November 12th, 1615. His father was an honest and religious man, in
humble circumstances, but a small freeholder; his estate, however, was
very inconsiderable. His son is said to have given strong indications of
that piety and purity which appeared in his subsequent life and
conversation. He passed his infancy at Rowton, under the roof of his
grandfather, and in 1625, when about ten years of age, was removed from
Rowton to his father’s house at Eaton Constantine. He received the chief
portion of his learning at Ludlow, but had not the advantages of an
academical education; when at school he had the use of an excellent
library, which, by his great application, proved of infinite service to
him. His first engagements in life it appears was teaching a free school
at Newport, and he was afterwards appointed master of the free school at
Dudley, with an usher under him. While he taught the school there he
read several practical treatises, by which he was brought to a deep sense
of religion, and having an earnest desire to engage in the ministry, he
in 1638 addressed himself to Dr. Tharnborough, bishop of Worcester, for
holy orders, which, after examination, he received, having at that time
no scruples of conscience which hindered him from conforming to the
Church of England. He shortly after frequently preached at Dudley, and
the neighbouring villages, with great acceptance among his hearers, but
when the _et cætera_ oath came to be imposed, Mr. Baxter applied himself
diligently to study the case of episcopacy as in other instances, the
thing which was intended to fix him to the hierarchy, gave him a dislike
to it. In the year 1640 he accepted the invitation of the bailiffs and
feoffees of Kidderminster to preach there for an allowance of £60 a year.
In the memorable struggles of this period, he sided with the parliament,
and recommended the protestation they directed to be taken by the people.
This exposed him to some inconveniences which obliged him for a time to
retire to Gloucester, but be afterwards returned to Kidderminster and
resumed the work of the ministry. He hindered, as far as it was in his
power, the taking of the covenant, and preached and spoke publicly
against it. When Cromwell assumed the supreme power he was not afraid to
express his dissatisfaction at his tyranny, and in a conference which he
had with him afterwards, stated his views in terms not to be
misunderstood by the Protector. After the restoration he became one of
the king’s chaplains in ordinary, had frequent access to his royal
person, and was always treated by him with peculiar respect. At the
Savoy conference Mr. Baxter assisted as one of the commissioners, and
then drew up the reformed liturgy, which all allow to be an excellent
performance. He was offered the bishopric of Hereford by the Lord
Chancellor Clarendon, which he refused to accept. At this period he
would gladly have returned to his beloved town of Kidderminster, and have
preached there, but this was refused him. When he found himself thus
disappointed, he preached occasionally about the city of London, and
afterwards returned to Acton, in Middlesex, where he went to church every
Lord’s-day, and spent the rest of the day with his family and a few poor
neighbours, in explaining the Scriptures and prayer. His auditors
continued to increase, and shortly after, upon a warrant signed by two
justices, he was committed for six months to New Prison jail. After the
indulgence of 1672 he returned to London, and was one of the Tuesday
lecturers at Pinner’s Hall. He had a Friday lecture at Fetter-lane, but
only preached occasionally on the Sunday. In 1682 he suffered severely
on account of his nonconformity. One day he was suddenly surprised by an
officer, who apprehended him upon a warrant to seize his person for
coming within five miles of a corporate town; producing, at the same
time, five more warrants to distrain for £195 for five sermons. At this
time he lay on a sick bed, but he was dragged before five justices, and
took his oath that he could not go to prison without danger of death.
But the officers executed their warrants on the books and goods in the
house, and even sold the bed on which he lay sick. In 1684 he was bound
in a penalty of £400 to keep the peace, by the justices of Middlesex, and
in the year following he was committed to the King’s Bench prison, by a
warrant from the Lord Chief Justice Jefferies, for his paraphrase on the
New Testament; the trial took place on the 30th of May, when he was found
guilty, and received a severe sentence. In 1686 the king, by the
mediation of Lord Powis, granted him a pardon. After this he settled in
Charter house yard, contenting himself with the exercise of his ministry,
as assistant to Mr. Silvester. He died on the 8th of December, 1691, and
was buried in Christ Church. His remains were followed to the grave by a
large concourse of people of all ranks and qualities, who prudently paid
this last tribute of respect to a great and good man, whose labours
deserved much from true Christians of all denominations. Mr. Baxter was
in several respects one of the most eminent persons of his time; he
preached more sermons, wrote more books, and engaged in more
controversies than any other nonconformist of his age. He spoke,
disputed, and wrote with ease, and discovered the same intrepidity when
he reproved Cromwell, and expostulated with Charles II., as when he
preached to a congregation of mechanics. His works are extremely
voluminous, and they are still held in high estimation. An eminent
divine observes of them, that his practical writings were never mended,
his controversial, seldom refuted. The celebrated Doddridge, in a letter
to a friend in 1723, says, “Baxter is my particular favourite. It is
impossible to tell how much I am charmed with the devotion, good sense,
and pathos, which is every where to be found in him. I cannot forbear
looking upon him as one of the greatest orators, both with regard to
copiousness, acuteness, and energy that our nation hath produced.”
