32P. of land, of which 6A. 1R. are in roads. In 1841 there were seven
houses and 57 inhabitants. Rateable value, £580. 10s. Of the above, one
house and eleven persons were returned at the census of 1841 as in the
parish of Middle and in the Pimhill hundred. The tithes have been
commuted for £72. 4s. 10d., and apportioned to the rector of Wem. The
trustees of the late Duke of Bridgewater are lords of the manor. The
principal landowners are William Groom, Esq., Henry John Barker, Esq.,
Mrs. Thomas Betton, and the representatives of Miss Lloyd. The soil is
for the most part sandy or peaty earth on a gravelly sub-soil. In the
reign of Henry II. Richard de Sleap had a grant of all the village at a
fee-farm rent of 16s. per annum. The vassals of the said Richard de
Sleap and his heirs were obliged to grind their corn at the lord of the
manor’s mill at Wem, to assist at drawing the mill stones, and cleansing
the pond, and to help Hugo Pantulph, then the lord, to make his castle.
The reserved rent of 16s. is still paid; but homage ceased with the
forest, the repair of the castle at its demolition, working at the mill
upon its alienation, and the serving the king in his wars, upon the
change of all tenures by knights’ service into common socage. In 1738,
Sleap was laid in ashes by a sudden fire, which spread with such
rapidity, that three houses and all the outbuildings were consumed. A
brief was obtained for the unfortunate sufferers.
The resident farmers are Benjamin Adams, John Chidlow, Thomas Kent, John
Phillips, and Robert Whall.
SOULTON,
a small township two miles north-east from Wem, contains 672A. 0R. 15P.
of land, and at the census of 1841 had 3 houses and 34 inhabitants.
Rateable value, £796. The soil in some parts is of a sandy nature; in
other places a clayey soil prevails. There are five and a half acres in
roads and waste. The tithes have been commuted for £96. 9s. 5d., and
apportioned to the rector of Wem. Viscount Hill is lord of the manor,
and sole proprietor. There are several thriving plantations here,
covering upwards of thirty acres of land. The Wem and Market Drayton
turnpike road intersects the township. SOULTON HALL is a brick structure
of considerable extent, exhibiting a fine specimen of antique
architecture; the exterior has an imposing aspect, and the summit is
surrounded by a parapet. It was formerly a seat of the Corbets, whose
arms are carved over the entrance: it is now occupied as a farm
residence, and near it are extensive farm premises, chiefly of modern
erection, and on the granary is the date 1783.
The residents are George Bell, farmer, the Brook; Henry Dakin, farmer,
the Hall; and Thomas Williams, farmer, Dairy House.
TILLEY AND TRENCH
is a considerable village and township, situated one mile south-west from
Wem, which contains 1,636A. 3R. 36P. of land; and in 1841 had 80 houses
and 352 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,418. 5s. The rent charge
payable to the rector of Wem amounts to £263. 15s. 1d. The roads and
waste in this township occupy 25A. 2R. The soil is various: the Trench
farms are generally of a cold, reddish clay; in other parts a loam and
gravelly soil predominates. Marl of a superior quality is found here in
great abundance. This place no doubt took its name from Sire Tillie, who
is mentioned in the list of great men who came into this country with
William the Conqueror. In the Trench farm there is a close called the
Castle Stead, that is, the place of the castle, whence it appears a
castle had been built there, which must have been in Saxon times, for
Pantulph the Norman fixed on Wem for the site of his castle, and no other
was built in this parish by his ancestors. On an eminence a little above
Tilley Green are the remains of a Roman camp: it is an oblong square, and
contains about two acres of ground; the rampart and trench on every side
may still be traced. This was probably the site of the manor house, for
the Saxon lords frequently built their castles on Roman camps, on account
of the strength of such places and the fortifications already raised. No
doubt the Roman vallum occasioned this to be called the Trench farm. The
river Roden bounds the township, and is crossed by a substantial bridge
at Wem Mills. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor. The principal
landowners are William E. Jeffreys, Esq.; Sir Andrew Corbet, Bart.; C.
Howard, Esq.; Mr. John Boughey; Colonel Wynn; A. D. Watkiss, Esq.;
William Groom, Esq.; Mr. George Kynaston; Charles Oldham, Esq.; Mr.
Samuel Heatley; Mr. William Kilvert; Mr. Bowers; Mr. Thomas Davies; Mr.
