noble; the nave is separated from the side aisles by four semicircular
arches, resting on elegant clustered columns, with foliated capitals of
varied and beautiful designs. Above is a clerestory, which is continued
along the walls of the chancel, lighted by a short double window, bluntly
pointed and bisected by single mullions. The ceiling of the nave is of
panelled oak, richly studded with elegant and exquisitely carved pendants
and foliated bosses, and merits attention not only on account of its
elaborate workmanship, but as being one of the richest and most highly
preserved specimens of its kind now in existence. A lofty pointed arch,
including in its span the entire breadth of the nave, rises from richly
clustered piers, with foliated capitals, and divides the nave from the
ancient choir. Eastward is a similar arch of like dimensions, springing
from the same pier. From these, the wings of the transept, corresponding
in size, branch off to the north and south. At each extremity of the
transept is a fine triple lancet window, highly enriched with slender
shafts, foliated capitals, and delicate mouldings, filled with beautiful
stained glass, illustrative of Scripture history; the most prominent
figures are those of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles and
Evangelists, and an escutcheon of the arms of George III., executed by
Mr. David Evans, of Shrewsbury. The chancel is elevated above the rest
of the church. The ceiling, like that of the transept, is excellently
painted, and adorned with some of the rich fret work removed from the
wreck of the churches of St. Chad and St. Alkmund. On the north side of
the altar is a beautiful triple lancet window, with arches remarkably
acute, resting on two insulated columns, with capitals adorned with
foliage. This window contains some fine stained glass, representing the
history of the life of St. Bernard. The great east window occupies the
whole extremity of the chancel, and exhibits the debased style of English
architecture of the Elizabethan era. In this window is the curious and
beautiful ancient stained glass which filled the window of the old St.
Chad’s church, prior to its demolition, and which was presented to this
church in 1791. The subject is the genealogy of Christ from the root of
Jesse. Jesse is represented reclining in sleep, from his loins spring a
vine, which overspreads the whole window, enclosed in his branches the
several kings, his descendants—the series of which is finished by the
husband of the Virgin Mary in a devotional posture at the feet of his
progenitor. Many of the figures are depicted with their peculiar
emblems, the ground of the whole is exquisitely beautiful, and the
clusters of grapes, and the bright verdure of the vine leaves, are
displayed with great effect. Underneath is an inscription requesting our
prayers for “Mons. John de Charlton, and Dame Hawis, his companion,” from
which, and from the armorial bearings, we learn that this beautiful piece
of ancient art was set up by the great Sir John de Charlton, lord of
Powis, and must have been executed about the middle of the fourteenth
century. It has been conjectured the glass was presented to the grey
friars of this town, to which religious house Sir John and his wife were
great benefactors, and that it was removed to St. Chad’s at the
dissolution. This is a singular circumstance of so fragile a material
surviving the destruction of two vast and substantial edifices. Within
the last few years the window has been judiciously restored. The organ
is a powerful and fine toned instrument, erected by Harris and Byfield,
in 1729. By the munificence of the present incumbent, the west end has
been enriched by an elegant organ screen of the most elaborate
workmanship, executed by Mr. John Carline. On the south side of the
chancel is the Trinity or “Leybourne chapel,” which communicates with the
south transept by a fine Norman arch, and with the chancel with an arch
in the pointed style. It is said to have been founded about the year
1300, by one of the Leybournes, of Berwick, as a place of sepulture for
the family, and was subsequently enlarged into its present form by the
Draper’s company. In the south east wall are three stone sedilia, with
canopied arches, and near the north east wall is an altar tomb (probably
of Simon de Leybourne, lord of Berwick, who died between 1300 and 1315),
the sides of which are adorned with canopied niches formerly containing
figures; and on the tomb reclines a figure of a knight cross-legged, and
in chain armour. In this tomb the headless corpse of Thomas Percy, Earl
of Worcester, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Shrewsbury, 1403,
and beheaded, is believed to have been interred. Underneath the south
window is a neatly executed gothic monument in memory of Heathcoate
Wigram, of Woodhouse, in the county of Essex; he was a pupil to the Royal
Free Grammar School, of this town, and was drowned whilst bathing in the
Severn, on September 1st, 1838, aged 14 years. The monument was erected
by the masters and pupils in memory of him whom they loved and lamented.
Against the east wall are monuments to John Jendine, Esq., and Thomas
Sutton, Esq., and between them is the statue of Bishop Butler, erected by
his pupils at the cost of eight hundred guineas. The figure is full
length, sitting in an easy and graceful position, clothed in the
episcopal robes; the right hand hanging over the chair, and the left hand
supporting the head, which is leaning in thought. The figure is of the
purest statuary marble, and the pedestal which supports the statue of
dove coloured marble from the Clee Hill; it was sculptured by F. H.
