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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17612-h.zip b/17612-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c94fea9 --- /dev/null +++ b/17612-h.zip diff --git a/17612-h/17612-h.htm b/17612-h/17612-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f365aea --- /dev/null +++ b/17612-h/17612-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1987 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway, by J. Randall</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway, by J. +Randall + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway + Illustrative and Descriptive of Places along the Line from Worcester to Shrewsbury + + +Author: J. Randall + + + +Release Date: January 26, 2006 [eBook #17612] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDBOOK TO THE SEVERN VALLEY +RAILWAY*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from a facsimile of the original printing and design +of 1863 by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk</p> +<h1>HANDBOOK TO THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY</h1> +<p>Illustrative and Descriptive of Places along the Line,<br /> +<span class="smcap">from</span><br /> +WORCESTER TO SHREWSBURY.</p> +<p>BY J. RANDALL, F.G.S.,<br /> +<span class="smcap">author of “severn valley,” etc</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/titleb.jpg"> +<img alt="Title page illustration" src="images/titles.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 2--><a name="page2"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 2</span>LEGEND +OF THE SEVERN, WYE, AND RHEIDOL.</h2> +<p>(<i>See Illustration on the Cover</i>.)</p> +<p>The Welsh are justly proud of their hills and their rivers; they +frequently personify both, and attribute to them characters corresponding +with their peculiar features. Of the Severn, the Wye, and the +Rheidol, they have an apologue, intended to convey an idea of their +comparative length, and also of the character of the districts through +which they flow. It is called “The Three Sisters,” +and in substance is as follows:—In some primitive period of the +earth’s history, Father Plinlimmon promised to these nymphs of +the mountain as much territory as they could compass in a day’s +journey to the sea, by way of dowry upon their alliance with certain +marine deities they should meet there. Sabra, goddess of the Severn, +being a prudent, well-conducted maiden, rose with the first streak of +morning dawn, and, descending the eastern side of the hill, made choice +of the most fertile valleys, whilst as yet her sisters slept. +Vaga, goddess of the Wye, rose next, and, making all haste to perform +her task, took a shorter course, by which means she joined her sister +ere she reached the sea. The goddess Rhea, old Plinlimmon’s +pet, woke not till roused by her father’s chiding; but by bounding +down the side of the mountain, and selecting the shortest course of +all, she managed to reach her destination first. Thus the Cymric +proverb, “There is no impossibility to the maiden who hath a fortune +to lose or a husband to win.”</p> +<h2><!-- page 3--><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>THE +SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY.</h2> +<p>The Severn, like other English rivers, may be said to have been the +pioneer of railways along its banks: first, in having done much to correct +the inequalities of the surface; secondly, in having indicated the direction +in which the traffic flowed; so that early in the history of railway +enterprise eminent engineers, like the late Robert Stephenson, saw the +desirability of following its course, and thus meeting the wants of +towns that had grown into importance upon its banks, wants which the +river itself was unable to supply. In 1846 the route was finally +surveyed by Robert Nicholson, with a view to a through traffic in connection +with other railways. The scheme met with opposition from advocates +of rival lines. Ultimately, however, the Bill passed the committees +of the two Houses, and the promoters were successful, whilst the expenses +of counsel and witnesses were enormous. The original estimate +for the line was £600,000: £110,000 for land, and £490,000 +for works. £8,500 was down for a girder bridge at Arley, +£8,000 for one near Quatford, £9,000 for one above Bridgnorth, +and £10,000 for one at Shrewsbury. The two bridges near +Bridgnorth and the one near Shrewsbury were abandoned, and a considerable +saving was effected by shortening the line at Hartlebury, by a junction, +with the Oxford, Wolverhampton, and Worcester higher up than was originally +intended. The estimated cost of the works, in consequence of these +reductions, and of the determination of the company to make it a single +line, was thus reduced to nearly one-half the original sum.</p> +<p>Although the Severn Valley Railway joins the Main Trunk line at Hartlebury, +Worcester is regarded as its proper terminus; and at that point we commence +our description.</p> +<h3><!-- page 4--><a name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 4</span>WORCESTER.</h3> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/4b.jpg"> +<img alt="Illustration of Worcester" src="images/4s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Population, 31,123. Returns two Members to Parliament</p> +<p>Market days—Wednesdays and Saturdays Fair days—Saturday +before Palm Sunday, Saturday before Easter Day, August 15th, September +19th, and first Monday in December.</p> +<p>Our engraving represents the “faithful city” as it appears +from a point between the bridges, with the Cathedral rising from an +eminence above the river. The venerable pile was raised by the +brave and pious bishop Wulstan, upon the site of an earlier edifice, +formerly the church of a priory founded by one of the Saxon kings. +Recent restorations, carried on under the direction of the Dean and +Chapter, have led to the correction of defects, resulting from time, +and ignorance on the part of past builders, and have disclosed features +which add much to the grandeur of the edifice; so that in addition to +impressions its magnificence creates upon the mind of the general visitor, +it now affords a rich treat to all who delight to trace the boundary +lines of ecclesiastical architecture, as they approach or recede from +the present time. First, there is the Norman or Romanesque of +the period of its erection, of which the crypt and part of the central +transept are specimens; <!-- page 5--><a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 5</span>secondly, +the First Pointed or Early English, as seen in the eastern transept; +thirdly, the Middle Pointed or Decorated, as in the tower, guesten hall, +and refectory; and, fourthly, the Third Pointed or Perpendicular, as +in the north porch, in the cloisters, and Prince Arthur’s Chapel. +Amongst ancient mural monuments, covering the dust or commemorating +the virtues of the great, will be found King John’s tomb, in the +centre of the choir; one in white marble of Prince Arthur; and those +of bishops Sylvester, Gauden, Stillingfleet, Thornborough, Parry, and +Hough, the latter a <i>chef d’œuvre</i> of Roubilliac’s; +also that of Judge Lyttleton, “the father of English law;” +and others of men renowned for learning, piety, or bravery. Near +this fine old ecclesiastical edifice once stood the feudal stronghold +that protected it, the only remaining portion of which is a crumbling +mass of stone known as Edgar’s Tower. From standing in the +college precincts it is sometimes mistaken for a portion of the cathedral; +it is, however, a relic of the old castle, the keep of which rested +on a mound of sand and gravel, which was found to contain, upon its +removal in 1833, Roman remains of the reigns of Augustus, Nero, Vespasian, +and Constantine. In High Street, leading from the Cathedral to +the Cross, is the Guildhall, erected from a design by a pupil of the +great Sir Christopher Wren, and considered to be one of the most handsome +brick-fronted structures in the kingdom. It is decorated with +statues of Charles I., Charles II., Queen Anne, and with emblematic +figures of Justice, Peace, Labour, &c.; whilst over the doorway +is the city coat of arms, with the motto, “<i>Floreat semper fidelis +civitas</i>.” The lower hall contains a collection of interesting +specimens of ancient armour, gleaned from the battlefields of Worcester, +and one of those quaint old instruments of punishment formerly used +for scolds, called a “brank.” In the municipal hall, +on the second floor, is a portrait of George III., who presented it +to the inhabitants, and others of citizens who have done good service +to the town, or in some way distinguished themselves, the last added +being that of Alderman Padmore, one of the members for the city.</p> +<p>The churches are fifteen in number, some being ancient edifices, +others recent erections built on the sites of older structures, whilst +a few are copies of the originals. There are nearly as many dissenting +and other chapels, several of which are handsome specimens of modern +architectural skill. <!-- page 6--><a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>Among +instances of domestic architecture of past centuries may be mentioned, +“The Old House” in “New Street,” from which +Charles II. escaped after the battle of Worcester. It was the +house also in which Judge Berkeley was born, and has over the door the +inscription, “Love God (W. B. 1557, R. D), Honor the King.”</p> +<p>Worcester is rich in schools, almshouses, and institutions, whose +united incomes, representing a total of £4,000, speak much for +the public spirit and large-hearted benevolence of the inhabitants.</p> +<p>The Museum and Natural History Society, in Foregate Street, to which +visitors are admitted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, <a name="citation6"></a><a href="#footnote6">{6}</a> +with its collection of antiquities, fossils, and objects of natural +history, should be visited. Also, the Arboretum and Public Pleasure +Grounds, near Sansome Walk, where fêtes are given and bands frequently +play. The grounds are tastefully laid out, portions being set +apart for games of archery, cricket, bowls, and quoits. The usual +admission fee is sixpence, but on Mondays they are free to the inhabitants.</p> +<p>In describing Worcester it would be unpardonable not to allude to +its hops, from 2,000 to 3,000 pockets of which, it is said, not unfrequently +change hands, in the market in the Foregate, during the season.</p> +<p>Glove making also is still one of the staple trades, nearly half +a million being annually manufactured by Messrs. Dent and others.</p> +<p>Worcester is celebrated for Porcelain of a very superior kind; and +facilities are afforded to strangers visiting the manufactory, both +in Diglis, and in Lowesmoor. The productions of the former are +highly esteemed by connoisseurs. The works have the good fortune +to receive distinguished and even royal patronage; and the show-rooms +form one of the attractions of the city.</p> +<p>The Iron trade, so far as regards the manufacture of bridges, machinery, +and general castings, notwithstanding the distance from the iron making +districts, is well represented by the Vulcan Works, and those of Messrs. +Padmore and Hardy. Other establishments on a large scale have +sprung into existence in the city and its suburbs, in which chemistry +and machinery, singly or combined, produce results <!-- page 7--><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>the +most astounding. Among them are those of Hill, Evans, and Co., +where the visitor wanders amidst enormous vats, from which as many as +1,208,600 gallons of vinegar have been produced in a single year; and +those of Lewis, Watkins, and Co., where a large portion of the vinegar +is used in preparing pickles, and where hundreds of tons of preserved +fruits and jam are annually produced for sale. There are also +those of the well-known firm of Lea and Perrin; the chemical works of +Webb; the extensive carriage manufactory of McNaught and Smith, and +others upon which space forbids us to dwell.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/7b.jpg"> +<img alt="Old waterworks" src="images/7s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Severn supplies the inhabitants with water, which is purified +by means of extensive filter-beds at the upper end of Pitchcroft, and +then thrown by machinery to the top of Rainbow Hill, a position sufficiently +elevated to ensure its distribution over the upper stories of the highest +houses. The “Old Waterworks” remain, and, as will +be seen from our sketch, form a picturesque object in the landscape. +The Severn is, however, no longer the fast-flowing stream poets have +described it, but what it has lost in speed it has gained in depth, +breadth, and majesty; the locks and weirs at Diglis—the former +two abreast, and the latter stretching 400 feet across the stream—giving +to it the aspect of a lake, an aspect aided by the appearance upon its +surface of a number of swans. <!-- page 8--><a name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>Its +contrast with itself, whilst yet in its rocky cradle on Plinlimmon, +will be seen from the accompanying sketch of <i>Blaen Hafren</i>, or +the “Head of the River,” two miles from its source. +Anglers will find pleasant spots at which to indulge in the “gentle +art,” near Henwick, where the old Worcester monks had weirs; also +near Bevere Island, and Holt Castle; at the confluence of the Severn +with the Teme (two miles</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/8b.jpg"> +<img alt="Blaen Hafren" src="images/8s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>below Worcester), thence to the tail of Kempsey Lake; and still better +near the Rhydd (the seat of Sir E. A. H. Lechmere, Bart.). Worcester +is surrounded by very many spots of interest to lovers of natural scenery, +to archæologists, botanists, and geologists. Among those +within easy reach, and deserving of special notice, may be mentioned +Croome Court, the seat of the Earl of Coventry (nine miles); and <!-- page 9--><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>Witley +Court, backed by the Abberley and Woodbury hills, (ten miles); also +Madresfield Court, the seat of the Earl of Beauchamp (six miles); Cotheridge +Court, the seat of W. Berkeley, Esq. (four miles); and Strensham village, +the birthplace of Butler, the author of “Hudibras” (three +miles from Duffore station, on the Bristol line). Leaving Worcester +at Shrub Hill—a portion of a long natural terrace commanding pleasing +views of the city and of the Malvern range of hills—we pass the +cemetery; then Hindlip Hall, the residence of Henry Alsop, Esq., a handsome +modern mansion standing in the midst of a very pleasant country on the +left, and approached by an avenue of trees nearly a mile in length. +The “Old Hall,” upon the site of which the present one is +built, was constructed by some quaint architect having less peaceful +times in view, who contrived numerous secret chambers, of which the +conspirators Garnet and Oldcorn are known to have availed themselves. +Here also lived the sister of Lord Monteagle, whose letter to her brother +is said to have led to the discovery of Gunpowder Plot. Near the +hall is the old ivy-towered church of the hamlet, with its rustic graveyard. +At a distance of six miles from Worcester is the borough town of</p> +<h3>DROITWICH.</h3> +<p>Population, 3,123</p> +<p>Market day—Friday. Fairs—Friday in Easter week, +June 18th, September 24th, and December 18th.</p> +<p>The town, which lies beneath the embankment of the railway, in the +valley of the river Salwarp, on the right, is on weekdays so enveloped +in steam, that little beyond its stacks, and the murky tower of St. +Andrew’s Church, are seen. Its staple trade is salt, for +the export of which the canal, the Severn, and modern railways offer +great facilities. From early times, the subterranean river beneath +the town has yielded an uninterrupted supply of the richest brine in +Europe; and it is curious to observe how the vacuum created by the amount +raised has caused the ground to collapse and crack, as shown by the +decrepit state of the buildings, many of which are broken-backed, twisted, +and contorted—although the intermediate earth is about 200 feet +in thickness. The place, therefore, has a sort of downcast look, +and the streets have a melancholy appearance; whilst the sheds of the +<!-- page 10--><a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>brine +works, made to appear more murky by contrast with heaps of white salt +refuse, suggest the thought that the town has gone into mourning. +Exception must be taken to St. Peter’s Church, which stands outside +the town, and is surrounded by green fields, with no building near, +except an exceedingly dilapidated half-timbered mansion, the property +of Lord Somers. Tradition says that this church once adjoined +the town, but that the latter shifted in the direction of the springs; +if so, the injunction over the doorway, to “Remember Lot’s +wife,” seems a strange rebuke, if intended for the inhabitants. +The building has many features of interest, the Norman, the Transition, +and subsequent styles of architectural decoration being observable.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/10b.jpg"> +<img alt="Westwood house" src="images/10s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The old town has an interesting charity, founded by Lord Coventry, +for the support of poor people, and the education of poor children. +The almshouses, which have recently been <!-- page 11--><a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>rebuilt, +and are eighteen in number, are commodious and convenient, with garden +plots at the back; whilst the inmates have 3<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. per +week, or 5<i>s</i>. if upwards of 70 years of age, beside clothing. +Connected with these is an infirmary, in which at the time of our visit +were three old ladies, who looked particularly clean and comfortable, +and whose ages were respectively 83, 89, and 93.</p> +<p>On a red marlstone cliff, <a name="citation11"></a><a href="#footnote11">{11}</a> +rising above the river Salwarp, and overlooking the town of Droitwich, +is the church of Dodderhill, belonging to the parish of that name. +It gave shelter to the Royalists during the civil wars, and suffered +much from an attack of the Parliamentary forces, who battered down its +nave and tower. The former has never been rebuilt, and the latter, +instead of being placed in the position it formerly held, has been made +to fill up the south transept.</p> +<p>On the left of the line is the seat of Sir John Packington, the present +member for Droitwich. It may be reached from the town by a pleasant +walk; first by the side of the canal and river, and then through the +park. Westwood was given by Henry VIII. to an ancestor of the +present baronet, in consequence of his residence at Hampton Lovett having +been injured during the civil wars; and the house is one of the most +interesting specimens of Elizabethan architecture in the kingdom. +The railway passes Hampton Lovett church, near which are neat model +cottages erected by Sir John; and at a distance of eleven miles from +Worcester we arrive at</p> +<h3>HARTLEBURY.</h3> +<p>Hartlebury, which is about a mile from the station, has been for +a thousand years the residence of the bishops of Worcester; the old +castle having remained entire until the middle of the 17th century, +when, from having given shelter to the Royalists, it became a heap of +ruins, and the present palace was erected in its stead. It is +approached by a noble avenue of limes, and is surrounded by pleasure-gardens, +fashioned out of its ancient moat, one portion of which is still <!-- page 12--><a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>a +quiet lake. It has a park with well-timbered tracts adjoining, +one of which is called the Bishop’s Wood, and near which is the +famous Mitre Oak.</p> +<h3>STOURPORT</h3> +<p>Derives its name from the great basins constructed by Brindley upon +the canal, and also from the river Stour, which here enters the Severn. +The advantages of position led to the erection of large manufacturing +establishments on the spot. Steam has been brought to aid the +Stour, whose waters are pounded back to create a capital of force to +turn great wheels that spin, and weave, and grind; whilst iron works, +vinegar works, and tan works, upon a large scale, have also sprung into +existence. On the opposite bank of the Severn, about three-quarters +of a mile from Stourport, is Arley Kings, or Lower Arley; and about +a mile lower down the river is Redstone Cliff, in which is the famous +hermitage of Layamon, a monkish historian of the 13th century, who is +said to have composed a “Chronicle of Britain,” embracing +that mythical period extending from Brute to Cadwallader.</p> +<p>On leaving Stourport, the traveller passes Burlish Common, and plunging +into a deep cutting, terminated by a dark tunnel, emerges in sight of +the little town of</p> +<h3>BEWDLEY.</h3> +<p>Population, 2,900.</p> +<p>Market day—Saturday. Fair days—Last Tuesday in +February, April 23rd, the Monday before St. Ann’s, second Tuesday +in October, and December 11th.</p> +<p>Principal Hotels—The George, and the Wheatsheaf.</p> +<p>Bewdley is an ancient borough town, corporate and parliamentary, +returning one member. The place long ago obtained the appellation +“beautiful.” Leland says, “because of its present +site men first began to resort there;” adding, “the towne +itself of Bewdley is sett on the side of a hille, so comely that a man +cannot wishe to see a towne better. It riseth from Severne banke +by east, upon the hille by west, so that a man standing on the hille +<i>trans-pontem</i> by east may discern almoste every house in the towne; +and att the rising of the sun from east, the whole towne glittereth, +being all of new building, as it were of gould.” Bewdley +has been said <!