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 indeed conferreth of his own right and custom; although in nearly all other Collegiate Chapels the Deans, being installed by the Sheriff at the King’s collation, and inducted into corporal possession of the Deaneries, confer all Prebends in the same Chapels, and install, induct, and visit the Prebendaries. But in the aforesaid Chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene, the Dean confers no Prebend, nor visits Prebend or Prebendary; but each in the corps of his own Prebend, hath and exerciseth plenary jurisdiction, as well in things spiritual, as in things temporal;” so that it was in an especial sense a Royal Chapel; and the whole ecclesiastical district connected with it, and subject to its Prebendaries, bore the title, which it still retains, of The Royal Peculiar and Exempt Jurisdiction of the Deanery of Bridgnorth. It was first founded, as has been already noticed, at Quatford, and from thence transferred, with all its rights and privileges, and the chief part of its endowments, to Bridgnorth, in the latter part of the reign of William Rufus, or early in the reign of his successor; so that it is a very ancient foundation—nearly seven hundred and fifty years old.
The privileges connected with it were considered very important, and were guarded with the strictest jealousy from all encroachments, not only by the members of the chapter, but by the Crown. So much was this the case, that in the year 1241, when some delegates of the Pope attempted to levy contributions in the Deanery of Bridgnorth, as well as elsewhere, for the See of Rome, they were opposed, as interfering with the prerogatives of the Royal Peculiar; and this opposition the Pope himself was obliged to sanction and ratify; for on the complaint of the King, he issued two Bulls at Lyons, in which he recognises the rights of the King’s free Chapel at Bridgnorth, and forbids all attempts made to levy procurations from it.
The Deanery of Bridgnorth at this time was held by Peter de Rivallis, of whom (although his course reflected no honor on his sacred calling) it may be well to take a passing notice, inasmuch as his name stands connected, not only with the early history of Bridgnorth, as being Dean of the Peculiar, but with some of the important events in the reign of Henry III. Peter de Rivallis was born at Poictou, and through the influence of his uncle, the Bishop of Winchester, was introduced into the English court, and was made Treasurer of the Chamber in the King’s Household. He soon became a great favorite with his master, who invested him, notwithstanding his clerical calling, with all the Royal Castles in Shropshire. The confidence placed in him was unbounded, and the favors heaped upon him almost without a parallel; for while he was Dean of Bridgnorth and Constable of the Castle, a grant was made to him of the Shrievalties of Shropshire and Staffordshire for life; also of the counties of York, Berks, Gloucester, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Lancaster, Northumberland, Essex, Hants, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Kent. These, and such like favors, profusely heaped upon his foreign courtiers, tended to alienate the minds of his English subjects from the King, and were specially resisted by Richard Marshall, Earl of Pembroke. He and other English nobles entered into a confederacy with Llewelin, Prince of Wales, and laid waste the county of Salop to a considerable extent; and carrying their forage as far as the gates of Shrewsbury, pillaged and burnt part of the town. This illustrious nobleman who is called by ancient historians “the flower of chivalry,” and who was more than a match for his enemies in the field, was at last cut off by a base act of treachery, in which the Dean of Bridgnorth bore the chief part. He, with others, forged a letter, as if sanctioned by the King, and sent it to Ireland, announcing the forfeiture of the Earl’s Irish estates, and promising a partition of them amongst those who would arrest his person. This document however was not sufficient to satisfy the Irish nobles, and they dispatched messengers, requiring the King’s sealed charter on the subject. Peter de Rivallis forged the required document, and attached the great seal to it; and the plan completely succeeded. The Earl’s Irish possessions were invaded; in consequence of which he crossed the Channel in order to protect them, but in a skirmish, after having manfully maintained his ground against fearful odds, he fell mortally wounded; and died in the hands of his enemies, subjected in his last moments to every species of cruelty and insult.
