of Edstaston and Newtown, and the townships of Ashton, Cotton, Horton,
Lacon Lowe and Ditches, Northwood, part of Sleap, Soulton, Tilley and
Trench, Wem and Wolverley, which together contain an area of 13,841A. 1R.
10P. of land, of which 193A. 2R. 6P. are in roads and waste. Gross
estimated rental, £26,594; rateable value, £24,944. In 1841 there was a
population of 3,919 souls, of whom 1,952 were males and 1,967 females, at
which period there were 832 inhabited houses, 40 uninhabited, and two
houses building. The tithes have been commuted for £2,100. The town of
Wem is pleasantly situated near the banks of the river Roden, 11 miles
north from Shrewsbury; the streets are irregularly formed, and many of
the houses have an ancient appearance; there are, however, many good
houses and shops, and several respectable private residences of more
modern erection, particularly in those parts of the town called
New-street and Islington. The township contains 1,202A. 3R. 30P. of
land, of which 14A, 3R. 24P. are in roads and waste. Rateable value,
£6,428. 5s. Wem is a place of considerable antiquity, and was anciently
written _Wemme_. At the Domesday survey it was held by William Pantulph,
or Pantulf, of Earl Roger, when there were “_four geldable hides and an
airy of hawks_.” At this time most of the land about Wem lay waste,
covered with a vast pool, or overgrown with woods. When William the
Conqueror deprived the English of their estates he gave the greatest part
of Shropshire to Roger de Montgomery, and he shared it out among the
principal officers that commanded under him, on condition that they
should pay him homage, fight for him, not dispose of their daughters in
marriage, nor their goods by will without his leave; that their heirs
whilst minors should be in wardship to him, and pay a relief for
admission to their estates when they came of age. On these terms Earl
Roger granted to William Pantulph 28 towns or manors in the county of
Salop, whereof Wem being one of the chief places Pantulph made it his
seat, and the head of his barony. In the 7th of King John, A.D. 1205,
Warin Fitzgerald procured the grant of a market to be held weekly, and a
fair yearly at his manor of Wemme. It has therefore been a market town
646 years. The market was then held on Sunday, as was then commonly done
in other places. This continued till the 24th of Edward III, when Simon
Islip, archdeacon of Canterbury, forbid the going to market on the Lord’s
day for the future, and the market was subsequently held on Thursday, on
which day it still continues to be held, and is numerously attended by
the farmers who reside in the surrounding district. Fairs are held on
the first Thursday in March, May 6th, Holy Thursday, June 29, last
Thursday in September, and November 22nd.
The barony of Wem was of considerable extent; on the north it stretched
to Whitchurch, on the east it took in Tilley and Cresswell, in
Staffordshire, on the south it bordered on the Clive, and on the west on
the parish of Ellesmere. The first baron was William Pantulph, who had
great estates in Normandy, which he held of his superior lord Roger de
Montgomery, a relation of one of the generals of William the Conqueror.
By his tenure he was obliged to attend this Roger in war, and came over
with him in the expedition against England. Shortly after the battle of
Hastings Roger de Montgomery bestowed 28 manors in this county upon the
said Pantulph, to be held by military service. These manors consisted of
as many knight’s fees as composed a barony, the head of which Pantulph
fixed at Wem, which he chose for the place of his residence. The Earl of
Shrewsbury, A.D. 1102, engaged in a rebellion against the king, and
required William Pantulph, his vassal, to aid him with such a number of
men as he was obliged to furnish by his tenure. On his refusing he
disinherited him of all his lands and possessions in Shropshire, upon
which the king made him governor of Stafford Castle. The king having
resolved to beseige Shrewsbury, William Pantulph attended the king on
this expedition, and finding the roads bad and narrow and the country
full of woods lined with archers, the king employed 6,000 soldiers in
cutting down the woods and opening the roads. On the royal troops
appearing before Shrewsbury the king threatened to hang all that he
should take therein, and shortly after the town was surrendered. The
Earl of Shrewsbury by his treason having forfeited his honour and estate
to the crown the barony of Wem was henceforth held immediately by the
king, and hence the lords thereof had a right to sit in the great
councils of the realm. William Pantulph lived to a great age and died
beyond sea. The last of this family who held the barony was William
Pantulph, who died in the 7th of Henry III., A.D. 1233. About this
period a perambulation was made to settle the boundaries of the manor of
Wem and that of Prees; the latter belonged to the bishop of Lichfield and
Coventry. On the death of the above William Pantulph, his father-in-law,
Fulk Warine, gave the king 6,000 marks for the wardship of his lands and
heir, with the benefit of her marriage. This Fulk was one of the barons
that in 1214 confederated against King John, and who was subsequently
excommunicated by the pope. On the marriage of Maud, the heiress of
William Pantulph, with Ralph de Boteler, he settled at Wem, and in 1370
the barony was carried by an heiress of the Botelers into the family of
Ferrars, and afterwards in like manner to the Greystocks, a noble family
whose principal seat was Greystock Castle, in the county of Cumberland.