Baily, Esq., R.A. On the north side of the chancel is the vestry,
recently erected in the Norman style, the windows of which are ornamented
with antique German and Flemish glass; immediately adjoining is the
chauntry chapel of St. Catherine; these windows are also beautified with
stained glass, illustrating various portions of Scripture history. This
chapel is now used as a baptistry, and the ancient stone font, which is
beautifully carved, stands in the centre, on a rich pavement of encaustic
tile. An alabaster slab, against the north wall, engraved with figures
of a warrior and a lady, commemorates Nicholas Stafford, Esq., and
Catherine, his wife, who died in 1643. A white marble monument, recently
erected by subscription, over the door leading into the vestry, remembers
the brave admiral Benbow, a native of the parish. It represents an
obtuse pyramid of black marble, against which leans an oval medallion
bust of the admiral, surrounded with anchors, flags, and cannon, and
below a delicately sculptured representation in bas relief of a naval
fight. In the north transept is placed a most beautiful free stone
monument to the late Rev. J. B. Blakeway, which for elegance of design,
and beauty of execution, has rarely been surpassed in modern times; it is
upwards of 12 feet in length and 16 feet in height, and is divided into
three compartments by clustered buttresses, which sustain richly
crocheted pinnacles. The centre compartment comprises a large pointed
arch canopied and crocheted, the back of which is deeply recessed, and
contains the following inscription in ornamental Roman capitals:—
To the Memory of the Reverend
JOHN BRICKDALE BLAKEWAY, M.A., F.A.S.,
Thirty-one years ordinary and official,
And thirty-two years Minister of this Parish.
This Monument is erected
By the voluntary subscription of his parishioners,
As a tribute of respect for his talents,
Esteem for his virtues,
And gratitude for his long and faithful services,
As their friend and pastor.
He died the tenth day of March, MDCCCXXVI,
Aged sixty years.
As a preacher, Mr. Blakeway was admired for his forcible illustration of
Holy writ, and the valuable admonitions which his discourses generally
contained. As an author he was known to the world by the publication of
several sermons, and controversial tracts; and as an historian his name
will be immortalized in the elaborate History of Shrewsbury, which he
commenced in 1820, in conjunction with the venerable Archdeacon Owen, and
just lived to see the general history and ecclesiastical portions
published in two quarto volumes. There are other memorials, exquisite
specimens of monumental skill, unrivalled in elegance of design and
richness of execution, in various parts of the same edifice, which our
limits will not allow us to notice. On the exterior wall of the tower
are the following quaint verses to the memory of Robert Cadman, who, on
February 2nd, 1793, lost his life in an attempt to descend from the top
of the spire of St. Mary’s along a rope which he had fixed to its highest
part, and extended to a field on the opposite side of the river. In the
midst of his passage the rope broke, as he was passing over St. Mary’s
Friars, and he fell lifeless on the ice-bound earth:—
Let this small monument record the name
Of Cadman, and to future times proclaim,
How from a bold attempt to fly from this high spire,
Across the Sabrine stream he did acquire
His fatal end! ’Twas not for want 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 his flight,
Which hid the body here beneath; good night.
The patronage of St. Mary’s church is vested in five trustees, the living
is returned at £312, and is enjoyed by the Rev. W. G. Rowland; the Rev.
V. B. Johnstone and T. G. Galway are the curates.
ST. CHAD’S CHURCH.—The old collegiate church of St. Chad, of which only a
small part, called the Lady Chapel, is standing, occupies the eminence
between College Hill and Belmont. The collegiate establishment consisted
of a dean, ten secular canons, and two vicars choral; and was founded
soon after the subjugation of Pengwern, in the 8th century, by Offa, King
of Mercia, who, as tradition states, converted the palace of the kings of
Powis into his first church. In the time of Edward the Confessor, this
church held twelve hides of land, which it retained at the Domesday
survey. Subsequently other considerable possessions were acquired by the
college, so that at the dissolution the yearly revenues amounted to £49.
13s. The college was dissolved in the 2nd Edward IV., and the crown
leased the collegiate property for a term of twenty-one years, and a few
years afterwards it was appropriated to the Free School of Shrewsbury, in
which it is now vested. Respecting the various changes which this
ancient edifice must have undergone during a period of nearly 1,000
years, few notices have been preserved. In the year 1393, a considerable
part of it was consumed by fire, occasioned by the carelessness of a
plumber, who, alarmed at the conflagration, endeavoured to escape over
the ford of the Severn, and was drowned. The damage was so extensive,
that the inhabitants of the town obtained from Richard II. a remission of
certain taxes to enable them to rebuild it.
