to the bathing apartments of an elegant Roman villa ; mortar floors having been found near it, 3 feet below its level, with the foundation of such brick pillars as usually supported the floor of the suda- tory ; numerous fragments of square flues or tunnels of | tile, furred within with smoke, are also found, with some pieces of leaden pipe, charred wood, pottery of blackish earth, and a channel or gutter to carry off ' water corresponding within the descent of the ground." From the engraving of this pavement in Fowler's Mosaic Pavements, blue tesselae would appear to have also been largely used in it, the exterior border being of that colour. It is of a geometrical pattern, being a circle of rich guilloche work within a square. Within this circle are four segments of other circles, all of a guilloche pattern, in the centre of them is another circle containing a star-like flower, and various ornaments occur in the interstices. A lloman well and a number of Roman tiles have also been found at various places within this parish. Another villa was subsequently discovered at Acton Scott. It lies about one mile east of the Watling Street, and four miles west of the Devil's Causeway, upon an old road (probably lloman) leading from the Watling Street at Marsh Brook, by way of Halston and Ticklerton to Wall, near Rushbury, close to the Devil's Causeway, and which probably took its name from some Roman building, or buildings, having existed there. The first traces were found in 1817, in altering a small roadway, when the foundations of a large building were found, and a ground plan was made., but it was not until several years afterwards, when the vol,, ir. Ar' ■ 342 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. ground plan was shewn to the late Archdeacon Owen, that it was identified as a Roman villa. This gentleman suggested that further excavations should be made especially as the foundations named were 102 feet in length, by 4i in width, and were intersected by several transverse walls, enclosing four or five apart- ments, one of which had a floor of three layers of concrete about two feet thick, with thin flags on the surface. When further excavations were made in 1844, several other apartments were found containing piers formed of tiles, resting on concrete, and one larger tile at the base of each pier. The tiles varied from 7 to 12 inches in diameter, and the piers varied in height, the tallest being 20 inches, which was also the height of the walls above the concrete floors. These were plainly the remains of a hypocaust, and a quantity of soot and charred wood was found in its vicinity. The floor of an adjoining apartment was two feet lower than in this. Beyond this, in another room were the remains of another hypo- caust, the floor above which consisted of several layers of lime and tiles, surmounted by a layer of yellow clay, four inches in thickness, and in a very decayed state. Adjoining it was a pavement of round pebbles, but no tesserce were found in any part. The building fronted the south, and lay on a bank above a small stream. The walls were formed of the red sandstone of the country. Flue tiles, flooring and roofing tiles, some flanged, fragments of black and light-coloured pottery, bones and oyster shells (as usual) were found ; also a number of fragments of stucco from the walls. The ground of most of these was white divided into panels by lines of red, and dingy purple, the ornaments being round spots arranged by fours and fives pyramidically. But the most extraordinary part of the discovery was the finding of six Greek coins, the earliest being one of Neapolis, 300 — 250 B.C., the others were one of Andros struck also, 300 — 250 B.C., one of Smyrna, 150—100 B.C., one of Antiochus VIII. of Egypt, and his mother i ROMAN SHROPSHIRE, 343 Cleopatra, about 70 B.C., another of Smyrna struck | during the reign of Claudius Caesar A.D. 41 — 54, and i one of Parium in Mysia with a Latin inscription. They j were all in brass. A building was found at Weston, near " Bury Walls' I about 1814, which was probably of the Roman age. It is described in the Antiquities of IIawkstone,j). 53, as I being found " in a garden," and as " the foundation of a 1 small oblong building;" also that " the walls were double, i and in the space between them, bones are said to have j been found." In the walls of the old and now ruined church of Broughton there are, (according to a correspondent of the Shrewsbury Chronicle, Sept. 4th, 1874) Roman tiles and pieces of tufa, probably taken from a Roman buil- ding, standing on the bank above the church. Mr. Wright also tells us, p. 3G, that Roman bricks, pro- ' bably from a villa, are built into the walls of Whitton Chapel, near Caynham, and speaks also of a field near Wentnor called "Parlour Furlong," which he thinks is the site of another villa — a very probable fact, as the name "Parlour" has frequently been found to pertain to the sites of Roman buildings. In 1 85(f* at the northern end of the avenue leading to the park of Mr. More, at Linley Hall, the remains of a large villa were discovered, which Mr. More caused to be partially excavated. Two rooms with hypocausts were uncovered, the floor of one room being supported by the usual pillars of square tiles, the other by pillars of square stones ; on these last a large piece of the cement floor remained in situ. The floors of these hypocausts lay from three to four feet under