DIRECTORY.—Mrs. Elizabeth Adney, The Hall; John Adney, farmer and
grazier; William Edwards, shopkeeper; George Fowler, beerhouse keeper;
Charles Jukes, maltster and farmer; Samuel Nicklin, boot and shoemaker;
Thomas Nicklin, wheelwright; George Vickers, blacksmith and agricultural
implement maker; John Whitfield, Esq., The Villa farm, and chairman to
the Wellington Poor Law Board of Guardians.
TERN, OR TEARN,
a small township in the parish of High Ercall, with a few houses
delightfully situated two miles S.E. from the parish church, contains
487A. 3R. 13P. of land, of which four acres are in roads and waste; the
river Tern bounds the township on the S.E. At the census in 1841 there
were seven houses and 41 inhabitants. Rateable value, £659. 18s. The
Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor and owner of the land. TERN
HOUSE, a commodious brick residence, occupied by Thomas Juckes, Esq., is
pleasantly situated on a gentle acclivity near the stream of the Tern;
the views it commands of the surrounding country are extensive and
pleasingly diversified. The farm buildings are of considerable extent,
and are provided with all the modern appliances for farming extensively
in the most economical manner.
The principal residents are George Jukes, solicitor, and Thomas Juckes,
Esq.
WALTON
is a township and parish of High Ercall, situated in a delightful part of
the country, about a mile W. by N. from the church; the township contains
855A. 0R. 8P. of land, and in 1841 here were 23 houses and 135
inhabitants; the houses are for the most part scattered on the turnpike
road leading from Ercall to Shawbury. The farm houses are good
residences, occupied by respectable agriculturists. Rateable value of
the township, £969. 12s. The Duke of Cleveland is the proprietor of the
whole township and lord of the manor. WALTON HALL, a structure of
considerable antiquity, composed of timber and brick work, was a place of
no mean pretensions in by-gone days, is now occupied as a farm dwelling.
DIRECTORY.—John Breeze, boot and shoemaker; George Brookes, farmer;
William Hughes, tailor; William Juckes, butcher; William Rogers,
shopkeeper; Edward S. Webster, The Hall Farm; Mrs. Jane Webster, The
Hall; James Wilding, farmer, New House.
EYTON-UPON-THE-WILD-MOORS,
a parish and small village, is pleasantly situated in a retired locality,
two miles and a half north from Wellington. The parish comprises 1,190A.
2R. 37P. of land, and in 1801 had 323 inhabitants; 1831, 350; and in
1841, 389; at the latter period there were 82 houses. Rateable value,
£2,187. 10s. THE CHURCH is a small brick fabric, dedicated to All
Saints. It contains an antique stone font; there is a small gallery at
the west end; the east window contains some fragments of stained glass;
the other windows are ornamented with armorial bearings of the Eyton
family. The living is a rectory united to the vicarage of Wellington.
The celebrated Edward Herbert, Lord Chirbury, was born at this place.
His lordship stood in the highest rank among the public ministers,
historians, and philosophers of the age in which he lived. Lord Herbert
was the first and most candid of our English infidels, and his system of
deism contains less of acrimonious censure of Christianity than that of
any other writer. He was created Knight of the Bath at the accession of
James I. He distinguished himself at the siege of Juliers; and, in 1616,
was sent ambassador to Louis XIII., but was recalled on account of a
dispute between him and the Constable De Luynes. In 1625 he was created
a baron of the kingdom of Ireland, and in 1631 was elevated to the
English peerage. His lordship left a History of Henry VIII., in folio; a
treatise, “De Religione Gentilium um and expedito Buckingami ducis in
Ream Insulam,” and an account of his own life. His lordship was born in
1581 and died in 1648. The present noble family of Powis is descended on
the female side from Lord Herbert, of Chirbury. Granger, in his
“Biographical History of England,” in speaking of his lordship, observes,
“It is hard to say whether his person, his understanding, or his courage,
was the most extraordinary. But the same man was wise and capricious,
redressed wrongs and quarrelled for punctilios; hated bigotry, and was
himself a bigot to philosophy; he exposed himself to such danger as other
men of courage would have carefully declined; and called in question the
fundamentals of a religion which none had the hardiness to dispute
besides himself.” EYTON HALL is a handsome stuccoed residence, with a
piazza in front supported by twelve pillars; it opens into a neatly laid
out garden, beautified with shrubberies; and in front of the hall is a
small park, stocked with deer. It is the seat and property of Thomas
Eyton, Esq., who is the principal landowner and lord of the manor; the
Trustees of Preston Hospital are also proprietors. This parish is
intersected by the Shropshire Union Canal. Among the gentlemen who
compounded for their estates during the Commonwealth, Sir Thomas Eyton,
of Eyton, paid £976.