In this church, at a very early period, the doctrines of the Reformation
were promulgated. William Thorpe, a priest, obtained leave in the year
1407 to deliver a sermon before the principal inhabitants. On this
occasion he boldly exposed the corruptions of the Romish church, in
consequence of which the bailiffs of the town preferred charges of heresy
and sedition against him to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who brought him
to trial. In his examination, he candidly admitted the charges laid
against him, but adhered to his opinions with manly and unshrinking
steadiness, when he was remanded to prison; but of his subsequent fate we
possess no account. The progress of the Reformation effected a wonderful
change in the minds of men. In the 1st of Edward VI. the bailiffs of
Shrewsbury, whose predecessors had denounced one of its boldest champions
as a heretic, ordered the pictures and superstitious ornaments of St.
Chad’s to be publicly burnt; and in the 26th of Elizabeth, the service of
the Church of England was solemnly established there.
The old church was a majestic edifice, and from its situation, on a
commanding eminence, presented from a distance a cathedral-like
appearance. It was cruciform, with a central tower, and chiefly in the
Anglo-Norman and lancet styles of architecture, with subsequent
additions, having the characteristics of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. The misfortune which befel this venerable edifice in 1788 is
a striking proof of the mischiefs occasioned by the interment of the dead
in the interior of places of worship. Early in the year, one of the four
pillars, which supported the tower in the centre of the church, shrunk in
so alarming a manner as to endanger the safety of the fabric. An
architect of the town advised that the whole tower should be taken down,
but the parish vestry, rejecting this advice, employed a mason in the
rash attempt of underbuilding the pillar. The second morning after the
work had commenced, July 9th, when the clock had struck four, the decayed
pillar gave way, the tower was instantly rent asunder, and falling with
its heavy peal of bells on the roof of the nave and transepts, sunk, with
a great part of the building, in one tremendous crash to the ground. The
ruins, on the following day, presented an awful spectacle; and pews,
pulpit, organ, monuments, and bells, were seen broken and dispersed in a
thousand forms. Among the rubbish were found pieces of Saxon sculpture,
which had probably belonged to the ancient church, and had been used in
the repairs after the calamitous fire which happened in 1393. Any
attempt at rebuilding the edifice being now deemed inadvisable, the
remaining fragments were taken down, except the Lady Chancel, to prevent
further mischief. The fine stained glass of the west window having
fortunately escaped destruction, was carefully preserved, and afterwards
placed in the chancel of St. Mary’s church. The figure of St. Chad, in
his episcopal vestments, which stood on the summit of the organ, was also
preserved, and is now placed in the vestry of the new church. Such
funeral monuments as could be rescued from the ruins, were placed at the
disposal of the families to whom they belonged, and others were removed
to the chapel before mentioned. This chapel, originally dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, was rebuilt in 1571, by Humphrey Onslow, Esq., being the
burial place of his family, and is now solely used for reading the
funeral service over those who are buried in the ancient cemetery. One
of the monuments now removed to the Abbey Church remembered Richard
Onslow, an eminent lawyer, and speaker of the House of Commons in the 8th
of Queen Elizabeth. He was the ancestor of Sir Richard, afterwards Lord
Onslow, who filled the chair of the House of Commons in the 8th of Queen
Anne; and also of Arthur Onslow, Esq., who so ably exercised the office
of speaker during many successive parliaments. There is a small tablet
to the Rev. Job Orton, who was interred in the same grave as Mr. Bryan, a
former minister of this church, who quitted his benefice on the act of
uniformity.
THE NEW CHURCH OF ST. CHAD.—From the site of the old edifice being deemed
ineligible, the new church was built on a commanding eminence bordering
on the Quarry. It is constructed of the beautiful white free stone
brought from Grinshill. The body of the church forms a circle one
hundred feet in diameter, and externally consists of a rustic basement,
with square windows, on which reposes a superstructure, containing a
series of large arched windows, between each of which are coupled Ionic
pilasters, resting on the basement and supporting a bold cornice, crowned
with an open balustrade. Attached to the main edifice is a small
circular building with similar enrichments; and beyond which is the
steeple, consisting of three stories. Upon a square rustic basement
rises an octagonal belfry, enriched with Ionic pilasters, and above, a
small cupola supported on a heavy cylinder, surrounded by eight slender
Corinthian pillars. A heavy cross and vane crowns the summit. On each
side of the tower is a plain square wing, which are used as vestries.