Ralph Lord Greystock, the second baron of this family, left a
granddaughter, who married Thomas Lord Dacre; this family had their chief
seat at Dacre Castle in Cumberland. The fourth baron of this name,
George Lord Dacre, being a minor at the death of his father, Thomas Duke
of Norfolk obtained the wardship of him, but had not enjoyed it long
before this young lord died, and his three sisters became co-heiresses.
Ann married Phillip Earl of Arundle, and Elizabeth Lord William Howard,
son of the Duke of Norfolk, but Mary died unmarried. Thomas Duke of
Norfolk, on the death of his third wife, formed the project of marrying
Mary Queen of Scotts. In the 15th of Elizabeth, however, he was beheaded
for what his peers adjudged to be treason. By his attainder his eldest
son Philip, having lost his titles of honour that were to have descended
to him from his father, assumed the style of Earl of Arundle in right of
his mother, who was daughter to Henry Fitzallan, the last Earl of Arundle
of that family. In the 25th of Elizabeth the court of Wem was first
called in the name of Philip Earl of Arundle, and of lady Ann, his wife.
His zeal for popery, and the resentment he was supposed to entertain for
the hard usage of his family, rendered him suspected by the government,
and he was eventually condemned to imprisonment during the queen’s
pleasure, and fined £10,000. In the 31st of Elizabeth the court at Wem
was first called in the name of the queen, on account of the attainder of
Philip Earl of Arundle, but as he had held the barony and manor of Wem in
right of his wife, by his attainder he forfeited them only during his own
life, so that on his decease they reverted to the Countess Dowager Ann,
on whose death, Thomas Howard, her only son, succeeded to the dignity of
baron of Wem. On the accession of James I. to the throne, this Thomas
was restored in blood, with the title of Earl of Arundle and Surrey, and
put in possession of the estates forfeited by his grandfather’s
attainder, thus he had a great fortune by descent, and a much larger one
with his wife, who was the heiress of the great house of Shrewsbury. In
1611 he was made knight of the garter, and in 1621 he was created Earl
Marshall of England, with a pension of £2,000 per annum. In the 8th of
Charles I. we find the court baron of Wem called in the name of the Right
Honourable Thomas, Earl of Arundle and Surrey, premier, Earl of England,
Lord Howard, Fitzallans, Maltravers, Mowbray, Segrave, Bruse, and Wem,
Earl Marshall of England, knight of the most noble order of the garter,
and one of the lords of the king’s honourable privy council. He is said
to have been a proud man, and his expenses always exceeded his revenue;
he was the greatest encourager of painting, sculpture, designs, carving,
and building that the age produced, and he employed persons many years in
Italy and Greece to collect rarities for him; his statues and paintings
were equal in number and value to those in the houses of most princes,
and he provided the most sumptuous and magnificent entertainments. The
barony was subsequently held by the Playters, Onslows, Wycherleys, and
Jeffreys. On the death of John Lord Jeffreys, in 1720, the barony and
manor of Wem descended to his daughter, then a minor, and shortly after
the barony of Wem and the manors of Wem and Loppington, and the land and
tenements thereto, were sold to Henry Lord Newport, afterwards Earl of
Bradford, for £12,000. In 1730, Lord Newport, by will, devised all his
real estate, in trust, for Mrs. Ann Smith, and his natural son by her,
John Harrison. He took the name of Newport; but losing the use of his
reason, his mother conveyed the estate after his death to William
Pulteney, Earl of Bath, from whom it has descended to the present
proprietor, the Duke of Cleveland. A court leet and baron is held yearly
in October. Jonathan Scarth, Esq., steward; Thomas Griffiths, bailiff.