-- page 13--><a name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 13</span>to +resemble the letter Y in form—the foot in the direction of the +river being more modern, and the extremities stretching out against +the hills the more ancient, portions. It was privileged as a place +of sanctuary when Wyre Forest was infested by men who lived merry lives, +and who did not refuse to shed their brothers’ blood. It +had the privilege of taxing traders upon the Severn, as appears from +a petition presented by “the men of Bristowe and Gloucester” +in the reign of Henry IV., praying for exemption. It obtained +its charter of incorporation from Edward IV., and one granting the elective +franchise from James I.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/13b.jpg"> +<img alt="Bewdley" src="images/13s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Wribbenhall, on the same side the river as the station, is a hamlet +belonging to Kidderminster, from which town it is distant about three +miles. Bewdley and Wribbenhall are surrounded by pleasant spots, +not a few of which are occupied by mansions, handsome villas, and gentlemen’s +seats, seen from the line.</p> +<p>Winterdyne is one of these; from dark rocks above the Severn it overlooks +the valley, and is surrounded by walks and grounds commanding magnificent +prospects, the one from <!-- page 14--><a name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 14</span>the +Fort being perhaps the most romantic. Lovers of quiet rambles, +anglers, or botanists, would do well to take up their quarters at Bewdley, +as a centre from which to explore the neighbourhood. There are +few more charming spots than Ribbesford, a mile lower down the river; +it is a sylvan bit of landscape, with grassy flats and weathered cliffs, +the latter, rising abruptly from the stream, being delicately tinted +into harmony with the boles, and foliage of the trees above them. +Opposite is Burlish Deep, noted for its pike.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/14b.jpg"> +<img alt="Pike" src="images/14s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>As at Worcester, the Severn here is a quiet, slow-flowing river. +From Gloucester to Bewdley the old gravelly fords and sandy shallows +have disappeared, and the “gentle art” has had to adapt +itself to these changes; fish once familiar to anglers are now strangers, +rarely, if ever seen on this side Gloucester; but the regulations enforced +by the Severn Fisheries Commission, and the vigilance of local associations, +will, it is hoped, soon be the means of repeopling the Severn with those +members of the finny tribe once common to its waters. Steam-tugs +and trows, propelled by screw or paddle, now navigate the river, each +with a dozen old-fashioned barges at its stern; but this portion of +the Severn being comparatively free, it is a favourite breeding place +with pike, who for reproductive purposes seek the stillest portions +of the stream. Dowles Ford, <!-- page 15--><a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 15</span>at +the mouth of the brook of that name, which enters the river a little +above Bewdley, also Laxlane Ford, and Folly’s Ford, are each famous +for their trout.</p> +<p>Leaving Bewdley, we pass the line of railway to Tenbury, but confine +ourselves to the Valley of the Severn, along which the river and the +rail are now close companions nearly all the way to Shrewsbury. +The elevation of the embankment above the river affords glimpses of +Bewdley Forest, or, as Drayton calls it, the Stately Wyre.</p> +<blockquote><p>“These scenes are desert now and bare,<br /> +Where nourished once a forest fair;<br /> +When these waste glens with copse were lined,<br /> +And peopled with the hart and hind.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>But portions of the district still are wooded, affording famous fields +for botanists. Seckley Wood comes down to meet the bold projecting +rocks above the river; and we have Eyemoor Wood and others right and +left on approaching Upper or Over Arley.</p> +<h3>ARLEY,</h3> +<p>Twenty miles from Worcester, is one of the sweetest little villages +along the line. Its ferry on the river, its timbered cottages, +partially concealed in green indentations of the hill, its grey church +tower, and those of the castle near, are a picture of themselves; but +when showers of blossoms crown the orchard trees in spring, or ruddy +fruits hang ripe in autumn, the scene is more enchanting still.</p> +<p>The castle tower is 120 feet in height, and commands an extensive +sweep of country, through which the Severn in the distance winds its +way, in and out, like a silver thread. The gardens and grounds +contain rare shrubs and trees, imported by the late Earl Mountnorris; +to visit which R. Woodward, Esq., the present proprietor, like the late +earl, very rarely refuses his permission.</p> +<p>The railway having crossed the Severn by the Victoria Bridge, an +iron structure, 200 feet in span, now continues its course along the +right bank of the stream, disclosing glimpses now and then of gentle +sweeps and undulating lines of wood and field, where quiet tones of +light and shade, with sweet harmonious tints, refresh and please. +Wandering at its own <!-- page 16--><a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span>sweet +will, the river here goes freely on its way, bubbling and brawling at +the fords, gathering itself up into deep, dark lakes carved out of the +softer rocks over which it flows, or dividing to embrace some willow-covered +island in its course. Between Arley and Bewdley it is well stocked +with grayling, dace, and that king of Severn fish, the salmon which +is often taken hero; also with that “queen of fresh-water fish” +the carp, speaking of which an old distich says:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Hops and turkeys, carps and beer,<br /> +Came into England all in one year.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Like pike, they are long-lived; referring to which, Ben Jonson says:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Fat, <i>aged carps</i>, that run into thy net,<br /> +And pikes, now weary their own kind to eat.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>During the winter months carp are caught in broad, quiet parts of +the river; in summer, in holes and reaches, under hollow banks, and +near beds of weeds or flags. All kinds of bait are recommended, +but a well-scoured worm is often best.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/16b.jpg"> +<img alt="Crap" src="images/16s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h3>HIGHLEY,</h3> +<p>Or Higley, as it is commonly called, is two and a half miles from +Arley. The village is situated high upon the hill, and consists +of scattered cottages, with a sprinkling of goodly <!-- page 17--><a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>houses, +some half timbered, after the quaint fashion of former times. +The church has an ancient chancel window, and in the graveyard is an +old cross, elaborately carved in freestone, a material found very extensively +in the neighbourhood. Highley was an old Saxon manor, which, with +Chetton, belonged to the widow of Leofric—Godiva, of Coventry +celebrity. Kinlet, four miles distant, occupies a picturesque +eminence of a horse-shoe form; the church is an ancient structure, containing +noble altar tombs, one of which has a rich canopy, with the figure of +a knight and lady kneeling.</p> +<h3>HAMPTON’S LOADE.</h3> +<p>Lode was a Saxon term for ford, and the name here, as elsewhere, +denotes an ancient passage of the Severn. In this case, it was +one by which the inhabitants of Highley, Billingsley, and Chelmarsh +formerly passed to Quatt and Alveley. A ferry has long been substituted, +but the old load still winds along the hillside, past an old stone cross, +in the direction of Alveley, an old Saxon manor. The tall grey +tower of the old church is seen from the line, occupying a high position +on the right. The building is an ancient and interesting structure, +with many Norman features, and is greatly admired by antiquarians. +Judging from the materials used in older portions of the building, the +first church would appear to have been built of travertine. Above +Hampton’s Loade, the wooded heights of Dudmaston and of Quatford, +with the red towers of Quatford Castle, come into view; but a deviation +of the line, and a deep cutting through the Knoll Sands, prevent more +than a passing glimpse. <i>Quat</i> is an old British word for +wood, and refers to a wide stretch of woodland once included in the +great Morfe Forest; and <i>ford</i> to an adjoining passage of the river—one, +half a mile higher up, being still called <i>Danes’ Ford</i>. +On a bluff headland, rising perpendicularly 100 feet above the Severn, +close by, the hardy Northerners, who thus left their name in connection +with the Severn, established themselves in 896, when driven by Alfred +from the Thames; and on the same projecting rock, defended on the land +side by a trench cut in the solid sandstone, Roger de Montgomery afterwards +built himself a house.</p> +<p>And tradition adds that, in consequence of a vow made by his second +wife, Adeliza, the church close by was built upon <!-- page 18--><a name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>the +borders of the forest, then the favourite hunting-ground of the Norman +earl. The church, like other neighbouring structures of ancient +date, was built of tuffa, or travertine, a material found in the beds +of brooks in the district, and portions of the chancel, including its +fine Norman arch and pillars, are still composed of the same. +Among old endowments of the church, is one, from a source unknown, of +a piece of land, the proceeds of which defray the expense of ferrying +persons attending church across the Severn.</p> +<p>The old man at the ferry is a fisherman, who knows well where to +get “a rise” of trout, or to hook a grayling, and where +to look for pike, or perch, or gudgeon.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/18b.jpg"> +<img alt="Perch and Gudgeon" src="images/18s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>In the parish of Quatford is Eardington, celebrated for the manufacture +of iron for guns, wire, and horse nails; and parochially and manorially +combined with Eardington is the More, the ancient tenure of which indicates +the manufacture of iron here at a very early period. By it the +tenant was required to appear yearly in the Exchequer, with a hazel +rod of a year’s growth, and two knives, the treasurer and barons +being present. The tenant was to attempt to sever the rod with +one of the knives, the other knife was to do the same work at one stroke, +and then be given up to the king’s chamberlain; a custom which +was continued until recently.</p> +<h3><!-- page 19--><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>BRIDGNORTH</h3> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/19b.jpg"> +<img alt="Bridgnorth" src="images/19s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Population, 6,569.</p> +<p>Market day—Saturday. Fairs—January 20th, February +17th, May 1st, June 9th, July 14th, August 18th, September 15th, October +29th, December 28th.</p> +<p>Principal Hotel—The Crown, for which, as well as for the Swan, +the Raven, and the George, see Advertisements.</p> +<p>The station, at the southern termination of the tunnel, is a chaste +building of freestone, and forms an additional ornament to the town. +It occupies a position from which its two divisions come pleasantly +into view, the Low Town lying peacefully in the valley by the Severn, +the High Town dotting the terraced sides, and crowning the bold impending +rocks that give it, in the eyes of travellers, such an eastern aspect. +Caverned in the hill, at many stages from its foot, and reached by winding +walks, are picturesque holes and habitations—happily now no longer +used, excepting in very few instances indeed—where the first settlers +crowded when the ruthless Dane perched himself like a famished eagle +on the rocks of Quatford down below. In the foreground are the +time-worn relics of its two castles, to which the little colony was +indebted for protection from fierce and threatening foes. The +one opposite is Pampudding Hill, a smooth, grassy mound, on which the +daughter of the great Alfred, Queen Ethelfleda, built a fortress. +According to Florence of Worcester, what we now call <!-- page 20--><a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>Bridgnorth +was then <i>Brycge</i>. In his time, as in that of Leland, who +so well described its position, the Severn ran nearer to the frowning +cliffs on which the town is built than at present.</p> +<p>The discriminating eye of the outlawed Belesme was not slow to perceive +the advantages nature had given to the place, when he sought to raise +a fortress that should shield him from the wrath of his royal master, +and he removed the materials, it is said, of his house at Quatbrigia—a +bridge having, it is supposed, succeeded the ford—to <i>Brycge</i>, +afterwards Bridgnorth, or the bridge north of the one at Quatford. +Florence of Worcester says: “Earl Robert carried on the works +night and day, exciting Welshmen to the speedy performance of his wishes +by awarding them horses, lands, asses, and all sorts of gifts.” +With such aids, and advantages of site, the Norman earl erected a castle +that held out three weeks against a large force marshalled by Henry, +who, as an old Saxon chronicle states, came here “with all his +army” to besiege it. It stood a second siege when Hugh de +Mortimer espoused the cause of Stephen, and was attacked by Henry II., +whose life was saved by the zeal of an attendant, who received a well-aimed +arrow intended for the king. It was taken by the confederate barons, +and retaken by Edward II., who afterwards marched to Shrewsbury, where +the proud Mortimers humbled themselves and sued for mercy. It +served not only as a garrison and a prison, but, from its position on +the frontier of Wales, very often as a royal residence. King John +came with a splendid retinue, of which the bishops of Lincoln and Hereford, +the earls of Essex, Pembroke, Chester, Salisbury, Hereford, and Warwick +formed part; upon which occasion the entertainment is said to have cost, +for the three days it lasted, a sum equal to £2,000 of modern +currency. Prince Edward was a visitor after the battle of Evesham; +and the second Edward too—the first time at the head of his army, +the second, as a fugitive, crossing the Severn in a small boat at nightfall. +Henry IV. was here:</p> +<blockquote><p>“On Wednesday next, Harry, thou shall set forward;<br /> +On Tuesday, we ourselves will march.<br /> +Our meeting is Bridgnorth; and, Harry, you<br /> +Shall march through Gloucester; by which account<br /> +Our general forces at Bridgnorth shall meet.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Charles I. arrived here from Shrewsbury, October, 1642, <!-- page 21--><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 21</span>when +he remained three days and gave expression to the eulogium, which townsmen +quote for the benefit of strangers, respecting the beauty of the castle +walk. It was garrisoned for this unfortunate monarch, too, in +the struggle which cost him his head, upon which occasion the town was +stormed by three divisions of the Parliamentary army, March, 1646. +The fight waxed hottest near the north gate, and in the old churchyard, +where the leader of the loyalists fell. That the adherents of +the king were not “all on one side,” would appear from the +fact that the town’s defenders were pelted upon retiring to the +castle by the inhabitants, treatment which they seem to have deserved +in setting fire to the town, bombarding St. Leonard’s, burning +the adjoining buildings and driving the wretched population in search +of such shelter as the rocks and woods afforded.</p> +<p>The garrison capitulated on the 26th of April, 1646, in consequence +of a mine, by which the Parliamentary leader proposed to blow up the +castle and set fire to their magazine, then in St. Mary’s Church, +which stood within the castle walls. Ecclesiastical dignitaries +often then wore coats of mail as well as cassocks, and daggers in addition +to their girdles; and this old church being collegiate, had for one +of its deans Rivallis, who forged the charter and seal of Henry III., +by which the Irish possessions of the Earl of Pembroke were invaded, +and that nobleman cruelly treated and killed. The more distinguished +William of Wykeham, who held the Great Seal in the reign of Edward III., +and exercised considerable influence in his day, both in church and +state, was also a dean of St. Mary’s.</p> +<p>St. Leonard’s occupies a position at the opposite extremity +of the town. Its crumbling tower, shattered by the cannon of Charles’ +army, remains, but the nave and side aisles have recently been restored—that +on the south side at the sole expense of John Pritchard, Esq., M.P., +in memory of his brother. The celebrated divine, Richard Baxter, +began his ministry at St. Leonard’s, apparently with little success, +as he is said to have shook the dust from his feet upon leaving, declaring +the hearts of the inhabitants to have been harder than the rock on which +their town was built. Nevertheless, he afterwards dedicated his +well-known book, “The Saint’s Rest,” to them. +Adjoining the churchyard is a hospital for ten poor widows, built and +endowed, as a brass plate over <!-- page 22--><a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>the +entrance informs us, by a relative of Colonel Billingsly, who fell in +the service of “King Charles ye First,” and whose sword +is said now to be in the possession of a descendant of the family, in +the parish of Astley Abbots.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/22b.jpg"> +<img alt="Old House, Bridgnorth" src="images/22s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Like other ancient towns, Bridgnorth had places founded for the relief +of the poor, the destitute, and the diseased. The house of the +monks of the “Friars of the Order Grey,” stands near where +a dilapidated sign of the Preaching Friar still swings over the entrance +of a public-house. It forms part of the carpet works of Mr. Martin +Southwell, who uses its oak panelled hall, and a number of cells carved +out of the solid rock, as storerooms. In making some alterations +recently the little cemetery was disturbed, and skeletons of several +of the monks, embedded in spaces cut out of the rock, in the form of +a sarcophagus, were exposed. In the Cartway is <!-- page 23--><a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>the +“Old House” in which Bishop Percy, author of the “Relics +of Ancient English Poetry,” was born, a fine specimen of the domestic +architecture of the 16th century; and in the entrance-hall of which +are the following words in large letters in relief, “Except the +Lord BVILD THE OWSE The Labourers Thereof Evail Nothing. Erected +by R. For * 1580.” Another of these quaint old structures, +called Cann Hall, contains some curious unlighted double dormitories +in the roof; one is called King Charles’ Room, and another is +pointed out as that in which his nephew, Prince Rupert, is said to have +slept. The house is supposed to be haunted, and the present tenant +is not loth to admit that he sometimes hears strange noises, a fact, +if such it be, at which one can scarcely wonder, seeing that the wind +and the bats have undisputed sway. The Townhall, in the Market +Square, built in the place of the one destroyed during the civil wars, +is thus noticed in the “Common Hall Order Book” of the Corporation: +“The New Hall set up in the Market Place of the High Street of +Bridgnorth was begun, and the stone arches thereof made, when Mr. Francis +Preen and Mr. Symon Beauchamp were Bayliffs, in Summer, 1650; and the +timber work and building upon the same stone arches was set up when +Mr. Thomas Burne and Mr. Roger Taylor were Bayliffs of the said town +of Bridgnorth, in July and August, 1652.” The new Market +Hall, with the Assembly Room, the rooms of the Mechanics’ Institution, +&c., is a handsome building, situated at the lower end of the same +large open square.</p> +<p>The grand promenade round the Castle Hill, which King Charles pronounced +the finest in his dominion, commands a prospect that cannot fail to +interest. Below, the river winds like a thing of life; around, +are wave-like sweeps of country, red and green, broken by precipitous +rocks into a succession of natural terraces, many of which, being higher +than the town itself, afford the most enchanting views.</p> +<p>The Hermitage is one of these, the prospect from which, on a clear, +sunny day, is such as to commend the choice of the anchorite, who is +said to have exchanged the excitements of a court for retirement in +such a spot. The tradition is, that Ethelwald, brother of King +Athelstan, who succeeded his father, Edward (924), retired here to escape +the perils of the period; a tradition which receives support from the +following royal presentations found on the rolls of Edward: “On +the <!-- page 24--><a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 24</span>2nd +of February, Edward III., 1328, John Oxindon was presented by the king +to the hermitage of Athelardestan, near Bridgnorth. On 7 Edward +III., Andrew Corbriggs was similarly presented to the hermitage of Adlaston, +near Bridgnorth. On 9 Edward III., 1335, Edmund de la Marc was +presented to the hermitage of Athelaxdestan,” a name signifying +the stone or rock of Ethelwald.</p> +<p>The Cemetery lies embosomed in a sunny opening of the rocks below +the Hermitage, where nature and art combined—the former predominating +so much by means of a noble amphitheatre of rocks—have given to +the spot a quiet, pleasing interest. Outside the Cemetery, a winding +path leads to the High Rocks, the road to which the inhabitants have +recently improved. This elevated position above the Severn well +deserves a visit, commanding as it does the Vale, through which the +river winds amidst alluvial lands, bounded by the heights of Apley and +Stanley, the hills of the Wrekin and Caradoc, and those of the Brown +and Titterstone Clees, with the Abberley and Malvern hills in the distance. +The castellated structure at the foot of the High Rocks, now used for +manufacturing purposes, occupies the site of the Old Town’s Mills, +given by Henry III. to the inhabitants, and out of which he made provision +for the hermit of Mount St. Gilbert.</p> +<h3>APLEY.