For this murder of the noble Earl of Pembroke (for it was nothing less) the Dean of Bridgnorth was arraigned before the King and his Justiciaries. He appeared on this occasion strangely habited for an ecclesiastical dignitary; for he wore a corslet underneath his clerical garment, and had a dagger suspended from his girdle, and appeared half soldier, half priest. The King, assuming an appearance of anger which he did not feel, for he secretly rejoiced at the death of the Earl, accosted the Dean in very furious language, calling him a traitor, and accusing him of having entered into plots which had brought damage and disgrace on his kingdom. The Dean was sentenced to be committed to the Tower; and when he pleaded his clerical orders, as a reason why he should not be given up to the custody of a layman, the King answered, reasonably enough, that he had always demeaned himself as a layman, and as a layman he was now required to give an account of his stewardship: and forthwith gave orders that all his lay possessions should be confiscated.[20] His name certainly confers no honor on the Royal Peculiar of Bridgnorth, of which he was Dean; but I thought it well to give this brief sketch of his history, as reflecting the manners of the age in which he lived, and as shewing in a very striking way the miserable condition in which the Church was sunk at that period. It was not then as it was afterwards, in Puritan times, when, according to the lively author of Hudibras,
“The pulpit, drum ecclesiastic, Was beat with fist, instead of a stick.”
Sharper and more formidable weapons were wielded in those days by men in holy orders, and wielded at times to some purpose. It was doubtless a sad perversion of the right order of things, when soldiers in Cromwell’s army took upon them the office of divines; but it was a far worse perversion, when divines became soldiers—when the tonsure was covered with a plumed helm—when Bishops and Deans, like this famed Dean of Bridgnorth, hid a coat of mail underneath their cassock, and wore a dagger at their girdle—when Dignitaries of the highest rank, as was not seldom the case, led out armies to the field, and, sword in hand, mingled in the thickest of the fight.
But the case above referred to, of Peter de Rivallis, is not the only one, which affords evidence of the existence of such a state of things, in early times, in the Deanery of Bridgnorth. In the reign of Edward III, one Henry De Harley, upon a false report of the death of the Dean, Thomas de Eyton, obtained a grant of the Deanery from the king. Thomas de Eyton however making his appearance some time afterwards in the King’s presence, the grant to De Harley was of course withdrawn, and a special mandate given for restoring the rightful Dean. But the ejected Dignitary, not willing to resign the benefice so easily, flew to arms, resolved to support his claim at any cost. His opponent was equally vigorous in the measures which he adopted for the establishment of his rights. They both raised a body of armed men, in order to decide the matter in dispute by the sword; nor was the unseemly strife put an end to, but by the interposition of the sovereign. (Dukes’ Antiquities of Shropshire, p. 49.)
But about this time there was one connected with the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary Magdalene of Bridgnorth, whose name would cast a lustre on any church in any age; and it is pleasant to turn from these indecent scenes of ambitious strife among ecclesiastics, to contemplate a character so truly exalted as his. The individual, to whom I refer, was one whose influence on the Church and State was very considerable in his day, having been twice entrusted with the Great Seal of England, both in the reign of Edward III. and Richard II; and Bishop of one of the most extensive dioceses in the kingdom—yet one, whose virtues were more eminent than his rank or talents, and to whom, it should be added, the Church of England owes more, perhaps, than to any other individual, for the sound and learned education of her clergy—the memorable William of Wykeham. He was Prebendary of Saint Mary’s[21] in the year 1360; and it is no little honor to our town, that the name of this great and good man is thus connected with it. This may justify my introducing here a few particulars respecting him; for it seems desirable that none of the readers, for whom these pages are chiefly intended, should be unacquainted with one who was by far the most illustrious person ever connected with the Collegiate Church of Bridgnorth.