the surface. Quantities of roof tiles, flue tiles, and fragments of stucco from the walls lay thickly scattered about. It was found that the remains of buildings extended under the Shrewsbury Road, and another road at right angles to it, leading to Bishop's Castle, into the Park, and two large fields. Mr. More traced in the avenue a strong stone wall, two feet six inches thick, for forty feet, with 344 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE, a strong stone drain, well preserved, on its eastern side. In the park Mr. More found this wall to continue for a hundred yards without a termination ; he also found a smooth floor of great extent like that of a large court. The remains of an aqueduct in fair preservation were found running from the wall, near Linley Hall, to the site of the rooms, &c. of the villa, down a gentle slope. This aqueduct led from a pool of water, close to the Hall, which appears in Boman times to have been a reservoir. The most curious discoveiy was that of a strong stone wall, twelve feet thick, crossing the valley in rear of the Hall, which seemed to have been a work of defence against the sudden irruptions of the mountain tribes, the hills rising immediately behind the Hall. There would appear to have been a family burying place (which is a sure indication of the proximity of a villa) not far from Wroxeter. Mr. Anderson in his Uriconium, quoting from a MS. account, thus speaks of it, " Between Tern Bridge and the Severn at Attingham, in a ploughed held, at a little more than plough depth, an enclosure of large stones was come upon, within which were ranged three large glass urns of very elegant workmanship, one large earthen, urn, and two small ones of fine red earth. Each of the urns had one handle, and the handles of the glass urns were elegantly ribbed. The glass urns were twelve inches high, by ten in diameter. The large earthen urn, was so much broken that the size could not be ascertained ; on the handle were the letters SPAH. The small glass urns were about nine inches high," &c. The discovery took place on the 8th February, 1798. It would indicate the presence of some wealthy family in the immediate neighbourhood, whose burial place it was — the urns, &c, holding their ashes after the bodies had been burnt. These appear to be the only vestiges of detached Roman buildings or villas, which are recorded to have been laid bare within the county up to the present time. ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 345 The Roman temporary camps (or perhaps some so called may have been permanent ones) next claim con- sideration. There are in the first place two, which stand upon a Roman road called " The Devil's Cause- way " (hereafter to be described). The first of these is at Rushbury. It is not very extensive, being 145 feet from E. to W. by 131 from N. to S., almost a square, with the angles rounded off as in many other Roman camps. The vallum has been very lofty, and the fosse was twenty three feet wide, but is now only discernible on the North and South sides. Mr. Hartshorne in his Salopia Antiqua, p. 150, says, " The exterior slope of the vallum falls externally twenty five feet, the fosse is twenty-three feet wide, and the relief of the mound from the bottom of the ditch, twelve." Mr. Hartshorne further says, " Indications of other works are seen in a meadow south of the church, as well as on the north and east sides, but as the ground has been disturbed, they are traceable with difficulty." In a note at p. 14(J Mr. Hartshorne says, " My own enquiries after coins were unsuccessful, nor could I learn from aged people who had lived here from their youth that any Roman ones had ever been found. Reynolds (Iter. Brit. p. 4G0) states ( ' that there have." Mr. Wright, at p. 48 of his Uriconium, in speaking of Rushbury, merely remarks that " Roman antiquities are mid to have been found on this site, but appear not to have been preserved." I think, however, that Reynolds is probably correct. At the end of 1850 or beginning of 1851 some men, cut- ting drains m the field south of the church, found some Roman masonry and tiles. I am indebted for this infor- mation to the Eev. F. IT. Ilotham, the rector. This would argue for the permanence of the station, instead of its being a temporary camp. The second camp on the line of the " Devil's Cause- way " is at " Nordy Bank," near Clee St Margaret. It is a parallelogram in shape, 210 paces from west to east, and 144 from north to south. The angles, as in other Roman camps, are rounded off It is sur- 34G ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. rounded by a fosse twelve feet wide. Mr. Hartshorne (Sal op hi Antiqua, p. 151), says, " From a cutting made at the south east end it is seen that the vallum is twenty- six feet wide at its base, and six across its crest. The interior slope is twelve feet, the scarp eighteen, and the counterscarp six. There are four gorges or openings due north, the original ones being at the east and west." This camp, which is in very perfect preservation, com- manded Corvedale ; but it is somewhat singular that no discoveries of Roman remains are recorded to have been made here. On Hopton Hill, within a mile of the " Bury Walls," are some traces of Roman encampment, but they are faint. On the " Callow Hill," between Habberley and Min- sterley, there are the remains of another Roman camp, which is eighty-six paces from east to west, and