</h3> +<p>On leaving Bridgnorth the scenery becomes exceedingly interesting. +On the left is Hoard Park, Severn or Sabrina Hall, and Little Severn +Hall. Astley Abbots and Stanley lie higher up on the hill on the +same side; whilst on the right, rocks, crowned by trees, rise from the +river in undulating lines, and introduce us to the picturesque grounds +of Apley. The house is a castellated structure of fine freestone, +with a domestic chapel on the north side; it occupies a slight elevation +above the river, where it is thrown into pleasing relief by woods that +crown still greater heights. The park is diversified by clumps +of noble trees, by projecting rocks, pleasing glades, and grassy flats, +on which groups of browsing deer are seen; and the terrace is one of +the finest and most extensive in England. From its great elevation +it commands pleasing views of the park, of the Severn, and of wide, +undulating districts on either side, rich in sylvan beauty. <!-- page 25--><a name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>The +proprietor is T. C. Whitmore, High Sheriff of the county, whose ancestors, +from the time of Sir William Whitmore (1620), have occasionally enjoyed +that honour. Opposite to Apley is</p> +<h3>LINLEY STATION.</h3> +<p>The angler, desirous of a few hours’ amusement, may here find +good sport at the fords, where the brooks come down and enter the river. +Grayling and trout are often caught, and chub, less in favour with fishermen, +of large size.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/25b.jpg"> +<img alt="Chub" src="images/25s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>If the tourist be a geologist he will find it pleasant to follow +the course of Linley Brook, on the banks of which he may find fish of +ancient date, in beds forming a passage from the Upper Ludlow to the +Old Bed Sandstone. He will be interested, too, in noticing the +angles at which the latter dip beneath the carboniferous strata, and +these again beneath the overlying permians.</p> +<p>A series of interesting dingles now occur, where the nightingale +is heard in May and June, through which whimpering streams come down, +and where Tom Moody hunted with the famous “Willey Squire.” +Tom’s exploits have been immortalised by Dibden in the song,—</p> +<blockquote><p>“You all knew Tom Moody, the whipper-in, well,<br /> +The bell that’s done tolling is honest Tom’s knell.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p><!-- page 26--><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>A +plain slab in Barrow churchyard covers Tom’s remains, and simply +records the date at which he died. At</p> +<h3>COALPORT STATION,</h3> +<p>Seven miles from Bridgnorth, and thirty-six from Worcester, the Severn +is crossed by a handsome iron bridge, at the opposite extremity of which +is the London and North-Western Company’s line to the Shropshire +Union at Hadley.</p> +<p>The China Works are about five minutes’ walk from the station; +they are extensive, and were established during the latter half of the +last century, at which time they were removed here from Caughley. +The productions are of a high order of merit, and combine those distinctive +characters for which Caughley and Nantgarw were celebrated. They +were successful, some years ago, in obtaining a medal awarded by the +Society of Arts; in obtaining a First Class Exhibition Medal in 1851, +also in 1855, and again in 1862. The works are very advantageously +situated, having the river, the canal, and two railways adjoining.</p> +<p>The <i>Art-Journal</i>, in giving the history of these works, thus +speaks of them: “The productions of the Coalport Works at the +present day, thanks to the determination, energy, and liberality of +the proprietor, take rank with the very best in the kingdom, both in +body, in potting, in design, and in decoration; and there can be no +doubt, from what is now actively in progress, that the stand taken by +Coalport is one of enviable eminence among the ceramic manufactories +of the world.”</p> +<p>Edge and Son’s chain and wire rope works are situated not far +from these; and between the two, at the foot of the inclined plane, +an ingenious device for transferring boats from one canal to the other, +is the celebrated “Tar Tunnel,” driven into the coal measures, +from which petroleum was formerly exported on a large scale, under the +name of Betton’s British Oil.</p> +<p>Our view of the Valley of the Severn, with Ironbridge in the distance, +is from the hill overlooking the handsome mansion of John Anstice, Esq.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/27b.jpg"> +<img alt="Ironbridge" src="images/27s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Coalport is in the parish of Madeley, the village of which is now +looped in by railways. Madeley is one of those names or word-pictures +by which our ancestors, with a touch alike of poetry and feeling, were +wont to convey their meaning. The <!-- page 27--><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>place, +however, has lost those sylvan features that distinguished it when described +in Domesday, as part of the possessions of St. Milburgh; and the old +Court House, surrounded by its park, where the prior of that monastery +received his perquisites, is strangely changed in aspect. Although +little beyond the foundations exist to show where the hall stood from +whence the house derives its name—where festivals were held, suitors +heard, or penalties inflicted—the present edifice has many points +of interest. The arms of the Ferrers family, in a shield, over +the principal doorway, may still be seen, indicating the proprietorship +at one time of some member of that family. It was also the residence +of Sir Basil Brooke, fourth in descent from a noble knight of that name; +a zealous royalist in the time of Charles I. The substantial, +roomy, and well-panelled apartments, and the solid trees, one upon the +other, forming a spiral staircase, are objects of interest. Ascending +these stairs, the visitor finds himself in the chapel, the ceiling of +which is of fine oak, richly carved, with the <i>fleur-de-lis</i> and +other devices. In the garden, which formed an enclosed court, +upon an elegant basement approached by <!-- page 28--><a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>a +circular flight of steps—the outer one being seven feet in diameter +and the inner one about three—is a very curious planetarium, or +horological instrument, serving the purpose of a sun dial, and that +of finding the position of the moon in relation to the planets. +In niches outside the parish church are finely sculptured, full-length +figures of some of the early proprietors of the Court House; and in +the register is an entry dated April, 1645, stating that the edifice +was at that time garrisoned by a Parliamentary regiment, commanded by +Captain Harrington. Six years later than the event recorded, we +have the story of King Charles’ visit to the village in disguise, +after the battle of Worcester, and of his being lodged in a barn belonging +to Mr. Wolfe. At the Restoration the king did not forget his host, +but presented him with a very handsome tankard, with the inscription, +“Given by Charles II., at the Restoration, to F. Wolfe, of Madeley, +in whose barns he was secreted after the defeat at Worcester.” +The tankard is now in the possession of W. Rathbone, Esq., and a print +of it hangs in the old house, now the possession of <!-- page 29--><a name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 29</span>C. +J. Ferriday, Esq. The tankard has upon the cover a coat of arms; +the crest is a demi-wolf supporting a crown. In the hall there +is also an old panel, containing the initials F. W. W. Mr. and Mrs. +Wolfe, with the date 1621.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/28b.jpg"> +<img alt="Ironbridge" src="images/28s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Madeley is also celebrated as the scene of the labours of the venerated +Fletcher, so much so, that admirers of his life and writings come long +distances to visit his tomb, a plain brick structure, with a simple +inscription upon an iron plate.</p> +<h3>IRONBRIDGE</h3> +<p>Is nine miles from Bridgnorth, and thirteen and a half from Shrewsbury. +From the disposition of the buildings on the hill side, it has a novel +and romantic aspect, whilst the high grounds adjoining afford varied +views of interesting scenery. Underneath the lofty ridge of limestone, +the higher portion of which is planted with fir and other trees, are +extensive caverns, which are open to visitors, who will find these fossiliferous +rocks, rising immediately from beneath the coal measures, highly instructive.</p> +<h3>BROSELEY</h3> +<p>Is celebrated all the world over for its pipes, a branch of manufacture +for which it is now as famous as of yore. Partly in this parish +and partly in that of Benthall, and only about 300 yards from the station, +are the geometrical, mosaic, and encaustic tile works of the Messrs. +Maw. They were removed here a few years since from Worcester, +the better to command the use of the Broseley clays, since which they +have attained to considerable importance, and now rival the great house +of Minton.</p> +<p>On leaving Ironbridge, the line passes by a sea wall the foot of +Benthall Edge—a limestone ridge, continuous with that of Wenlock, +so famous for that class of silurian fossils to which the town of Wenlock +has lent its name.</p> +<p>Benthall is a name significant of its elevated position—<i>Bent</i>, +meaning the brow, and <i>al</i> or <i>hal</i>, a hill.</p> +<p>Benthall Hall, the property of Lord Forester, and in the occupation +of George Maw, Esq., F.L.S., F.S.A., is a fine specimen of Elizabethan +architecture, built by William Benthall in 1535, on the site of a former +house.</p> +<h3><!-- page 30--><a name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 30</span>COALBROOKDALE.</h3> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/30b.jpg"> +<img alt="Benthall Hall" src="images/30s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>At the foot of Benthall Edge the Wellington and Severn Junction railway +crosses the river by a bridge 200 feet in span, and brings before us, +at a glance, this interesting little valley, with its church, its schools, +and its palatial-looking Literary and Scientific Institution. +The name has long been famous, as well for its romantic scenery as for +its iron works. Notices of these occur from the reigns of Henry +VIII. and Edward VI., down to the period of 1711, when the Darby family +first settled here. It was here that the first iron bridge—the +elegant structure that gave both name and existence to the little town +adjoining—was cast in 1779; the first iron rails were laid here +in 1768, and the first successful use of mineral fuel for smelting iron +was introduced in 1718. For metal castings these works were celebrated +as early as the time of Boulton and Watt, when those for their early +engines were produced here; whilst the Exhibitions of London and Paris +show that they have lost none of their prestige. The brook from +which the place derives its name, and which was formerly of more importance +than at present, is still a pleasing feature in the <!-- page 31--><a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 31</span>landscape, +swelling out into shining sheets, or forming pleasant waterfalls as +at <i>La Mole</i>, from which our view is taken.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/31b.jpg"> +<img alt="Waterfall" src="images/31s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Wellington and Severn Junction line through Coalbrookdale is +joined by the branch line to</p> +<h3>WENLOCK,</h3> +<p>one of the oldest borough towns in the kingdom. Its chief attraction +is the Abbey, founded by St. Milburgh, a Saxon saint, and daughter of +Penda, one of the last and fiercest of the Saxon heathen kings. +It fell before the Danes, but was rebuilt by Earl Leofric and his wife +Godiva. A second time it fell, and was again rebuilt; this time +by Norman masons, in greater splendour than before. Of the architecture +of this period the present ruins show some fine examples, and none finer +than the chapter-house, the clustering arches of which are shown in +our engraving.</p> +<p><!-- page 32--><a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>The +south transept, with a portion of the nave, of the Early English style +of architecture, remind the visitor of the stately grandeur of the church, +which was upwards of 400 feet in length. The house of the prior, +which communicated with the chapter-house, is now the private residence +of J. M. Gaskell, Esq., M.P., the present proprietor of the estate. +The parish church has several points of interest, one of which is its +fine Norman front, hidden from the street by the present tower. +To this may also be added the arches which separate the nave and side +aisles, rising from clustering pillars of great beauty; also the one +dividing the nave from the chancel, where there is an elegant sedilia. +Wenlock grew up beneath the patronage and protection of its Priory, +by means of which it received many royal favours, and was protected +by many royal charters, one of which conferred the right, at a very +early period, of representation in the Commons House of Parliament.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/32b.jpg"> +<img alt="The Chapter-House of Wenlock Abbey" src="images/32s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><!-- page 33--><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>The +Guildhall is an ancient building of timber and plaster, with a projecting +upper story resting on piazzas. The room used for quarter sessions +has the arms of Charles II. over the recorder’s chair, and the +Inner or Municipal Court is beautifully furnished with elaborately-carved +oak panellings and furniture. The borough is nearly the same now +as formerly, the modern franchise extending over the ancient possessions +of the church, wherein the prior of the monastery had jurisdiction over +eighteen parishes.</p> +<h3>BUILDWAS.</h3> +<p>In descending the dingle between Wenlock and Buildwas, at a point +described by an old writer as the boundary of the domains of the two +abbeys, is Lawless Cross, formerly one of those ancient sanctuaries, +the resort of outlaws who, having committed crime, availed themselves +of that security from punishment such places afforded. The monks, +in the exercise of that excessive influence they had in those days, +provided places, deemed sacred, which should serve for refuge for criminals. +A cross was erected for the <i>lawless</i>; from which even the monarch +had no power to take them. Villains doubly dyed in crime were +wont to rush out from such hiding-places, commit crimes with impunity, +and return. The evil, indeed, had become so great, that the Courts +of Westminster, in Hilary Term, 1221, were employed in considering the +expediency of altering “a certain <i>pass</i> in the Royal Forest +near to Buldewas,” from its having become “the haunts of +malefactors, and from its notoriety for the constant commission of crime.” +Below this is the Abbey Mill, and lower still is the Abbey. The +line passes through what was once the cemetery, and over ground formerly +occupied by the industrial courts of the establishment. A fine +view is obtained of the church, which presents a good specimen of a +Cistercian edifice, every part of the original arrangement being distinctly +traceable.</p> +<p>The massive proportions of its arcades, and the scolloped capitals +of their columns, indicate the Norman style of architecture; whilst +the pointed arches show an approach towards that which superseded it, +which began about the year 1150. The clerestory remains entire +on both sides, with round arched windows throughout. Between the +columns are indications of a screen, which shut off the eastern aisles; +at the <!-- page 34--><a name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>end +of the fifth arch from the west, the choir, or portion devoted to the +monks, commences; and at the intersection of the transepts still stands +the tower, resting on four pointed arches. At the eastern end, +beneath long windows, which at some period or other have been formed +out of smaller ones, stood the altar, and near it the sedilia; whilst +on the south side are the doorways which led to the dormitories of the +monks engaged in the night services of the church. On the side +next the river, a long line of building forms the eastern cloister and +the crypt; on the same side is a handsome archway leading into the chapter-house, +the roof of which is vaulted, groined, and supported by beautiful slender +columns. Beyond are the remains of the refectory, and the room +of audience—the only place where, according to the strict rules +of the order, the monks were permitted to converse; and here also was +the warm-room, kitchen, and lavatory. On the same side are remains +of a string of offices for novices, and for scribes employed in multiplying +copies of the Scriptures and other books.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/34b.jpg"> +<img alt="Buildwas Abbey" src="images/34s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><!-- page 35--><a name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 35</span>Our +engraving represents the church as seen by moonlight, when strong lights +and shadows bring to mind the well-known lines of Sir Walter Scott:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright,<br /> +Go visit it by the pale moonlight.<br /> +For the gay beams of lightsome day<br /> +Gild but to flout the ruins gray:<br /> +When the broken arches are black in night,<br /> +And each shafted oriel glimmers white;<br /> +When the cold light’s uncertain shower<br /> +Streams on the ruin’d central tower;<br /> +When buttress and buttress alternately<br /> +Seem framed of ebon and ivory.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The traveller by the Severn Valley Railway can scarcely fail to notice +here, and at other points along the line, beds of sand and gravel at +levels above the highest points now reached by the river; wave-like +sweeps of water-worn materials still higher up are no less conspicuous. +In both these are found the <i>Turritella terebra</i>, and other shells +of modern seas, identifying them with the period when a marine strait +extended the whole distance from the Dee to the Bristol Channel. +The cutting near Coalbrookdale has yielded a rich harvest of these marine +remains, sufficient satisfactorily to indicate the true position of +the beds, and to associate them with others of great interest elsewhere. +Along one of the ancient estuaries of this recent sea, now the Vale +of Shrewsbury, the Severn winds in curious curves, and almost meets +in circles, imparting a pleasing aspect to the valley. On leaving +Buildwas, Buildwas Park is passed on the left, and Leighton Hall and +church are seen on the opposite side of the river; while on the left +again are Shineton, Shinewood, and Bannister’s Coppice; the latter +famous as the hiding-place of the Duke of Buckingham, when unable to +cross the river with his army at its mouth. Shakspere alludes +to the event, in “King Richard,” thus:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“The news I have to tell your majesty<br /> +Is, that by sudden flood and fall of waters,<br /> +Buckingham’s army is dispersed and scatter’d,<br /> +And he himself <i>wandered away alone</i>,<br /> +<i>No man knows whither</i>.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Tradition says that the fallen nobleman was betrayed by an old servant +to whom the wood belonged, named Bannister; and an old writer thus records +the curses which he says befel the traitor: “Shortly after he +had betrayed his master, his <!-- page 36--><a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>sonne +and heyre waxed mad, and dyed in a bore’s stye; his eldest daughter, +of excellent beautie, was sodaynelie stryken with a foulle leperze; +his seconde sonne very mervalously deformed of his limmes; his younger +sonne in a smal puddell was strangled and drowned; and he, being of +extreme age, arraigned and found gyltie of a murther, was only by his +clergye saved; and as for his thousand pounde, Kyng Richard gave him +not one farthing, saying that he which would be untrew to so good a +master would be false to al other; howbeit some saie that he had a smal +office or a ferme to stoppe his mouthe withal.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/36b.jpg"> +<img alt="The Lady Oak" src="images/36s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h3>CRESSAGE</h3> +<p>Is forty-three miles from Worcester, and eight and a half from Shrewsbury. +The name is an abbreviation of Christsache, <i>ache</i> <!-- page 37--><a name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>been +the old Saxon term for oak. The folk-lore of the district is, +that the old tree was one under which the early Christian missionaries +preached, that it stood in the centre of the village, and that upon +its decay it was supplanted by a market cross, which cross itself has +disappeared. Our engraving represents another of these venerable +trees standing a quarter of a mile from the village, known as the Lady +Oak.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/37b.jpg"> +<img alt="The Nddel’s Eye" src="images/37s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Before the railway caused a deviation in the road, it stood by the +wayside, where it was regarded with veneration by the inhabitants, who +cramped it with iron, and propped it with blocks of wood to preserve +it; they also planted an acorn within its hollow trunk, from which, +as will be seen by our engraving, a young tree mingles its foliage with +that of the parent oak. About a mile from Cressage is Belswardine, +the seat of Sir George Harnage, an old border estate, in <!