DIRECTORY.—Thomas Eyton, Esq., The Hall; William Anslow, farmer; Samuel
Cartwright, farmer; Helena Cooke, farmer; Matthew Davies, farmer and
maltster; Richard Edwards, farmer and farm-bailiff to T. Eyton, Esq.;
Mary Jenkins, farmer; John Jones, gardener; Stephen Reynolds, corn
miller; John Robinson, blacksmith, agricultural implement maker, and
parish clerk; Thomas Shuker, saddler.
KINNERSLEY
is a parish and village, in a pleasant situation, three miles and a half
N.N.W. from Wellington, which in 1801 contained 210 inhabitants; in 1841
there were 49 houses and a population of 295 souls. The parish comprises
1,789A. 2R. 36P. of land. Gross estimated rental, £2,720. Rateable
value, £2,443. 3s. There are 104A. 3R. 14P. of woods and plantations,
and 75 acres of glebe land. The Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor
and owner of the land. The village is surrounded by what is called
moor-land, which was enclosed about half a century ago. It has, however,
lost all the characteristics of a moor, and is now chiefly in large
enclosures, and generally good grazing land. About half a mile
north-east from the church there is a large mound, which encloses upwards
of twenty acres of land, and surrounds the premises of the Wall Farm.
This is supposed to have been a British encampment, and to have been
raised before the moors became boggy; for there is no trace of any road
across the moors by which this vast rampart of sand-rock could be
conveyed, which must have been the case, if the moss at those early
periods was as boggy as in after ages. The rampart measures 1,900 yards
in circumference, and is from sixteen to twenty feet in breadth.
THE CHURCH is a small structure, mantled with ivy, and dedicated to St.
Chad. It consists of nave and chancel, with a tower at the west end, in
which are three bells. There is also a small gallery at the west end;
and neat tablets have been erected in memory of the Marriot and Ogle
families. The body of the church is very ancient, but the tower was
erected in 1726. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at
£6. 1s. 8d., now returned at £494. Patron, Duke of Sutherland;
incumbent, Rev. Andrew Burn, M.A. THE RECTORY is an ancient residence,
on the west side of the church-yard. The tithes are commuted for £340.
There is a PAROCHIAL SCHOOL in the village, which is chiefly supported by
the Duke of Sutherland and the Rector.
DIRECTORY.—Rev. Andrew Burn, M.A., The Rectory; Thomas Brown, farmer;
John and Thomas Davies, shoemakers; John Felton, shoemaker; William
Gough, shoemaker; Thomas Hitchin, wheelwright; George Hooper, farmer;
William Hooper, farmer and maltster, Margaret Hughes, farmer, Wall Farm;
Richard Ogle, farmer, Manor House; John Taylor, farmer; William Weston,
farmer; William Weston, blacksmith; Richard Williams, farmer and
victualler, Crown Inn.
LEIGHTON
is a parish and delightful little village, situate on the banks of the
Severn, and near the foot of the Wrekin hill, nine miles S.E. from
Shrewsbury. In 1801 the parish contained 338 inhabitants; 1831, 360; and
in 1841, 80 houses and a population of 403 souls. Rateable value,
£2,691. Robert Gardner, Esq., and Sir George Harnage, Bart., are the
principal landowners. The soil is mostly of a superior quality, and
produces good crops of all kinds of grain. THE CHURCH, dedicated to St.
Mary, is a plain brick structure, situated a short distance from the
village, and consists of nave and chancel, with a small tower, in which
are three bells. In the chancel are several handsome tablets, chiefly in
memory of the Leighton and Kinnersley families, who formerly resided
here, and had large possessions in this locality. The living is a
vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £7. 12s. 6d., now returned at
£224, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. Robert Maddocks. The
salubrious situation of Leighton and the vicinity is proverbial, and
several extraordinary cases of longevity among the inhabitants have
occurred. A short time ago, Stephen Davies was living at the advanced
age of 97 years. He recollected old Sarah Beech, who lived in this
parish, and died about the year 1738 at the age of 106 years, and who had
a sister that lived to the age of 103 years. Stephen Davies had then a
brother living at Wroxeter of the age of 96 years.