fifty- eiidit from north to south. It is a rectangle with the angles rounded off, that at the north east more so than the rest. (Hartshorne, p. 155.) At Chesterton, near Worfield (and near a road originally Roman, hereafter to be described), is a large intrenchment called the "Walls," which, from its name, its proximity to a Roman road, and the etymology of the neighbouring village (Chesterton), has un- doubtedly been a Roman camp. Another proof is, that the name of Stratford is given to the spot where the road crosses the adjoining stream. Mr. Wright (p. 17) says of this camp, that it "is an enclosure of upwards of twenty acres, on the summit of a hill, the sides of which form, on every side but the north east, a nearly perpendicular precipice of the height of fifty or sixty yards surrounded at the top by an intrenchment. At the foot it is almost surrounded by a stream of water. Like the hill itself, the form of the enclosure is irregular, and it is rather remarkable that no antiquities are known to have been found within it." I am inclined to think that this camp was originally of British construc- tion, but subsequently occupied by the Romans. Its ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 347 ramparts are of loose stones filled up with earth and sand. There are two (and in some places more) concentric ditches. About four miles west north west of Clun, is a small village called " Newcastle/' and closely adjoining it are two small square camps, whilst two miles to the north northwest, is another and larger camp of the same form, called " Caer-din." 1 The rectangular form, in all these cases, proves the camps to be of 1 toman origin. At " Bank Farm/5 about a mile west north west of Longnor, are vestiges of a square intrenchment, to which the names of two eminences, one north, called " Signal Bank/' and the other, south, called " Castle Hill," give additional strength to the opinion that it was a Roman encampment. On Pontesford Hill, there is a large intrenchment, evidently originally British, but subsequently the northern portion seems to have been cut off from the remainder by a fosse and ditch, and formed into a quadrangular camp.2 The last camp to be described is a large one, and pre- sents some interesting features. It is situated in the parish of Culmington, and on the eminence above Stokesay, in the township of "Whettleton. Mr. Harts- horne, at p. 72, speaks of it as " the important post of Norton Camp, a large quadrangular work, double ditched, which commands defiles to the east and west/' &c. At p. 73 he says, IC The position chosen by Ostorius at Whettleton, was in every respect an important one. . . . It had the command of observation of four valleys, Corve Dale, Ape Dale, the Stretton Valley, and that leading to Brandon Camp, near Leintwardine ; it was a means of securing a safe retreat for the lioman 1 Mr. Wright, in his Uriconium, speaks of another quadrangular camp hearing the same name, four miles to the north east of this ono. This, however, is in Montgomeryshire. 2 The small camp called the " Burgs," at Bayston Hill, near Shrewsbury, is, 1 think, lioman; and tho vestiges of the camp on Churchstoke Hill arc, I suspect, Roman also. 348 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. forces, in case they should be driven back, whilst it would also secure them in the possession of all the plain as far as Ludlow, and even beyond it." Mr. Harts- hornes description of it is, as that of a quadrangle having two valla and two fossce, the enclosed area being about 220 paces square, the chief entrance being on the east side, with a modern one at the north west corner. The interior vallum, was and is about 40 feet wide at the base, and 12 feet in width across its crest. The escarp of the interior vallum is 20 feet, the width of the fosse 12 feet, and the counterscarp 8 feet. The escarp of the exterior vallum is 8 feet, and the breadth of the fosse about the same, the width of the crest 12 feet. There is a very rapid natural fall toward the west, where it is nearly inaccessible.1 My own impression, derived from several visits to this camp, between 1855 and 1861,. also was that it was quadrangular, but the immense mass of underwood, and the thickness of the plantation, prevented any accurate view. The Ordnance map likewise makes it a quadrangle. But in 1871, Mr. H. H. Lines, of Worcester, a gentleman of antiquarian tastes, made a survey of this camp, and it appears to be so different to the accounts previously given of it, that I annex a copy of the plan with which Mr. Lines has kindly furnished me. His remarks upon it are : — " It is of Roman construction, though it is not of that type we might have expected ; it seems to be one of the Silurian series, thrown up probably by the legions of Ostorius Scapula ; at this period the Polybian system is said to have been in vogue, and the only indications of that system are to be traced in the straight traverse at the south west corner of the camp, and that is in some measure a departure from the sim- plicity of the Polybian system, from its being a double traverse instead of a single one. The Praetorian and 1 Mr. Wright, in his Uuconium, p. 19, speaks of it as the "large and strongly intrenched area known as Norton Camp. It is nearly S C A L t i I I J,f V T *;' I BOMAN SHROPSHIRE. 