Vicar’s field on Cyrn-y-bwch.
_Opegrapha chevallieri_—Craigforda.
,, _saxatilis_—Ditto.
_Lecanactis lyncea_—Llanforda.
_Sphærophoron coralloides_—Craigforda.
,, _b. cæspitosum_—Ditto.
_Endocarpon miniatum_—Ditto.
,, _læte-virens_—Mynydd-y-myfyr.
,, _rufo-virescens_—Craigforda.
_Verrucaria plumbea_—Pentregaer, and Craig-y-Rhu.
,, _gemmifera_—Craigforda.
,, _umbrosa_—Ditto.
,, _codonoidea_—Craig-y-Rhu.
,, _immersa_—Craigforda.
,, _epipolœa_—Treflach, Trefonen, and Craig-y-Rhu.
_Pyrenothea leucocephala_—Park Sychant.
_Variolaria conspurcata_—Limestone rocks, Craig-y-Rhu.
,, _globulifera_—Upon an old ash tree at Craig-y-Rhu.
_Urceolaria calcarea_—Limestone rocks, Pentregaer.
_Lecidea morio_—Upon the loose stones under the Tower at Pentregaer.
,, _lapicida_—Mynydd-y-myfyr.
,, _premnea_—Upon an old oak in Middleton lane.
_Lecidea griffithsia_—Treflach, near Woodhill
,, _aromatica_—Wall in Llanforda lane, just under the house.
,, _enteroleuca_—The saxicolar form—same habitat as above.
,, _synothea_—Upon an old gate-post near Treflach Hall.
,, _immersa_—Limestone rocks, Pentregaer.
,, _pruinosa_—Wall in the lane below the house at Llanforda.
,, _speirea_—Limestone rocks, Pentregaer.
,, _incompta_—Elm-trees in the Church-yard at Oswestry; and upon a wych
elm at the Hayes.
,, _canescens_—Occasionally found about Oswestry; but not common.
,, _quernea_—Pentreshanel and Llanforda.
,, _œruginosa_—Upon an old gate-post, Treflach Hall.
,, _quadricolor_—Mynydd-y-Myfyr.
,, _rupestris_—Limestone rocks, Moelydd, &c.
,, _pineti_—Llanforda (scarce).
,, _lutea_—Llanforda.
,, _polytropa_—Mynydd-y-myfyr.
,, _lucida_—Pentreshanel, and other places.
,, _erythrella_—Llanforda.
,, _cœruleo_—_nigricans_—Moelydd.
_Lecanora rubra_—Craig-y-Rhu (very scarce).
,, _hæmatomma_—Craigforda.
,, _crassa_—Moelydd and Craig-y-Rhu.
,, _candicans_—Pentregaer.
,, _repanda_—Pentregaer.
_Parmelia glomulifera_—Upon a single tree in Llanforda (2nd Park).
,, _Borreri_—Upon oak trees opposite to the house at Woodhill.
,, _conspersa_—Craigforda.
,, _pityrea_—Upon a decayed oak near Old Port; and upon trees opposite to
the house at Trafalgar.
,, _aquila_—Mynydd-y-myfyr, upon a single isolated piece of rock on the
south end of the hill. This is a very unusual habitat for this plant,
which is usually a marine lichen.
,, _cæsia_—In fruit; but rarely at Pentregaer and other places.
_Sticta pulmonaria_—Pentregaer.
_Collema fragrans_—Llanforda and Pentregaer.
,, _ceranoides_—Llanforda and Pentregaer.
,, _multipartitum_—Moelydd.
,, _marginale_—Pentregaer.
,, _tunœforme_—Pentregaer.
,, _dermatinum_—Pentregaer.
,, _muscicola_—Pentreshanel.
_Peltidea scutata_—In fruit upon ash trees at Pentregaer.
_Peltidea aphthosa_—Craigforda; at the bottom of the wood a little above
the brook (scarce).
,, _spuria_—Upon a hedge bank, near Aston.
_Gyrophora polyphylla_—Mynydd-y-myfyr (scarce).
