Shropshire, he determined to refound the monastery, and to introduce into
it the monks of his favourite order, St. Benedict, whom he invited over
from a religious house founded on the estates of Mabel, his first
Countess, at Sees, in Normandy. He obtained the land on which the
monastery of Shrewsbury stood from Siward, a Saxon nobleman, and in 1083
laid the foundation of a magnificent abbey, which, when finished, was
re-dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, the patrons of the ancient
monastery. With the consent of his Countess, Adelaisa, he retired to the
holy solitude of his monastery and received the tonsure and habit of a
monk, on which occasion he presented the fraternity with the tunic of
Hugh, the sainted abbot of Clugin, in Burgundy, which vestment he
occasionally wore, doubtless in anxious hope of its communicating some
portion of the sanctity of its former possessor. In the immediate
prospect of his dissolution he invested himself with this precious relic,
thus exemplifying the pitiable superstition of those who “put on the
weeds of Dominic or Franciscan and think to pass disguised.” He was
buried in the Lady Chapel, between the two altars.
His second son, Hugh, succeeded to the Earldom of Shrewsbury, soon after
which he paid a solemn visit to the abbey, to do homage to the tomb of
his father, on which occasion, though of a profligate and cruel
character, he added greatly to the endowments of the institution; and,
among other things, conferred on the monks the tithe of all the venison
of his forests in Shropshire, that of Wenlock excepted. The barons who
attended Earl Hugh, imitated his munificence and conferred large estates
on the abbey. By these and other acquisitions the revenues of the house
were greatly enriched, and the abbot obtained the honour of ranking among
those spiritual barons who sat and voted in parliament, had the authority
of bishops within their houses, wore the mitre, sandals, and gloves,
carried silver crosiers in their hands, gave their episcopal benediction,
conferred the lesser orders, and in some instances were exempt from all
authority of the diocesan. It is uncertain when these high functions
were first exercised, but the abbot of Shrewsbury is mentioned among the
spiritual lords who voted in parliament in the 49th of Henry III.
In the days of King Stephen, when the popular passion for relics had
attained an unbounded extravagance, the monks of Shrewsbury determined
not to be behindhand with their brethren in availing themselves of so
fruitful a source of opulence; therefore, during the abbacy of Herbert,
the third abbot, they commenced business on their own account. After
ransacking the legends of Wales for a subject, they at length had the
good fortune to pitch upon one sufficiently absurd for their purpose, in
the bones of the martyred Virgin St. Wenefrede, which lay interred in the
churchyard at Gwytherin, in Denbighshire. After much fruitless
negotiation with the priest and the people of Gwytherin, the abbot of
Shrewsbury procured an order from Henry I. for the translation of the
sacred dust to his monastery. The Welshmen honoured their saint more
than their king, and turned a deaf ear alike to entreaties and menace.
The Salopian monks persevering in their purpose, held a chapter, in which
Robert Pennant, their prior, a Denbighshire man, who is supposed to have
fabricated the legend, was commissioned to make a pilgrimage to
Gwytherin, and to leave no expedients untried for obtaining possession of
the relics. Assisted by a priest in Wales, two clever monks of his
abbey, and the prior of Chester, he practised on the credulity of the
Welsh by pretended visions and divine warnings. The prize was given up,
and the delegates returned with it in triumph to Shrewsbury, where it was
enshrined with great pomp and solemnity, near the high altar of St. Peter
and St. Paul. The speculation of the monks was completely successful;
multitudes of pilgrims flocked with gifts to the shrine, and even nobles
contended who should offer the richest donations. In addition to these
treasured bones the monks in after times appear to have possessed a most
extensive and varied assortment of other relics, doubtless of equal value
and efficacy. In 1486 the abbot Thomas Mynde incorporated the devotees
of St. Wenefrede into a religions guild or fraternity, founded by him in
her honour. A great bell was also dedicated to her memory. One of the
most remarkable persons this house produced was Robert of Shrewsbury, a
monk, who was promoted to the see of Bangor, in the reign of Henry II.