Thomas Wood; Mr. William Evans; Mrs. Richards; the executors of S.
Wycherley; and William Brooks, Esq. There is a noted mineral spring in
this township, which is reckoned good for sore eyes and all cutaneous
eruptions. William Price, a mason, is said to have flagged the well in
consideration of having been cured of rheumatism by bathing in it. The
old park, Roowood, the property of Lord Hill, and Palm’s Hill, are in
this township. The poor of this township have 28s. yearly, from the
bequest of _Sarah Higginson_, in 1727, who left £28, which was laid out
in the purchase of a rent charge of 28s. per annum: the amount is now
paid from land the property of Major Dickin.
Abbot Alfred, farmer
Barnet Thomas, farmer
Burgess Ed., farmer, Trench
Davies William, farmer, Park
Dowler Richard, farmer
Ebrey Thos., farmer, Trench
Evans William, farmer, Palm’s hill
Heatley Samuel, farmer
Jones Thomas, farmer
Kilvert Richard, farmer, Palm’s hill house
Kynaston William, farmer, Woodhouse
Leeke Wm., farmer, Roowood
Lewis Robert, farmer
Lloyd Miss Ann, Trench
Lloyd Wm., farmer, Trench
Menlove Mrs. Mary
Morris Rd., vict., New Inn
Oldham Charles, Esq., Tilley house
Owen James, farmer
Simons Stephen, Wain house farm
Wood Charles, gentleman
WOLVERLEY,
anciently written WOLFORDELEY, took its name from the proprietor of it in
Saxon times. It is a pleasantly situated village and township on the
road from Wem to Ellesmere, three miles north-east from the former place.
The township contains 716A. 0R. 20P. of land, of which 8A. 1R. 9P. are in
roads and waste. Rateable value, £1,050. 5s. The tithes are commuted
for £104. 10s. 2d. The river Roden intersects the township, on the banks
of which is some fine meadow land, enriched by that river occasionally
overflowing its banks. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor. The
principal landowners are Thomas Dickin, Esq.; Mrs. Maddocks; Mr. Edward
Windsor; and Edward Dickin, Esq. WOLVERLEY HALL, in the year 1404, was
the residence of William de Wolferdeley. In 1561 it was the seat of
Thomas Sturry, Esq., and it subsequently came into the possession of the
Corbets and Menloves. There was anciently a small domestic chapel
attached to the hall. WOODLANDS HOUSE, the residence of Mrs. Maddocks,
is a square brick structure, pleasantly situated, and beautified with
pleasure grounds and shrubberies, tastefully laid out, and ornamented
with choice flowers.
DIRECTORY.—Joseph Cooke, farmer, Wolverley Hall; Lewis Cook, farmer, the
Leys; Joseph Harper, farmer; Mrs. Mary Maddocks, Woodlands House; John
Pitchford, farmer; William Williams, farmer.
WHITCHURCH
is a parish and respectable market town salubriously situated in a
picturesque country, twenty miles N.N. by E. from Shrewsbury, and 161
miles N.W. from London. The town is well built, and stands on a gentle
eminence, embracing many fine points of view in the vicinity; there are
many good inns and shops and respectable private residences, but some of
the cottages have a mean appearance. The principal traffic is in grain
and malt, and commercial intercourse is facilitated by the Ellesmere and
Chester canal, and its contiguity to the Chester and Crewe railway. The
fairs and markets are well attended by the agriculturists of the
surrounding neighbourhood, both of Shropshire and Cheshire. The populous
township of Dodington, of which a separate directory is given, may be
considered a suburb to Whitchurch. From the ancient name of this place,
which was _Album Monasterium_, or _Blancminster_, it is supposed that a
monastery formerly existed here. Of this no account has been handed
down, and no traces of the building have ever been discovered. Bishop
Tanner says, “Here was an hospital of several poor brethren, to which
John le Strange in the reign of Henry III., gave the town of Winelecote,
which, together with the hospital, was afterwards annexed to the abbey of
Haughmon.” Whether this refers to a hospital at this place or at
Oswestry (since the Fitzallans, lords of Oswestry, were founders of the
abbey of Haughmon) is submitted to the reader’s determination. In the
7th of Edward III., John le Strange had the liberty of free warren here,
and in the 36th of the same reign a fair was granted to John, son of John
le Strange de Whitchurch, on the vigil, the feast, and the morrow of the
apostles St. Simon and St. Jude.