-- page 38--><a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 38</span>possession +of the same family which received it from the Conqueror. Cressage +station is the nearest and most convenient on the Severn Valley line +from which to reach the Wrekin. The distance is three miles. +The road crosses the river by an ancient wooden bridge, and at Eaton +Constantine passes the house in which Richard Baxter lived when a boy; +and which the great Puritan divine describes as “a mile from the +Wrekin Hill.” The visitor, in his ascent of the hill, passes +a conical knoll of deep red syenite, clothed with verdure, and known +as Primrose Hill. The summit is 1,320 feet above the level of +the sea, and commands a prospect embracing a radius of seventy miles. +Our engraving represents a severed cliff of greenstone at the top, called +the Needle’s Eye, and which tradition alleges to have been riven +at the Crucifixion. Near it is a culminating boss of pinkish felspar +known as the Bladder Stone, a name derived, it is supposed, from Scandinavian +mythology; whilst at a short distance is the Ravens’ Bowl, a basin +in the hard rock, always containing water. On its sides are stratified +rocks which the trap has pierced in its ascent; and which, by the action +of heat, have been changed into a white crystalline substance. +At the northern termination is an entrenched fortification called Heaven +Gate, supposed to be of British origin; and near it is another, called +Hell Gate, with what is supposed to be a tumulus. In the valley +at the foot of the hill, on the eastern side, tumuli have been opened, +in which hundreds of spear heads and other broken weapons have been +found. Here formerly,</p> +<blockquote><p>“Unknown to public view,<br /> +From youth to age a reverend hermit grew.<br /> +The moss his bed, the cave his humble cell,<br /> +His food the fruit, his drink the crystal well.<br /> +Remote from man, with God he passed his days,<br /> +Prayer all his business—all his pleasure praise.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Henry III., in order to afford the said anchorite, Nicholas de Denton, +greater leisure for holy exercises, and to support him during his life, +or so long as he should be a hermit on the aforesaid mountain, granted +him six quarters of corn, to be paid by the Sheriff of Shropshire out +of the Town’s Mills of Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>On leaving Cressage, Eyton-upon-Severn is seen on the <!-- page 39--><a name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 39</span>right, +and on an eminence close by is the “Old Hall,” built by +Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Bromley. It was the birthplace of Lord +Herbert of Chirbury, of whom Ben Jonson wrote:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“If men get fame for some one virtue, then<br /> +What man art thou that art so many men,<br /> +All virtuous Herbert! on whose every part<br /> +Truth might spend all her voice, Fame all her art?”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The railway now passes Cound Hall, Cound Church, and Cound Mill, +a manor which Henry III. gave to his brother-in-law, Llewellyn, and +which was afterwards held by Walter Fitz-Alan, who entered the service +of David, King of Scotland, and became head of the royal house of Stuart. +It crosses the Devil’s Causeway, and passes Venus Bank, with Pitchford +and Acton Barnell on the left; the latter celebrated for the ruins of +the old castle where Edward I. held his parliament, the Commons sitting +in a barn.</p> +<p>Berrington, forty-seven miles from Worcester, and four and a half +from Shrewsbury, lies a short distance from the station. Its church +has many points of interest, being of Anglo-Norman and Early English +architecture; it also possesses a fine Norman font, and a curious monumental +figure of a cross-legged knight, carved in wood.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/39b.jpg"> +<img alt="Atcham Church" src="images/39s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The little village of Atcham may be reached from here by a very pleasant +foot walk of about a mile through the fields. It is celebrated +as the birthplace of Ordericus Vitalis, chaplain to William the Conqueror, +and a famous historian of that time. The church is an ancient +structure reared on the little grassy flat round which the river bends; +tresses of luxuriant ivy conceal its walls, in which are found sections +of a Roman arch and a sculptured Roman column, part of the spoil of +the city of Uriconium. Among its relics is a reading-desk, carved, +it <!-- page 40--><a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 40</span>is +supposed, by Albert Durer, with panels representing passages in the +parable of the Prodigal Son.</p> +<p>Lord Berwick’s park adjoins the village, and in front of the +mansion the Tern comes down to join the Severn. From the Bridge +it is one and a half miles to</p> +<h3>WROXETER,</h3> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/40b.jpg"> +<img alt="Uriconium" src="images/40s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Where the ruins of Uriconium are still exposed to view. Here, +after a lapse of 1,500 years, the visitor may tread the streets and +pavements, handle the implements which the old Romans used, admire their +well-turned arches, and see the paint and plaster upon the walls of +their apartments. The “Old Wall,” so long a sphinx +by the roadside, suggesting enigmas to passers-by, has found an interpreter +in revelations which the spade and pickaxe have made within its shadow. +From the time when its walls first fell down, it has furnished plunder +to the country round. The old monks, finding it easier to take +down its stones than to quarry now ones, built their churches with its +spoil, whilst the “old wall” left standing served as an +advertisement of the treasures buried around it. The Romans who +selected the spot no doubt did <!-- page 41--><a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>so +on military grounds; but, looking at its position on the river, and +the scenery surrounding it, one can readily imagine that an eye for +the beautiful, and a love of nature, had some influence in the choice.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/41b.jpg"> +<img alt="Trout" src="images/41s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Severn, near Wroxeter, is famous for grayling, which seldom exceed +three-quarters of a pound, but which have here been caught two pounds +and a half in weight. The ford has a marly or shaly bottom, and +the stream is quick and clear, conditions such as this famous fish, +described by Dr. Fleming as the “grey salmon,” has a liking +for. It has grey longitudinal lines—hence its name—and +a violet-coloured dorsal fin barred with brown; it is best in the winter +and early spring months, and spawns in those of April and May. +The French, who denounce the chub as “<i>un villain</i>,” +pronounce the grayling “<i>un chevalier</i>.” And +Gesner says, that in his country, which is Switzerland, it is accounted +the choicest fish in the world. As bait, grass-hoppers or large +dun flies are used, and hooks covered with green or yellow silk; in +July, black and red imitation palmer worms are recommended; in August, +the artificial house fly, or blue-bottle; and in winter, black or pale +gnats are often used. The fords, too, from here to Buildwas are +good for trout, that near Cound, from the entrance of Cound Brook into +the Severn, being best.</p> +<p><!-- page 42--><a name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>On +leaving Berrington, we come in sight of the wooded steep of Haughmond, +Shakspere’s “bosky hill.” It commands the field +where Falstaff fought “an hour by the Shrewsbury clock;” +and has still a thicket, called the Bower, from which Queen Eleanor +is said to have watched the battle in which the fortunes of her husband +were involved. A castellated turret crowns the summit of the rock +next the Severn; beyond, is Sundorne Castle and the ruins of Haughmond +Abbey.</p> +<h3>SHREWSBURY.</h3> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/42b.jpg"> +<img alt="Shrewsbury" src="images/42s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>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 <!-- page 43--><a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 43</span>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.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/43b.jpg"> +<img alt="Shrewsbury" src="images/43s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Close by is a highly ornamental timber gateway, erected in 1620, +leading to the Council House, the temporary residence, <!-- page 44--><a name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>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. 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.</p> +<p>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.”</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>The Abbey Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, built upon <!-- page 45--><a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>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.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>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.”</p> +<h2><!-- page 46--><a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 46</span>APPENDIX.</h2> +<h3>GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT.</h3> +<p>We glanced in passing at some few features which could scarcely fail +to attract the attention of the tourist, and a brief notice only of +others will be needed for the geologist. In ascending the river +we descend, geologically speaking, from an upper to a lower series of +rocks, which rocks, in many instances, are covered over by fluviatile +and marine deposits of sand and gravel, containing shells of fish inhabiting +our modern seas. These show how recently the sea must have retired +from a surface so covered with its remains; whilst their position low +down in the valley, and but a little way above the present bed of the +Severn, proves how much more recently the arm of the sea, known as the +Severn Sraits, must have been succeeded by the river. The best +places for collecting these remains along the railway will be found +to be in embankments and cuttings near Buildwas and Coalbrookdale, the +latter having yielded as many as twenty-two distinct species. +In cuttings along the railway, and in their immediate vicinity, will +also be found sections of rocks, from the variegated marls of the New +Red Sandstone, of the Mesozoic, to the silurians, of the Palæozoic, +or Primary Formations. The coal measures of Coalbrookdale, with +their alternating beds of coal, clay, and iron ore, are rich in specimens +of the fauna and flora of the carboniferous age; the best places for +discovering them being the spoil banks of the mines, where shale, and +ironstone nodules, will be found the most productive. One of the +richest beds yielding fossils is the Penneystone, which may be seen +on the surface near Coalbrookdale and Ketley; remains of the Megalicthys, +Gyracanthus, and Holoptychus being occasionally found there, whilst +Conularias, Nautili, Spirifers aviculus, Bellerophons, and others are +numerous. The sand rock overlying it contains Calamites, Lepidodendrons, +<!-- page 47--><a name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span>Ulodendrons, +Sigillarias, &c., &c. Benthall Edge and Lincoln Hill yield +characteristic fossils of the Wenlock limestone and Wenlock shales in +great numbers and variety, corals being most abundant. Between +the Severn and the Acton Burnell hills fossils of the Caradoc may be +found in drift, in old walls by the wayside, and in strata dipping praidly +beneath the Wenlock shales.</p> +<h3>BOTANY OF THE DISTRICT.</h3> +<p>In shallow portions of the Severn, we have several varieties of the +River Crowfoot (<i>Ranunculus fluitans</i>), which, with their long +slender stems and pure white blossoms, form a conspicuous feature; also +the Canadian Water-weed (<i>Anacharis alsinastrum</i>), which has found +its way as high up as Shrewsbury. In marshy flats bordering on +the river, are found the Yellow Flag (<i>Iris pseud-acorus</i>), the +Water-dock, (<i>Rumex Hydrolapathum</i>), the Water Drop-wort, Soap-wort, +Frog-bit-water-lily, and the creeping Yellow Cress; whilst the little +Lily of the Valley, the Giant Bell-flower, the Spreading Bell-flower, +the rare Reed Fescue-grass, and the tall, handsome Fox-glove, which,</p> +<blockquote><p>“On fair Flora’s hand is worn,”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>adorn the woods along the slopes.</p> +<p>Other plants are found as follows:—</p> +<p>Ranunculus parviflorus (Small-flowered Crowfoot) . . . Stagborough.</p> +<p>Cardamine impatiens (Narrow-leaved Bittercress) . . . Stagborough.</p> +<p>Poterium sanguisorba . . . Stagborough.</p> +<p>Campanula latifolia . . . Owton and Stagborough.</p> +<p>Campanula patula . . . Owton and Stagborough.</p> +<p>Vinca minor (Lesser Periwinkle) . . . Arley Wood and Stagborough.</p> +<p>Heleborus fœtidus (Stinking Hellebore) . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Geranium phseum (Dusky Crane’s-bill) . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Rhamnus catharticus (Common Buckthorn) . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Prunus padus (Bird Cherry) . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Geum rivale . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Artemisia Absinthium (Common Wormwood) . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Artemisia campestris . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Habenaria viridis . . . Farlow.</p> +<p>Lathræa squamaria . . . Ribbesford Wood.</p> +<p>Orobanche minor . . . Ribbesford Wood.</p> +<p><!-- page 48--><a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>Mentha +piperita (Peppermint) . . . Near Horshill, Ribbesford.</p> +<p>Thymus serpyllum and T. glandulosus . . . Near Horshill, Ribbesford.</p> +<p>Calamintha Nepeta and officinalis . . . About Ribbesford.</p> +<p>Daphne Laureola (Spurge Laurel) . . . About Ribbesford.</p> +<p>Fagus sylvatioa (Common Beech) . . . About Ribbesford.</p> +<p>Paris quadrifolia . . . About Ribbesford.</p> +<p>Cardamine amara (Bitter Ladies’ Smock) . . . Blackstone.</p> +<p>Cerastium arvense (Field Chick-weed) . . . Blackstone.</p> +<p>Hypericum montanum (Mountain St. John’s-wort) . . . Blackstone.</p> +<p>Sedum dasyphyllum . . . Blackstone.</p> +<p>Viola canina (Dog’s Violet) . . . Hartlebury Common.</p> +<p>Radiola millegrana (Thyme-leaved Flax-seed) . . . Hartlebury Common.</p> +<p>Comarum palustre (Purple Marsh Cinquefoil) . . . Hartlebury Common.</p> +<p>Menyanthes trifoliata (Buck-bean) . . . Hartlebury Common.</p> +<p>Chenopodium ficifolium . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Chenopodium polyspermum . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Chenopodium urbicum . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Chenopodium Bonus Henricus . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Rumex sanguineus . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Bryonia dioica . . . About Bewdley. (In hedges.)</p> +<p>Anacharis alsinastrum . . . In the Severn, near Bewdley.</p> +<p>Habenaria viridis . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Spiranthes autumnalis . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Cephalanthera ensifolia . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Tulipa sylvestris (Wild Tulip) . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Ornithogalum umbellatum (Star of Bethlehem) . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Hieracium vulgatum . . . Bewdley and Broseley.</p> +<p>Papaver Argemone (Prickly-headed Poppy) . . . Corn-fields, near Bewdley.</p> +<p>Turritis glabra (Tower Mustard) . . . Near Bewdley.</p> +<p>Sisymbrium Sophia (Flax weed) . . . Near Bewdley.</p> +<p>Hypericum Androsœmum (St. John’s-wort) . . . Woods around +Bewdley.</p> +<p>Vicia sylvatica (Wood Vetch) . . . Woods about Bewdley.</p> +<p>Prunus Cerasus (Wild Cherry) . . . About Bewdley and Norton Prescot.</p> +<p>Potentilla argentea (Hairy Cinquefoil) . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Epilobium angustifolium . . . Near Bewdley.</p> +<p>Myrrhis odorata . . . Between Brosely and Ironbridge.</p> +<p>Artemisia Absinthium (Common Wormwood) . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Doronicum Pardalianches . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Hieracium umbellatum . . . About Bewdley.</p> +<p>Campanula latifolia . . . Ditto, and Coalport Dingle.</p> +<p>Nepeta Cataria (Cat Mint) . . . . Fields about Bewdley and Stourport.</p> +<p>Leonurus Cardiaca (Mother-wort) . . . Occasionally found about Bewdley.</p> +<p>Thalictrum flavum (Meadow Rue) . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Nasturtium sylvestre (Creeping Nasturtium) . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Sinapis nigra (Common Mustard) . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Saponaria officinalis . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Malachium aquaticum (Water Chick-weed) . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Geranium pratense (Blue Crane’s Bill) . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Astragalus glyciphyllus (Sweet Milk Vetch) . . . Banks of Severn +about Linkham.</p> +<p>Œnanthe crocata (Hemlock Water Drop-wort) . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p><!-- page 49--><a name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span>Inula +Helenium meinlen (Elecampane) . . . Near the Severn, below Quatford +Low, near Clee Hills.</p> +<p>Campanula latifolia . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Lysimachia vulgaris (Yellow Loose Strife) . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Scirpus sylvaticus . . . Banks of Severn.</p> +<p>Juniperus communis (Common Juniper) . . . Wyre Forest, near Furnaw +Mill.</p> +<p>Gymnadenia conopsea . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Habenaria bifolia (Small Butterfly Orchis) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Habenaria chlorantha (Yellow Butterfly Habenaria) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Neottia Nidus-avis (Common Bird’s Nest) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Epipactis latifolia . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Epipactis palustris . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Cephalanthera ensefolia . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre +Forest. (Abundant.)</p> +<p>Convallaria magalis . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Narthecium ossifragum (Bog Ashphodel) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Luzula sylvatica (Great Hairy Woodrush) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest. (Abundant.)</p> +<p>L. pilosa (Broad-leaved Wood-rush) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Triglochin palustre (Marsh Arrow-grass) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Eriophorum angustifolium (Cotton-grass) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Eriophorum latifolium . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre +Forest.</p> +<p>Carex muricata, C. vulpina, C. teretiuscula . . . In plantations +at Willey, and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>C. ovalis, C. pendula, C. pilulifera . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>C. fulva . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Melica nutans and uniflora . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Equisetum sylvaticum and E. hyemale . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Lycopodium clavatum and L. inundatum . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Thalictrum minus . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Aquilegia vulgaris (Common Columbine) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Rhamnus catharticus and R. Frangula . . . Wyre Forest and Farlow.</p> +<p>Sanguisorba officinalis (Great Burnet) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Rubus saxatilis, and most of the other species of Rubi . . . Wyre +Forest.</p> +<p>Rosa spinosissima (Burnet-leaved Rose) . . . Wyre Forest and Weldon.</p> +<p>R. villosa and R. tomentosa . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Pyrus Malus, P. Aria and P. aucuparia, and P. torminalis . . . Wyre +Forest.</p> +<p>Epilobium angustifolium (Rose bay Willow) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Gnaphalium sylvaticum (Highland Cudweed) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Serratula tinctoria (Saw-wort) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Hieracium murorum . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Pyrola minor, and P. media . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Gentiana Amarella (Autumnal Gentian) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Lithospermum officinale (Grey Millet) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Pedicularis palustris (Marsh Louse-wort) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Scutellaria minor and galericulata . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Anagallis tenella (Bog Pimpernel) . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Daphne Laureola . . . Wyre Forest.</p> +<p>Populus tremula (Aspen) . . . Abundant over the Forest.</p> +<p>Fagus sylvatica (Common Beech) . . . Abundant over the Forest.</p> +<p>Quercus Robur and Q. intermedia. (Two very distinct species, +Q. intermedia occupies almost exclusively the whole of Wyre forest.) +. . . Abundant over the Forest.</p> +<p><!-- page 50--><a name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>Polemonium +cæruleum (Jacob’s Ladder) . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Campanula patula, or spreading bell flower . . . Bridgnorth and near +Berrington.</p> +<p>Sambucus Ebulus (Dwarf Elder) . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Lathræa squammaria (Greater Tooth-wort) . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Camelina sativa (Common Gold of Pleasure) . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Vicia sylvatica (Wood Vetch) . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Astragalus glycpyhyllus . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Parietaria officinalis . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Lactuca virosa (Strong-scented Lettuce) . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Scirpus sylvaticus . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Erigeron acris (Blue Fleabane) . . . Bridgnorth.</p> +<p>Adonis autumnalis (Pheasant’s Eye) . . . Coalport.</p> +<p>Monotropa Hypopitys (Yellow Bird’s nest) . . . Coalport.</p> +<p>Ligustrum vulgare (Privet) . . . Benthall Edge.</p> +<p>Erigeron acris . . . Benthall Edge.</p> +<p>Bee Orchis (Ophrys apifera) . . . Benthall Edge.</p> +<p>Pinguicula vulgaris (Common Butter-wort) . . . Wrekin.</p> +<p>Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) . . . Wrekin.