Wykeham, early in life, before taking orders, was introduced into the Court of Edward III., and recommended himself to the King by his great skill in architecture. He was made surveyor of his works; and to him it is chiefly that the Royal Family of England are indebted for by far the noblest of their palaces—Windsor Castle. He grew into such favour with his sovereign, that he heaped preferments upon him, both civil and ecclesiastical, till at length he advanced him to the important See of Winchester. In the government of his Diocese he was a great reformer, and most zealously set himself to correct the ecclesiastical abuses which he discovered; and by the purity of his own life, as well as by the strict and vigilant discipline which he exercised, brought about a great improvement in the condition of the clergy. Through the royal bounty, wealth flowed in on him in great abundance; but he was only intent on finding channels for the useful distribution of it. His munificence was unbounded, so that it is doubtful whether any sovereign Prince ever expended so large a revenue on others, as he did in his public and private charities.[22] Among other works, which attest the largeness of his heart in this respect, may be mentioned his maintaining twenty-four poor persons in his own family—his building and restoring churches, and erecting residences for his clergy, at his own expense—and his rebuilding at an immense cost the nave of his own Cathedral Church at Winchester, which stands at this day a noble monument, not only of his princely munificence, but of his architectural taste; for there are few ecclesiastical buildings in England that equal it in dignity and grandeur. But the chief works which have rendered his name illustrious as a benefactor, are the building and endowing two noble Colleges, one at Winchester, and the other in Oxford; the former of which he designed as a nursery for the latter. These he enriched by very large and liberal endowments, and enriched them still more by the treasures of wise counsels and wholesome laws which he introduced into the statutes, which are so admirable—“drawn up with such judgment and reach of thought,” as Collier observes, “that they have been transcribed for the benefit of other houses; and served as it were as a pattern to the principal Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge;” (Ecclesiastical History, Book vii, p. 270) so that it is no hazardous assertion to make, that no one person in modern or ancient times has done more—perhaps none so much—for the sound education of the clergy of England as William of Wykeham, some time Prebendary of St. Mary’s, Bridgnorth. At this very time, after the lapse of nearly five hundred years, Bridgnorth is receiving the benefit of his noble institutions; for the present Head Master[23] of Bridgnorth Grammar School is a Wykehamite, taught, and trained, and nurtured in Winchester and New College. His fitness for the important post he at present occupies, he owes, in part at least, to William of Wykeham: so that whatever Wykeham in ancient times received as Prebendary in the Deanery of Bridgnorth, he is now paying back to its inhabitants, in the good instruction which is given to their children in Bridgnorth Grammar School.
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 without a Parochial Church even in its infancy, a very early date must be assigned to it. Mr. Eyton, who suggests this strong argument for the antiquity of its foundation, subjoins to it however the remark, that “as yet no architectural evidence occurs to strengthen this assertion.” But he was not aware, when he made this observation, of the fact, that in making some repairs in the chancel, a few years since, the workmen came upon a stone carved with a moulding which is supposed to be of Norman character; affording very probable evidence that the building, of which it was a part, belonged to the early period to which Mr. Eyton refers.
The earliest written notice which can be referred to respecting St. Leonard’s, though it implies the pre-existence of the Church, cannot itself be ascribed to an older period than the middle of the thirteenth century. It occurs in a legal document, and is as follows:—“Roger, son of Richard Irish, (Hybernensis) sells to Walter Palmer, for 6s., a rent of 6d., issuing from certain field-land without the cemetery of Saint Leonard, which land William Sholton held of the Vendor, by the same rent.” (Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 1, p. 341.) It is also ascertained from existing documents, that two chantries, or side chapels, were set up in Saint Leonard’s; the one in the time of Edward II, the other in the time of Edward III. This latter was founded by William de la Hulle, who “assigns his messuage in Bridgnorth, (lying between the conduit and a tenement belonging to Richard Brown) also thirty acres of land, and sixty shillings there, to three chaplains, who were to pray daily in the Church of Saint Leonard’s, for the souls of his father and mother, and for his own soul, and those of his two wives and children.“ (Dukes’ Antiquities, xxxvii.) I cannot but think that there still exists in Saint Leonard’s Church some remains of one of these ancient chapels. In the south wall of the nave there may be seen a Piscina, about six feet above the level of the present floor: the height of it proves that the wall, in which it is placed, formed part of a former structure, the floor of which must have stood a good deal higher than the present one, for the usual height of a Piscina from the ground was about two or three feet. A Piscina also, it is to be noticed, was an appendage to an altar, and was never built but in connection with one; so that there must have been an altar, and consequently a chapel, in this part of Saint Leonard’s Church, of which the present south wall formed a part; and we have no reason for supposing this to be any other than that attached to the parish Church, in the reign of Edward II, or Edward III.