Before the front is a handsome portico, elevated on a flight of steps,
and supported by four Doric columns. The exterior beauty of this church
consists more in the fineness of its materials, and the splendour of its
ornaments, than in the harmonious proportion and disposition of its
several parts. The interior is handsomely and conveniently arranged; and
though possessing much of the theatrical air, yet, by the ingenuity of
the circular arrangement, all the congregation can distinctly hear and
see the officiating clergyman. A capacious gallery, ornamented in front
with a handsome balustrade, surrounds the whole church except the
chancel, and reposes on a double row of short pillars with Ionic
capitals. From these a corresponding tier of slender fluted shafts rises
to the ceiling, which is adorned with a glory in the centre, and a rich
cornice of angels and wings interlaced. The chancel, contrary to general
custom, is towards the north, and is separated from the body of the
church by a handsome arch, springing from an entablature supported by
composite columns, with capitals richly gilt. Over the chief entrance is
a powerful and fine-toned organ, built by Gray, of London, in 1794, and
enlarged and improved in 1848. The font formerly belonged to the parish
of Malpas, and is that in which the late Bishop Heber was baptized.
The principal monuments are, a handsome panelled marble tablet, with a
fine bust by Chantrey, commemorative of Mr. John Simpson, an eminent
architect, and builder of this church. A similar tablet and bust, by
Chantrey, to William Hazledine, Esq., the builder of the Menai bridge; an
oblong Grecian tablet, with an elegant latin inscription, to the Rev.
Francis Leighton, his lady, and two grandchildren; and in the vestibule
an elegant marble mural monument to the officers and privates of the
53rd, or Shropshire Regiment, who were killed on the 10th of February,
1846, in the battles of Subraon, Aliwal, and Loodhiana, on the Sutluj.
The window above the altar is ornamented with painted glass, representing
the descent from the cross, after Rubens, the Salutation and
Representation in the Temple, executed by Mr. Evans, of this town, whose
skill has also been exercised in four other windows of this church, of
which the subjects are, the raising of Lazarus, Christ receiving little
children, healing of the sick, and the tribute money, the whole of which
were presented by the Rev. R. Scott. The church was commenced building
March 2nd, 1790, and consecrated August 20th, 1792; there is
accommodation for a congregation of 2200 persons. The total cost,
including site, organ, and bells, £19,352. The living is a vicarage,
returned at £350, in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor; incumbent,
Rev. John Yardley, M.A.
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS, commonly called the _Abbey Church_, is
situated in the Abbey Foregate. It is built of red sand stone, and
consists of nave, side aisles, and a massive tower at the west end.
Though the beauty of the church has suffered both from dilapidation and
mutilation, yet it displays many interesting features of ancient Norman
architecture, combined with the earlier pointed style. It originally
formed part of the richly endowed monastery founded by Roger de
Montgomery, the first Earl of Shrewsbury, and was built on the site of a
small wooden church dedicated to St. Peter, which it is said was erected
in the time of Edward the Confessor, by Siward, a Saxon gentleman, then
resident in Shropshire. The nave or great western aisle, was in very
early times appropriated to the use of the neighbouring inhabitants, who
were in general servants of the Abbey. It was called the Parish Church
of the Holy Cross, within the monastery of St. Peter’s, of Salop. For
this reason it was spared in the general destruction of the Abbey, and
being now one of the parochial churches of the town, retains the name of
Holy Cross. When entire it was a stately cruciform building, equal in
size to some of our cathedrals, but two-thirds of the structure was
destroyed at the dissolution of monasteries in the time of Henry VIII.
The principal entrance is at the west end under the tower, through a
pointed doorway, with mouldings skilfully inserted within a deeply
recessed semi-circular arch, the exterior rib of which springs on each
side from a Norman pillar, with indented capital. Above this rises a
magnificent and elegantly proportioned window, divided horizontally by
embattled transoms, and perpendicularly by six upright mullions into
seven compartments; the arched head is gracefully pointed and filled with
a profusion of the most delicate tracery. On each side of the window is
a canopied niche, containing statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, the
tutelar saints of the Abbey. The nave is separated from the side aisles
by the semi-circular arches, resting on short mosaic pillars in the
Anglo-Norman style. The western portion has two pointed arches in the
Gothic style, rising from clustered pillars, with capitals composed of
small horizontal mouldings; a lofty and graceful arch opens from the nave
of the tower, and affords a view of the fine west window, the upper part
of which is filled with armorial bearings. The fine eastern window
filled with stained glass was executed by Evans, of Shrewsbury, with his
usual taste. Underneath this window is a beautifully executed stone
altar screen, composed of an arcade of five Norman arches, with varied
mouldings, surrounded by a pierced balustrade. The communion table is
fenced by stone railing uniform in style, the whole of which was designed
and executed by Messrs. Carline and Dodson, of this town, through the
liberality of the late Rev. R. Scott. The north east window of the north
aisle contains a figure of St. Peter, the arms of the see of Lichfield,
of Lord Berwick, the donor, and of thirteen incumbents since the
reformation. In the south aisle is a beautiful mosaic window of stained
glass, containing the armorial bearings, of the families connected with
the Rev. John Roche. At the west end of the church is a spacious
gallery, and an excellent organ, erected in 1806, at the cost of 365
guineas.