</p> +<p>Danthonia decumbens . . . Wrekin.</p> +<p>Eriophorum angustifolium . . . Wrekin.</p> +<p>Isolepis setacea (Bristle-stalked Moor-rush) . . . Wrekin.</p> +<p>Myosotis collina (Early Field Scorpion grass) . . . Wrekin.</p> +<p>Polypodium dryopteris . . . Wrekin.</p> +<p>Amongst the ferns of the district may be mentioned—the Royal +fern (<i>Osmunda regalis</i>), which has been found sparingly at Shirlett, +in Willey Park, and in Dairley Dingle; the beautiful Beech fern (<i>Polypodium +Phegopteris</i>), which grows in the greatest luxuriance in Dairley +Dingle, also in a wood in Willey Park; and the Hay fern (<i>Lastrea +fænisecii</i>), in Coalbrookdale, and upon Shirlett. Also +several other commoner species, as <i>Lastrea Oreopteris, Lastrea spinosa, +Lastrea dilatata</i>, and its variety <i>glandulosa, Lastrea filix mas</i>, +and its variety <i>Borreri</i>; <i>Aspidium aculeatum</i>, and <i>Aspidium +augulare</i>.</p> +<p>In giving the above list, I willingly acknowledge the assistance +of my friends, Messrs. Baugh, Jordin, and Maw.</p> +<h2><!-- page 51--><a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>ADVERTISEMENTS.</h2> +<p>In 1 volume, crown 8vo., handsomely bound in cloth, and gilt, price +7<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>.; or in cloth, and not gilt (Second Edition), price +5<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>.,</p> +<p>The Severn Valley; A Series of Sketches. Descriptive and Pictorial, +of the entire Course of the Severn, containing Notices of its Topographical, +Industrial, and Geological Features, with Glances at its Historical +and Legendary Associations. By <span class="smcap">John Randall, +</span>F.G.S.</p> +<p>“This work will be an admirable guide-book for the tourist, +and is so beautifully printed as to be worthy of a place on any drawing-room +table, although the price is modestly fixed at 7<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. +only. Mr. Randall sketches landscapes with artistic taste, lingers +here and there for anecdote, drops in at the wayside hostelry, and picks +up pleasant chit-chat on angling and other subjects. He is evidently +a lover of nature, and possesses a pleasing style of demonstrating his +devotion in print.”—<i>Worcester Herald</i>.</p> +<p>“Mr. Randall’s style is pure and unaffected; it flows +equably and cheerfully along as the river he so lovingly describes. +To tourists this elegant and interesting book will prove an invaluable +companion, and as such we cordially commend <i>it</i>.”—<i>Eddowes’s +Journal</i>.</p> +<p>“This is a valuable addition to the story of literary information +connected with this and neighbouring counties, and we doubt not the +work will prove as popular as undoubtedly it is interesting.”—<i>Worcestershire +Chronicle</i>.</p> +<p>“The author has made judicious selection of the abundant materials +presented, and draws a series of graphic and pleasing pictures of all +the more noticeable features of the country which are to be found along +the extensive and meandering course of the Severn.”—<i>Gloucester +Journal</i>.</p> +<p>“The book which has furnished our theme is perhaps the best +account of the Severn and the Severn Valley in existence.”—<i>Gloucester +Chronicle</i>.</p> +<p>“Always easy and flowing, and sometimes approaching almost +to the force of poetry in its simple elegance of expression, the legendary +and historical associations which belong to the scenery of the Severn +blend naturally with the most glowing pictures of descriptive beauty, +and there is never any appearance of labour or constraint.”—<i>Shrewsbury +Chronicle</i>.</p> +<p>“The ground—which to the great majority of tourists must +be comparatively new—presents some of the finest scenery in the +kingdom. Its antiquities, its historical and legendary associations, +are full of interest; whilst to the student of nature, whether his special +subject be geology or botany, it is no less rich and attractive. +On all these subjects, as well as on the industrial features of the +district, Mr. Randall is at home.”—<i>Shropshire News</i>.</p> +<p>“Mr. Randall is a good guide. He is thoroughly acquainted +with his subject. He has long been familiar with the Severn Valley, +and knows its geology, its traditions, its historic records, its myths, +its poetry, and its loveliest scenes. On all these topics he dilates +with the freshness which ever arises from deep love.”—<i>Literary +Companion</i>.</p> +<p>“An itinerary abounding with interesting material of a very +varied kind, of which the author has availed himself to write a most +agreeable guide-book.”—<i>Art-Journal</i>.</p> +<p>“We can most conscientiously recommend it to our readers, for +there is food for all tastes and temperaments in its ever-varying pages. +For a day’s out to any place on the Severn, we do not know a better +guide.”—<i>Birmingham Post</i>.</p> +<p>“The wood-cuts, though small, are artistically drawn and neatly +engraved.”—<i>Army and Navy Gazette</i>.</p> +<p>JAMES S. VIRTUE, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.</p> +<h2>Footnotes.</h2> +<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6">{6}</a> Upon payment +of one shilling.</p> +<p><a name="footnote11"></a><a href="#citation11">{11}</a> The +geological features of the district are readily recognised. The +great magazine of salt at Droitwich is sufficiently indicative of the +red marls observed in the cutting at Shrub Hill, and which rise, by +means of passage shales, into the lias on one side, and descend, by +means of other members of the New Red Sandstone, into the permians on +the other.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDBOOK TO THE SEVERN VALLEY</p> +<pre> +RAILWAY*** + + +***** This file should be named 17612-h.htm or 17612-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/6/1/17612 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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+1,2201 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway, by J. +Randall + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway + Illustrative and Descriptive of Places along the Line from + Worcester to Shrewsbury + + +Author: J. Randall + + + +Release Date: January 26, 2006 [eBook #17612] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDBOOK TO THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY*** + + + + + + +Transcribed from a facsimile of the original printing and design of 1863 +by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +HANDBOOK TO THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY + + +Illustrative and Descriptive of Places along the Line, +FROM +WORCESTER TO SHREWSBURY. + +BY J. RANDALL, F.G.S., +AUTHOR OF "SEVERN VALLEY," ETC. + +[Title page illustration: title.jpg] + + + + +LEGEND OF THE SEVERN, WYE, AND RHEIDOL. + + +(_See Illustration on the Cover_.) + +The Welsh are justly proud of their hills and their rivers; they +frequently personify both, and attribute to them characters corresponding +with their peculiar features. Of the Severn, the Wye, and the Rheidol, +they have an apologue, intended to convey an idea of their comparative +length, and also of the character of the districts through which they +flow. It is called "The Three Sisters," and in substance is as +follows:--In some primitive period of the earth's history, Father +Plinlimmon promised to these nymphs of the mountain as much territory as +they could compass in a day's journey to the sea, by way of dowry upon +their alliance with certain marine deities they should meet there. Sabra, +goddess of the Severn, being a prudent, well-conducted maiden, rose with +the first streak of morning dawn, and, descending the eastern side of the +hill, made choice of the most fertile valleys, whilst as yet her sisters +slept. Vaga, goddess of the Wye, rose next, and, making all haste to +perform her task, took a shorter course, by which means she joined her +sister ere she reached the sea. The goddess Rhea, old Plinlimmon's pet, +woke not till roused by her father's chiding; but by bounding down the +side of the mountain, and selecting the shortest course of all, she +managed to reach her destination first. Thus the Cymric proverb, "There +is no impossibility to the maiden who hath a fortune to lose or a husband +to win." + + + + +THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY. + + +The Severn, like other English rivers, may be said to have been the +pioneer of railways along its banks: first, in having done much to +correct the inequalities of the surface; secondly, in having indicated +the direction in which the traffic flowed; so that early in the history +of railway enterprise eminent engineers, like the late Robert Stephenson, +saw the desirability of following its course, and thus meeting the wants +of towns that had grown into importance upon its banks, wants which the +river itself was unable to supply. In 1846 the route was finally +surveyed by Robert Nicholson, with a view to a through traffic in +connection with other railways. The scheme met with opposition from +advocates of rival lines. Ultimately, however, the Bill passed the +committees of the two Houses, and the promoters were successful, whilst +the expenses of counsel and witnesses were enormous. The original +estimate for the line was 600,000 pounds: 110,000 pounds for land, and +490,000 pounds for works. 8,500 pounds was down for a girder bridge at +Arley, 8,000 pounds for one near Quatford, 9,000 pounds for one above +Bridgnorth, and 10,000 pounds for one at Shrewsbury. The two bridges +near Bridgnorth and the one near Shrewsbury were abandoned, and a +considerable saving was effected by shortening the line at Hartlebury, by +a junction, with the Oxford, Wolverhampton, and Worcester higher up than +was originally intended. The estimated cost of the works, in consequence +of these reductions, and of the determination of the company to make it a +single line, was thus reduced to nearly one-half the original sum. + +Although the Severn Valley Railway joins the Main Trunk line at +Hartlebury, Worcester is regarded as its proper terminus; and at that +point we commence our description. + + + +WORCESTER. + + +[Illustration of Worcester: 4.jpg] + +Population, 31,123. Returns two Members to Parliament + +Market days--Wednesdays and Saturdays Fair days--Saturday before Palm +Sunday, Saturday before Easter Day, August 15th, September 19th, and +first Monday in December. + +Our engraving represents the "faithful city" as it appears from a point +between the bridges, with the Cathedral rising from an eminence above the +river. The venerable pile was raised by the brave and pious bishop +Wulstan, upon the site of an earlier edifice, formerly the church of a +priory founded by one of the Saxon kings. Recent restorations, carried +on under the direction of the Dean and Chapter, have led to the +correction of defects, resulting from time, and ignorance on the part of +past builders, and have disclosed features which add much to the grandeur +of the edifice; so that in addition to impressions its magnificence +creates upon the mind of the general visitor, it now affords a rich treat +to all who delight to trace the boundary lines of ecclesiastical +architecture, as they approach or recede from the present time. First, +there is the Norman or Romanesque of the period of its erection, of which +the crypt and part of the central transept are specimens; secondly, the +First Pointed or Early English, as seen in the eastern transept; thirdly, +the Middle Pointed or Decorated, as in the tower, guesten hall, and +refectory; and, fourthly, the Third Pointed or Perpendicular, as in the +north porch, in the cloisters, and Prince Arthur's Chapel. Amongst +ancient mural monuments, covering the dust or commemorating the virtues +of the great, will be found King John's tomb, in the centre of the choir; +one in white marble of Prince Arthur; and those of bishops Sylvester, +Gauden, Stillingfleet, Thornborough, Parry, and Hough, the latter a _chef +d'oeuvre_ of Roubilliac's; also that of Judge Lyttleton, "the father of +English law;" and others of men renowned for learning, piety, or bravery. +Near this fine old ecclesiastical edifice once stood the feudal +stronghold that protected it, the only remaining portion of which is a +crumbling mass of stone known as Edgar's Tower. From standing in the +college precincts it is sometimes mistaken for a portion of the +cathedral; it is, however, a relic of the old castle, the keep of which +rested on a mound of sand and gravel, which was found to contain, upon +its removal in 1833, Roman remains of the reigns of Augustus, Nero, +Vespasian, and Constantine. In High Street, leading from the Cathedral +to the Cross, is the Guildhall, erected from a design by a pupil of the +great Sir Christopher Wren, and considered to be one of the most handsome +brick-fronted structures in the kingdom. It is decorated with statues of +Charles I., Charles II., Queen Anne, and with emblematic figures of +Justice, Peace, Labour, &c.; whilst over the doorway is the city coat of +arms, with the motto, "_Floreat semper fidelis civitas_." The lower hall +contains a collection of interesting specimens of ancient armour, gleaned +from the battlefields of Worcester, and one of those quaint old +instruments of punishment formerly used for scolds, called a "brank." In +the municipal hall, on the second floor, is a portrait of George III., +who presented it to the inhabitants, and others of citizens who have done +good service to the town, or in some way distinguished themselves, the +last added being that of Alderman Padmore, one of the members for the +city. + +The churches are fifteen in number, some being ancient edifices, others +recent erections built on the sites of older structures, whilst a few are +copies of the originals. There are nearly as many dissenting and other +chapels, several of which are handsome specimens of modern architectural +skill. Among instances of domestic architecture of past centuries may be +mentioned, "The Old House" in "New Street," from which Charles II. +escaped after the battle of Worcester. It was the house also in which +Judge Berkeley was born, and has over the door the inscription, "Love God +(W. B. 1557, R. D), Honor the King." + +Worcester is rich in schools, almshouses, and institutions, whose united +incomes, representing a total of 4,000 pounds, speak much for the public +spirit and large-hearted benevolence of the inhabitants. + +The Museum and Natural History Society, in Foregate Street, to which +visitors are admitted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, {6} with its +collection of antiquities, fossils, and objects of natural history, +should be visited. Also, the Arboretum and Public Pleasure Grounds, near +Sansome Walk, where fetes are given and bands frequently play. The +grounds are tastefully laid out, portions being set apart for games of +archery, cricket, bowls, and quoits. The usual admission fee is +sixpence, but on Mondays they are free to the inhabitants. + +In describing Worcester it would be unpardonable not to allude to its +hops, from 2,000 to 3,000 pockets of which, it is said, not unfrequently +change hands, in the market in the Foregate, during the season. + +Glove making also is still one of the staple trades, nearly half a +million being annually manufactured by Messrs. Dent and others. + +Worcester is celebrated for Porcelain of a very superior kind; and +facilities are afforded to strangers visiting the manufactory, both in +Diglis, and in Lowesmoor. The productions of the former are highly +esteemed by connoisseurs. The works have the good fortune to receive +distinguished and even royal patronage; and the show-rooms form one of +the attractions of the city. + +The Iron trade, so far as regards the manufacture of bridges, machinery, +and general castings, notwithstanding the distance from the iron making +districts, is well represented by the Vulcan Works, and those of Messrs. +Padmore and Hardy. Other establishments on a large scale have sprung +into existence in the city and its suburbs, in which chemistry and +machinery, singly or combined, produce results the most astounding. Among +them are those of Hill, Evans, and Co., where the visitor wanders amidst +enormous vats, from which as many as 1,208,600 gallons of vinegar have +been produced in a single year; and those of Lewis, Watkins, and Co., +where a large portion of the vinegar is used in preparing pickles, and +where hundreds of tons of preserved fruits and jam are annually produced +for sale. There are also those of the well-known firm of Lea and Perrin; +the chemical works of Webb; the extensive carriage manufactory of +McNaught and Smith, and others upon which space forbids us to dwell. + +[Old waterworks: 7.jpg] + +The Severn supplies the inhabitants with water, which is purified by +means of extensive filter-beds at the upper end of Pitchcroft, and then +thrown by machinery to the top of Rainbow Hill, a position sufficiently +elevated to ensure its distribution over the upper stories of the highest +houses. The "Old Waterworks" remain, and, as will be seen from our +sketch, form a picturesque object in the landscape. The Severn is, +however, no longer the fast-flowing stream poets have described it, but +what it has lost in speed it has gained in depth, breadth, and majesty; +the locks and weirs at Diglis--the former two abreast, and the latter +stretching 400 feet across the stream--giving to it the aspect of a lake, +an aspect aided by the appearance upon its surface of a number of swans. +Its contrast with itself, whilst yet in its rocky cradle on Plinlimmon, +will be seen from the accompanying sketch of _Blaen Hafren_, or the "Head +of the River," two miles from its source. Anglers will find pleasant +spots at which to indulge in the "gentle art," near Henwick, where the +old Worcester monks had weirs; also near Bevere Island, and Holt Castle; +at the confluence of the Severn with the Teme (two miles + +[Blaen Hafren: 8.jpg] + +below Worcester), thence to the tail of Kempsey Lake; and still better +near the Rhydd (the seat of Sir E. A. H. Lechmere, Bart.). Worcester is +surrounded by very many spots of interest to lovers of natural scenery, +to archaeologists, botanists, and geologists. Among those within easy +reach, and deserving of special notice, may be mentioned Croome Court, +the seat of the Earl of Coventry (nine miles); and Witley Court, backed +by the Abberley and Woodbury hills, (ten miles); also Madresfield Court, +the seat of the Earl of Beauchamp (six miles); Cotheridge Court, the seat +of W. Berkeley, Esq. (four miles); and Strensham village, the birthplace +of Butler, the author of "Hudibras" (three miles from Duffore station, on +the Bristol line). Leaving Worcester at Shrub Hill--a portion of a long +natural terrace commanding pleasing views of the city and of the Malvern +range of hills--we pass the cemetery; then Hindlip Hall, the residence of +Henry Alsop, Esq., a handsome modern mansion standing in the midst of a +very pleasant country on the left, and approached by an avenue of trees +nearly a mile in length. The "Old Hall," upon the site of which the +present one is built, was constructed by some quaint architect having +less peaceful times in view, who contrived numerous secret chambers, of +which the conspirators Garnet and Oldcorn are known to have availed +themselves. Here also lived the sister of Lord Monteagle, whose letter +to her brother is said to have led to the discovery of Gunpowder Plot. +Near the hall is the old ivy-towered church of the hamlet, with its +rustic graveyard. At a distance of six miles from Worcester is the +borough town of + + + +DROITWICH. + + +Population, 3,123 + +Market day--Friday. Fairs--Friday in Easter week, June 18th, September +24th, and December 18th. + +The town, which lies beneath the embankment of the railway, in the valley +of the river Salwarp, on the right, is on weekdays so enveloped in steam, +that little beyond its stacks, and the murky tower of St. Andrew's +Church, are seen. Its staple trade is salt, for the export of which the +canal, the Severn, and modern railways offer great facilities. From +early times, the subterranean river beneath the town has yielded an +uninterrupted supply of the richest brine in Europe; and it is curious to +observe how the vacuum created by the amount raised has caused the ground +to collapse and crack, as shown by the decrepit state of the buildings, +many of which are broken-backed, twisted, and contorted--although the +intermediate earth is about 200 feet in thickness. The place, therefore, +has a sort of downcast look, and the streets have a melancholy +appearance; whilst the sheds of the brine works, made to appear more +murky by contrast with heaps of white salt refuse, suggest the thought +that the town has gone into mourning. Exception must be taken to St. +Peter's Church, which stands outside the town, and is surrounded by green +fields, with no building near, except an exceedingly dilapidated half- +timbered mansion, the property of Lord Somers. Tradition says that this +church once adjoined the town, but that the latter shifted in the +direction of the springs; if so, the injunction over the doorway, to +"Remember Lot's wife," seems a strange rebuke, if intended for the +inhabitants. The building has many features of interest, the Norman, the +Transition, and subsequent styles of architectural decoration being +observable. + +[Westwood house: 10.jpg] + +The old town has an interesting charity, founded by Lord Coventry, for +the support of poor people, and the education of poor children. The +almshouses, which have recently been rebuilt, and are eighteen in number, +are commodious and convenient, with garden plots at the back; whilst the +inmates have 3_s_. 