The parish of Whitchurch comprehends the townships of Alkington, Ash
Magna, Ash Parva, Black Park, Brougnall, Chinnel, Dodington, Edgeley,
Hinton, Hollyhurst, Tilstock, Whitchurch, Woodhouses New, and Woodhouses
Old, which together in 1801 contained a population of 4,618 souls; 1831,
5,902, and in 1841 there were 1,243 houses and 6,373 inhabitants. Acres,
14,237. The parish is divided into four quarters or divisions, viz.,
Whitchurch quarter, which contains 2,033 acres; rateable value, £6,196.
Dodington quarter, 3,186 acres; rateable value, £5,281. Tilstock
quarter, 5,558 acres; rateable value, £5,809, Broughall quarter, 3,497
acres; rateable value, £3,089. The tithes of Whitchurch are commuted for
£1,351, and of Marbury, Norbury, and Wirswell an appendage to the rectory
of Whitchurch for £398, making a total of £1,749. The township of
Wirswell, although in the county of Cheshire, is in the parish of
Whitchurch. The town has a high steward, and inferior officers; the
former is appointed by the lord of the manor, and holds a court leet and
court baron. The land in general has a gentle undulating surface, and
there is a considerable extent of pasture land in this locality of a
superior quality, which produces fine dairies of cheese, and is generally
considered as good as the celebrated Cheshire cheese of the neighbouring
county. The soil is various, on the low grounds it is of a peaty nature,
in some places a sand and gravelly soil prevails, and in other parts a
strong clay predominates; marl is found in some places, which is used for
improving the surface soil. The township of Whitchurch contains 2,867
acres of land, and in 1841 had 668 houses and 3,403 inhabitants.
Rateable value, £5,698. 10s. The tithes of this township are commuted
for £247. 16s. The principal landowners are the trustees of the late
Earl of Bridgewater; Thomas Boycott, Esq.; George Harper, Esq.; R. Parry
Jones, Esq.; Thomas Jebb, Esq.; William Halstead Poole, Esq.; Archibald
Worthington, Esq., besides whom there are upwards of two hundred small
freeholders. The trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater are lords of
the manor. The market is held on Friday, when the town is well supplied
with butchers’ meat, butter, poultry, and other provisions, of excellent
quality and abundant in quantity. The corn market is very numerously and
respectably attended by the farmers of North Shropshire, Cheshire, and
the county of Flint, the town lying on the verge of Shropshire is central
for an extensive and fine agricultural district in the three counties.
Fairs are held the second Friday in April, Whit-Monday, Friday after the
2nd of August, February 23rd, and December 1st.
THE CHURCH is a noble structure of the Tuscan order, built in the reign
of Queen Anne, at an expense of about £4,000, and will accommodate about
2,000 hearers. It is dedicated to St. Alkmund, and considered by the
best judges to be almost a perfect model of what a church ought to be; it
consists of nave, chancel, side aisles, and lofty square tower adorned
with pinnacles, and is built of red free stone; the tower contains a peal
of eight musical bells, and is ornamented with a clock and sun dial,—the
whole has an imposing appearance, and for elaborate workmanship and
chasteness of design, is seldom equalled. The side aisles are separated
from the nave by arches rising from circular pillars. The chancel is
lofty and supported by fluted columns, and paved with black and white
marble. The communion table is of mottled alabaster, with an oak frame
beautifully carved. The organ is a fine toned instrument, which was
renovated and greatly improved in the year 1849 by public subscription.
The sittings are neat and appropriate, and admirably arranged, so that
almost every member of the congregation has a view of the officiating
minister. The church stands on the site of a former edifice, which was
in the gothic style of architecture, and which fell down from age and
decay, on July 31st, 1711. The monuments of the Talbots were removed
from the ruins of the old structure into the present edifice, which was
completed in the year 1713. Among the most remarkable of these monuments
is that to our _English Achilles_, _Sir John Talbot_, the first Earl of
Shrewsbury of this family, who was so renowned in France that no man in
that kingdom dared to encounter him single handed. The venerable old
warrior is represented in a recumbent posture, clad in armour, partly
covered by his mantle of the garter; his hands are closed and uplifted,
as if in prayer; his feet rest on a tablet, while his head, encircled by
a coronet, reposes on his brassart. Around the tomb is the following
inscription in black letter:—
“Orate pro anima prænobilis viri, Domini Joanis Talbot quandam
Comitis Salopæ; Domini Furnival, Domini Verdun, Domini Strange de
Blackmere et Marechalli Franciæ; qui obiit in bello apud Berdews. 7
Julii, MCCCCLIII.”