_Borrera furfuracea_—Mynydd-y-myfyr.
_Cenomyce cæspititia_—Craigforda.
_Cornicularia aculeata_—Craigforda.
CHARACCÆ.
_Chara hispida_—Ditches above Morda Pool.
ALGÆ.
_Ulva calophylla_—Walls of Oswestry church; east end and lower part of
the wall in the great walk; but not found every year.
,, _crispa_—Oswestry church-yard; and other places about the town.
_Lemania fluviatilis_—In the Morda.
_Zygnema nitidum_—In the lane by the cottage at Porkington.
_Batrachospermum moniliforme_—In the well at Pen-y-lan; and in other
places near the Morda.
_Draparnaldia plumosa_—In the Morda, below Penylan bridge.
_Meloseira varians_—In the Morda, below Craigforda, and below Penylan
bridge.
_Fragilaria hyemalis_—In the Morda, below Craigforda.
_Diatoma vulgare_—In the Morda.
,, _flocculosum_—In the pool, in the wood, at Llanforda.
_Meridion circulare_—In the well at Penylan; and in a ditch near the
Morda, above Morda pool.
_Cymbella minor_—Penylan mill.
FUNGI.
_Agaricus rubescens_—In the shrubbery at Porkington.
,, _cristatus_—Craigforda.
,, _phyllophilus_—Craigforda.
,, _laccatus_—_b. amethystinus_—Craigforda.
,, _clavus_—Blodwel woods.
,, _galericulatus_—Llanforda.
,, _stellatus_—Llanforda (rare).
,, _disseminatus_—Near the Lawnt.
_Cantharellus cibarius_—By the lower pool, at Porkington.
_Dædalea betulina_—In a timber yard at Oswestry.
_Polyporus sulphureus_—On the yew trees in the church-yard, at Oswestry;
but not found every year.
,, _salicinus_—On stumps of trees, near Penylan mill.
_Polyporus abietinus_—On fir poles at Treflach.
,, _scoticus_—Llanforda, in the wood above the garden.
,, _incarnatus_—Upon broom by the pool in the wood, at Llanforda.
_Fistulina hepatica_—Upon a Pollard oak, at Penylan.
_Thelephora purpurea_—Llanforda.
_Thelephora quercina_—Llanforda.
,, _lactescens_—Llanforda
,, _incrustans_—Upon an old felled trunk below Penylan Bridge.
,, _incarnata_—On laburnum in the wood, by the pool at Llanforda.
_Clavaria rugosa_—Llanforda.
_Peziza reticulata_—Penylan.
,, _aurantia_—Upon the stump of a tree near Trafalgar.
,, _humosa_—Upon an old mossy trunk at Llynclys pool.
,, _anomala_—Llanforda.
,, _cyathoidea_—On stems of herbaceous plants, Oswestry.
,, _cinerea_—On fallen branches, Oswestry.
_Bulgaria sarcoides_—On an old stump at Llanforda.
_Exidia glandulosa_—Llanforda.
_Næmatelia encephala_—On larch and fir rails in Llanforda park (scarce).
_Sclerotium scutellatum_—On oak leaves at Llanforda.
_Phallus caninus_—On an old stump by the pool, in the wood, at Llanforda
(scarce).
_Sphæria concentrica_—Upon an old ash tree at Maesbury.
,, _multiformis_—On rails in Llanforda (first park), and at Craigforda.
,, _nummularia_—Upon an ash tree near Penylan bridge.
,, _lata_—On dry wood near Penylan mill.
,, _leiphæmia_—On dead oak branches, Oswestry.
,, _laburni_—On laburnum, Oswestry.
,, _cupularis_—On lime branches, Oswestry.
,, _elongata_—On broom, Llanforda.
,, _yuccæ_—On yucca glancescens, Oswestry.
,, _sanguinea_—On timber, at Llanforda.
,, _moriformis_—On an old tree under the Blodwel rocks.
,, _pulvis-pyrius_—Llanforda.
,, _eutypa_—On a dead tree near Llwynymaen.