6_d_. per week, or 5_s_. if upwards of 70 years of +age, beside clothing. Connected with these is an infirmary, in which at +the time of our visit were three old ladies, who looked particularly +clean and comfortable, and whose ages were respectively 83, 89, and 93. + +On a red marlstone cliff, {11} rising above the river Salwarp, and +overlooking the town of Droitwich, is the church of Dodderhill, belonging +to the parish of that name. It gave shelter to the Royalists during the +civil wars, and suffered much from an attack of the Parliamentary forces, +who battered down its nave and tower. The former has never been rebuilt, +and the latter, instead of being placed in the position it formerly held, +has been made to fill up the south transept. + +On the left of the line is the seat of Sir John Packington, the present +member for Droitwich. It may be reached from the town by a pleasant +walk; first by the side of the canal and river, and then through the +park. Westwood was given by Henry VIII. to an ancestor of the present +baronet, in consequence of his residence at Hampton Lovett having been +injured during the civil wars; and the house is one of the most +interesting specimens of Elizabethan architecture in the kingdom. The +railway passes Hampton Lovett church, near which are neat model cottages +erected by Sir John; and at a distance of eleven miles from Worcester we +arrive at + + + +HARTLEBURY. + + +Hartlebury, which is about a mile from the station, has been for a +thousand years the residence of the bishops of Worcester; the old castle +having remained entire until the middle of the 17th century, when, from +having given shelter to the Royalists, it became a heap of ruins, and the +present palace was erected in its stead. It is approached by a noble +avenue of limes, and is surrounded by pleasure-gardens, fashioned out of +its ancient moat, one portion of which is still a quiet lake. It has a +park with well-timbered tracts adjoining, one of which is called the +Bishop's Wood, and near which is the famous Mitre Oak. + + + +STOURPORT + + +Derives its name from the great basins constructed by Brindley upon the +canal, and also from the river Stour, which here enters the Severn. The +advantages of position led to the erection of large manufacturing +establishments on the spot. Steam has been brought to aid the Stour, +whose waters are pounded back to create a capital of force to turn great +wheels that spin, and weave, and grind; whilst iron works, vinegar works, +and tan works, upon a large scale, have also sprung into existence. On +the opposite bank of the Severn, about three-quarters of a mile from +Stourport, is Arley Kings, or Lower Arley; and about a mile lower down +the river is Redstone Cliff, in which is the famous hermitage of Layamon, +a monkish historian of the 13th century, who is said to have composed a +"Chronicle of Britain," embracing that mythical period extending from +Brute to Cadwallader. + +On leaving Stourport, the traveller passes Burlish Common, and plunging +into a deep cutting, terminated by a dark tunnel, emerges in sight of the +little town of + + + +BEWDLEY. + + +Population, 2,900. + +Market day--Saturday. Fair days--Last Tuesday in February, April 23rd, +the Monday before St. Ann's, second Tuesday in October, and December +11th. + +Principal Hotels--The George, and the Wheatsheaf. + +Bewdley is an ancient borough town, corporate and parliamentary, +returning one member. The place long ago obtained the appellation +"beautiful." Leland says, "because of its present site men first began +to resort there;" adding, "the towne itself of Bewdley is sett on the +side of a hille, so comely that a man cannot wishe to see a towne better. +It riseth from Severne banke by east, upon the hille by west, so that a +man standing on the hille _trans-pontem_ by east may discern almoste +every house in the towne; and att the rising of the sun from east, the +whole towne glittereth, being all of new building, as it were of gould." +Bewdley has been said to resemble the letter Y in form--the foot in the +direction of the river being more modern, and the extremities stretching +out against the hills the more ancient, portions. It was privileged as a +place of sanctuary when Wyre Forest was infested by men who lived merry +lives, and who did not refuse to shed their brothers' blood. It had the +privilege of taxing traders upon the Severn, as appears from a petition +presented by "the men of Bristowe and Gloucester" in the reign of Henry +IV., praying for exemption. It obtained its charter of incorporation +from Edward IV., and one granting the elective franchise from James I. + +[Bewdley: 13.jpg] + +Wribbenhall, on the same side the river as the station, is a hamlet +belonging to Kidderminster, from which town it is distant about three +miles. Bewdley and Wribbenhall are surrounded by pleasant spots, not a +few of which are occupied by mansions, handsome villas, and gentlemen's +seats, seen from the line. + +Winterdyne is one of these; from dark rocks above the Severn it overlooks +the valley, and is surrounded by walks and grounds commanding magnificent +prospects, the one from the Fort being perhaps the most romantic. Lovers +of quiet rambles, anglers, or botanists, would do well to take up their +quarters at Bewdley, as a centre from which to explore the neighbourhood. +There are few more charming spots than Ribbesford, a mile lower down the +river; it is a sylvan bit of landscape, with grassy flats and weathered +cliffs, the latter, rising abruptly from the stream, being delicately +tinted into harmony with the boles, and foliage of the trees above them. +Opposite is Burlish Deep, noted for its pike. + +[Pike: 14.jpg] + +As at Worcester, the Severn here is a quiet, slow-flowing river. From +Gloucester to Bewdley the old gravelly fords and sandy shallows have +disappeared, and the "gentle art" has had to adapt itself to these +changes; fish once familiar to anglers are now strangers, rarely, if ever +seen on this side Gloucester; but the regulations enforced by the Severn +Fisheries Commission, and the vigilance of local associations, will, it +is hoped, soon be the means of repeopling the Severn with those members +of the finny tribe once common to its waters. Steam-tugs and trows, +propelled by screw or paddle, now navigate the river, each with a dozen +old-fashioned barges at its stern; but this portion of the Severn being +comparatively free, it is a favourite breeding place with pike, who for +reproductive purposes seek the stillest portions of the stream. Dowles +Ford, at the mouth of the brook of that name, which enters the river a +little above Bewdley, also Laxlane Ford, and Folly's Ford, are each +famous for their trout. + +Leaving Bewdley, we pass the line of railway to Tenbury, but confine +ourselves to the Valley of the Severn, along which the river and the rail +are now close companions nearly all the way to Shrewsbury. The elevation +of the embankment above the river affords glimpses of Bewdley Forest, or, +as Drayton calls it, the Stately Wyre. + + "These scenes are desert now and bare, + Where nourished once a forest fair; + When these waste glens with copse were lined, + And peopled with the hart and hind." + +But portions of the district still are wooded, affording famous fields +for botanists. Seckley Wood comes down to meet the bold projecting rocks +above the river; and we have Eyemoor Wood and others right and left on +approaching Upper or Over Arley. + + + +ARLEY, + + +Twenty miles from Worcester, is one of the sweetest little villages along +the line. Its ferry on the river, its timbered cottages, partially +concealed in green indentations of the hill, its grey church tower, and +those of the castle near, are a picture of themselves; but when showers +of blossoms crown the orchard trees in spring, or ruddy fruits hang ripe +in autumn, the scene is more enchanting still. + +The castle tower is 120 feet in height, and commands an extensive sweep +of country, through which the Severn in the distance winds its way, in +and out, like a silver thread. The gardens and grounds contain rare +shrubs and trees, imported by the late Earl Mountnorris; to visit which +R. Woodward, Esq., the present proprietor, like the late earl, very +rarely refuses his permission. + +The railway having crossed the Severn by the Victoria Bridge, an iron +structure, 200 feet in span, now continues its course along the right +bank of the stream, disclosing glimpses now and then of gentle sweeps and +undulating lines of wood and field, where quiet tones of light and shade, +with sweet harmonious tints, refresh and please. Wandering at its own +sweet will, the river here goes freely on its way, bubbling and brawling +at the fords, gathering itself up into deep, dark lakes carved out of the +softer rocks over which it flows, or dividing to embrace some +willow-covered island in its course. Between Arley and Bewdley it is +well stocked with grayling, dace, and that king of Severn fish, the +salmon which is often taken hero; also with that "queen of fresh-water +fish" the carp, speaking of which an old distich says:-- + + "Hops and turkeys, carps and beer, + Came into England all in one year." + +Like pike, they are long-lived; referring to which, Ben Jonson says:-- + + "Fat, _aged carps_, that run into thy net, + And pikes, now weary their own kind to eat." + +During the winter months carp are caught in broad, quiet parts of the +river; in summer, in holes and reaches, under hollow banks, and near beds +of weeds or flags. All kinds of bait are recommended, but a well-scoured +worm is often best. + +[Crap: 16.jpg] + + + +HIGHLEY, + + +Or Higley, as it is commonly called, is two and a half miles from Arley. +The village is situated high upon the hill, and consists of scattered +cottages, with a sprinkling of goodly houses, some half timbered, after +the quaint fashion of former times. The church has an ancient chancel +window, and in the graveyard is an old cross, elaborately carved in +freestone, a material found very extensively in the neighbourhood. +Highley was an old Saxon manor, which, with Chetton, belonged to the +widow of Leofric--Godiva, of Coventry celebrity. Kinlet, four miles +distant, occupies a picturesque eminence of a horse-shoe form; the church +is an ancient structure, containing noble altar tombs, one of which has a +rich canopy, with the figure of a knight and lady kneeling. + + + +HAMPTON'S LOADE. + + +Lode was a Saxon term for ford, and the name here, as elsewhere, denotes +an ancient passage of the Severn. In this case, it was one by which the +inhabitants of Highley, Billingsley, and Chelmarsh formerly passed to +Quatt and Alveley. A ferry has long been substituted, but the old load +still winds along the hillside, past an old stone cross, in the direction +of Alveley, an old Saxon manor. The tall grey tower of the old church is +seen from the line, occupying a high position on the right. The building +is an ancient and interesting structure, with many Norman features, and +is greatly admired by antiquarians. Judging from the materials used in +older portions of the building, the first church would appear to have +been built of travertine. Above Hampton's Loade, the wooded heights of +Dudmaston and of Quatford, with the red towers of Quatford Castle, come +into view; but a deviation of the line, and a deep cutting through the +Knoll Sands, prevent more than a passing glimpse. _Quat_ is an old +British word for wood, and refers to a wide stretch of woodland once +included in the great Morfe Forest; and _ford_ to an adjoining passage of +the river--one, half a mile higher up, being still called _Danes' Ford_. +On a bluff headland, rising perpendicularly 100 feet above the Severn, +close by, the hardy Northerners, who thus left their name in connection +with the Severn, established themselves in 896, when driven by Alfred +from the Thames; and on the same projecting rock, defended on the land +side by a trench cut in the solid sandstone, Roger de Montgomery +afterwards built himself a house. + +And tradition adds that, in consequence of a vow made by his second wife, +Adeliza, the church close by was built upon the borders of the forest, +then the favourite hunting-ground of the Norman earl. The church, like +other neighbouring structures of ancient date, was built of tuffa, or +travertine, a material found in the beds of brooks in the district, and +portions of the chancel, including its fine Norman arch and pillars, are +still composed of the same. Among old endowments of the church, is one, +from a source unknown, of a piece of land, the proceeds of which defray +the expense of ferrying persons attending church across the Severn. + +The old man at the ferry is a fisherman, who knows well where to get "a +rise" of trout, or to hook a grayling, and where to look for pike, or +perch, or gudgeon. + +[Perch and Gudgeon: 18.jpg] + +In the parish of Quatford is Eardington, celebrated for the manufacture +of iron for guns, wire, and horse nails; and parochially and manorially +combined with Eardington is the More, the ancient tenure of which +indicates the manufacture of iron here at a very early period. By it the +tenant was required to appear yearly in the Exchequer, with a hazel rod +of a year's growth, and two knives, the treasurer and barons being +present. The tenant was to attempt to sever the rod with one of the +knives, the other knife was to do the same work at one stroke, and then +be given up to the king's chamberlain; a custom which was continued until +recently. + + + +BRIDGNORTH + + +[Bridgnorth: 19.jpg] + +Population, 6,569. + +Market day--Saturday. Fairs--January 20th, February 17th, May 1st, June +9th, July 14th, August 18th, September 15th, October 29th, December 28th. + +Principal Hotel--The Crown, for which, as well as for the Swan, the +Raven, and the George, see Advertisements. + +The station, at the southern termination of the tunnel, is a chaste +building of freestone, and forms an additional ornament to the town. It +occupies a position from which its two divisions come pleasantly into +view, the Low Town lying peacefully in the valley by the Severn, the High +Town dotting the terraced sides, and crowning the bold impending rocks +that give it, in the eyes of travellers, such an eastern aspect. Caverned +in the hill, at many stages from its foot, and reached by winding walks, +are picturesque holes and habitations--happily now no longer used, +excepting in very few instances indeed--where the first settlers crowded +when the ruthless Dane perched himself like a famished eagle on the rocks +of Quatford down below. In the foreground are the time-worn relics of +its two castles, to which the little colony was indebted for protection +from fierce and threatening foes. The one opposite is Pampudding Hill, a +smooth, grassy mound, on which the daughter of the great Alfred, Queen +Ethelfleda, built a fortress. According to Florence of Worcester, what +we now call Bridgnorth was then _Brycge_. In his time, as in that of +Leland, who so well described its position, the Severn ran nearer to the +frowning cliffs on which the town is built than at present. + +The discriminating eye of the outlawed Belesme was not slow to perceive +the advantages nature had given to the place, when he sought to raise a +fortress that should shield him from the wrath of his royal master, and +he removed the materials, it is said, of his house at Quatbrigia--a +bridge having, it is supposed, succeeded the ford--to _Brycge_, +afterwards Bridgnorth, or the bridge north of the one at Quatford. +Florence of Worcester says: "Earl Robert carried on the works night and +day, exciting Welshmen to the speedy performance of his wishes by +awarding them horses, lands, asses, and all sorts of gifts." With such +aids, and advantages of site, the Norman earl erected a castle that held +out three weeks against a large force marshalled by Henry, who, as an old +Saxon chronicle states, came here "with all his army" to besiege it. It +stood a second siege when Hugh de Mortimer espoused the cause of Stephen, +and was attacked by Henry II., whose life was saved by the zeal of an +attendant, who received a well-aimed arrow intended for the king. It was +taken by the confederate barons, and retaken by Edward II., who +afterwards marched to Shrewsbury, where the proud Mortimers humbled +themselves and sued for mercy. It served not only as a garrison and a +prison, but, from its position on the frontier of Wales, very often as a +royal residence. King John came with a splendid retinue, of which the +bishops of Lincoln and Hereford, the earls of Essex, Pembroke, Chester, +Salisbury, Hereford, and Warwick formed part; upon which occasion the +entertainment is said to have cost, for the three days it lasted, a sum +equal to 2,000 pounds of modern currency. Prince Edward was a visitor +after the battle of Evesham; and the second Edward too--the first time at +the head of his army, the second, as a fugitive, crossing the Severn in a +small boat at nightfall. Henry IV. was here: + + "On Wednesday next, Harry, thou shall set forward; + On Tuesday, we ourselves will march. + Our meeting is Bridgnorth; and, Harry, you + Shall march through Gloucester; by which account + Our general forces at Bridgnorth shall meet." + +Charles I. arrived here from Shrewsbury, October, 1642, when he remained +three days and gave expression to the eulogium, which townsmen quote for +the benefit of strangers, respecting the beauty of the castle walk. It +was garrisoned for this unfortunate monarch, too, in the struggle which +cost him his head, upon which occasion the town was stormed by three +divisions of the Parliamentary army, March, 1646. The fight waxed +hottest near the north gate, and in the old churchyard, where the leader +of the loyalists fell. That the adherents of the king were not "all on +one side," would appear from the fact that the town's defenders were +pelted upon retiring to the castle by the inhabitants, treatment which +they seem to have deserved in setting fire to the town, bombarding St. +Leonard's, burning the adjoining buildings and driving the wretched +population in search of such shelter as the rocks and woods afforded. + +The garrison capitulated on the 26th of April, 1646, in consequence of a +mine, by which the Parliamentary leader proposed to blow up the castle +and set fire to their magazine, then in St. Mary's Church, which stood +within the castle walls. Ecclesiastical dignitaries often then wore +coats of mail as well as cassocks, and daggers in addition to their +girdles; and this old church being collegiate, had for one of its deans +Rivallis, who forged the charter and seal of Henry III., by which the +Irish possessions of the Earl of Pembroke were invaded, and that nobleman +cruelly treated and killed. The more distinguished William of Wykeham, +who held the Great Seal in the reign of Edward III., and exercised +considerable influence in his day, both in church and state, was also a +dean of St. Mary's. + +St. Leonard's occupies a position at the opposite extremity of the town. +Its crumbling tower, shattered by the cannon of Charles' army, remains, +but the nave and side aisles have recently been restored--that on the +south side at the sole expense of John Pritchard, Esq., M.P., in memory +of his brother. The celebrated divine, Richard Baxter, began his +ministry at St. Leonard's, apparently with little success, as he is said +to have shook the dust from his feet upon leaving, declaring the hearts +of the inhabitants to have been harder than the rock on which their town +was built. Nevertheless, he afterwards dedicated his well-known book, +"The Saint's Rest," to them. Adjoining the churchyard is a hospital for +ten poor widows, built and endowed, as a brass plate over the entrance +informs us, by a relative of Colonel Billingsly, who fell in the service +of "King Charles ye First," and whose sword is said now to be in the +possession of a descendant of the family, in the parish of Astley Abbots. + +[Old House, Bridgnorth: 22.jpg] + +Like other ancient towns, Bridgnorth had places founded for the relief of +the poor, the destitute, and the diseased. The house of the monks of the +"Friars of the Order Grey," stands near where a dilapidated sign of the +Preaching Friar still swings over the entrance of a public-house. It +forms part of the carpet works of Mr. Martin Southwell, who uses its oak +panelled hall, and a number of cells carved out of the solid rock, as +storerooms. In making some alterations recently the little cemetery was +disturbed, and skeletons of several of the monks, embedded in spaces cut +out of the rock, in the form of a sarcophagus, were exposed. In the +Cartway is the "Old House" in which Bishop Percy, author of the "Relics +of Ancient English Poetry," was born, a fine specimen of the domestic +architecture of the 16th century; and in the entrance-hall of which are +the following words in large letters in relief, "Except the Lord BVILD +THE OWSE The Labourers Thereof Evail Nothing. Erected by R. For * 1580." +Another of these quaint old structures, called Cann Hall, contains some +curious unlighted double dormitories in the roof; one is called King +Charles' Room, and another is pointed out as that in which his nephew, +Prince Rupert, is said to have slept. The house is supposed to be +haunted, and the present tenant is not loth to admit that he sometimes +hears strange noises, a fact, if such it be, at which one can scarcely +wonder, seeing that the wind and the bats have undisputed sway. The +Townhall, in the Market Square, built in the place of the one destroyed +during the civil wars, is thus noticed in the "Common Hall Order Book" of +the Corporation: "The New Hall set up in the Market Place of the High +Street of Bridgnorth was begun, and the stone arches thereof made, when +Mr. Francis Preen and Mr. Symon Beauchamp were Bayliffs, in Summer, 1650; +and the timber work and building upon the same stone arches was set up +when Mr. Thomas Burne and Mr. Roger Taylor were Bayliffs of the said town +of Bridgnorth, in July and August, 1652." The new Market Hall, with the +Assembly Room, the rooms of the Mechanics' Institution, &c., is a +handsome building, situated at the lower end of the same large open +square. + +The grand promenade round the Castle Hill, which King Charles pronounced +the finest in his dominion, commands a prospect that cannot fail to +interest. Below, the river winds like a thing of life; around, are wave- +like sweeps of country, red and green, broken by precipitous rocks into a +succession of natural terraces, many of which, being higher than the town +itself, afford the most enchanting views. + +The Hermitage is one of these, the prospect from which, on a clear, sunny +day, is such as to commend the choice of the anchorite, who is said to +have exchanged the excitements of a court for retirement in such a spot. +The tradition is, that Ethelwald, brother of King Athelstan, who +succeeded his father, Edward (924), retired here to escape the perils of +the period; a tradition which receives support from the following