His influence in Wales excited the jealously of King John, who imprisoned
him in his own cathedral, and for his ransom obliged him to pay three
hundred hawks. This eminent prelate, it is said by his will, ordered his
body to be buried, not in his cathedral church, but in the middle of the
market place of Shrewsbury. At the various visits with which the English
sovereigns honoured Shrewsbury, it is highly probable that they took up
their residence in the abbey, and there can be little doubt that the
parliament of Edward I., 1283, and that of Richard II., 1398, called the
Great Parliament, were held within the monastery. At the dissolution of
1513, when the property and possessions of this monastery fell to the
crown, the burgesses of Shrewsbury presented a petition that the abbey
might be converted into a college or free school, to which request Henry
refused to accede, alleging as a reason his intention of erecting
Shrewsbury into a bishopric, the diocese of which was to include the
counties of Salop and Staffordshire, and the endowments to consist of the
monastic revenues. Dr. Bouchier, the last abbot of Leicester, was
actually nominated Bishop of Shrewsbury, and hence it is said arose the
appellation “Proud Salopians,” founded on the tradition that the
inhabitants rejected the offer of having their borough converted into a
city. The bailiffs and principal inhabitants of the city in vain
petitioned their monarch to spare the buildings of the monastery. On the
22nd of July, 1546, Henry VIII. granted the site of the dissolved abbey
to Edward Watson and Henry Henderson, who the next day conveyed the same
to William Langley, a tailor, in whose family it continued for five
generations, until 1701, when Jonathan Langley, Esq., devised it to
Edward Baldwyn, Esq., and he in like manner in 1726 passed it to his
sister Bridget, wife of Thomas Powys, Esq. In 1810 the premises were
sold by the trustees of the wife of Thomas Jelf Powys, Esq., to Mr. Simon
Hiles, in whose devisees they are now vested. The property with which
the abbey had been endowed at various periods, comprised seventy manors,
twenty-four churches, and the tithes of thirty-seven parishes, besides
very extensive and valuable privileges and immunities of various kinds.
In 26 Henry VIII., their possessions were found of the yearly value of
£572. 15s. 5¾d., equal to £4700 in the present day. Pensions were
assigned to the late abbot, Thomas Boteler, and the seventeen monks.
The abbey presents few features of its ancient grandeur, the chapter
house, cloister, and refectory are entirely destroyed. In the stately
chapter house occurred the early authorised assembly of that popular
representation in the constitution of this kingdom, to which, under
Providence, Englishmen have been indebted for much of their subsequent
prosperity. From the important state affairs which were transacted here
in 1307–8 it was denominated the Great Parliament. The cross of
Canterbury was brought here, upon which the lords spiritual and temporal
were sworn to observe and keep all the statutes which were then made.
Here too, Richard II., attended by a numerous guard of Cheshire men,
entertained the members of his parliament with a sumptuous feast. The
site of the abbey embraced upwards of ten acres, but it is no longer
possible to trace the wide circuit of the ancient embattled walls. In
1836, on excavating near the site of the chapter house, a leaden seal was
found, which had once been appended to a bull from the pope, whose name
is thus inscribed on it:—INNOCENTUS. P.P. IIII. The most interesting
portions of the ruins is a little octagonal structure, six feet in
diameter, which is generally called the Stone Pulpit, the admiration of
every antiquary and person of taste. Some broken steps lead to the
interior through a narrow flat arched door on each side. The south part
stands upon a portion of a ruined wall, and originally looked into one of
the outer courts. The corresponding moiety projected considerably within
the hall, and rests upon a single corbel, terminating in a head. From
this point it gradually spreads, with a variety of delicately ribbed
mouldings, until it forms the basement under the floor. The whole is
crowned with a dome of stone work, at about eight feet from the base,
supported on six narrow pointed arches, rising from pillars similar to
the mullions of the windows. One of the remaining sides of the octagon
is a solid blank wall, and the other contains the door. The roof within
is vaulted on eight delicate ribs springing out of the wall, and adorned
at their intersection in the centre, by a boss representing an open
flower, on which is displayed a delicate sculpture of the crucifixion.
