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The Severn Valley Railway affords a very interesting approach to the old
Salopian capital, by bringing before the traveller its striking features,
its singular situation, and its most pleasing aspect. On one side are
groups of villa-looking residences, the little church of St. Giles, the
column raised to Lord Hill, and the Abbey Church and buildings. On the
other is the town, with its spires and towers and red-stone castle rising
from an eminence above the river. The station occupies a narrow isthmus
of the latter within the precincts of the castle, and is a handsome
structure, of the Gothic style of architecture. The castle was built by
the first Earl of Shrewsbury, who obtained so many favours of a like kind
from the Conqueror. Among portions which the old Norman masons raised,
is the inner gateway, through which, it is said, the last Norman earl, in
token of submission, carried the keys to Henry I. From its position upon
a troubled frontier, it changed masters many times, and suffered much
from the attacks of assailants. It was fortified by William Fitz-Alan
when he espoused the cause of the Empress Maude; and in favour of Henry
IV., in his quarrel with the Earl of Northumberland, when the Shrewsbury
abbot went forth from its gates to offer pardon to Hotspur, on condition
that he would lay down his arms; and it was taken by storm by the
Parliamentary army in 1644. It now belongs to the Duke of Cleveland, and
has been converted into a dwelling-house, the present drawing-room having
been the guard chamber in the reign of Charles. To the right of the
castle gates is the Royal Grammar School, founded in 1551 by King Edward
VI., and subsequently endowed with exhibitions, fellowships, and
scholarships connected with Oxford and Cambridge, to the number of twenty-
six. A little higher is the Chapel of St. Nicholas, an old Norman
structure, which belonged to the outer court of the castle, but is now
used as a coach-house and stable.
[Shrewsbury: 43.jpg]
Close by is a highly ornamental timber gateway, erected in 1620, leading
to the Council House, the temporary residence, during feudal times, of
the Lords President of the Marches. Continuing along this street, we
pass the Raven Hotel, recently rebuilt at a cost of nearly 20,000 pounds.
It was here George Farquhar wrote his comedy of the "Recruiting Officer,"
which he dedicated to "All friends round the Wrekin." Descending Pride
Hill, the eye rests upon a number of rare old specimens of domestic
architecture, which, like those in High Street and others, were the homes
of the ancient burghers; mansions here and there of more pretension are
also to be seen, mingling an air of antiquity with one of comfort. The
town is rich in specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, and possesses
some very handsome churches. Of the four whose towers and spires are
seen within the circle of the Severn, St. Mary's is the most interesting.
Its site is 100 feet above the river, and its tall and graceful spire is
a landmark seen for many miles. The lower portion of the tower, the
nave, transepts, and doorway, are of the 12th century, whilst other
portions are of the 15th and 16th. The interior, with its clustered
columns, decorated capitals, moulded arches, and its oak-panelled
ceiling, ornamented with foliage, has a fine effect; added to which, the
exquisitely-sculptured pulpit, given in memory of a former minister, and
the still more recently erected screen, in memory of another, with
numerous mural monuments, in stone and marble, are of peculiar interest.
The windows are of stained glass, some being very ancient, and most of
them elaborately and beautifully painted, and highly deserving of
attention.
Near to St. Mary's are the churches of St. Alkmund and St. Julian, the
former indebted for its foundation to the piety of Ethelfleda, daughter
of Alfred; the latter, also of Saxon origin, to Henry IV., who in 1410,
attached it to his new foundation of Battlefield College, raised in
memory "of the bloody rout that gave to Harry's brow a wreath--to
Hotspur's heart a grave."
The old collegiate church of St. Chad, founded, it is supposed, soon
after the subjugation of the country by Offa, and transformed, as
tradition alleges, out of one of the palaces of the Kings of Powis, is
now a ruin. The modern one, dedicated to the same saint, of whom there
is an ancient carved figure in the vestry, is now the fashionable church
of the town.
The Abbey Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, built upon the site of a
Saxon one of wood, with the abbey ruins and the famous old stone pulpit
of the refectory, should also be visited.
In the centre of the Market Square still stands the old Market House,
erected in 1595 by the corporation. It has a statue of Richard, Duke of
York, father of Edward IV., in an embattled niche in front, and a
surcoat, with armorial bearings, moved from the tower of the old Welsh
Bridge; also the arms of the town, sculptured in relief.
In the immediate neighbourhood of these relics of antiquity is the
recently-erected statue to the great Lord Clive, the Townhall, the
Working Man's Hall, the Music Hall, the public news-room, and a group of
other handsome buildings. A passage near the Music Hall leads to the
Museum of the Shropshire and North Wales Natural History and Antiquarian
Society, which no visitor with time on his hands should neglect to visit.
In addition to objects of natural history, it contains others of interest
obtained from Wroxeter, and is open daily from ten to four to visitors
upon payment of twopence. Portions of the town walls, erected in the
reign of Henry III., with one of the ancient towers, are still standing,
and form a pleasant walk. But the grand promenade is the Quarry Avenue,
which, with Kingsland on the opposite side, is the common property of the
inhabitants. The former is a sloping piece of meadow land, intersected
by limes, whose intertwining branches make a fretted archway of living
green, whilst the latter is the spot where the trade pageant, called
Shrewsbury Show, is held. In addition to objects of interest which we
have enumerated, our readers will find materials for observation and
study for themselves; as a further aid to which, we would commend them to
"Sandford's Guide to Shrewsbury."