349 the south west gates are without traverses, but that seems to be compensated for by a slight adaptation of the old British mode of strengthening the gate mounds ; this is an indication of a transition in style taking place, a peculiarity which is thoroughly characteristic of the Romans, who were inveterate copyists, and if I am right in my conjecture, it shews them to have been influenced by their auxiliaries long before they adopted the Hygenian system of castrametation. " The shape you will gather from the plan ; it has a double vallum. The inner one, which is the rampart proper, is much higher than the outer vallum, which is the broadest, being an average breadth across its crest of 25 feet ; the area within the ramparts is 900 feet by 700. Comparing this with the average size of legionary camps of the Polybian era, which were about 1,000 feet square, and would contain 5,000 men, I believe it would give accommodation at least for six cohorts, that may be about 3,000 men. . The well within the camp is 15 feet by 20, and is hewn out of the rock." If this plan of Mr. Lines's be correct, I much doubt if this camp was originally made by the Romans. It would probably be a British one, altered and adapted to their requirements. That they occupied it, I think there can be no doubt, as the Watling Street runs be- neath it, on the western side, and its position is too important to be neglected. Can the semicircular end, given by Mr. Lines, have its origin in the fact of the corners being rounded off, as in other Homan camps ? It is to be hoped this point may soon be settled. Nor- ton Camp is about nine miles from that at Nordy Bank, and is about seven miles from the station of Bravinium, at Leintwardine. As no plan of it has hitherto been published, that by Mr. Lines will be of interest to the archaeologists of the county. As I surmised that there might be vestiges of buildings within the area, I asked the Ilev. J. D. La Touche, of Stokesay, who knows the ground well, whether any were traceable, and he re- plied : u No remains of buildings have, as far as I know, VOL. IT. AC 350 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. been actually discovered ; but there is some uneven ground in part of it, which I have long thought indi- cated something of the kind. ... I have never heard of any coins, pottery, or other antiquities having been found." The camp is now owned by Mr. J. D. Allcroft. Next to the camps, the most important vestiges of the Romans remaining in Shropshire are the traces of mining. The principal mines in Shropshire were in the neighbourhood of the Stiperstones Hill. Shelve Hill is especially to be noted. The veins of lead in this, run horizontally from east to west, and in the Roman period were visible on the surface, on the western side. The Roman miners began with this surface metal wherever it shewed itself, and followed the veins into the hill, the size of the cutting varying with the extent of the vein. In this way large cavern-like excavations were made, with galleries leading from them. In other places they sank shafts. These excavations are visible in many parts of the hill, but are mostly now blocked up with rubbish. Of late years a company, which has adopted the title of the " Roman Gravel Lead Mining Com- pany/' has commenced to work the lead in this hill, and numerous shafts and galleries have been brought to light. In the rubbish filling up these shafts, &c, numerous antiquities have been discovered, especially Roman coins. Mr. Wright engraves two oaken spades found here, and also two candles, believed to be of the Roman period. These antiquities are preserved by Mr. More, at Linley Hall. The Roman villa at this place, which I have noticed, was no doubt the residence of some one high in authority connected with the mines. In the parish of Minsterley, at the Stiperstones Hill, is the Suailbeach mine, which, in addition to its modern Workings, shews those of the Roman period very dis- tinctly. The Pontesbury villa, only three miles distant, probably was the residence of an official, like that at Linley. ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 351 From the evidence of inscriptions, these mines would appear to have been most actively worked during the reign of Hadrian, a.d. 117 — 138. Five inscribed pigs of lead have been found in the neighbourhood of these mines, and they all bear the name of that Emperor. The first was found in 1767, in what was called the " White Grit Mine," on Shelve Hill. It weighs 190lbs. 6oz., and is now preserved by Mr. More, at Linley Hall. The pig, which is 22|- inches long by 7\ broad, bears upon its principal face the words : IMP. HADRIAN! AYG. i.e., Imp(eratoris) Hadriani Aug( usti). On the side these letters occur in two places ; V V I N P What is the meaning^of these letters is uncertain ; it has been suggested that the expansion may be v (for quinque) v(iroriim) j(ussu) n(otatum) p(lumbum). A second pig, now lost, and of which the weight and dimensions are unknown, was found about 1775, near Aston Farm House, on the line of the old road from Shrewsbury to Montgomery, by Westbury. It was formerly preserved by the late Mr. Probert, at Cop- thorn, about two miles from Shrewsbury, on the same road. These particulars were published by the late Mr. Albert Way, in the Archceological Jour -ncd, vol. 16, p. 33, who extracted them from a letter written by Mr. Isaac Frowde to Mr. 11. B. More. This pig bore iden- tically the same letters forming the inscription, signi- fying that it belonged to the Emperor