The spaces between the divisions of the three northern arches, are filled
up four feet above the base, with stone panels, over which they are
entirely open, and the light thus introduced is productive of a beautiful
effect. On the centre panel is a rich piece of sculpture designed to
represent the annunciation. The right hand panel bears the images of St.
Peter and St. Paul; that on the left St. Wenefrede and the abbot Beuno.
The architecture of this interesting structure is referred to the time of
Henry VIII. Much conjecture has arisen among antiquaries respecting its
probable use, but there can be little doubt that it originally projected
from the wall of the refectory, and was used as a pulpit, from which one
of the junior brethren of the monastery, in compliance with the rule of
the Benedictine order, daily read or recited aloud, during meal times, a
subject of divinity to the monks during dinner. Southward from the
pulpit is a range of red sand stone building, now incorporated with the
abbey house. To the south east is the abbot lodge, of which the only
remnant is a portion of the cloister, consisting of three pointed arches.
The dormitory was cut through on the formation of a new line of road in
1836.
SHREWSBURY CASTLE.—The events which belong to the Castle are intimately
connected with the history of the town, where they are more fully
noticed. Its founder, Roger de Montgomery, made it his residence soon
after the Conquest, and it became the chief seat of his baronial power.
As his new possessions had been acquired by the sword, Earl Roger
considered the inhabitants as his property; therefore, to afford an
eligible site for his new buildings, he is stated to have destroyed fifty
houses; a fifth part of the town at that period. After the fall of the
great house of Montgomery, in the reign of Henry I., on the forfeiture of
Earl Robert de Belesme, the Castle became a royal fortress. Its defence
was entrusted to a constable, usually the sheriff, who maintained the
prison of the county within its walls; and the vast possessions annexed
to it were parcelled out among various knights, on the condition of their
keeping castle-ward for a certain number of days during war. During the
turbulent reign of Henry III. the castle fell into great dilapidation;
but his son, Edward I., immediately on his accession, almost entirely
rebuilt the structure. The stronger portion of the castle now remaining
was probably erected by direction of that monarch, being in the style
generally adopted during his reign.
It was at this time considered rather as a place of great consequence in
protecting the country from the invasions of the Welsh, than as a royal
or baronial residence. By the union with Wales all apprehensions on this
ground vanished, and the importance of the castle as a fortress ceased.
In the time of Henry VIII. it seems to have been rapidly hastening to
decay. Leland, who then saw it, observes that it had been a “stronge
thynge, but now much in mine.” In the reign of Elizabeth, a grant was
made of its site and buildings to Richard Onslow, Esq., who subsequently
transferred his interest in it to the corporation.
During the civil war, in the reign of Charles I., the Castle resumed some
share of its former importance, and was garrisoned for the royal party.
The dilapidated walls were repaired, and its gates strongly fortified.
After its surrender to the parliamentary forces, in 1645, it escaped the
destruction that fell upon many other castles, owing to the circumstance
of its being entrusted by the House of Commons to the government of
Colonel Mitton, a native of the county, who, displeased with the virulent
persecution of the king, soon after resigned his commission. Colonel
Mackworth was then appointed governor, and he was succeeded by Colonel
Hunt. On the restoration of Charles II., the property of the Castle
returned to the burgesses, who in 1663 surrendered it to the king. That
monarch shortly afterwards presented it to Viscount Newport, afterwards
Earl of Bradford. The garrison at this time consisted of two companies
with their officers; the daily expenses of which, as given in an old
record, are stated at £8. 17s., or £3,230. 5s. per annum. The Castle
continued in a fortified state, and had a large magazine of arms, which
was not removed till the reign of James II. It is probable that the
out-works were in a great measure destroyed, and its ancient chapel
demolished, about this period. The part still remaining was leased by
the Earl of Bradford to Mr. Gosnell. About the year 1730, this gentleman
converted it into a gloomy habitation, in which state it remained until
Sir William Pulteney repaired and greatly improved it. The outer walls
of the Castle are now undergoing a complete reparation by the present
proprietor, the Duke of Cleveland.
