A. (_Page 7._) MORF FOREST.
There are so many references to the Forest of Morf in the early history
of Bridgnorth, that it may be well, for the information of the reader,
to append the following interesting description of it, given by Mr.
Eyton, in the 3rd. Vol. of his _Antiquities_, p. 212.
“Where now the Counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, and
Worcestershire converge, there was once a vast region of Forest, not
confined to one bank of a succession of lakes and marshes which we
now know as the Valley of the Severn, but stretching away for miles
eastward and westward. The Severn itself was in one place a land-locked
and sluggish stream; in another a series of rivulets struggling
on, with no concentrated force, amid the various impediments which
uncontrolled nature had crowded on its course. Its fits of wintry and
swollen fury, like human passions, re-acted upon themselves; for the
giant oak, which to-day was torn from its bank and plunged in the
torrent, lay on the morrow athwart the subsiding stream, an additional
element of its future bondage.
“The region, whose chief features I thus imagine, seems to have been
known to the Britons as _Coed_, or forest—the forest, that is, _par
excellence_ of this part of England.
“When we read of the Forests of Morf, Kinver, and Wyre, we get notions
of extent which must be added one to the other before we can realize
any idea of the more ancient _Coed_; for the _Coed_ was the parent of
the other three, and they perhaps not its only constituents.
“I am now to speak of Morf Forest more particularly, and, though I
cannot indicate the precise time at which it was separated from its
associates, we shall not err in ascribing the change to an increasing
population, and the Saxon devotion to agriculture.
“In the earliest stage of its self-existence, Morf Forest can be
ascertained to have been at least eight miles in length, while its
greatest width was more problematically about six. Its known, because
afterwards maintained, northern boundary rested upon the Worf, for
some miles before that stream falls into the Severn. Its south-eastern
extremity is determined by its name, taken from the Staffordshire
Village of Morf, where commenced that interval which gradual change had
interposed between the Forests of Morf and Kinver.
“By still further compression of its southern boundaries, and by large
clearances within its area, Morf Forest had, at the Norman Conquest,
been altered both in extent and character. But the Forest ground,
though alternated with cornfields and villages, was still very great,
and very great it remained for more than two centuries afterwards.”
* * * * *
The final perambulation of this Forest was made in the reign of
Edward I, A.D., 1300; and it will be a matter of interest to those
who know the locality, to trace its ancient boundaries, as given in
the document, which was published after the survey was made. It is
furnished by Mr. Eyton in p. 219, and is as follows:—
“From Pendlestones Mulne (Pendleston Mill), going up by the Severn to
where Worgh (Worf) falls into Severn[75]: and so going up along the
bank of Worgh to Worth-brugg (Worf-bridge), and going up thence along
the said bank to Rindeleford-brugg (Rindleford-bridge): and so going
up along the bank to Chirle, and upwards still to Chirlefordes-brugg;
and so along the highway to the _vill_ of Hulton (Hilton), and thence
by a certain road to Woghbrokesheth, and so straight along the
Stoni-strete[76] to Apewardes Castle,[77] and so along the boundary
between the Counties of Salop and Stafford to the Chirlesok: and thence
direct between the King’s _demesne_ in his Manor of Claverley, and
the fields of Whittimere, Borhton (Broughton), Bebrugg (Beobridge),
and Gatacre, to the Cover of Morf. And so through the said Cover to
the Blackewalle at the Oldefield, and thence to the Shirevelydyat:
and thence by the Crosweyslone (Crossways-lane) to the hedge of the
Brodenewelonde: and thence straight to Fililode, and so between
the hedge and the Lythe to Trugge-put. And so going down by a
certain water-course to the Stonibrugge of Wodeton (Stone-bridge of
Wooton), and so along a water-course to Wynelesford; and thence by
the highway to Mose-lydyat, and thence to Halyweyes-lydyat; and so
by a certain path to the Hethenedich, going down by the Hethenedich
to the weir (gurgitem) of Quatford: and so going up by the Severn to
a certain ancient ditch, between the field of Brugge and the _vill_
of Quatford: and along the highway to the House of the Lepers of St.
James of Brugge: and thence right to a certain ancient ditch under
the Gyhet (Gibbet-Hill); and so straight to Baconescroft, going down
to Tissengecros; and so by the highway going up to Pendestanes Mulne,
where the first boundary of the said _bosc_ begins. The Perambulators
also declare that John de Hastinges holds Rughtone (Roughton),
Barndelegh (Bradney), Hocoumbe, Swanecot, Burcote, and Bromlegh; John
de Astlegh holds the Manor of Northlegh (Nordley); John Fitz Philip
holds the _vill_ of Mose; and the Dean of Brugge holds the _vill_ of
Quatford,—all within the bounds of the said Forest.”[78]
[75] “The original and natural confluence of the Worf with the Severn
was much higher than at Pendleston Mill.”
[76] “The Roman Road before alluded to.”
[77] “Now Abbot’s Castle Hill.”
[78] “Salop Chartulary. No. 279.”
B. (_Page 22._) BRIDGNORTH CASTLE.
The sole remaining fragment of this Castle was very carefully examined
and measured by King, the author of “_Munimenta Antiqua_”; in which
work he gives the following description of it. (pp. 346-7) He was of
opinion indeed that it was a Saxon fortress; but in this he must have
been mistaken, as the testimony of history is very clear as to the
fact, that it was erected by the Norman Earl, Robert de Belesme.
“The exceeding solidity of whose structure [the leaning Tower] has
defied the decay of ages, the blast of gunpowder, and the continually
active force of gravity, notwithstanding it is apparently in a
tottering state.... It evidently contained three apartments, one above
another, each of which were of small dimensions, being only 23 feet 10
inches in length, and 21 feet 2 inches in breadth, and the entrance was
manifestly by an arched doorway up a flight of steps on the outside,
The marks of the places for the timbers supporting every floor are
still visible.... The walls are between 8 and 9 feet thick, or rather
more, but not quite uniformly so on each side; for the external measure
of the Tower is nearly about 41½ feet square. The outside wall next the
town has not even a loophole in it. This side however is very oddly
covered with iron hooks, which are said by tradition to have been
placed there so late as in the time of Charles I., during the civil
wars, to hang wool packs upon, in order to protect the walls from the
effects of the cannon: but as this tale is not credible, and the hooks
themselves have the appearance of being much more ancient, they serve
rather to remind one of a savage custom which sometimes prevailed in
early ages, of fastening the bodies of enemies slain on the outside of
the walls of fortresses.”