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THEANTIQUITIESOFBRIDGNORTH;
THEANTIQUITIESOFBRIDGNORTH;
WITH Some Historical Notices of the Town and Castle. BY THE REV. G. BELLETT, A.M. INCUMBENT OF ST. LEONARD’S. Bridgnorth: W. J. ROWLEY, BOOKSELLER, HIGH STREET. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. MDCCCLVI. BRIDGENORTH: W. J. ROWLEY, PRINTER, HIGH STREET. TO THE MAYOR, AND CORPORATION, AND INHABITANTS, OF THE BOROUGH OF BRIDGNORTH, THE FOLLOWING WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THEIR FAITHFUL SERVANT, G. BELLETT....
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ADVERTISEMENT.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Substance of the following pages was given in two lectures, which I delivered last year to the Members of “The Society for Promoting Religious and Useful Knowledge.” Since then I have collected a few more facts relating to the early history of Bridgnorth, which I have here given to the reader, and I have also added an Appendix , containing some matter not altogether, I hope, undeserving of attention, although some of it is only remotely connected with my subject. The public documents relatin
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ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
It is now time to turn the attention of the reader to the Churches, and other ecclesiastical establishments, which existed in former times in the Borough of Bridgnorth. They were of great antiquity. The most ancient of them was The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. [19] This Church originally stood within the walls of the Castle, and was a Collegiate Church, the members of which were five Prebendaries and a Dean. “The which Deanery and Prebends,” to quote the words of John Brompton, “the King inde
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The Church of Saint Leonard.
The Church of Saint Leonard.
The other Church of Bridgnorth, Saint Leonard’s, is, in all probability, nearly as ancient in its foundation as Saint Mary’s. No document exists which gives us the exact date of its foundation, but there is reason to believe it is coeval, or nearly so, with the foundation of the Borough; for Leland, who visited Bridgnorth in the reign of Henry VIII., states that Saint Leonard’s was the sole Parish Church of the town; and as it is not to be supposed that so important a Borough would have been wit
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Hospital of Saint John.
Hospital of Saint John.
We now come to consider the Ecclesiastical Establishments before referred to, and first that which is usually called the Hospital of Saint John, though it was also dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary. It was founded by Ralph de Strange, Lord of Alveley, in the reign of Richard I. Such hospitals, though they became after a while a refuge for the poor and destitute generally, yet were originally designed for the entertainment of travellers, and especially of pilgrims, and therefore w
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The Hospital of Saint James.
The Hospital of Saint James.
This was an establishment of a very different kind. It was designed only as a place of refuge for persons afflicted with severe or contagious diseases, and was termed in legal documents Domus Leprosorum Jacobi , or as Maladria Sancti Jacobi . [30] It stood outside the town, east of the road which led from Saint John’s Hospital to Quatford. Its founders were, probably, the community of the Borough of Bridgnorth, and such an establishment may be considered as one of the sanitary measures which the
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The Friars.
The Friars.
This was a House of Franciscan or Grey Friars, [32] an order that was founded by Francis of Assisi, early in the thirteenth century, and introduced into this country in the reign of Henry III. About the middle of that reign, a branch of this fraternity settled in Bridgnorth, and fixed their residence by the Severn side, on a site now occupied by Messrs. Southwell’s Carpet Manufactory. There they built both a Friary and a Church. The great Hall, or Refectory, which belonged to this establishment
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THE ANTIQUITIES OF BRIDGNORTH.PART II.
THE ANTIQUITIES OF BRIDGNORTH.PART II.
QUATFORD. . In the foregoing pages I have brought before the reader many historical notices of Bridgnorth from a very early period down to the reign of Edward III; but I regret that I have been able to collect only a very few from the commencement of that reign to the era of the Reformation, and still fewer between that period and the time of the Civil Wars; but the few which I have been able to collect respecting these intervals, though of minor importance, may not be without their interest, in
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A.(Page 7.)MORF FOREST.
A.(Page 7.)MORF FOREST.
There are so many references to the Forest of Morf in the early history of Bridgnorth, that it may be well, for the information of the reader, to append the following interesting description of it, given by Mr. Eyton, in the 3rd. Vol. of his Antiquities , p. 212. “Where now the Counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire converge, there was once a vast region of Forest, not confined to one bank of a succession of lakes and marshes which we now know as the Valley of the Severn, but
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B.(Page 22.)BRIDGNORTH CASTLE.
B.(Page 22.)BRIDGNORTH CASTLE.