Hadrian, as the last ; but it is said that on its side were the letters : LEG . XX I doubt whether these letters were correctly read. If so, they indicate that the twentieth legion, which was so long at Chester, worked the mines. The third of these pigs was found on Snailbeach Farm, Westbury, in 1796. It is now in the British Museum, and weighs 193lbs. It is 22 inches long' by 7 broad, and the inscription upon it is identical with the first named, IMP. HADIIIANI AYG. 352 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. The fourth, now preserved in the Free Public Museum in Liverpool, was found in 1851, in a field on the estate of P. Morris, Esq., at Snead, one mile west of Linley Hall. It is 24 inches in length, and weighs 190lbs. The inscription is identical with that on the last. The fifth was found in 1851 also, by some workmen ! sinking a shaft through a heap of the refuse of some Roman smelting works. It bore the same inscription, and is said to have been 20 inches in length, and to have weighed l73lbs. Its present whereabouts, if it is extant, is unknown, but it is believed to have been destroyed. On Llanymynech Hill, at the northern extremity of the county, we again meet with various traces of Roman mining. In this instance, copper was the metal sought for. They take the form of shallow pits on the surface of the hill, the debris around them being full of frag- ments of copper ore, and vestiges of smelting hearths are scattered around. There is also a large cavern ex- cavated by the miners in the side of the hill, called the " Ogo," with numerous passages penetrating deep into the hill, and winding in a most intricate manner. These latter are generally about 3 yards wide. About 1755 some miners, looking for copper ore in the recesses of this cavern, found a number of skeletons, one having a bracelet of glass beads on the left wrist, and a battle axe by his side. Coins of Antoninus and Faustina ap- pear also to have been found, with culinary utensils. In 1770 human remains were also found, and a gold bracelet. Two mining implements, described as " pick- axes," were found on this occasion. They were for j some time preserved in the Library of Shrewsbury School, but have disappeared. In 1823, some men were sinking a shaft near the Ogo for lead, and, after reaching a depth of six yards, the bottom of the shaft fell in, and examination shewed that they had come upon another passage, of which the ends had become blocked up. Nothing was found in it but the skeleton of a buck's head, from which the horns had been sawn ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 353 off. It was two hundred and fifty yards in length, and very low, in most parts not permitting a person to stand upright within it. Later than this, Mr. J. F. M. Dovaston explored as completely as possible the workings, " taking," says Mr. Wright {Intellectual Observer, May, 1862, p. 305), "the precaution of carrying a piece of chalk with him to mark his way. Some of the shafts or passages, which were extremely sinuous, extended as far as two hundred yards, sometimes they were so small that it was necessary even to creep through them, but they were usually from a yard to three yards wide, and from time to time became developed into broad and lofty chambers, where the ore had been found in larger quantities. They had all been cut through the solid rock, and in many places the marks of the chisel were distinctly visible. Long pas- sages frequently terminate in small holes about the size to admit a man's arm, as if the metal ran in strings, and had been picked out quite clean with hammers and long chisels as far as they could reach." Great quan- tities of human bones were lying about. In one place were the skeletons of a man, a woman, a child, a dog, and a cat. A finger bone was picked up with a ring on it. A number of Roman coins of Constantine were found in the earth, which was washed down the side of the hill some years ago, and the late Mr. Henry Pid- geon, of Shrewsbury, had about twenty copper coins found here, ranging from the earlier to the later emperors. Mr. Wright tells us that Mr. Samuel Wood, of Shrewsbury, informed him that " there are traces of mines which had been worked by the Romans at the Clive, near Grinshill ; and he is of opinion that the well- known grotto in llawkstone Park, with its dark passage of eighty yards, was certainly formed by the Ptomans in working for copper ore." — {Intellectual Observe)', May, 1802, p. 304.) As to these two sites, I can say nothing with certainty. 354 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. From the fact of a quantity of mineral coal having been found in various places in the Wroxeter excava- tions, both burnt and unburnt, it is evident that the Romans worked the surface coal of the Shropshire coal- field. At Broseley and its neighbourhood they appear also to have used the well-known clay for a species of pottery, though little or nothing can be discovered of the manufactories. As is the case in the neighbouring county of Here- ford, but few discoveries of hoards of Roman coins (found in most of the English counties) are known to have occurred. Mr. Hartshorne, in his Salopia Antiqua, p. 87, says that in emptying a ditch between the " New Leasowes" and the ''Thresholds," near Ratlinghope, a number of Roman coins were found, but he does not particularise them, though he concludes that a tumulus near at hand was from