It is supposed to have been founded by King Edgar about 980. There were
attached to it a Dean and seven Prebendaries, and the stipend of the
priest amounted to £6 6s. 8d. In the reign of Edward the Confessor it
had a Dean and nine Prebendaries, and was provided with a large estate
for their maintenance. In the time of Henry VIII. the revenue was £32
4s. 2d., and the Dean received as his share £22 6s. 8d. In the early
part of the reign of Edward VI. the revenue had increased to £42, the
whole of which was absorbed by the Dean, “rich on forty pounds a-year.”
The church was then collegiate, but upon the dissolution of colleges the
greater part of its revenues was given by Edward VI. for founding the
Shrewsbury Grammar School. The living was formerly in the presentation
of the Mayor of Shrewsbury—a privilege which the Municipal Act
extinguished. It is now vested in five trustees; and it is necessary to
select a minister who is either the son of a burgess and has been
educated at the Grammar School, or who has had the honour of being a
native of Chirbury. It was directed that the stipend should be an
adequate one—£20 a-year, and the regulation which fixed the amount
contained the pleasing addition that it was not to be diminished.
[Picture: Entrance to Council House, Shrewsbury]
The church is one of the most interesting ecclesiastical edifices in the
county from the example it affords of all the architectural styles of the
middle ages. It is impossible to give here a full description of it. It
must suffice to say that it consists of nave, side aisles, transepts,
choir, spacious chapel, two chantrey chapels, with a tower and lofty
spire, the total height of which is 220 feet 2 inches. The Anglo-Norman
style may be seen in the basement of the tower, the nave, transepts, and
doorways; the transition from Norman to the early lancet in the beautiful
transept windows; and the obtuse arch of a later period in the side
aisles and chantry chapels. The interior presents a stately and
magnificent appearance from the massiveness of its arches, from the
gorgeousness and beauty of its windows, and from the number of its
striking monuments. It has been graced with the presence of royalty, and
it has been used as a judicial court. In 1232 a tribunal, composed of
legates, was convened here by command of the Pope to hear the charges
preferred against Llewellyn for violations of treaties. In 1642 Charles
I., then in Shrewsbury, made within its walls a solemn protestation, and
took “the Sacrament upon it,” to defend the Protestant religion. In 1687
James II. attended divine service, and afterwards exercised the
superstitious and suppositious power of “touching for the evil.”
Some of the incidents in the records relating to the church are curious.
Forms were first furnished for the worshippers in 1537. Prior to that
there were neither seats nor benches. The floors were strewn with
flowers and sweet herbs, upon which the people prostrated themselves.
Among the items of expenditure are some interesting entries. In 1553 it
cost 4s. to ring in honour of Queen Mary being proclaimed, and in the
same year 4s. for “setting up an altar before Sir Adam Mytton’s grave.”
The repairing of chapels seems to have been an inexpensive affair: for we
are told that “our Lady’s chapel was mended,” and a “paschal taper”
bought for 4s.; while in 1554 the enormous sum of 2s. 6d. was paid for
“making an altar in our Lady’s chapel,” and 3s. 5d. for “making Trinity
altar.” With a firm adhesion to Protestantism and a stern condemnation
of all appearance of Romanism it was ordered on May 12th, 1584, that
three superstitious images and inscriptions in the north window be taken
down by the churchwardens. In September of the same year it was ordered
that the stone altar should be removed, “having been sometimes used to
idolatry.”
The spire, too, has a history of incidents. In 1572 it was blown aside
by the wind; in 1663 the cock was replaced by a new one and the steeple
repaired at the cost of £72; in 1665 and again in 1686 the cock was blown
down; in 1690 it was damaged by an earthquake; in 1739 the cock suffered
again: in 1754 the spire was shattered by a violent hurricane; and in
1756 the part re-built in 1754 was blown on one side, and once more
re-built. The mishap of 1739 one Thomas Cadman undertook to repair.
Cadman who is described by Hutton as a “man of spirit and grisle,”
succeeded in taking down and re-setting the cock on the summit of the
spire. In celebration of his success he determined upon performing some
exploits on a rope which he fixed from the top of the spire to a tree in
the Gay Meadow, Abbey Foregate, on the other side of the Severn. The
adventure was a fatal one. In sliding along he fell near the Water Lane
Gate; and for the information of an unappreciative posterity and the
gratification of the curious this inscription was placed on the wall over
his grave by his admiring survivors:—
_Let this small monument record the name_
_Of Cadman_, _and to future times proclaim_
_How by an attempt to fly from this high spire_,
_Across the Sabrine stream_, _he did acquire_
_His fatal end_: ’_Twas not for leant of skill_
_Or courage to perform the task he fell_,
_No_! _No_! _a faulty cord being drawn too tight_
_Hurried his soul on high_, _to take her flight_,
_Which bid the body here beneath_, “_Good night_.”
[Picture: Shrewsbury, with the English and Coleham bridges]