royal +presentations found on the rolls of Edward: "On the 2nd of February, +Edward III., 1328, John Oxindon was presented by the king to the +hermitage of Athelardestan, near Bridgnorth. On 7 Edward III., Andrew +Corbriggs was similarly presented to the hermitage of Adlaston, near +Bridgnorth. On 9 Edward III., 1335, Edmund de la Marc was presented to +the hermitage of Athelaxdestan," a name signifying the stone or rock of +Ethelwald. + +The Cemetery lies embosomed in a sunny opening of the rocks below the +Hermitage, where nature and art combined--the former predominating so +much by means of a noble amphitheatre of rocks--have given to the spot a +quiet, pleasing interest. Outside the Cemetery, a winding path leads to +the High Rocks, the road to which the inhabitants have recently improved. +This elevated position above the Severn well deserves a visit, commanding +as it does the Vale, through which the river winds amidst alluvial lands, +bounded by the heights of Apley and Stanley, the hills of the Wrekin and +Caradoc, and those of the Brown and Titterstone Clees, with the Abberley +and Malvern hills in the distance. The castellated structure at the foot +of the High Rocks, now used for manufacturing purposes, occupies the site +of the Old Town's Mills, given by Henry III. to the inhabitants, and out +of which he made provision for the hermit of Mount St. Gilbert. + + + +APLEY. + + +On leaving Bridgnorth the scenery becomes exceedingly interesting. On +the left is Hoard Park, Severn or Sabrina Hall, and Little Severn Hall. +Astley Abbots and Stanley lie higher up on the hill on the same side; +whilst on the right, rocks, crowned by trees, rise from the river in +undulating lines, and introduce us to the picturesque grounds of Apley. +The house is a castellated structure of fine freestone, with a domestic +chapel on the north side; it occupies a slight elevation above the river, +where it is thrown into pleasing relief by woods that crown still greater +heights. The park is diversified by clumps of noble trees, by projecting +rocks, pleasing glades, and grassy flats, on which groups of browsing +deer are seen; and the terrace is one of the finest and most extensive in +England. From its great elevation it commands pleasing views of the +park, of the Severn, and of wide, undulating districts on either side, +rich in sylvan beauty. The proprietor is T. C. Whitmore, High Sheriff of +the county, whose ancestors, from the time of Sir William Whitmore +(1620), have occasionally enjoyed that honour. Opposite to Apley is + + + +LINLEY STATION. + + +The angler, desirous of a few hours' amusement, may here find good sport +at the fords, where the brooks come down and enter the river. Grayling +and trout are often caught, and chub, less in favour with fishermen, of +large size. + +[Chub: 25.jpg] + +If the tourist be a geologist he will find it pleasant to follow the +course of Linley Brook, on the banks of which he may find fish of ancient +date, in beds forming a passage from the Upper Ludlow to the Old Bed +Sandstone. He will be interested, too, in noticing the angles at which +the latter dip beneath the carboniferous strata, and these again beneath +the overlying permians. + +A series of interesting dingles now occur, where the nightingale is heard +in May and June, through which whimpering streams come down, and where +Tom Moody hunted with the famous "Willey Squire." Tom's exploits have +been immortalised by Dibden in the song,-- + + "You all knew Tom Moody, the whipper-in, well, + The bell that's done tolling is honest Tom's knell." + +A plain slab in Barrow churchyard covers Tom's remains, and simply +records the date at which he died. At + + + +COALPORT STATION, + + +Seven miles from Bridgnorth, and thirty-six from Worcester, the Severn is +crossed by a handsome iron bridge, at the opposite extremity of which is +the London and North-Western Company's line to the Shropshire Union at +Hadley. + +The China Works are about five minutes' walk from the station; they are +extensive, and were established during the latter half of the last +century, at which time they were removed here from Caughley. The +productions are of a high order of merit, and combine those distinctive +characters for which Caughley and Nantgarw were celebrated. They were +successful, some years ago, in obtaining a medal awarded by the Society +of Arts; in obtaining a First Class Exhibition Medal in 1851, also in +1855, and again in 1862. The works are very advantageously situated, +having the river, the canal, and two railways adjoining. + +The _Art-Journal_, in giving the history of these works, thus speaks of +them: "The productions of the Coalport Works at the present day, thanks +to the determination, energy, and liberality of the proprietor, take rank +with the very best in the kingdom, both in body, in potting, in design, +and in decoration; and there can be no doubt, from what is now actively +in progress, that the stand taken by Coalport is one of enviable eminence +among the ceramic manufactories of the world." + +Edge and Son's chain and wire rope works are situated not far from these; +and between the two, at the foot of the inclined plane, an ingenious +device for transferring boats from one canal to the other, is the +celebrated "Tar Tunnel," driven into the coal measures, from which +petroleum was formerly exported on a large scale, under the name of +Betton's British Oil. + +Our view of the Valley of the Severn, with Ironbridge in the distance, is +from the hill overlooking the handsome mansion of John Anstice, Esq. + +[Ironbridge: 27.jpg] + +Coalport is in the parish of Madeley, the village of which is now looped +in by railways. Madeley is one of those names or word-pictures by which +our ancestors, with a touch alike of poetry and feeling, were wont to +convey their meaning. The place, however, has lost those sylvan features +that distinguished it when described in Domesday, as part of the +possessions of St. Milburgh; and the old Court House, surrounded by its +park, where the prior of that monastery received his perquisites, is +strangely changed in aspect. Although little beyond the foundations +exist to show where the hall stood from whence the house derives its +name--where festivals were held, suitors heard, or penalties +inflicted--the present edifice has many points of interest. The arms of +the Ferrers family, in a shield, over the principal doorway, may still be +seen, indicating the proprietorship at one time of some member of that +family. It was also the residence of Sir Basil Brooke, fourth in descent +from a noble knight of that name; a zealous royalist in the time of +Charles I. The substantial, roomy, and well-panelled apartments, and the +solid trees, one upon the other, forming a spiral staircase, are objects +of interest. Ascending these stairs, the visitor finds himself in the +chapel, the ceiling of which is of fine oak, richly carved, with the +_fleur-de-lis_ and other devices. In the garden, which formed an +enclosed court, upon an elegant basement approached by a circular flight +of steps--the outer one being seven feet in diameter and the inner one +about three--is a very curious planetarium, or horological instrument, +serving the purpose of a sun dial, and that of finding the position of +the moon in relation to the planets. In niches outside the parish church +are finely sculptured, full-length figures of some of the early +proprietors of the Court House; and in the register is an entry dated +April, 1645, stating that the edifice was at that time garrisoned by a +Parliamentary regiment, commanded by Captain Harrington. Six years later +than the event recorded, we have the story of King Charles' visit to the +village in disguise, after the battle of Worcester, and of his being +lodged in a barn belonging to Mr. Wolfe. At the Restoration the king did +not forget his host, but presented him with a very handsome tankard, with +the inscription, "Given by Charles II., at the Restoration, to F. Wolfe, +of Madeley, in whose barns he was secreted after the defeat at +Worcester." The tankard is now in the possession of W. Rathbone, Esq., +and a print of it hangs in the old house, now the possession of C. J. +Ferriday, Esq. The tankard has upon the cover a coat of arms; the crest +is a demi-wolf supporting a crown. In the hall there is also an old +panel, containing the initials F. W. W. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe, with the date +1621. + +[Ironbridge: 28.jpg] + +Madeley is also celebrated as the scene of the labours of the venerated +Fletcher, so much so, that admirers of his life and writings come long +distances to visit his tomb, a plain brick structure, with a simple +inscription upon an iron plate. + + + +IRONBRIDGE + + +Is nine miles from Bridgnorth, and thirteen and a half from Shrewsbury. +From the disposition of the buildings on the hill side, it has a novel +and romantic aspect, whilst the high grounds adjoining afford varied +views of interesting scenery. Underneath the lofty ridge of limestone, +the higher portion of which is planted with fir and other trees, are +extensive caverns, which are open to visitors, who will find these +fossiliferous rocks, rising immediately from beneath the coal measures, +highly instructive. + + + +BROSELEY + + +Is celebrated all the world over for its pipes, a branch of manufacture +for which it is now as famous as of yore. Partly in this parish and +partly in that of Benthall, and only about 300 yards from the station, +are the geometrical, mosaic, and encaustic tile works of the Messrs. Maw. +They were removed here a few years since from Worcester, the better to +command the use of the Broseley clays, since which they have attained to +considerable importance, and now rival the great house of Minton. + +On leaving Ironbridge, the line passes by a sea wall the foot of Benthall +Edge--a limestone ridge, continuous with that of Wenlock, so famous for +that class of silurian fossils to which the town of Wenlock has lent its +name. + +Benthall is a name significant of its elevated position--_Bent_, meaning +the brow, and _al_ or _hal_, a hill. + +Benthall Hall, the property of Lord Forester, and in the occupation of +George Maw, Esq., F.L.S., F.S.A., is a fine specimen of Elizabethan +architecture, built by William Benthall in 1535, on the site of a former +house. + + + +COALBROOKDALE. + + +[Benthall Hall: 30.jpg] + +At the foot of Benthall Edge the Wellington and Severn Junction railway +crosses the river by a bridge 200 feet in span, and brings before us, at +a glance, this interesting little valley, with its church, its schools, +and its palatial-looking Literary and Scientific Institution. The name +has long been famous, as well for its romantic scenery as for its iron +works. Notices of these occur from the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward +VI., down to the period of 1711, when the Darby family first settled +here. It was here that the first iron bridge--the elegant structure that +gave both name and existence to the little town adjoining--was cast in +1779; the first iron rails were laid here in 1768, and the first +successful use of mineral fuel for smelting iron was introduced in 1718. +For metal castings these works were celebrated as early as the time of +Boulton and Watt, when those for their early engines were produced here; +whilst the Exhibitions of London and Paris show that they have lost none +of their prestige. The brook from which the place derives its name, and +which was formerly of more importance than at present, is still a +pleasing feature in the landscape, swelling out into shining sheets, or +forming pleasant waterfalls as at _La Mole_, from which our view is +taken. + +[Waterfall: 31.jpg] + +The Wellington and Severn Junction line through Coalbrookdale is joined +by the branch line to + + + +WENLOCK, + + +one of the oldest borough towns in the kingdom. Its chief attraction is +the Abbey, founded by St. Milburgh, a Saxon saint, and daughter of Penda, +one of the last and fiercest of the Saxon heathen kings. It fell before +the Danes, but was rebuilt by Earl Leofric and his wife Godiva. A second +time it fell, and was again rebuilt; this time by Norman masons, in +greater splendour than before. Of the architecture of this period the +present ruins show some fine examples, and none finer than the chapter- +house, the clustering arches of which are shown in our engraving. + +The south transept, with a portion of the nave, of the Early English +style of architecture, remind the visitor of the stately grandeur of the +church, which was upwards of 400 feet in length. The house of the prior, +which communicated with the chapter-house, is now the private residence +of J. M. Gaskell, Esq., M.P., the present proprietor of the estate. The +parish church has several points of interest, one of which is its fine +Norman front, hidden from the street by the present tower. To this may +also be added the arches which separate the nave and side aisles, rising +from clustering pillars of great beauty; also the one dividing the nave +from the chancel, where there is an elegant sedilia. Wenlock grew up +beneath the patronage and protection of its Priory, by means of which it +received many royal favours, and was protected by many royal charters, +one of which conferred the right, at a very early period, of +representation in the Commons House of Parliament. + +[The Chapter-House of Wenlock Abbey: 32.jpg] + +The Guildhall is an ancient building of timber and plaster, with a +projecting upper story resting on piazzas. The room used for quarter +sessions has the arms of Charles II. over the recorder's chair, and the +Inner or Municipal Court is beautifully furnished with elaborately-carved +oak panellings and furniture. The borough is nearly the same now as +formerly, the modern franchise extending over the ancient possessions of +the church, wherein the prior of the monastery had jurisdiction over +eighteen parishes. + + + +BUILDWAS. + + +In descending the dingle between Wenlock and Buildwas, at a point +described by an old writer as the boundary of the domains of the two +abbeys, is Lawless Cross, formerly one of those ancient sanctuaries, the +resort of outlaws who, having committed crime, availed themselves of that +security from punishment such places afforded. The monks, in the +exercise of that excessive influence they had in those days, provided +places, deemed sacred, which should serve for refuge for criminals. A +cross was erected for the _lawless_; from which even the monarch had no +power to take them. Villains doubly dyed in crime were wont to rush out +from such hiding-places, commit crimes with impunity, and return. The +evil, indeed, had become so great, that the Courts of Westminster, in +Hilary Term, 1221, were employed in considering the expediency of +altering "a certain _pass_ in the Royal Forest near to Buldewas," from +its having become "the haunts of malefactors, and from its notoriety for +the constant commission of crime." Below this is the Abbey Mill, and +lower still is the Abbey. The line passes through what was once the +cemetery, and over ground formerly occupied by the industrial courts of +the establishment. A fine view is obtained of the church, which presents +a good specimen of a Cistercian edifice, every part of the original +arrangement being distinctly traceable. + +The massive proportions of its arcades, and the scolloped capitals of +their columns, indicate the Norman style of architecture; whilst the +pointed arches show an approach towards that which superseded it, which +began about the year 1150. The clerestory remains entire on both sides, +with round arched windows throughout. Between the columns are +indications of a screen, which shut off the eastern aisles; at the end of +the fifth arch from the west, the choir, or portion devoted to the monks, +commences; and at the intersection of the transepts still stands the +tower, resting on four pointed arches. At the eastern end, beneath long +windows, which at some period or other have been formed out of smaller +ones, stood the altar, and near it the sedilia; whilst on the south side +are the doorways which led to the dormitories of the monks engaged in the +night services of the church. On the side next the river, a long line of +building forms the eastern cloister and the crypt; on the same side is a +handsome archway leading into the chapter-house, the roof of which is +vaulted, groined, and supported by beautiful slender columns. Beyond are +the remains of the refectory, and the room of audience--the only place +where, according to the strict rules of the order, the monks were +permitted to converse; and here also was the warm-room, kitchen, and +lavatory. On the same side are remains of a string of offices for +novices, and for scribes employed in multiplying copies of the Scriptures +and other books. + +[Buildwas Abbey: 34.jpg] + +Our engraving represents the church as seen by moonlight, when strong +lights and shadows bring to mind the well-known lines of Sir Walter +Scott:-- + + "If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, + Go visit it by the pale moonlight. + For the gay beams of lightsome day + Gild but to flout the ruins gray: + When the broken arches are black in night, + And each shafted oriel glimmers white; + When the cold light's uncertain shower + Streams on the ruin'd central tower; + When buttress and buttress alternately + Seem framed of ebon and ivory." + +The traveller by the Severn Valley Railway can scarcely fail to notice +here, and at other points along the line, beds of sand and gravel at +levels above the highest points now reached by the river; wave-like +sweeps of water-worn materials still higher up are no less conspicuous. +In both these are found the _Turritella terebra_, and other shells of +modern seas, identifying them with the period when a marine strait +extended the whole distance from the Dee to the Bristol Channel. The +cutting near Coalbrookdale has yielded a rich harvest of these marine +remains, sufficient satisfactorily to indicate the true position of the +beds, and to associate them with others of great interest elsewhere. +Along one of the ancient estuaries of this recent sea, now the Vale of +Shrewsbury, the Severn winds in curious curves, and almost meets in +circles, imparting a pleasing aspect to the valley. On leaving Buildwas, +Buildwas Park is passed on the left, and Leighton Hall and church are +seen on the opposite side of the river; while on the left again are +Shineton, Shinewood, and Bannister's Coppice; the latter famous as the +hiding-place of the Duke of Buckingham, when unable to cross the river +with his army at its mouth. Shakspere alludes to the event, in "King +Richard," thus:-- + + "The news I have to tell your majesty + Is, that by sudden flood and fall of waters, + Buckingham's army is dispersed and scatter'd, + And he himself _wandered away alone_, + _No man knows whither_." + +Tradition says that the fallen nobleman was betrayed by an old servant to +whom the wood belonged, named Bannister; and an old writer thus records +the curses which he says befel the traitor: "Shortly after he had +betrayed his master, his sonne and heyre waxed mad, and dyed in a bore's +stye; his eldest daughter, of excellent beautie, was sodaynelie stryken +with a foulle leperze; his seconde sonne very mervalously deformed of his +limmes; his younger sonne in a smal puddell was strangled and drowned; +and he, being of extreme age, arraigned and found gyltie of a murther, +was only by his clergye saved; and as for his thousand pounde, Kyng +Richard gave him not one farthing, saying that he which would be untrew +to so good a master would be false to al other; howbeit some saie that he +had a smal office or a ferme to stoppe his mouthe withal." + +[The Lady Oak: 36.jpg] + + + +CRESSAGE + + +Is forty-three miles from Worcester, and eight and a half from +Shrewsbury. The name is an abbreviation of Christsache, _ache_ been the +old Saxon term for oak. The folk-lore of the district is, that the old +tree was one under which the early Christian missionaries preached, that +it stood in the centre of the village, and that upon its decay it was +supplanted by a market cross, which cross itself has disappeared. Our +engraving represents another of these venerable trees standing a quarter +of a mile from the village, known as the Lady Oak. + +[The Nddel's Eye: 37.jpg] + +Before the railway caused a deviation in the road, it stood by the +wayside, where it was regarded with veneration by the inhabitants, who +cramped it with iron, and propped it with blocks of wood to preserve it; +they also planted an acorn within its hollow trunk, from which, as will +be seen by our engraving, a young tree mingles its foliage with that of +the parent oak. About a mile from Cressage is Belswardine, the seat of +Sir George Harnage, an old border estate, in possession of the same +family which received it from the Conqueror. Cressage station is the +nearest and most convenient on the Severn Valley line from which to reach +the Wrekin. The distance is three miles. The road crosses the river by +an ancient wooden bridge, and at Eaton Constantine passes the house in +which Richard Baxter lived when a boy; and which the great Puritan divine +describes as "a mile from the Wrekin Hill." The visitor, in his ascent +of the hill, passes a conical knoll of deep red syenite, clothed with +verdure, and known as Primrose Hill. The summit is 1,320 feet above the +level of the sea, and commands a prospect embracing a radius of seventy +miles. Our engraving represents a severed cliff of greenstone at the +top, called the Needle's Eye, and which tradition alleges to have been +riven at the Crucifixion. Near it is a culminating boss of pinkish +felspar known as the Bladder Stone, a name derived, it is supposed, from +Scandinavian mythology; whilst at a short distance is the Ravens' Bowl, a +basin in the hard rock, always containing water. On its sides are +stratified rocks which the trap has pierced in its ascent; and which, by +the action of heat, have been changed into a white crystalline substance. +At the northern termination is an entrenched fortification called Heaven +Gate, supposed to be of British origin; and near it is another, called +Hell Gate, with what is supposed to be a tumulus. In the valley at the +foot of the hill, on the eastern side, tumuli have been opened, in which +hundreds of spear heads