Formerly at these courts causes were tried for debts or trespass in
actions under 40s.
The freeholders at Wem are numerous, among whom are William Egerton
Jeffreys, Colonel Wynn, Thomas Dickin, Esq., the Trustees of Wem Free
School, Jonathan Forgham, Mr. John Jenks, Mr. Craig, Mr. John Rodgers,
Mary Llewellin, Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Phillips, William Owen, Esq., William
Barber, Esq., Mr. James, Mr. Leek, Mrs. Kynaston, H. J. Barker, Esq.,
Mrs. Burd, Mrs. Gwynn, John Everall, Esq., Mr. George Clay, Mr:
Glazebrook, Mr. Ashley, Mr. Holding, Mr. Robert Gough, Mrs. Tyler, Mr.
John Basnet, Mr. Snape, Mr. Edward Broomfield, Mr. Breakspear, Mr. Drury,
J. H. Walford, Esq., Mr. John Boughey, Mr. Poole, and upwards of forty
others.
THE CHURCH is a venerable structure dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul,
consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a heavy square tower
sixty-nine feet high, in which are six musical bells; on the west side
stands the statue of a man, as large as life, with a truncheon in his
hand, supposed to represent Ralph, lord Greystock, baron of Wem, who
probably was at the charge of building the steeple; on the east side is
the statue of a lady, with the model of the church in her right hand, and
a cross in her left hand. The north porch, and the lower part of the
walls are built of red sand stone, coarsely worked, and are perhaps the
remains of the first church erected here in Saxon times. The tower and
upper part of the walls, and most of the buttresses are of the Grinshill
free stone. The vestry was built before the great fire which burnt the
roof, then covered with shingles, the gallery, and all the timber work,
damaged the walls and melted the bells. The west window and the tower
were built in 1667, and the west end of the church, the roof, and the
pews, in 1678. The chancel was built about the year 1680: since that
period the frequent reparations and alterations have left but little of
the ancient character of the church remaining. The bells were cast in
the same year, and a clock and chimes added in 1726. The communion plate
are of large size, and consist of chalice, pattin, flagon, and basin,
which were the gift of Gerrard Shelley, and Cicely his wife in 1707. The
accommodation in the church was increased by building two new galleries,
one on the north and another on the south side, and altering the pews in
the old gallery at the west end in 1840, when 274 additional sittings
were obtained, which are free and unappropriated, in consequence of a
grant from the incorporated society for building and enlarging churches.
There are also 703 appropriated sittings. There are tablets to the
Smiths, Wycherleys, Fields, Traceys, and others. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king’s book at £26. 4s. 4½d.; in the patronage of
the Duke of Cleveland, and incumbency of the Rev. John Charles D. Merest,
M.A., who resides at the rectory, a pleasantly situated mansion, built by
the late rector, who exchanged the old rectory, and obtained a grant from
Queen Anne’s bounty, towards the erection of the present structure. Dr.
Henry Aldrich, an eminent divine and polite scholar, was rector of Wem.
He was born at Westminster, in 1647, and educated under the famous Busby.