The Castle stands boldly elevated on a considerable eminence on the
narrow isthmus formed by the windings of the Severn, which in every other
part, by surrounding Shrewsbury, formed a portion of its defence. It has
undergone so many changes, and has suffered so much from the
dilapidations of time, that it is not easy to form any correct notion of
its original state. Its appearance does not convey an adequate idea of
the size, stateliness, or the strength of a great baronial fortress,
placed in so important a position as Shrewsbury was once esteemed. The
present buildings are of red free stone, and consist of the keep, the
walls of the inner court, and the great arch of the interior gate. How
far the original fortifications extended cannot now be absolutely
determined. It is probable that the usual appendages of feudal castles,
the outer court or ballium, with its strong gate, portcullis, and towers,
once made part of the fortress, and extended, perhaps, beyond the Council
House. The keep is a square building of great strength, connected with
two round towers, embattled and pierced, and originally consisted of one
great apartment on each of the upper floors. The interior as well as the
exterior has been greatly altered. In the vestibule is a statue of the
founder, Roger de Montgomery. A handsome stone staircase, of modern
construction, leads from the vestibule to the principal apartments. The
drawing room, a spacious and handsome apartment, was used as a guard
chamber in the time of Charles I. A narrow stone staircase within the
wall, lighted by chinks, leads to an apartment in the western tower, in
which was a recess, with a strong groined ceiling, and small sharp
pointed windows. This building does not appear older than the time of
Henry III.; the beams are of an immense size, and the walls are ten feet
in thickness. The battlements of the walls are pierced with narrow
cruciform openings, called loops or oilets, which were intended for the
convenience of the cross-bowmen. The noble arch of the gateway is the
only existing part of the original Norman fortress of Roger de
Montgomery. It is eighteen feet high, semi-circular, and with plain
round facings; and its walls appear to have sustained a tower, from which
hung the portcullis. On the east side of the court is a postern, built
probably in the time of Charles I., when the fortress was restored; and
near it are the massive foundations of an ancient tower. The Castle
still retains one mark of its ancient dignity, for in the area of the
inner court the knights of the shire are nominated, and from time
immemorial have been girt with their swords by the sheriff.
On the south side of the court is a lofty mount, which rises abruptly
from the Severn, the summit of which is crowned with ruinous walls, and
an ancient watch tower for the purpose of descrying an enemy at a
distance. This was rebuilt about thirty years ago, and converted into a
beautiful summer room, commanding a fine panoramic view, and now called
Laura’s Tower. From the above mount there is also a view of uncommon
grandeur and beauty—the sides of the mount are richly clothed with
foliage, the Severn winds majestically below—the eye of the spectator
beholds in succession, the town, with its spires and turrets, its
beautiful suburbs, and a wide sweep of finely wooded and diversified
country, with the most extensive amphitheatre of mountains of which
perhaps the island can boast. The majestic Wrekin is connected by the
hills of Acton Burnell and Frodesley with the towering heights of the
Lawley and Caradoc, from whence the Long Mynd, Stiperstones, and Long
Mountain, form an uninterrupted chain, with the bold and precipitous
cliffs of Kefn-y-Castyr and Breddyn;—thence the horizon is bounded by the
stupendous Berwin range, losing its blue summit in the clouds,—while the
northern prospect is terminated by the humbler eminences of Grinshill,
Pymhill, Hawkstone, and Haughmond.
When the frontier situation of Shrewsbury is considered, and that for
four centuries it was, perhaps, the most important station on the marches
of Wales, it is extraordinary that, though it has several times fallen
into the enemies’ power by treachery and surprise, yet it never sustained
more than two sieges, and those in rather early periods of its history.
This circumstance may partly be attributed to the slender hopes an
adverse army must have entertained of reducing by regular approaches a
place so strongly fortified both by nature and art; for it was not only
defended by its castle, but by the river, and a wall which completely
surrounded it.