GARMSTONE is a hamlet, in the parish of Leighton.
CHARITIES—_Ann Lacon_, by her will, left £15 a-year for ever to the poor
of Leighton, Sheinton, and Buildwas, to be given to four poor persons of
each parish. This gift is secured on a messuage and lands at Much
Wenlock, and the moiety belonging to this parish is divided equally among
four of the poor inhabitants, _Richard Leighton_, _Esq._, left the sum of
£100, the interest to be distributed by the minister and churchwardens
for the time being among the poor of the parish on Candlemas-day. This
bequest, and several other legacies amounting to £8, were placed out
about sixty years ago upon the security of the tolls arising from the
turnpike road which passes through Leighton, the interest of which, £5.
8s., is distributed in small sums among the poor on Candlemas-day.
DIRECTORY.—John Bagley, tailor; John Barnet, victualler, Barnet’s Grove;
Job Basnett, farmer; Rev. Frederick Burd, curate; John Drury, farmer;
John Evans, corn-miller; Daniel Everall, farmer; Thomas Everall, farmer;
James Farmer, corn-miller; Robert Gardner, Esq., Leighton Hall; Thomas
Gervis, farmer, Garmston; Sir George Harnage, Bart.; Harry C. Jeffries,
farmer, Garmston; John Machin, farmer, Eye Farm; Thomas Richards, farmer;
Isaac Shepherd, farmer, Longwood; Thomas Tart, tailor.
LILLESHALL
is a parish in the Newport division of the South Bradford hundred, which
comprises the townships of Lilleshall, Donington, and Muxton, and
embraces 6,111A. 3R. 9P. of land. In 1801 the parish had a population of
2,060 souls; 1831, 3,596; and in 1841 there were 708 houses and 3,851
inhabitants. Rateable value, £12,034. 1s. 8d. The Duke of Sutherland is
lord of the manor, and owner of the whole parish, except about half a
dozen acres, the property of Mr. John Bradborn, in the township of
Muxton. The village of Lilleshall is pleasantly situated on the
acclivity of a hill, three miles south-west from Newport. The township
in 1841 contained 155 houses and 795 inhabitants; the houses are
scattered, and the population find employment in the extensive collieries
and iron works with which the vicinity abounds. THE CHURCH is a
venerable structure mantled with ivy, and dedicated to St. Mary; in the
tower is a peal of six bells. On the north side of the chancel is an
altar tomb, with two full length figures, in memory of dame Catherine
Leveson and Sir Richard Leveson: the former died March 31st, 1674, and
the latter June 2nd, 1661. The old font, about twenty years ago, was
used as a cistern to a pump at Lilleshall old hall; it was removed by the
late vicar, and now stands at the west end of the church. The living is
a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £6. 17s. 11d.; now returned at
£338; in the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland; incumbent, Rev. Henry
George Bunsen; curate, Rev. Thomas Bucknall Lloyd. On Lilleshall Hill,
in this parish, a monument was erected in 1839, to the memory of the
first Duke of Sutherland; on June 20th, 1839, it was struck with
lightning, and sustained considerable damage; but it was shortly after
put in a state of complete reparation. On the north side is the
following inscription.—
To the memory of
George Granville Leveson Gower, K G
First Duke of Sutherland,
The most just and generous of landlords.
This monument is erected
by the occupiers of his Grace’s Shropshire farms,
as a public testimony that he
went down to the grave with the blessings
of his tenants on his head,
and left behind him upon his estates
the best inheritance which a gentleman of England
can bequeath to his son:
men ready to stand by his house
heart and hand.
On the south side of the monument is the inscription, “Let all the ends
thou aimest at be thy country’s, thy God’s, and truth’s.” It is related
that at the trial of Queen Caroline, the Lord Chancellor Eldon, in his
charge to the peers, told them to “Be just and fear not,” when the Duke
of Sutherland immediately rose from his place in the house and declared
that he echoed the sentiments of his noble and learned friend on the wool
sack, and would copy the immortal bard still farther by saying, “Let all
the ends thou aimest at be thy country’s, thy God’s, and truth’s.” This
was the occasion of the inscription being placed on the monument. The
obelisk was designed by Sir Francis Chantrey.