_Phacidium patella_—About Oswestry.
_Scleroderma vulgare_—Woods at Llanforda and Porkington.
_Lycogala epidendrum_—Llanforda.
_Reticularia umbrina_—On a decayed larch pole, Oswestry.
_Trichia fallax_—Llanforda.
,, _clavata_—Llanforda.
,, _turbinata_—Llanforda.
_Trichoderma viride_—On fallen trees, Oswestry.
_Tubercularia granulata_—On lime branches, Oswestry.
_Torula antennata_—On fallen timber, Llanforda.
_Puccinia saxifragarum_—On adoxa moschatellina; lanes about Oswestry.
_Æcidium violæ_—Mynydd-y-myfyr.
_Uredo scillarum_—Llanforda.
Geology, &c.
The town of Oswestry is situated upon and near the southern termination
of the North Wales Coal Field, which extends a little farther south of
the town, and, north-west, through Ruabon, Brymbo, Flint, Mostyn, and on
to the sea, near the Great Ormshead. Running parallel, and lying at the
back, or to the west of these coal-measures, is the great belt of
mountain limestone, commencing at Llanymynech Hill, and extending also,
north-westerly, to the Ormshead, and from thence dipping into the sea.
The metalliferous character of the district is distinguished for the
production of lead, copper, and zinc. Trials have been made for minerals
at Treflach Wood, and portions of carbonate and sulphuret of copper, of
average qualities, have been found, but not in sufficient quantities to
justify extended operations. At Llanymynech Hill both copper and lead,
sulphurets and carbonates, with carbonate of zinc, or calamine, have been
raised in large quantities by various companies, and occasionally the
ores have reached a high per centage, ranging from five to twenty-five
per cent. The ores are found in beds or flats, at from thirty to fifty
yards from the surface, and lying between, and running parallel with, the
strata of limestone that inclose them. It is an extraordinary fact, that
the metalliferous belt of limestone abruptly terminates at the south end
of the hill, and cannot be traced farther. Proceeding west, at the back
of Oswestry, in Treflach Wood, there are some fine beds of Derbyshire
marble or entrochal limestone, that have been worked for mantle-pieces
and other ornamental purposes.
Trials have been made, and small quantities of lead and copper found in
this limestone belt, extending to Minera, including the Eglwyseg range
which bounds a portion of the Vale of Llangollen, near to Ruabon.
The Minera district is too well known for its rich mineral products,
especially of lead and zinc, to require particular notice, and the same
may be said of the Mold, Halkin, and Holywell mineral formation, passing
on with continued fine mineral deposits, to Talargoch, near Prestatyn, in
Flintshire.
The coal-measures in the district of Oswestry abound in fossils,
_Lepidodendrons_, _Sigillaria_, _Stigmaria_, and _Calamites_, &c.; and
the carboniferous limestone is much more prolific of that class of
fossiliferous productions which usually accompany the old mountain
limestone.
The application of capital and scientific labour to mining operations,
during the last ten years, has given to the district an active and
business-like character, and brought with it a large increase to the
working population. At Llanymynech Hill, in addition to mining
operations, there are annually raised about 60,000 tons of limestone,
which is chiefly used for farming purposes in Montgomeryshire and
Shropshire. At Porth-y-Waen rocks, in the same range, there is nearly
the same quantity of limestone raised. The united quantities hewn and
blasted from these vast limestone rocks produce about 70,000 tons of
burnt lime, thus showing the extended use now made of limestone in the
cultivation of farm lands in the immediate district.
The manufacture of iron is most extensively carried on in Ruabon parish,
principally by the New British Iron Company, the quantity of good bar
iron made amounting on the average to 350 tons per week. These works
give employment to about 2,500 people, men and boys. The Company works
its own collieries, and consumes nearly all the coal its numerous pits
produce. In the same parish there are two extensive manufactories, for
the conversion of the ores of calamine and black jack (carbonate and
sulphuret of zinc) into zinc or spelter, and at each of these places from
twenty to thirty tons of these metals are made.