There are several ancient monuments which have been removed hither on the
demolition of other sacred edifices in the town and county, which are
preserved in the ample side aisles. The oldest in the church is in the
south aisle, a mutilated figure of a warrior in the costume of the reign
of King John, and supposed to represent the founder of the Abbey, Earl
Roger de Montgomery, who died in the year 1094. In the north aisle is
the recumbent figure of a person in the robes and coif of a judge brought
from St. Chad’s. In the south aisle is a monument brought from St.
Giles’s church, with a figure in priestly vestments. Opposite the last
is the effigy of a knight in linked armour, removed from the priory
church of Wombridge, conjectured to commemorate Sir Walter de
Dunstanville, who died in the 25th of Henry III., 1240. In the south
aisle an alabaster altar tomb, bearing the recumbent figures of a man (in
the habiliments of war) and his wife, remembers William Charlton, who
died in 1524. This monument was originally erected in Wellington church.
An altar tomb in the north porch, in the style of the fifteenth century,
has a figure of a knight in plate armour, partly covered with a monastic
dress, and another figure in the dress of a hermit of the Romish church.
Near the east end of the north aisle, is a large altar tomb with full
length figures, to the memory of Richard Onslow, Esq., speaker of the
House of Commons, in the 8th of Elizabeth, who died 1571, and his lady.
This memorial was formerly placed in the chancel of old St. Chad’s
church. Above this is a mural monument brought from St. Chad’s,
representing a gentleman in a ruff, and a lady with long veil thrown
back, kneeling under two arches; above, a lady in a habit and coif, and a
little girl kneeling, to the memory of Thomas Edwardes, Esq., who died
1634, and of Mary, the wife of his son, Thomas Edwardes, Esq., who died
1641. In the south aisle is an alabaster altar tomb, in the Grecian
style, bearing the figure of an alderman in his civic robe, and a lady in
the scarlet gown formerly worn by the lady mayoresses of Shrewsbury,
commemorative of William Jones, Esq., who died 1612, and his wife, who
died in 1623. The monument was originally placed in St. Alkmund’s
church. There are numerous other mural monuments, of more modern dates,
which are elegantly designed, in memory of deceased members of some of
the principal families of the parish. In the vestry is an old painting
of the Crucifixion, which in 1728 occasioned much strife between the
minister and his flock. In that year Mr. Latham, who had been lately
inducted to the vicarage, presented a petition to the Bishop of Lichfield
and Coventry, praying that a picture representing our Saviour upon the
cross might be removed out of the church. A counter petition was also
presented by the parishioners, but the wardens shortly after received an
order from the bishop for the removal of the picture. It was afterwards
long possessed by the family of Hilton, by whom it was again restored to
the parishioners of the Holy Cross. The living is a vicarage with St.
Giles annexed, valued in the king’s book at £8. The small tithes are
commuted for £363, and the impropriator, Lord Berwick, receives £110.
The patronage is vested in the Right Hon. Lord Berwick, who received it
in exchange for three small livings in Suffolk; incumbent, Rev. Robert L.
Burton, M.A. The vicarage of the Holy Cross is a small fabric of wood
and plaster situated in the Abbey Foregate, now converted into two
cottages. From time immemorial certain lands have been vested in the
churchwardens and their successors; they now produce an income of £250
per annum. “The vicar and churchwardens are a corporation with power of
making leases of the landed possessions, &c., and have a common seal
which is appended to such documents. The seal is kept in a chest secured
by three locks, and the keys are severally in the possession of the vicar
and two churchwardens. It is of brass of the _visica piscis_ form, and
has in the centre a baton or mace, and on each side a clothed arm
projecting towards the centre, that on the dexter side holding a pastoral
crook, that on the sinister side a naked sword; the ground work studded
with stars, and around the margin this inscription:—S.COMMVNE DE FFORYATE
MONACHOR.” The space of ground on the east side of the church,
containing 7300 yards, whereon formerly stood the choir and Lady Chapel
of the monastery, was in 1840 converted into a public cemetery.