and other broken weapons have been found. Here +formerly, + + "Unknown to public view, + From youth to age a reverend hermit grew. + The moss his bed, the cave his humble cell, + His food the fruit, his drink the crystal well. + Remote from man, with God he passed his days, + Prayer all his business--all his pleasure praise." + +Henry III., in order to afford the said anchorite, Nicholas de Denton, +greater leisure for holy exercises, and to support him during his life, +or so long as he should be a hermit on the aforesaid mountain, granted +him six quarters of corn, to be paid by the Sheriff of Shropshire out of +the Town's Mills of Bridgnorth. + +On leaving Cressage, Eyton-upon-Severn is seen on the right, and on an +eminence close by is the "Old Hall," built by Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas +Bromley. It was the birthplace of Lord Herbert of Chirbury, of whom Ben +Jonson wrote:-- + + "If men get fame for some one virtue, then + What man art thou that art so many men, + All virtuous Herbert! on whose every part + Truth might spend all her voice, Fame all her art?" + +The railway now passes Cound Hall, Cound Church, and Cound Mill, a manor +which Henry III. gave to his brother-in-law, Llewellyn, and which was +afterwards held by Walter Fitz-Alan, who entered the service of David, +King of Scotland, and became head of the royal house of Stuart. It +crosses the Devil's Causeway, and passes Venus Bank, with Pitchford and +Acton Barnell on the left; the latter celebrated for the ruins of the old +castle where Edward I. held his parliament, the Commons sitting in a +barn. + +Berrington, forty-seven miles from Worcester, and four and a half from +Shrewsbury, lies a short distance from the station. Its church has many +points of interest, being of Anglo-Norman and Early English architecture; +it also possesses a fine Norman font, and a curious monumental figure of +a cross-legged knight, carved in wood. + +[Atcham Church: 39.jpg] + +The little village of Atcham may be reached from here by a very pleasant +foot walk of about a mile through the fields. It is celebrated as the +birthplace of Ordericus Vitalis, chaplain to William the Conqueror, and a +famous historian of that time. The church is an ancient structure reared +on the little grassy flat round which the river bends; tresses of +luxuriant ivy conceal its walls, in which are found sections of a Roman +arch and a sculptured Roman column, part of the spoil of the city of +Uriconium. Among its relics is a reading-desk, carved, it is supposed, +by Albert Durer, with panels representing passages in the parable of the +Prodigal Son. + +Lord Berwick's park adjoins the village, and in front of the mansion the +Tern comes down to join the Severn. From the Bridge it is one and a half +miles to + + + +WROXETER, + + +[Uriconium: 40.jpg] + +Where the ruins of Uriconium are still exposed to view. Here, after a +lapse of 1,500 years, the visitor may tread the streets and pavements, +handle the implements which the old Romans used, admire their well-turned +arches, and see the paint and plaster upon the walls of their apartments. +The "Old Wall," so long a sphinx by the roadside, suggesting enigmas to +passers-by, has found an interpreter in revelations which the spade and +pickaxe have made within its shadow. From the time when its walls first +fell down, it has furnished plunder to the country round. The old monks, +finding it easier to take down its stones than to quarry now ones, built +their churches with its spoil, whilst the "old wall" left standing served +as an advertisement of the treasures buried around it. The Romans who +selected the spot no doubt did so on military grounds; but, looking at +its position on the river, and the scenery surrounding it, one can +readily imagine that an eye for the beautiful, and a love of nature, had +some influence in the choice. + +[Trout: 41.jpg] + +The Severn, near Wroxeter, is famous for grayling, which seldom exceed +three-quarters of a pound, but which have here been caught two pounds and +a half in weight. The ford has a marly or shaly bottom, and the stream +is quick and clear, conditions such as this famous fish, described by Dr. +Fleming as the "grey salmon," has a liking for. It has grey longitudinal +lines--hence its name--and a violet-coloured dorsal fin barred with +brown; it is best in the winter and early spring months, and spawns in +those of April and May. The French, who denounce the chub as "_un +villain_," pronounce the grayling "_un chevalier_." And Gesner says, +that in his country, which is Switzerland, it is accounted the choicest +fish in the world. As bait, grass-hoppers or large dun flies are used, +and hooks covered with green or yellow silk; in July, black and red +imitation palmer worms are recommended; in August, the artificial house +fly, or blue-bottle; and in winter, black or pale gnats are often used. +The fords, too, from here to Buildwas are good for trout, that near +Cound, from the entrance of Cound Brook into the Severn, being best. + +On leaving Berrington, we come in sight of the wooded steep of Haughmond, +Shakspere's "bosky hill." It commands the field where Falstaff fought +"an hour by the Shrewsbury clock;" and has still a thicket, called the +Bower, from which Queen Eleanor is said to have watched the battle in +which the fortunes of her husband were involved. A castellated turret +crowns the summit of the rock next the Severn; beyond, is Sundorne Castle +and the ruins of Haughmond Abbey. + + + +SHREWSBURY. + + +[Shrewsbury: 42.jpg] + +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." + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT. + + +We glanced in passing at some few features which could scarcely fail to +attract the attention of the tourist, and a brief notice only of others +will be needed for the geologist. In ascending the river we descend, +geologically speaking, from an upper to a lower series of rocks, which +rocks, in many instances, are covered over by fluviatile and marine +deposits of sand and gravel, containing shells of fish inhabiting our +modern seas. These show how recently the sea must have retired from a +surface so covered with its remains; whilst their position low down in +the valley, and but a little way above the present bed of the Severn, +proves how much more recently the arm of the sea, known as the Severn +Sraits, must have been succeeded by the river. The best places for +collecting these remains along the railway will be found to be in +embankments and cuttings near Buildwas and Coalbrookdale, the latter +having yielded as many as twenty-two distinct species. In cuttings along +the railway, and in their immediate vicinity, will also be found sections +of rocks, from the variegated marls of the New Red Sandstone, of the +Mesozoic, to the silurians, of the Palaeozoic, or Primary Formations. The +coal measures of Coalbrookdale, with their alternating beds of coal, +clay, and iron ore, are rich in specimens of the fauna and flora of the +carboniferous age; the best places for discovering them being the spoil +banks of the mines, where shale, and ironstone nodules, will be found the +most productive. One of the richest beds yielding fossils is the +Penneystone, which may be seen on the surface near Coalbrookdale and +Ketley; remains of the Megalicthys, Gyracanthus, and Holoptychus being +occasionally found there, whilst Conularias, Nautili, Spirifers aviculus, +Bellerophons, and others are numerous. The sand rock overlying it +contains Calamites, Lepidodendrons, Ulodendrons, Sigillarias, &c., &c. +Benthall Edge and Lincoln Hill yield characteristic fossils of the +Wenlock limestone and Wenlock shales in great numbers and variety, corals +being most abundant. Between the Severn and the Acton Burnell hills +fossils of the Caradoc may be found in drift, in old walls by the +wayside, and in strata dipping praidly beneath the Wenlock shales. + + + +BOTANY OF THE DISTRICT. + + +In shallow portions of the Severn, we have several varieties of the River +Crowfoot (_Ranunculus fluitans_), which, with their long slender stems +and pure white blossoms, form a conspicuous feature; also the Canadian +Water-weed (_Anacharis alsinastrum_), which has found its way as high up +as Shrewsbury. In marshy flats bordering on the river, are found the +Yellow Flag (_Iris pseud-acorus_), the Water-dock, (_Rumex +Hydrolapathum_), the Water Drop-wort, Soap-wort, Frog-bit-water-lily, and +the creeping Yellow Cress; whilst the little Lily of the Valley, the +Giant Bell-flower, the Spreading Bell-flower, the rare Reed Fescue-grass, +and the tall, handsome Fox-glove, which, + + "On fair Flora's hand is worn," + +adorn the woods along the slopes. + +Other plants are found as follows:-- + +Ranunculus parviflorus (Small-flowered Crowfoot) . . . Stagborough. + +Cardamine impatiens (Narrow-leaved Bittercress) . . . Stagborough. + +Poterium sanguisorba . . . Stagborough. + +Campanula latifolia . . . Owton and Stagborough. + +Campanula patula . . . Owton and Stagborough. + +Vinca minor (Lesser Periwinkle) . . . Arley Wood and Stagborough. + +Heleborus foetidus (Stinking Hellebore) . . . Farlow. + +Geranium phseum (Dusky Crane's-bill) . . . Farlow. + +Rhamnus catharticus (Common Buckthorn) . . . Farlow. + +Prunus padus (Bird Cherry) . . . Farlow. + +Geum rivale . . . Farlow. + +Artemisia Absinthium (Common Wormwood) . . . Farlow. + +Artemisia campestris . . . Farlow. + +Habenaria viridis . . . Farlow. + +Lathraea squamaria . . . Ribbesford Wood. + +Orobanche minor . . . Ribbesford Wood. + +Mentha piperita (Peppermint) . . . Near Horshill, Ribbesford. + +Thymus serpyllum and T. glandulosus . . . Near Horshill, Ribbesford. + +Calamintha Nepeta and officinalis . . . About Ribbesford. + +Daphne Laureola (Spurge Laurel) . . . About Ribbesford. + +Fagus sylvatioa (Common Beech) . . . About Ribbesford. + +Paris quadrifolia . . . About Ribbesford. + +Cardamine amara (Bitter Ladies' Smock) . . . Blackstone. + +Cerastium arvense (Field Chick-weed) . . . Blackstone. + +Hypericum montanum (Mountain St. John's-wort) . . . Blackstone. + +Sedum dasyphyllum . . . Blackstone. + +Viola canina (Dog's Violet) . . . Hartlebury Common. + +Radiola millegrana (Thyme-leaved Flax-seed) . . . Hartlebury Common. + +Comarum palustre (Purple Marsh Cinquefoil) . . . Hartlebury Common. + +Menyanthes trifoliata (Buck-bean) . . . Hartlebury Common. + +Chenopodium ficifolium . . . About Bewdley. + +Chenopodium polyspermum . . . About Bewdley. + +Chenopodium urbicum . . . About Bewdley. + +Chenopodium Bonus Henricus . . . About Bewdley. + +Rumex sanguineus . . . About Bewdley. + +Bryonia dioica . . . About Bewdley. (In hedges.) + +Anacharis alsinastrum . . . In the Severn, near Bewdley. + +Habenaria viridis . . . About Bewdley. + +Spiranthes autumnalis . . . About Bewdley. + +Cephalanthera ensifolia . . . About Bewdley. + +Tulipa sylvestris (Wild Tulip) . . . About Bewdley. + +Ornithogalum umbellatum (Star of Bethlehem) . . . About Bewdley. + +Hieracium vulgatum . . . Bewdley and Broseley. + +Papaver Argemone (Prickly-headed Poppy) . . . Corn-fields, near Bewdley. + +Turritis glabra (Tower Mustard) . . . Near Bewdley. + +Sisymbrium Sophia (Flax weed) . . . Near Bewdley. + +Hypericum Androsoemum (St. John's-wort) . . . Woods around Bewdley. + +Vicia sylvatica (Wood Vetch) . . . Woods about Bewdley. + +Prunus Cerasus (Wild Cherry) . . . About Bewdley and Norton Prescot. + +Potentilla argentea (Hairy Cinquefoil) . . . About Bewdley. + +Epilobium angustifolium . . . Near Bewdley. + +Myrrhis odorata . . . Between Brosely and Ironbridge. + +Artemisia Absinthium (Common Wormwood) . . . About Bewdley. + +Doronicum Pardalianches . . . About Bewdley. + +Hieracium umbellatum . . . About Bewdley. + +Campanula latifolia . . . Ditto, and Coalport Dingle. + +Nepeta Cataria (Cat Mint) . . . . Fields about Bewdley and Stourport. + +Leonurus Cardiaca (Mother-wort) . . . Occasionally found about Bewdley. + +Thalictrum flavum (Meadow Rue) . . . Banks of Severn. + +Nasturtium sylvestre (Creeping Nasturtium) . . . Banks of Severn. + +Sinapis nigra (Common Mustard) . . . Banks of Severn. + +Saponaria officinalis . . . Banks of Severn. + +Malachium aquaticum (Water Chick-weed) . . . Banks of Severn. + +Geranium pratense (Blue Crane's Bill) . . . Banks of Severn. + +Astragalus glyciphyllus (Sweet Milk Vetch) . . . Banks of Severn about +Linkham. + +OEnanthe crocata (Hemlock Water Drop-wort) . . . Banks of Severn. + +Inula Helenium meinlen (Elecampane) . . . Near the Severn, below Quatford +Low, near Clee Hills. + +Campanula latifolia . . . Banks of Severn. + +Lysimachia vulgaris (Yellow Loose Strife) . . . Banks of Severn. + +Scirpus sylvaticus . . . Banks of Severn. + +Juniperus communis (Common Juniper) . . . Wyre Forest, near Furnaw Mill. + +Gymnadenia conopsea . . . Wyre Forest. + +Habenaria bifolia (Small Butterfly Orchis) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Habenaria chlorantha (Yellow Butterfly Habenaria) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Neottia Nidus-avis (Common Bird's Nest) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Epipactis latifolia . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre Forest. + +Epipactis palustris . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre Forest. + +Cephalanthera ensefolia . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre +Forest. (Abundant.) + +Convallaria magalis . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre Forest. + +Narthecium ossifragum (Bog Ashphodel) . . . In plantations at Willey, and +in Wyre Forest. + +Luzula sylvatica (Great Hairy Woodrush) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest. (Abundant.) + +L. pilosa (Broad-leaved Wood-rush) . . . In plantations at Willey, and in +Wyre Forest. + +Triglochin palustre (Marsh Arrow-grass) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest. + +Eriophorum angustifolium (Cotton-grass) . . . In plantations at Willey, +and in Wyre Forest. + +Eriophorum latifolium . . . In plantations at Willey, and in Wyre Forest. + +Carex muricata, C. vulpina, C. teretiuscula . . . In plantations at +Willey, and in Wyre Forest. + +C. ovalis, C. pendula, C. pilulifera . . . In plantations at Willey, and +in Wyre Forest. + +C. fulva . . . Wyre Forest. + +Melica nutans and uniflora . . . Wyre Forest. + +Equisetum sylvaticum and E. hyemale . . . Wyre Forest. + +Lycopodium clavatum and L. inundatum . . . Wyre Forest. + +Thalictrum minus . . . Wyre Forest. + +Aquilegia vulgaris (Common Columbine) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Rhamnus catharticus and R. Frangula . . . Wyre Forest and Farlow. + +Sanguisorba officinalis (Great Burnet) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Rubus saxatilis, and most of the other species of Rubi . . . Wyre Forest. + +Rosa spinosissima (Burnet-leaved Rose) . . . Wyre Forest and Weldon. + +R. villosa and R. tomentosa . . . Wyre Forest. + +Pyrus Malus, P. Aria and P. aucuparia, and P. torminalis . . . Wyre +Forest. + +Epilobium angustifolium (Rose bay Willow) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Gnaphalium sylvaticum (Highland Cudweed) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Serratula tinctoria (Saw-wort) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Hieracium murorum . . . Wyre Forest. + +Pyrola minor, and P. media . . . Wyre Forest. + +Gentiana Amarella (Autumnal Gentian) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Lithospermum officinale (Grey Millet) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Pedicularis palustris (Marsh Louse-wort) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Scutellaria minor and galericulata . . . Wyre Forest. + +Anagallis tenella (Bog Pimpernel) . . . Wyre Forest. + +Daphne Laureola . . . Wyre Forest. + +Populus tremula (Aspen) . . . Abundant over the Forest. + +Fagus sylvatica (Common Beech) . . . Abundant over the Forest. + +Quercus Robur and Q. intermedia. (Two very distinct species, Q. +intermedia occupies almost exclusively the whole of Wyre forest.) . . . +Abundant over the Forest. + +Polemonium caeruleum (Jacob's Ladder) . . . Bridgnorth. + +Campanula patula, or spreading bell flower . . . Bridgnorth and near +Berrington. + +Sambucus Ebulus (Dwarf Elder) . . . Bridgnorth. + +Lathraea squammaria (Greater Tooth-wort) . . . Bridgnorth. + +Camelina sativa (Common Gold of Pleasure) . . . Bridgnorth. + +Vicia sylvatica (Wood Vetch) . . . Bridgnorth. + +Astragalus glycpyhyllus . . . Bridgnorth. + +Parietaria officinalis . . . Bridgnorth. + +Lactuca virosa (Strong-scented Lettuce) . . . Bridgnorth. + +Scirpus sylvaticus . . . Bridgnorth. + +Erigeron acris (Blue Fleabane) . . . Bridgnorth. + +Adonis autumnalis (Pheasant's Eye) . . . Coalport. + +Monotropa Hypopitys (Yellow Bird's nest) . . . Coalport. + +Ligustrum vulgare (Privet) . . . Benthall Edge. + +Erigeron acris . . . Benthall Edge. + +Bee Orchis (Ophrys apifera) . . . Benthall Edge. + +Pinguicula vulgaris (Common Butter-wort) . . . Wrekin. + +Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) . . . Wrekin. + +Danthonia decumbens . . . Wrekin. + +Eriophorum angustifolium . . . Wrekin. + +Isolepis setacea (Bristle-stalked Moor-rush) . . . Wrekin. + +Myosotis collina (Early Field Scorpion grass) . . . Wrekin. + +Polypodium dryopteris . . . Wrekin. + +Amongst the ferns of the district may be mentioned--the Royal fern +(_Osmunda regalis_), which has been found sparingly at Shirlett, in +Willey Park, and in Dairley Dingle; the beautiful Beech fern (_Polypodium +Phegopteris_), which grows in the greatest luxuriance in Dairley Dingle, +also in a wood in Willey Park; and the Hay fern (_Lastrea faenisecii_), +in Coalbrookdale, and upon Shirlett. Also several other commoner +species, as _Lastrea Oreopteris, Lastrea spinosa, Lastrea dilatata_, and +its variety _glandulosa, Lastrea filix mas_, and its variety _Borreri_; +_Aspidium aculeatum_, and _Aspidium augulare_. + +In giving the above list, I willingly acknowledge the assistance of my +friends, Messrs. Baugh, Jordin, and Maw. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + +In 1 volume, crown 8vo., handsomely bound in cloth, and gilt, price 7_s_. +6_d_.; or in cloth, and not gilt (Second Edition), price 5_s_. 6_d_., + +The Severn Valley; A Series of Sketches. Descriptive and Pictorial, of +the entire Course of the Severn, containing Notices of its Topographical, +Industrial, and Geological Features, with Glances at its Historical and +Legendary Associations. By JOHN RANDALL, F.G.S. + +"This work will be an admirable guide-book for the tourist, and is so +beautifully printed as to be worthy of a place on any drawing-room table, +although the price is modestly fixed at 7_s_. 6_d_. only. Mr. Randall +sketches landscapes with artistic taste, lingers here and there for +anecdote, drops in at the wayside hostelry, and picks up pleasant chit- +chat on angling and other subjects. He is evidently a lover of nature, +and possesses a pleasing style of demonstrating his devotion in +print."--_Worcester Herald_. + +"Mr. Randall's style is pure and unaffected; it flows equably and +cheerfully along as the river he so lovingly describes. To tourists this +elegant and interesting book will prove an invaluable companion, and as +such we cordially commend _it_."--_Eddowes's Journal_. + +"This is a valuable addition to the story of literary information +connected with this and neighbouring counties, and we doubt not the work +will prove as popular as undoubtedly it is interesting."--_Worcestershire +Chronicle_. + +"The author has made judicious selection of the abundant materials +presented, and draws a series of graphic and pleasing pictures of all the +more noticeable features of the country which are to be found along the +extensive and meandering course of the Severn."--_Gloucester Journal_. + +"The book which has furnished our theme is perhaps the best account of +the Severn and the Severn Valley in existence."--_Gloucester Chronicle_. + +"Always easy and flowing, and sometimes approaching almost to the force +of poetry in its simple elegance of expression, the legendary and +historical associations which belong to the scenery of the Severn blend +naturally with the most glowing pictures of descriptive beauty, and there +is never any appearance of labour or constraint."--_Shrewsbury +Chronicle_. + +"The ground--which to the great majority of tourists must be +comparatively new--presents some of the finest scenery in the kingdom. +Its antiquities, its historical and legendary associations, are full of +interest; whilst to the student of nature, whether his special subject be +geology or botany, it is no less rich and attractive. On all these +subjects, as well as on the industrial features of the district, Mr. +Randall is at home."--_Shropshire News_. + +"Mr. Randall is a good guide. He is thoroughly acquainted with his +subject. He has long been familiar with the Severn Valley, and knows its +geology, its traditions, its historic records, its myths, its poetry, and +its loveliest scenes. On all these topics he dilates with the freshness +which ever arises from deep love."--_Literary Companion_. + +"An itinerary abounding with interesting material of a very varied kind, +of which the author has availed himself to write a most agreeable guide- +book."--_Art-Journal_. + +"We can most conscientiously recommend it to our readers, for there is +food for all tastes and temperaments in its ever-varying pages. For a +day's out to any place on the Severn, we do not know a better +guide."--_Birmingham Post_. + +"The wood-cuts, though small, are artistically drawn and neatly +engraved."--_Army and Navy Gazette_. + +JAMES S. VIRTUE, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. + + + + +Footnotes. + + +{6} Upon payment of one shilling. + +{11} The geological features of the district are readily recognised. The +great magazine of salt at Droitwich is sufficiently indicative of the red +marls observed in the cutting at Shrub Hill, and which rise, by means of +passage shales, into the lias on one side, and descend, by means of other +members of the New Red Sandstone, into the permians on the other. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDBOOK TO THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY*** + + +******* This file should be named 17612.txt or 17612.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/6/1/17612 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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