In 1662 he was admitted into Christ Church College, Oxford and having
passed through the gradations of bachelor of arts in 1666, and master in
1669, he took orders and became an eminent tutor in his college. In 1681
he was installed canon of Christ Church, and in the same year took the
degrees of bachelor and doctor of divinity. During the reign of James
II. he published several tracts on the popish controversy, which are said
to have shown a clearness of arguing and depth of learning far beyond
anything that had at that time appeared in our language. In order to
excite and cherish a taste for polite literature, he annually published
some piece of an ancient Greek author, as a new year’s gift for the
students of the college. He wrote a system of logic, entitled “Artis
Logicæ Compendium,” Oxon, 1691, 8vo.; and “Elements of Geometry,” in
Latin, never published. He was also concerned in Gregory’s Greek
Testament, printed at Oxford in 1703, folio; and Havercamp’s edition of
Josephus. By his skill in architecture he improved the buildings of the
college; and that part of it called Peckwater quadrangle, deservedly
admired, was designed by him. His abilities as a musician rank him, in
the opinion of competent judges, among the masters of the science; and
although he chiefly applied himself to the composition of sacred music,
yet he occasionally diverted himself by producing pieces of a lighter
kind. For the entertainment of smokers, to which fraternity he belonged,
he composed a smoking catch, to be sung by four persons while they were
smoking; and he was also the author of “Hark! the merry Christ church
bells.” He died at his college in 1710, leaving an order to be buried,
without any memorial, in the cathedral. “His modesty and humility, his
easy pleasantry, his attention to academic business, and to the credit of
his college, his exertions for the encouragement of learning, and the
proofs which his memoirs afford of reputable talents, various
accomplishments, and amiable qualities, unite to transmit his name with
honour to posterity.” THE INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, situated in Chapel street,
is a considerable building of brick, fronted with freestone. The
interior has a neat and chaste appearance, and is provided with a
circular gallery. It was built in 1834, and will accommodate five
hundred hearers. The congregation is under the pastoral care of the Rev.
Joseph Pattison. There is a Sunday school in connection with the chapel,
with about 150 scholars. The Independents have another chapel in Noble
street, where the Rev. John Saddler is the pastor. THE PRIMITIVE
METHODIST CHAPEL is a neat structure in Chapel street; and the BAPTISTS
have a chapel in Cripple street. THE IRVINGITES have a meeting house in
Noble street.
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.—_Sir Thomas Adams_, the founder of the free school at
Wem, was born in the year 1586; he was the son of Thomas Adams, a
respectable tanner at Wem, who had his tan pits where the school now
stands. His son received a liberal education at the university of
Cambridge, and was afterwards brought up a draper in London. In 1639 he
was elected sheriff of London, on which he gave up business, and devoted
his time entirely to the duties of his office, and the good of the
citizens. He was elected Lord Mayor of London 1645, which office he
filled with the greatest disinterestedness. About this time the enemies
of Charles I., who were then coming into power, thought proper to search
his house, in pursuit of that unfortunate monarch, knowing his strong
attachment to the royal cause; in the year 1647 he was committed to the
tower, where he remained some time. He, however, continued his
attachment to the royal cause, and is said to have carried his zeal so
far as to have remitted ten thousand pounds to Charles II. while in
exile. On the accession of that monarch to the throne, Sir Thomas was
advanced to the dignity of baronet. Amongst the documents belonging to
the free school there is a copy of the orders and statutes prescribed by
him for the government of the same, purporting to have been made March 4,
1650. By these orders it is declared Rowland Hill, Esq., and fourteen
others, should be enfeoffed of the lands and hereditaments appertaining
to the school. That the said school should be for all children within
the parish of Wem, except the children of those parents who being of
ability should not have contributed towards the advancement of the said
school. The statutes also contain regulations for the internal
management of the school, and directions that prayers should be read
every morning and evening, and the scholars catechised in the principles
of the Christian religion. The gross annual income derived from the
school property when the charity commissioners published their report
amounted to £336. 15s., out of which the head master received a salary of
£160 per annum, the second master £70, and the third master £70 per
annum. The school is free to all boys of the parish of Wem for
instruction in classics and English grammar; each scholar pays a small
entrance fee, and if they learn writing or accounts they pay for such
instruction from 7s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. per quarter. A portion of the
income of the school arises from lands purchased by the first Feoffees of
the school, who were instrumental in raising upwards of £370, which sum
was laid out in the purchase of land for the general benefit of the
school. The principal object of the foundation was evidently the
instruction of free scholars, but when the charity commissioners
published their report there were only two on the foundation, and there
were only six when our agent visited Wem. The Rev. William Boulton is
the head master.