His Grace, in March, 1803, succeeded to the trust estates and canal of
his maternal uncle, the late Duke of Bridgewater, and in October in the
same year, by the death of his father, he became Marquis of Stafford, and
entered into possession of the paternal estates of the Leveson branch of
the family, in Staffordshire and Shropshire, and to the ancient patrimony
of the Gowers of Yorkshire. For some time he filled the office of
postmaster general, and was ambassador to the court of France at the
commencement of the revolution in that country. His titles were George
Grenville, Duke of Sutherland, Marquis of the County of Stafford, Earl
Gower, Viscount Trentham, Baron Gower of Sittenham, and a baronet. His
Grace was also a Knight of the Garter, and a Privy Councillor. Among the
near relations of the Duke of Sutherland may be enumerated the
distinguished families of Bedford, Rutland, Lansdowne, Marlborough,
Dorset, Kingston, Waldegrave, Jersey, Thanet, and Warwick. The
Shropshire estates of the Duke of Sutherland are upwards of 20,000 acres.
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL, a plain brick structure a little south from the
church, has an attendance of about eighty boys and sixty girls. It is
supported by the Duke of Sutherland and a small charge from each scholar.
There are about three roods of garden ground attached to the school,
which is divided into twenty allotments, and cultivated by twenty of the
senior scholars for their own benefit.
LILLESHALL ABBEY.—In a solitary and retired situation, about a mile south
from the church, may be seen the ruins of Lilleshall Abbey. At the great
western entrance is a fine Norman arch, richly recessed with ribs and
running foliage. The pillars and arches of the church have been entirely
destroyed, but the doors and windows still remain. The south door, by
which a communication was formed with the cloister, is doubtless one of
the most highly ornamented arches in the kingdom. A semi-circular arch,
overspread with ornaments peculiar to the Saxon and early Norman
buildings, is supported by clusters of slender shafts, some of which are
spiral, and others covered with lozenge work, having the intermediate
spaces embellished with mouldings. The east window of the choir has a
beautiful pointed arch of the fourteenth century, and the north and south
windows are narrow plain, and round headed. The walls of the refectory
have been converted into a residence. The church was cruciform, and had
probably two towers: one in the centre and the other at the west end; the
breadth of the nave is thirty-six feet, and the length two hundred and
twenty-eight feet. The boundary wall of the abbey encompassed several
acres, and in some parts is still entire. The ruins of the abbey are
scattered over a large space, and the walls, which in some parts are
mantled with ivy, are of considerable height, and the fragments of superb
workmanship still to be seen show it to have been a place of great
magnificence and architectural grandeur. The stalls of the choir at the
dissolution were removed to the collegiate church of Wolverhampton, where
they now remain. Richard de Belmeis, says Bishop Tanner, the last dean
of the collegiate church of St. Alkmund, in Shrewsbury, about the year
1145, with the consent of pope Eugenius and King Stephen, surrendered up
that church with all the lands and churches belonging to the same to the
use of some regular canons of the order of St. Augustine, who came from
Dorsetshire and began to build an abbey to the honour of the blessed
virgin, upon one of the prebendal estates, here in the wood of
Lilleshall, to which his kinsman, Philip de Belmeis was an early and
great benefactor. Other authorities state that in the time of the Saxon
dynasty a religious house was dedicated here to the use of secular canons
or prebendaries, and afterwards became a nunnery, which was reduced to a
state of desolation by the predatory incursions of the Welsh tribes, and
it so continued until about the year 1145. Among the principal
benefactors to this abbey were Alanta Zouche John le Strange, who gave
the church of Hulme; and Hillaria de Trussebut, the wife of Robert de
Bulders, who gave certain lands, and directed her body to be buried
within the precincts of the abbey. In the 34th Henry III. the abbot had
leave to grub up twenty-three acres in the woods of Lilleshall, and in
the 7th of Edward to make an assart of the wood near Watling street, in
the forest of Wombridge. In the 11th of Edward I. the abbot had leave to
make a park. The abbey was endowed at subsequent periods by different
pious individuals, and the annual income at the general dissolution of
religious houses was valued at £229. 3s. per annum. On account of the
situation of this monastery, near the Chester road, the abbots were
sometimes known to complain that their income was too scanty to entertain
the continual influx of visitors that travelled that road.
CHARITIES.—_Sir Richard Leveson_, by will, dated 5th of November, 1660,
gave to the poor people inhabiting the parish of Lilleshall a rent charge
of £5 per annum, issuing out of certain lands called Kainton Meadow. The
Marquis of Stafford pays this gift yearly, which is distributed on St.
Thomas’s-day by the minister and churchwardens. There is a piece of land
still called Kainton Meadow, which is no doubt the land charged by the
testator.