The sole remaining fragment of this Castle was very carefully examined and measured by King, the author of “ Munimenta Antiqua ”; in which work he gives the following description of it. (pp. 346-7) He was of opinion indeed that it was a Saxon fortress; but in this he must have been mistaken, as the testimony of history is very clear as to the fact, that it was erected by the Norman Earl, Robert de Belesme. “The exceeding solidity of whose structure [the leaning Tower] has defied the decay of age
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C.(Page 42.)WOODEN FORTIFICATIONS OF THE TOWN.
C.(Page 42.)WOODEN FORTIFICATIONS OF THE TOWN.
A further grant was made for the same purpose by Henry III. “On May 10, 1220, King Henry III., being at Worcester, orders the Sheriff of Salop to aid the Burgesses of Bruges in the enclosure of their town, allowing them out of the Royal Forest near Bruges, as much of old stumps and dead timber as would suffice to make two stacks (rogos). This was to be done with as little injury as possible to the Forest.” ( Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 1, p. 299. ) Notwithstanding this caution, however, a go
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D.(Page 44.)THE CHARTER OF THE BOROUGH.
D.(Page 44.)THE CHARTER OF THE BOROUGH.
The earliest written Charter was granted to the Borough in the reign of Henry II., a.d. , 1157, and is as follows:— “Henry, King of England, and Duke of Normandy, and Aquitaine, and Earl of Anjou, to his Justiciars, and Sheriffs, and Barons, and Ministers, and all his faithful of England, greeting. Know ye that I have conceded to my Burgesses of Bruge all their franchises, and customs, and rights, which they, or their ancestors, had in the time of King Henry, my grandfather. Wherefore I will and
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E.(Page 123.)SUPPRESSION OF THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES.
E.(Page 123.)SUPPRESSION OF THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES.
Whatever may have been Queen Mary’s private feelings, it is plain that she yielded to the pressure of political expediency in this matter. In order to induce the Parliament to repeal all the statutes made against the See of Rome in the two last reigns, she ratified in the fullest manner the alienation of the property which had belonged to Abbeys, Priories, Chantries, Colleges, &c., and strictly forbade any suits against any one on that score, either by authority from the Pope, or general
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F.(Page 126.)THE CAPPERS OF BRIDGNORTH.
F.(Page 126.)THE CAPPERS OF BRIDGNORTH.
An Act of Parliament was passed in 1571, to enforce the wearing of Woollen Caps; but this failing to have the desired effect, and the people still continuing to indulge their fancy in the choice of covering for their heads, the Queen thought fit to exert her royal prerogative in the matter, and issued a Proclamation for the purpose of enforcing the statute. The Proclamation set forth “how that by little and little the disobedience and wanton disorder of evil-disposed and light persons, more rega
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G.(Page 130.)ON THE CHARACTER OF CROMWELL.
G.(Page 130.)ON THE CHARACTER OF CROMWELL.
It is a curious fact, that two of our great poets, writing in prose, have exerted their genius to paint, the one the character of Cromwell, the other the character of Charles I, in the darkest possible colours. Cowley, in his “Vision,” has heaped on the Protector as many reproachful epithets, and as stern expressions of reprobation, as the most unrelenting royalist could desire; but the bolder wing of the Author of “Paradise Lost,” has soared far above him in the region of invective. In his famo
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H.(Page 167.) DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN THE KING’S TROOPSAND THE TOWN’S PEOPLE.
H.(Page 167.) DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN THE KING’S TROOPSAND THE TOWN’S PEOPLE.
The following letter, [81] written from Bridgnorth in the year 1642, affords evidence of the fact, that there were partizans of the Parliament in the town, who doubtless did their best to alienate the minds of the people from the King’s cause; and also that the rude conduct of the soldiers, in the royal army, greatly aggravated the evil. The statements made on this latter subject must however be taken with some allowance, as they are made under the influence of strong party feeling. “ Bridgenort
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I.(Page 169.)COLLEGE AND ALMSHOUSES.
I.(Page 169.)COLLEGE AND ALMSHOUSES.
The College, which stood in Saint Leonard’s Church Yard, had formerly, it is supposed, been the residence of the Chauntry Priests belonging to the Church, and after the Act for the Suppression of the Religious Houses, it became the dwelling of the Master of the Grammar School. The exact year of the foundation of this School cannot be ascertained; but the Charity Commissioners, who visited Bridgnorth in 1815, fully investigated the matter, and discovered that it was in existence in the reign of H
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K.(Page 173.)SURRENDER OF THE CASTLE.