THE BRITISH SCHOOL, a neat brick structure pleasantly situated, was
erected in 1839, at the cost of about £800; it is capable of
accommodating 200 boys and 200 girls, and consists of an upper and lower
room; the latter is occupied by the boys, and the entrance is from
Dark-lane, and the former by the girls, who have an entrance from Chapel
street. At the present time 130 boys and 90 girls attend the school,
which is chiefly self-supporting. The Privy Council on Education gave
the sum of £200 towards the erection of the school. Thomas H. Taylor and
Mrs. Taylor are the teachers.
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL, a commodious brick building situated in an open
situation, consists of two spacious rooms, which were erected at an
expense of about £1,000, including the cost of the site. Thomas Grainge
and Mary Ebrey are the teachers.
THE INFANT SCHOOL, situated in Chapel-street, has an attendance of about
120. Mary Green is the teacher.
THE WEM UNION HOUSE, situated on the Whitchurch road, near to Islington,
is a spacious brick structure erected to accommodate 200 inmates. The
union comprehends twelve parishes, and has an area of eighty square
miles. The average annual expenditure of the three, preceding the
formation of the union, was £4,018. The following are the parishes in
the union, viz.:—Wem, Broughton, Clive, Grinshill, Ightfield, Lee
Brockhurst, Loppington, Moreton Corbet, Prees, Shawbury, Stanton upon
Hine Heath, Weston under Red Castle, and Whixall. _Clerk and
Superintendent Registrar_, William Owen, Esq.; _Relieving Officer_,
Thomas Hanmer; _Master and Matron_, Mr. and Mrs. Rowley.
THE COUNTY COURT for law proceedings on actions and claims not exceeding
£50 comprehends the following places, viz.:—Wem 4, Preston Brockhurst 3,
Grinshill 4, Clive or Cliff 3, Yorton 4, Tilley 1, Sleap 2, Nunnerley 2,
Loppington 3, Northwood 5, part of Whixall 8, Newtown 4, Ightfield 8,
Corra 8, Prees 5, Darliston 6, Marchamley 6, Weston under Red Castle 4,
Lee 3, Aston 1, Lacon 1, Edgboulton 6, Stanton 6, Shawbury 6, and Burton
6. The figures refer to the mileage from Wem. _Judge_, Uvedale Corbet,
Esq., Aston Hall, near Shiffnal; _Treasurer_, William B. Collis, Esq.;
_Clerk_, Henry John Barker, Esq.; _High Bailiff_, Mr. Thomas Griffiths,
jun.
THE LOCK-UP is a small brick structure situated in Grove-street;
prisoners on committal are sent to Shrewsbury. William Freeman is the
superintendent.
THE MARKET HOUSE is a brick fabric with stone finishings, supported by
arches and pillars in the front. The county court is held in the
spacious room over the market. Mr. Thomas Griffiths is clerk of the
markets.
THE STAMP OFFICE is in Market-street. Mr. George W. Poole, distributor.
THE EXCISE OFFICE is at Mrs. Sand’s, the White Lion Inn, High-street.
THE COURT HOUSE for magisterial purposes is situated in Noble-street; the
magistrates who usually attend the petty sessions here are Sir Robert
Chambre Hill, Bart.; Sir Andrew Vincent Corbet, Bart.; A. C. Heber Percy,
Esq.; Thomas Dickin, Esq., and George Bowen, Esq. William Lucas, Esq.,
is clerk to the magistrates.
THE GAS WORKS are situated in Grove-street; they were established in 1835
by Messrs. Thomas and Burton, since which they have been transferred to
the mortgagee, Mr. Craig. The gasometer will hold 4,000 cubic feet of
gas. A charge of 10s. per 1,000 cubic feet is made to the consumer for
this luminous vapour. Mr. John Brown is the secretary and manager.
THE NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK OF ENGLAND has a branch bank here, situated
in High-street. Mr. John Daniel Lloyd is the manager.
The traffic of Wem is facilitated by a branch of the Ellesmere canal,
which terminates near to Edstaston, about two miles from Wem. It is
chiefly used for the conveyance of coal. Mr. John Brown, coal, slate,
lime, and guano merchant, has a wharf here.
The Wem corn mill is an extensive modern erection of brick, situated on
the river Roden; the machinery is of a superior construction; it is
occasionally worked by steam power, but the water power is constructed so
as to work the machinery without any delay after the rise of the water.
Mr. J. Boughey is the proprietor.