this circumstance of Roman origin. At page xvi. of his introduction, he also tells us of a find of Roman coins on the " Wild Moors," near Kyn- nersley, on the Duke of Sutherland's estate. They were of Constantine of the " Gloria Exercitus " and other types, with a few of the " Urbs Roma " type, having a representation of Romulus and Remus being suckled by the wolf. In 1823 a coin of Augustus was found at Afcott Lodge, between Church Stretton and Wistanstow, near the line of theWatling street. — (New Monthly Rhtgazine, vol. 9, p. 383, 1823.)1 In digging sand at Ryton, near Condover, in 1747, a number of coin moulds, made of smoth brick clay, were found, four of which were described to the Royal Society (Phil. Trans., vol. 44, p. 557). The impressions were of the size of a denarius, one of them being of Julia Domna, the wife of Sevbnis. They probably belonged to some ancient forgers. 1 Hyrslcy, in a note at p. 118 of his Britannia Iiumana, says : " I have received a late information from Dr. Tilston that Roman coins have been found at Middle, in Shropshire," ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 355 Though the county is rich in tumuli, many of which are doubtless of the Roman period, few, if any, can be possibly identified as such. In the parish of Church- stoke, on the Montgomeryshire border, a tumulus was opened about fifty years since, and " the bottom, which was sunk about a foot below the level of the surround- ing land, was paved, and the sides were formed of flag- stones, on one of which was an inscription very much obliterated ; within was only some black dust, among which was discovered a small coin with a legend quite unintelligible." — (Lewis : Top. Diet of Wales, 2nd edit., 1838.) This was clearly a Roman interment, the coin having been probably placed in the mouth of the de- ceased. The loss of the inscription is much to be re- gretted. Mr. Wright, at p. 21, says: — ''Among the hills to the south-eastward of Ohm, is a place which is popu- larly believed to have been the site of an ancient city." I am not certain of the exact spot to which Mr. Wright alludes, but if anyone resident in the neighbourhood can give further information on the subject they will be doing a service to Shropshire arclueology. Having thus treated of the various stations, camps, villas, mines, &c, in the county, it is necessary to con- sider the roads which connected them. This is the most difficult part of the subject, owing to the boggy nature of the soil in the northern part of the county, which has caused the roads to be, in most places,, deeply buried, and in the southern the progress of agriculture has most effectually obliterated many of them. The first great road was the Watling Street, which, coming from Kent, through London, to Wall, near Lich- field, entered Shropshire, near a place called Stoneyfbrd, about a mile and a half to the west of Weston under Lizard, and, after running almost due west, through Usaconn (Oaken Gates, or neighbourhood), and a little to the south of Wellington, it made a south-westerly bend and entered Wroxeter at the north-east gateway. It is here that our difficulties as to its course begin. 356 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE}. The Rev. T. Leman, who saw Wroxeter a century ago, and when the course of the roads from it was visible, says in a M.S. note on the margin of his copy of Horsley's Britannia Romance, preserved at the Bath Institute, " I do not understand what Horsley means, by the way, at this place dividing into two, for, besides the north-east Watling Street, which passed through it from Caer Segont to Ilichborough, there were great roads branching from it in every direction to Caerleon, to Chester, to Kinderton, to Chesterton, and towards Worcester." As I before stated, Dr. Mason traced a road from Wroxeter, ten miles towards Chester, and then lost it. There appear to be a number of Roman roads (frag- mentary) to the north, north-east, and north-west of Wroxeter. The direct road from Wroxeter to Rutu- nium (Bury Walls) I think will be found to have gone by way of Wythy-Jord, Shawbury and Stanton (the latter name, i.e., Stone-town, frequently occurs upon the line of a Roman road). Somewhere between Shawbury and Stanton, the road found at Moston branched off. This latter I doubt not went straight on to Frees,! and so to Whitchurch, the modern road being in many places formed upon it. Before reaching Prees it is crossed by another road running east and west, called " Pepper Street.,; This name occurs upon a great number of fragments of Roman roads in Cheshire and Staffordshire also. The Rev. M. H. Lee, of Hanmer, who has been re- cently investigating the Roman roads between Wrox- eter and Chester, gives several additional particulars to what we know from previous writers on the subject. He says in the Archceologia Cambrensis, vol. v., 4th series, p. 205 : " As we stand by the remains of the ancient city " (Wroxeter) " and consider which road will cany us best both to Devu and Segmitiuiu, we have 1 Part of Proea formerly bore the mime of Watling Street. Anti- quities of llawkstonc, p. 91. ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 357 no need to hesitate. A paved road, called Norton Lane, takes us nearly due north to a farm called Smethcott, where it falls into the northern Watling Street, which comes up from the Horse Shoe, crosses the Tern near Ilea, then through Upton Magna, and over the north- east shoulder of Haughmond Hill At the back of the Abbey the course of the road may plainly be seen, as it runs up to and round Ebury camp. . . . From this point the course is very straight most of the way to Astley, where, as well as at Hadnall, there is much pavement." Mr. Lee thinks that Hard wick, from its name, was on the road. He says of Broughton : — j " The early Norman church, of which the roofless chancel now alone remains, stands beside a footpath thai looks ! as if it had formerly been the road. We have, then, ' Sleap and Noneley, both ancient names. . . . At 1 the latter place there is a pavement." Although there may have been a Eoman post at Broughton, as is fre- , quently the case where this name occurs, i.e., "Burgh town," or, " Bury town," I cannot agree with Mr. Lee's remark, that the suggestion made by Sir II. C. Hoare and Reynolds, that it is the site of Rutunmm has " much probability in it.' ; Mr. Lee also remarks, "that the moss grown walls by the road side are of squared stones," in further confirmation of the view. The next point on this line is Loppington, which was in existence at the time of the Domesday survey, where it is called " Lopitune." Of this place Mr. Lee says that, " having on the west Burl ton Moor, and on the east the boggy bed and banks of the Iloden, both im- passable, or nearly so, it had long been thought that the street must have run through it, and in 1873 a pavement was found both south south-east and north north-west of the village, some twenty-two inches below the surface, and pointing in the direction of Blackhurst Ford." Mr. Lee says, in its course to the latter place, it passes between Holywell and Wolverley. At this Ibid he says it divides -one branch going to Chester, the other running north-west through Buhner and the Vol.. II. AD 358 KOMAN SHROPSHIRE. east end of Welshampton village, to a place called " Bleddyn's Bank," where " it was paved in the middle and called ' the Iloman pavement/ within living memory. Above to the east is the site of Old Hampton, where swords and coins have been ploughed up." (He would place Mediolanum in this neighbourhood). According to Mr. Lee also, a Roman road branches off from this neighbourhood by " Hampton Wood, the Stocks, Copty Vyny, the Spout (all ancient names) by the Trench, along Street Dinas, by Dudliston to Chirk, and along the Ceiriog Valley towards Segontium." The road called " Pepper Street," which connected Chesterton with " Bury Walls " and Wroxeter, is lost a few miles to the south-west of the former place, and. so far, has baffled research after its remains. What is also called the " Watling Street," is the fine road running from Wroxeter by a bridge across the Severn (the foundations of the piers of which still remain in the river) to Frodesley and Longnor Green, thence through the Stretton Valley and Wistanstow. It crosses the Onny at Strefford Bridge, and a very fine fragment of it, with which I am well acquainted, is visible as a lane after passing this point. It goes under Norton Camp, at the distance of about a mile and a half to the west, thence by Bowton, May Hill, and Shelderton, and leaves the county about 500 or 600 yards to the east of Broadward Bridge on its way to Leintwardine (Bravinium), some two miles further on. Another Boman road crosses the Watling Street, near where it first enters the county from Staffordshire, at Stoneyford. This road runs from north north-west to south south-east. In its north-western course it runs through the town of Newport, bearing, before it reaches there, the names of "King Street" and " Pave Lane." Beyond Whitchurch it shares the fate of most of the other roads of the district, being lost, owing to the nature of the soil, but probably was originally the road leading through Stanford, Hinstock, Tern Hill, and Sandford to Whitchurch. Whether the modern ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. 359 road is formed upon it, I am unable to decide. In its south-eastern portion it proceeds through Tong, and on to the camp called " The Walls," at Chesterton. Strat- ford at this place (i.e., Street-ford), is another name of significance, as shewing that the road here crossed the brook named after it. Mr. Wright thinks that it is aiming for Droitwich. Another old road, which appears to branch from this at Woodcote, and runs first south-east, and afterwards nearly due east into Staffordshire, likewise bears the name of King Street. This latter name also occurs between Shrewsbury and Pitchford, but I am puzzled to understand to what portion of road it is applied. Mr. Hartshorne ( Salopia Antiqua, p. 133 y) applies the name to a road, running westward from Wroxeter past Berrington Hall, &c, whilst (at p. 279 of the same work), he says : — " The road from the depot at Shrews- bury to the Watling Street at Pitchford has this name three and a half miles from the county town, which renders it likely that the way is of Roman origin," &c. Mr. Wright (Uriconium, p. 13), adopts the former hypothesis, though it is a doubtful one, as I think that " King Street" may as well apply to a portion of the " Devils Causeway" (hereafter to be mentioned), as to a road leading westward. Mr. Wright (Uriconium, p. 13) says of the road by Berrington: " Another road ran from Uriconium . . . by Berrington Hall, near which it is called King Street, and on by Lea Cross to Stoney Stretton," perhaps to Caer Flos. Mr. Hartshorne