John Leland represents Saint Leonard’s Church in his time (a.d. 1536) as one of great beauty, and there can be no doubt that originally it was a large and magnificent building; for as late as the year 1645, when Symonds, an officer in Charles’s army, visited Bridgnorth, it was still “a noble structure,” ornamented with painted windows. He has given a sketch of the figures on several of these. One of them, [here given], was that of an ancient Knight in armour, with his sword girded on his right thigh, and his cross-shield painted beside him. It is supposed to be Adam de Molineux,[24] who lived in the reign of King Henry III.
Symonds also gives a description of some Altar Tombs, situate in the north aisle (an aisle unhappily no longer in existence), on one of which “lay a man in armour and a woman, with many painted escutcheons, belonging to the Hoord family, of Hoord’s Park. Another in the same aisle, the statue of a woman, fayrlie gilt, in alabaster, with this inscription circumscribed, and coats of arms.”
“HERE LYETH THE BODY OF FFrancis FFermer, DAUGHTER OF THOMAS HOORD, ESQ., AND WIFE OF THOMAS FERMER, ESQ., WHO DYED 10 DAY OF JULY, 1570.”[25]
The present Church of Saint Leonard’s, parts of which belonged no doubt to the original building, forms, in the condition in which it now stands, a sad contrast to the “fayre church” of John Leland’s time. Perhaps the future inhabitants of the town and of the surrounding district, all of whom have more or less an interest in it, may feel an earnest zeal for this house of God, and may possess the means as well as the desire, of compleating the restoration of it, which was begun a few years since, but was discontinued for want of funds. It is a pity, even in an architectural point of view, to see it in its present decayed condition; for it stands on as fine a platform, perhaps, as any ecclesiastical building in England, and might be made, without any considerable cost, both externally and within, a noble temple. Its ancient Church Yard too, the burying place of so many generations, will, it is to be hoped, ere long, be rescued from the dishonoured state in which it lies. There sleep the dead of many centuries. A few feet below the level of the present graves lie the remains of those, who died in the period of the great Rebellion—some of them slain, perhaps, fighting for what they deemed the cause of God, and of their country. A few feet deeper rest the ashes of men, who were co-temporary with Cranmer and Ridley, and who witnessed the progress of the glorious Reformation. Deeper still lie those who died in the stormy times of York and Lancaster. Lower still would be found the dust of those, who belonged to the age of the great Plantagenets; and on a still lower bed sleep those who lived when the sceptre of England was swayed by Kings of Norman blood. Reverence then for the dead, who were buried there ages long since, as well as reverence for those who have been laid there in our own time, should make us anxious to see restored to a higher degree of decency and order than at present marks its condition, the ancient Cemetery of Saint Leonard’s Church.
I greatly regret that the historical notices of Saint Leonard’s Church are so very scanty; for loving as I do, the very stones of the old building, I should have been glad to associate it with any interesting traditions of an early date. But these are wanting. However, in the Blakeway Papers, in the Bodleian Library, there is preserved the narrative of one incident that occurred in Saint Leonard’s Church, which is indeed worthy of a memorial. It is of too private a nature to find its way into the page of history; yet, by those who are familiar with the locality where it took place, and who find pleasure in the manifestation of nobleness of disposition and magnanimity, even in the youngest, it will not be read without interest.
The manuscript from which I copied it is as follows:—“Mr. Leighton told me a story connected with this church, which is worth relating, though I can assign no date or name to it. Two boys were at play in the upper part of Saint Leonard’s Church, when some of the beams or joists, on which they were standing, gave way. One of the boys had just time to catch hold of the beams with his arms, and the other boy slipping over his body caught hold of the other boys legs. There they hung for some time calling for help: but no one heard them. At length the upper boy said he could hold no longer. The lower boy said, “Do you think you could save yourself if I were to loose you.” “Yes,” said the other, “I think I could.” “Well then,” said he, “God bless you,” and loosing his hold was instantly dashed to pieces. The upper boy got up upon the beams, and either climbed to a place of safety, or remained till some one came to his assistance.” This was heroism of the noblest type; nor did the knight in Roman story, who is described as leaping into the gulph in the Forum, evince more true intrepidity of mind, or a more generous spirit of self-sacrifice, than did this poor youth, when he thus quietly loosened his only hold on life, to secure his companion’s safety, and calmly wished him well in the name of God, as he was about to make that fearful fall, which would indeed be life to his friend, but inevitable death to himself. If his name were known, and the exact spot where this affecting incident occurred, they would have been well worthy of being put on record on a mural tablet, in Saint Leonard’s Church.