THE TOWN WALLS.—The following account of the ancient walls of Shrewsbury
is chiefly taken from Phillip’s history of the town:—The walls were built
across the isthmus, from the castle down to the river on each side, by
Robert de Belesme, son of Roger de Montgomery. The other part of the
walls surrounding the town was built in the reign of Henry III., who
earnestly pressed the inhabitants to fortify and strengthen their
borough, lest the enemy should surprise them unawares. This part of the
wall was thirty-two years in building; it was finished in 1252, to defray
the charge of which the king, at sundry times, granted the burgesses
leases of the tolls of the town, and other favours; among which, every
barge laded with merchandise upon the river had to pay the charge of
fourpence. That part from the north end of the above-mentioned wall to
the Welsh bridge, called Roushill, was built by Oliver Cromwell in the
year 1645, the stone of which was brought from Shrawardine Castle. The
more accessible parts of the town walls, particularly on the south and
south-western sides, were formerly strengthened by towers, which are now
demolished, excepting one, situated near the Murivance; it is square,
embattled, and of two stories high, lighted by narrow loop holes, the
entrance of the upper story being from the top wall. The only portions
of the ancient walls now left standing are those on the north side of the
town, extending from the Castle gates towards the Welsh bridge, and on
the south-west side, where they stretch to a considerable distance.
Although reduced in height, and stripped of the battlements, they form an
agreeable walk to the inhabitants of the town.
GATES AND POSTERNS.—In an exchequer manuscript, without date, several
gates or posterns are mentioned, to the keepers of which the coroners of
the town delivered bolts and locks for their security. Those at
Shepelache and at Kaymeplace no traces of the names remain. That called
Bulgerlode was under the place formerly called the Gulph, at the bottom
of the Wyle Cop, and Cleremont, on the top of Claremont Hill. There were
also gates in Milk Street, Barker Street, and Water Lane. The latter
only remains, and is memorable as the avenue through which the
parliamentary forces were treacherously admitted into the town, at the
siege of Shrewsbury, on February 22nd, 1644.
STREETS, &c. The following are some of the ancient names of the
principal streets given in Phillips’ History of Shrewsbury, many of which
have become obsolete.
_Mardol_, anciently written Marlesford, Mardefoie, and Mardvoll. It had
the name of Marlesford from the ford through the Severn at the bottom of
the street, near the welsh bridge.
_Chepynges-street_.—An ancient name probably of the street leading from
the Corn Market to Murivance.
_Stalles_.—The street leading from Mardol head to High-street.
_High-street_, formerly called Baxter’s-row, also Barker’s-row.
_Ickeslode_.—A lane that went from Dogpole to the Walls.
_The Sextry_ was the Shutt from the passage from Kiln-lane to
High-street.
_Frankwell_, anciently Frankvill; the Frank’s Vill, probably inhabited by
the Franks, for in Doomsday book it is recorded that a part of the town
containing 45 Burgase were inhabited by those people, who are there
called _Francigence_.—This place seems to have been regarded as
unconnected with the other part of the town; they had a strong work
erected there for their defence, which at the time Shrewsbury was taken
by the parliamentary forces surrendered upon bare quarter; and in the
year 1640, when the plague began there, the inhabitants made an attempt
to come into the town, but were beaten back by the bailiffs and townsmen.
_Cheddelode_.—A lane that went to the Severn, by Stury’s Close.
_Bulgerlode_.—A place at the bottom of the Wyle Cop, taken down in 1766.
_Murivance_.—A name of French extraction signifying before the walls, or
within the walls.
_Murivance-lane_, led from the town wall down to the river.
_Sheteplace_, in old records written Sotteplace, and Soetteplace, is now
called Shoplatch. _Behind the Walls_, from its situation behind the
walls, now the Quarry.
_Priest’s-lane_, led from the walls near the tower, to Murivance, now
inclosed.
_Romboldesham_, now called Barber-street.
_The Bailey_.—That part of the town which lies before the castle.
_Hound-street_.—A street leading from the playhouse to Barber-street.
_Grope-lane_.—A narrow “shutt” leading from High-street to Fish street.
_Corvisor’s-row_.—The same as that which is now called Pride-hill.
_Shoemakers’-row_.—In Speed’s map the lower part of Pride-hill.
_Hawmon-strete_.—Probably that now called Castle-street, or Raven-street.
_Merival_.—At the east end of the New bridge. Early in the 16th century,
Merival was separated from the jurisdiction of the corporation, and
considered a hamlet within the liberty of the town.
_Altus Vicus_.—The high pavement, near the Cross made in 1570.