speaks of it in much the same terms, saying that it goes by Hunger Hill, Ex- ford's Green, Ascot, and Lea Cross (where the villa was discovered), to Edge and Stoney Stretton. Mr. Wright, whilst erroneously (p. 13) supposing the Watling Street to have been continued over the site of Shrewsbury, says that at that place, " at least one branch road left it. One is supposed to have taken the route by Little Oxon, Pavement Gate . . . over Stretton Heath." Though this route may probably be 3G0 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE, the site of a Roman road, it could not have had Shrews- bury as its starting point, that place not being then in existence. The next road to be mentioned is the " Devil's Causeway," which, according to Mr. Hartshorne, p. 133, brand led out of the Watling St reet, near Pitchford. Mr. Hartshorne most ably describes this road, which, from personal examination, he says, is paved with blocks of basalt from the neighbouring " Lawley " Hill, varying from one to two feet in length, and from eight to fifteen inches in breadth, disposed in their longest direction across the road. The road seems originally to have been 13 feet wide, and is edged with roughly hewn flat stones lying upon the surface of the soil, varying from one to two feet in width, uniformly one foot in thickness, and standing so as to touch each other. This road runs from Pitchford to Cardington, and to the entrenchments or camp at Rushbury, then crossing Wenlock Edge, where it is called " Roman's Bank," it enters Corvedale and proceeds by way of Tugford to the camp at Nordy Bank. Near Nordy Bank it passes over a bridge of undoubted Roman work, the arch of which springs from two centres, and is put together with concrete. (Salojiia Antiqua, pp. 138-9- 40). Speaking of a tumulus at Cressage, Mr. Wright, p. 47, says that it " stood upon a road which, there can be little doubt, was Roman, running, perhaps ... on the southern side of the river to Wenlock, and onward to Bridgenorth." If this road be Roman it would pro- bably be that which Mr. Leman describes as connecting Wroxeter with Worcester, and it would pass the Yar- chester villa or station. At p. 15, Mr. Wright speaks thus of other roads of the Roman period. " There was perhaps a road from Nordy Hank down the vale towards Ludlow. I suspect that the tumuli on the Old Field (now the racecourse) near Ludlow also indicate a line of road across it, in a direction from north-west to south-east, ROMAN SHROPSHIRE, 3G1 probably branching from the Watling Street road, and I believe there are traces of a Roman road over the Titterstone Clee Hill. One or two names of places, such as Stan way (the stone road), just below Roman's Bank and Pilgrim Lane, not very far from the large entrenchments near Lutwyche Hall, called the Ditches, would lead us to suspect that a branch of the road we have been describing proceeded up Corve Dale ; and Mr. Hartshorn o judged by the appearances tint at R uck ley a branch of the Devil's Causeway ran west- wardly over Frodesley Park." At p. 13, and again at p. 17, he speaks of a road branching from the Watling Street near the Craven Aims and running by way of Bishop's Castle into Wales. This would be the road leading to the camp at Caerdin, and near Newcastle. At p. 13 Mr. Wright thinks it probable "that another road ran on the eastern side of the Stiperstones, perhaps by way of Wentnor from Shrewsbury to Bishop's Castle." Though such a road in all probability existed in Roman times, it certainly, in my opinion, never touched either Shrewsbury or Bishop s Castle. The ancient road, called the " Port way," on the summit of the Longmynd, I take to be simply a British trackway, and bearing no marks of Roman origin. One other probable road 1 must mention. In my paper on "Roman Herefordshire" (Archaeological Journal, vol. 34, pp. 370-2) I have spoken of a road running northwards through Herefordshire, passing through the site of the Roman town at Blackwardine, and which has been traced to the neighbourhood of Woofer ton and Ludlow. This road I opine was con- tinued still further north, and passed through Stanton Lacy, which derived its name from it, as many other places bear the name of Stanton from their situation upon Roman roads. Amongst the fragments of roads traceable, Mr. Lee names a paved fragment, bearing the name of " Salt Lane," at Pension!, where it crosses the Roden, and again occurring by the same name at Bradenheath. In 362 ROMAN SHROPSHIRE. the Archceologia, vol. 12, p. 90, it is said that the Roman road running south from Chester through Stretton and Malpas had been traced to Wirswall, near Whitchurch. (This place is about 1} mile north of Whitchurch). It is also said that another Roman road from Bangor (Flintshire) went "along Trench Lane to Ellesmere, and from thence in a direct line to Middle." Mr. Lee believes in the existence of this road. I should also state that I have omitted all reference to the entrenchments or camp, called the " Berth," near Baschurch, on account of the uncertainty of their origin ; but the name of Stanwardine occurring twice in the neighbourhood seems to point to the Roman period. Such, so far as we can trace them, are the remains of the Boman period now existing in Shropshire. Were the sites at Bury Walls and Wroxeter only excavated much more would be known. The evidence of their concealed inscriptions only, can further enlighten us. The shadows of a