The earl was buried on this spot by his own express desire, and tradition
gives the following interesting story for the circumstance:—In one of his
battles in France, he was struck by an arrow from one of the cross-bows,
and fell severely wounded from his horse. As he was some distance from
any considerable body of his troops, the French soldiers rushed furiously
to seize as a prisoner their most formidable and most dreaded enemy; him
alone whose name carried terror into every castle and cottage through the
broad realm of France;—or, if foiled in that, to finish if possible the
campaign and his career at one blow. His faithful body guard, however,
which was composed of his own immediate followers, those who held lands
of him in Shropshire by feudal service, seeing the danger of their
beloved chief, flew like roused lions to the rescue. A terrific conflict
ensued around, and even over the old warrior who was still lying on the
field. The struggle was maintained with undiminished fury for a
considerable period. The shout of “St. George for Merry Englande,” was
fiercely answered back by the cry of “St. Denis for France.” Each party
fought hand to hand; the casques of the combatants rang with the heavy
blows of the battle-axe. Not only the fate of the present battle, but of
the whole campaign, the war itself depended on the result of the isolated
combat. Many a stalwart Shropshire yeoman shouted from his hoarse throat
his leader’s war cry, “A Talbot, to the rescue!” threw aside his weapon,
which in the thronged _melee_ he had not space to use, and springing
furiously at his adversary, seized him with an iron grip, from which
death alone could liberate him. The conflict ended at last in the entire
defeat of the French; and the earl, to show his gratitude to his brave
followers, many of whom had lost their lives in defending his, told the
survivors that in memory of their courage and devotedness that day, his
body should be buried in the porch of their church; that, as they had
fought and strode over it while living, so should they and their children
for ever pass over and guard it when dead. Sir John Talbot was created
Earl of Shrewsbury by King Henry VI. He was twenty years in the king’s
service abroad, and for his valour had many signal honours bestowed on
him. At the siege of Chastillion his horse was shot under him, and he
being dangerously wounded, died July 20th, 1453, and was buried at Roan
in Normandy, but afterwards removed to Whitchurch.
There is an altar tomb, with a full length alabaster figure in clerical
robes, in memory of Sir John Talbot, rector of Whitchurch, which was also
taken out of the old church. There are various memorials and tablets,
elegantly designed, which our limits will not allow us to notice, in
memory of the Boycotts, Fowlers, Balls, Chetwoods, Sandfords, Longs, and
others. A mural monument remembers Philip Henry, M.A., father of Matthew
Henry, the commentator. The font is of curious workmanship, and dated
1661. The Book of Martyrs, chained to the wall, was the gift of Mr.
Thomas Yates, in the year 1701, for the instruction and use of the
public. An oil painting of the royal arms of England is very ancient;
and there is a fine specimen of embroidery of the arms of England, with a
portrait of Queen Anne, beautifully executed in needlework. The church
is heated by a most perfect hot water apparatus, admirably contrived.
The living is a rectory, with that of Marbury annexed; valued in the
king’s book at £44. 11s. 8d.; now returned at £2,004; in the patronage of
the trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater, and incumbency of the Rev.
William Egerton, M.A.; curates, Rev. Edward Pickering, Rev. John Thomas
Nash, and Rev. Robert R. Turnbull; clerk, Richard Crosse. The rectory is
a commodious and pleasantly situated residence, a short distance from the
church, with pleasure grounds and shrubberies tastefully laid out. There
are 35A. 0R. 17P. of glebe land.
THE BAPTIST CHAPEL stands a little back from the road, near to Greenend
street, and will hold about three hundred hearers. The interior is
neatly pewed, and provided with a gallery. This place of worship is
respectably attended. THE METHODIST CHAPEL, situate in St. Mary’s
street, is a commodious structure which will hold six hundred
worshippers. It is neatly pewed and fitted up with galleries. There is
a Sunday school in connection with this place of worship, which is
numerously attended. The Baptists have also a Sunday school in
connection with their chapel.