Besides the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, and the Parochial Church of Saint Leonard, there were several other religious establishments in Bridgnorth, previous to the Reformation. But before I enter on any account of these, it is right that I should take a passing notice of something far more ancient than any of them; which, though standing within the parish of Worfield, is locally connected with our town, and associated with its religious history—namely,
The Hermitage.
On ascending the very steep hill, which leads out of the town towards Wolverhampton, every one has observed, on the right hand side of the road, a cave hollowed out of the sand-stone rock, which on examination is found more extensive than might at first be supposed. This, there is reason to believe, was in old time the solitary dwelling place of one of the Saxon Princes, a brother of King Athelstan; and hither it is believed he had fled, both that he might enjoy religious solitude, and also screen himself from the violence and treachery to which his Brother Edwin had fallen a prey. Documents are extant, which shew that there was a Hermitage here in the reign of Edward III., under the patronage of the Crown, and that it bore the name of Athelardestan—a Saxon word, which signifies “the rock” or “stone of Ethelward.”[26] Thus documentary testimony supports the ancient tradition, that this cave, amidst the seclusion of Morfe Forest, was the cell of a royal anchorite—one who turned his back on the intrigues and fascinations of a court, and sought in this deep retirement a course of life more congenial to his feelings. No doubt it was a mistaken sense of duty, which made such men bury themselves in these dark solitudes; for it is far nobler to encounter the world, and to overcome it, than to retire from the conflict—better amidst its corruptions and cares, its trials and temptations, to keep ourselves unspotted by it, than to seek an escape from its evils by deserting the sphere of our appointed duties. It is difficult for us, perhaps, to realize the position of serious and peaceful minds in times of lawlessness and violence, yet at all times the best exercise of self denial and mortification[27] is to be found in the common path of daily life—in intercourse with our fellow men—not in seclusion from them; and that must be a mistaken piety, which seeks to please God by forsaking the responsibilities of our station, and cutting ourselves off from the sympathies and charities of life; still we must not scorn such piety, even though we detect its errors, and lament its weakness; but willingly cherish the hope, that its mistakes and deficiencies were pardoned by Him who is not extreme to mark what is done amiss, and that many an occupant of a solitary hermitage, like this of Ethelward, in the secret preference of his heart, chose the good part which shall not be taken from him.
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 were built by the way side, that so they might be as accessible as possible, and that the tired traveller might not have far to go for rest and refreshment.[28] Saint John’s hospital was well situated for this purpose. Standing within the angle formed by Mill Street and Saint John’s Street, it commanded every highway by which travellers entered the town from places lying eastward of the Severn. The roads from Quatford and Claverley, and Worfield, and Shiffnal, all converging to a point on that side of the Bridge, passed close to its gate; and no doubt many a wayfaring man, wearied with threading his way through the mazes of Morfe Forest was glad, when he had descended the hill, to rest under its friendly roof.
The earliest royal recognition of this Hospital bears date March 9th, 1223. It is a mandate of Henry III., by which he directs Hugh Fitz Robert, Forester of Shropshire, to give the Brethren of the Hospital of St. John twelve cart loads of dry wood in Morf Forest. There is another, about two years later, by which King Henry III., being then at Bridgnorth, commands the same Hugh Fitz Robert to allow the Master and Brethren of the Hospital of the Holy Trinity of Bruges to have three oak trees in Morf Forest for their fire, of the King’s gift. There is also a record of a trial, which took place at the Assizes in Shrewsbury, in the close of the same century, between the Crown and the Prior of this Hospital, respecting some land in the parish of Alveley, claimed by the Prior as part of the endowment of the establishment by Ralph Le Strange. The claim was disputed by the King’s Attorney, who set forth the royal title as by descent from Henry II. The Jurors however found upon their oath, that “the Master had greater right to hold the land as he held it, than the King to have it as he claimed it.” The members of this Religious House were a Prior, or Master, and several Lay Brethren; and the Mastership of it was in the reign of Edward IV. annexed to the Abbey of Lilleshall.[29]
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 they adopted for the benefit of the town. Many of the large towns in England had establishments of this nature in the thirteenth century; and there is evidence to prove, that the Leper House of Saint James, in Bridgnorth, was founded previously to 1224; for on the 22nd of September of that year, Henry III., who was then at Bridgnorth Castle, issued the following mandate to Hugh Fitz Robert, “Know that for the reverence of God, and for the health of our soul, and the soul of the Lord King John our Father, we have granted to the Leprous Brethren of the Hospital of Saint James, at Bruges, that they may have one horse, daily plying in our Forest of Morf, to collect dry stumps and dead wood for their fires, until we come of age.” There is also a very early charter of the thirteenth century, now in the possession of T. C. Whitmore, Esq., of Apley, bearing the Seal of the Hospital of Saint James, by which it would appear that this society was constituted without any superior of its own body, and that it acted under the guidance, and with the consent of the good men of the town, and that its members were of both sexes. (Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 1, p. 349.)