K.(Page 173.)SURRENDER OF THE CASTLE.
“Articles agreed upon for the Surrender of Bridgnorth Castle, the 26th. day of April, 1646; between I. That all Commissioned Officers of Horse, and all Captains of Foot, shall march away to any of His Majesty’s Garrisons or Armies within forty miles, with their horses and arms for themselves, and each of them to have a servant, with his horse and sword, and their wearing apparel. Free quarter for thirty miles, and safe conduct, and not to march less than eight miles a day. Any of the aforesaid O
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L.(Page 176.)ASSIGNMENT OF GOODS AND CHATTELS AT APLEY.
L.(Page 176.)ASSIGNMENT OF GOODS AND CHATTELS AT APLEY.
The following is a copy of the assignment of the goods and chattels of Apley, by the Parliamentary Sequestrators, to Roger Rowley, Esq., of Rowley, in the Parish of Worfield. The original document is in the possession of T. C. Whitmore, Esq., of Apley, who kindly furnished me with this transcript. “Wee, John Broome, Solicitor for Sequestrators in the County of Salop, John Llewellyn, Richard Hawkshead, and Thomas Achelley, Agents for Sequestʳˢ, in the said County, According to an order of the Com
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M.(Page 178.)THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CLERGY DURING THE COMMONWEALTH.
M.(Page 178.)THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CLERGY DURING THE COMMONWEALTH.
It is very important that the members of the Church of England, and others, should receive some correct information on the subject of religious persecution, or persecution for conscience sake; for a very great mistake on the subject very commonly prevails—namely, that the Dissenters have always been the suffering party, and the Church the offending party, in this matter. At a time, indeed, when the duty of toleration was little understood, some of the rulers of the Church of England, as well as
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N.(Page 183.)DR. PERCY.
N.(Page 183.)DR. PERCY.
The following particulars respecting Dr. Percy, have been very kindly communicated to me by the Rev. H. E. Boyd, Rector of Dromara, in the County of Down, who was for many years domestic Chaplain to the Bishop:—“The Right Reverend Thomas Percy, D. D., Bishop of Dromore, in Ireland, highly distinguished in the literary world, the son of Arthur Lowe Percy, by his wife Jane Nott, was born at Bridgnorth, and baptized the 29th of April, 1729; his grandfather, Arthur Percy, having removed thither from
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O.(Page 191.)PETITION PRESENTED TO LADY BARTUE.
O.(Page 191.)PETITION PRESENTED TO LADY BARTUE.
The following is a copy of the Petition, presented to Lady Bartue, the draft of which is preserved among the papers of the Corporation:— “We are bold (hearing of your noble and charitable disposition to distressed people) to impart unto you, that in these miserable times our Town is left a sad spectacle and pitiful object of the woeful effects of war; for besides the firing of more than 300 families, we had also burnt, a fair Church, College, Almshouse, and Market House; whereby we are exposed t
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P.(Page 193.)ALMS HOUSES.
P.(Page 193.)ALMS HOUSES.
The foundation of this Charity has already been referred to Appendix I , and proofs given of its antiquity. An official report of it was drawn up by the Rev. Wm. Corser, in 1792, and presented to the Corporation; after a very careful investigation into its history. In this, he states it as his opinion, that it was first established and supported by the members of the Religious fraternity of the neighbouring College in St. Leonard’s Church Yard; though the management of it, and the right of appoi
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Q.(Page 193.)THE PROCLAMATION OF CHARLES II.
Q.(Page 193.)THE PROCLAMATION OF CHARLES II.
“Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all, and singular, Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons, Deans, and their Officials, Parsons, Ministers, Lecturers, Vicars and Curates, and all other Spiritual Persons: And also to all Justices of the Peace, Mayors, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, Constables, Churchwardens, Collectors for the Poor, and Headboroughs: And to all Officers of Cities, Boroughs, and Towns, Corporate; and to
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R.(Page 199.)NON-JURING BISHOPS.
R.(Page 199.)NON-JURING BISHOPS.
What makes the resistance of these Prelates to the unconstitutional proceedings of James the more remarkable is, that they afterwards submitted to deprivation, rather than renounce their allegiance to him. When he was deposed, or as others would represent it, when he abdicated the throne, they could not be persuaded by any inducements to abjure his sovereignty, and to take the oath of allegiance to William. They regarded James as still their lawful King, and judged that it would be a violation o
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