The coals raised from the coal-fields in and around Oswestry, worked by
Messrs. Croxon and others, amount to about 40,000 tons per annum; whilst
nearly 250,000 tons are raised in the Ruabon district, and a much larger
quantity at Brymbo.
At Minera a powerful Company is actively engaged in working the old mines
that produced so much ore during the former operations upon them. These
mines were closed from the influx of water, and the inadequacy of the
machinery then employed to carry it off. The present Company have, with
an enterprising spirit, adopted the highest class of machinery, and
employed the best mining talent that could be procured. By these means,
which have called forth the application of at least £50,000 to this
gigantic undertaking, the Company has fortunately succeeded in
discovering rich veins of lead-ore, which produce from 100 to 150 tons
per month. Other mining companies are also largely engaged in the
district, some of which are producing large quantities of lead-ore.
Biography.
OSWESTRY, although not the birth-place of many distinguished men, has
amongst its present population some “choice spirits,” men born not,
perhaps, to wield “the fierce democracy,” or to attract the nation’s
glare by the display of brilliant talents, yet who possess the happy art
of imparting sterling benefits to their fellow-men, and scattering
blessings all around them. We could point to gentlemen, still honourably
connected with the borough, whose good names must be well-deserved,
because they have been earned among their fellow-citizens. The borough
has nevertheless extended education to several eminent characters, and
been the chosen residence of many others. The names of Kenyon, Charles
W. W. Wynn, West, Parker, Longueville, Lloyd, Donne, and Dovaston, are
still cherished with grateful recollections, their talents and labours
having been ably exercised for the social benefit and intellectual
advancement of the town.
We subjoin a few sketches of worthies that did the “State some service,”
and whose connection with Oswestry claims for them a notice in these
pages:—
DR. THOMAS BRAY, an eminently pious and learned divine of the 17th
century, was educated in Oswestry. He was afterwards entered of Hart
Hall, Oxford, took his degree of Master of Arts there, was chosen by Dr.
Compton, Bishop of London, to model the infant church at Maryland, and
afterwards took the degree of Doctor in Divinity. He returned from
Maryland, after a long and useful residence there, and rendered immense
service to the cause of foreign missions, by his numerous publications
and remarkable personal exertions. He closed a useful life in 1730,
having reached the age of seventy-three years. He was born at Marton, in
Salop.
JOHN FREEMAN MILWARD DOVASTON, M.A.—The death of this sweet poet,
accomplished musician, and profound naturalist, occurred in August, 1854.
Mr. Dovaston was not a native of Oswestry, but his birth-place
(Westfelton) being so near to the borough, and his social connexion with
it so constant and intimate during the whole of his life, that he may
fairly be ranked among the celebrities of the town. He was the only son
of John Dovaston, Esq., of “The Nursery,” at Westfelton, a man also of
great natural talents, and who was distinguished for his science,
learning and ingenuity. The subject of our present notice was educated
for the Bar, but having a dislike for the profession, and possessing an
ample property left by his father, he preferred a life of literary
leisure, amid the charming scenery in his neighbourhood, to the wordy war
and the feverish excitement of forensic ambition. In his sylvan retreat
he sought amusement and instruction from the glories of nature so
profusely scattered around him, and with the pure taste of the poet and
philosopher, found
“Sermons in stones,
Tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
And good in every thing.”
In early life he published a volume entitled “Fitz-Gwarine and other
poems,” to which he made considerable additions in later years. He also
published an able discourse on Natural History, and contributed two
lectures on Music and National Melody. He was the author of a most
interesting sketch of Bewick, the clever wood-engraver, whom Mr. Dovaston
styled “the celebrated xyographer and illustrator of nature;” wrote
several prologues and epilogues to histrionic performances for charitable
purposes; and employed his graceful pen so long as Providence gave him
mental and bodily strength. For several years, however, he was confined
to his bed, and died at the age of 72 years. His education was commenced
at Oswestry Free Grammar School, to which Institution he reverts, in the
pride of his manhood and the fervent inspiration of the poet; and
subsequently he was removed to Shrewsbury School, where he remained for
some years, under the able tuition of Dr. Butler, afterwards Bishop of
Lichfield. Mr. Dovaston’s poetic genius led him almost entirely into the
realms of nature. His ardent fancy revelled amid flowers and trees,
murmuring rivulets and mountain torrents, or roamed among “boxen bowers”
and greenwood shades, where no sounds are heard but the drowsy hum of
bees, the joyous notes of the mavis or the lark, or the plaintive
warblings of his “bonny robin.” His metrical romance of “Fitz-Gwarine”
gives evidence of high descriptive power; and his Ballad, entitled “Bala
Water,” will bear comparison with the best stanzas of Scott. His works
will live in the district in which they were written, comprising as they
do so many local allusions; but had his muse soared to loftier themes, he
would, in all probability, have transmitted to posterity a name which the
lovers of song throughout the land would have delighted to honour. Never
having been married, he left a considerable property, which is now in the
possession of his relation, John Dovaston, Esq.
GUTO (Y GLYN,) or _Griffith_, of _Glyn_, having been elected a burgess of
Oswestry, is entitled from that distinction, as well as from his genius
as a poet, to a brief notice. We have already quoted from his quaint
description of Oswestry, but we shall now give it entire, as it was this
production of his muse that procured for him the honour of enrolment as a
burgess of the town. He was a native of Llangollen, and domestic bard to
the Abbot of Llanegwestl, or Valle Crucis, near that town, to whom
several of his poems are addressed. He is represented as witty and
social, and was an acceptable guest at the halls of the Welsh nobility
and gentry in his triennial visitations through the Principality. His
gentle muse must have been more than ordinarily gracious when he poured
forth such mellifluous strains as the following, in honour of Oswestry:—
“Oswestry is the liberal, the best endowed of cities;
The beloved of heaven that draws me to it.
_Oswestry_ the strong fort of conquerors; the _London_ of Powys;
Where the houses are well stored with wine, and the land is rich.
Its school is celebrated, and its city for preachers and men of
science.
GOD is present in its beautiful temple—
A church adorned with rich chalices,
And with bells and a rich-toned organ.
No better choir is there from it to Canterbury:
None in which there is correcter singing,
Or the habilments more suitable.
To _White Minster_ I know no convent superior.
The handsomest and best-dressed women are those of Oswestry.
It resembles Cheapside in merchandize,
And its people are honest and unanimous.
GOD’S grace be with the city, and those that dwell therein;
May GOD be its guardian and kind preserver.”
HUMPHREY HUMPHREYS, D.D., an eminent prelate, born November 24th, 1648,
was for some years placed at the Free School of Oswestry, under the care
of his uncle, Humphrey Wynn, A.M., who was master of the school and vicar
of the parish. Bishop Humphreys was an able Welsh antiquary, and wrote
some memoirs of eminent Welshmen, in addition to those contained in
Wood’s _Athenæ Oxonienses_, printed in the last edition of that work, and
in the first volume of the _Cambrian Register_. “He was a person of
excellent virtues during the whole course of his life, and in his latter
years of a piety so extraordinary, as has but few examples.”
THOMAS JONES, son of John Williams, was born in Oswestry, and
distinguished himself as an able defender of the Protestant faith.
Having received his early education in his native town, he was entered at
Jesus College, Oxford, at the commencement of the rebellion, but he left
the University soon after, and returned when Oxford was surrendered to
the Parliament, in 1646. He became Fellow of University College, by
authority, of the parliamentary visitors, in 1648, and was remarkably
zealous in the republican cause. He took the degree of M.A. in the year
following, and in 1655 became rector of Castell Caerinion, in
Montgomeryshire, where he acquired a knowledge of the Welsh language, to
serve those parts where the orthodox clergy were rejected. His
subsequent life was marked by strong zeal against papacy, and in an
action for slander brought against him by Dr. Morley, Bishop of
Winchester, whom he charged as a promoter of popery, he was fined £300,
and the rectory of Llandyrnog, to which he had been appointed, was
sequestered for the payment of it. He continued this severe course of
polemic warfare, and published several other works, amongst which, in
1682, “Elymas the Sorcerer; or a memorial towards the discovery of the
bottom of this Popish Plot.” This effusion exposed him to much
persecution, and would have subjected him to further punishment, had he
not escaped by his decease, which occurred at Totteridge, Herts, in the
same year.
HUMPHREY KYNASTON, surnamed _The Wild_.—This remarkable man, whose
exploits would furnish skilful romance-writers with materials for at
least three entertaining volumes, was not a native of Oswestry, but as
there is a tradition that his first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of
Meredydd ab Hywel ab Morris, of Oswestry, and another that she was
Margaret, daughter of William Griffith, of Oswestry, called Coch-William,
or the _Red_, we have deemed his history worthy of brief narration in
this volume. Kynaston was son of Sir Roger Kynaston, of Hordley, by
Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Grey, Earl of Tankerville, by Antigony,
daughter of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. The enormous debts he
contracted by his imprudent life and conduct caused him to be outlawed,
upon which he fled from Middle Castle, his usual place of residence, but
which he had so neglected that it was falling into ruins, and sheltered
himself in a cave in the western point of Nesscliff Rock, called to this
day _Kynaston’s Cave_. The cave is large, and divided into two rooms by
a pillar of the rock, upon which is carved “H. K. 1564.” Yorke says of
him, that “he was a gentleman of many strange pranks, still the talk of
the neighbouring peasantry. The cave in the rock, at Nesscliff, called
Kynaston’s Cave, was the retreat of himself and mad companions. He was
outlawed the sixth of Henry VII., pardoned the next year, and died in
1531.” Kynaston’s career was brief, but his exploits and vagaries within
the short period of twelve months filled the country round with
enthusiastic reports of his courage and semi-madness. His horse,
somewhat resembling the notorious Turpin’s “Black Bess,” seemed to have
an instinctive knowledge of his master’s love of daring adventure.
Tradition states that this animal was stalled in the cave, the ascent to
which was by a flight of steps, and that when he was grazing in any of
the fields below, on hearing his master’s whistle, he would immediately
attend to the summons, ascend the steps of the cave, and kneel at
Humphrey’s bidding. Kynaston is represented as no common outlaw, and
that in all his depredatory warfare he ever regarded a sort of justice,
giving freely to the poor, by whom he was idolized, a portion of the
“black mail” he had levied from the rich. On the road, if he saw a cart
with one horse, and another with three, he made them equal, by taking the
fore-horse from the latter and hooking it to the former. Most of the
adventures ascribed to him seem to have been more dictated by whim than a
desire of plunder. He had a plentiful supply of necessaries from the
people around, the rich paying him tribute through fear, and the poor
from gratitude. _Kynaston’s Horse-leap_, a place thus named on Dovaston
Common, received its name from the following circumstance: Kynaston
having been observed to go over Montford Bridge to Shrewsbury, the
Sheriff, intending to take him, caused one of the divisions of the bridge
(then formed of planks laid upon stone pillars,) to be taken up, and
placed a number of men in ambush. When Kynaston had advanced on the
bridge, the men came up and blocked up his retreat, upon which he put
spurs to his horse, which bore him safely over the wide breach, and
carried him to his cave at Nesscliff; some say the horse leaped into the
Severn, and carried him across! The length of this leap was afterwards
measured on Dovaston Common, with an H cut at one end and a K at the
other. The letters were an ell long, a spade’s graffe wide, and a spade
deep, and were generally cleansed annually by order of Mr. Kynaston, of
Kington, as Gough, the historian of Middle, informs us. Camden merely
mentions Nesscliff and its cave, but says not a word about Kynaston.
Wild Humphrey’s adventures were probably much exaggerated by the vulgar
people of the district, some of whom have not scrupled to declare that
his leap was forty yards! Kynaston, being a desperate man, would not
hesitate much at daring feats, but a forty yards’ leap is fit only for
record in the pages of Major Longbow.