These two establishments, the Hospital of Saint John and that of Saint James, the one for the relief of the indigent, and the refreshment of travellers, the other for the relief of diseased persons, were swept away by the Act for the dissolution of Monasteries and Religious Houses, which passed in the reign of Henry VIII. What now answers to these two in our town, are the Union Poor House and the Infirmary. I am not about to institute a comparison between the modern institutions, and those of olden times; and I most willingly bear testimony, that the indigent and invalids, who are admitted into the Poor House and Infirmary of Bridgnorth, receive the kindest and tenderest treatment; at the same time we ought to be aware, that the ancient Religious Houses of this Country, two of which were connected with our Borough, afforded to the sick and needy substantial relief, and that, whatever defects might belong to the system on which they were carried on, they were for a time of essential service. Abuses did creep into them no doubt—abuses of so flagrant a character, as called loudly for reform—nevertheless, they afforded a shelter for houseless poverty, a retreat for old age, and a refuge for disease, not to be found elsewhere; and when a rapacious and mercenary law[31] decreed their dissolution, confiscated their property, uprooted their establishments, and swept them from the land, it left the poor unbefriended, and subjected them to the severest sufferings, by casting them for relief on the precarious supply that private charity afforded. The late Professor Blunt, of Cambridge, in his valuable work on the Reformation, gives the following description of the ancient Religious Houses, which is as true as it is graphic. “They had been the Almshouses, where the aged dependants of more opulent families, the decrepit servant, the decayed artificer, retired as to a home, neither uncomfortable nor humiliating. They had been the County Dispensaries, a knowledge of medicines, and of the virtues of herbs, being a part of Monkish learning. They had been foundling asylums, relieving the state of many orphan and outcast children, and ministering to their necessities, God’s ravens in the wilderness, bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening. They had been Inns to the wayfaring man, who heard from afar the sound of the vesper bell, at once inviting him to repose and devotion, and who might sing his matins with the morning star, and go on his way rejoicing.” ([p. 141.])
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 is still standing, and its oak-pannelled ceiling and stone fire-place have not yielded to the wear of time, but, after the lapse of six hundred years, are still in good preservation. Some years ago, a few skeletons were dug up near this spot, and very lately several others have been found; the place where they lay marking out, no doubt, the situation of the Cemetery, which belonged to the Church of the Friars.
There is a record of a curious trial at Shrewsbury Assizes, bearing date 1272, which brings the Friars of Bridgnorth under notice. They were charged with having enclosed the King’s highway on the bank of the Severn, thereby damaging the King’s revenue. It was stated on this trial, that “they take stones and rubbish from the bank of the Severn, and throw them into the river, whereby they have realised to themselves a piece of ground, one hundred and fifty feet long, and fifty feet wide, and this they have enclosed. By which process the bank causes the water to pound upon the King’s Mills, the damage whereunto is five merks per annum, and this was done sixteen years back.” I must leave it to engineers to determine, whether or not there is any trace of this artificial bank still remaining, and whether it is owing to the construction of it, that the Eastern side of the river, near Bridgnorth, is now so much more easily flooded than the Western: if so the inhabitants of the Low Town owe a grudge to the Grey Friars of the thirteenth century.
But some of the brethren of this community were, I doubt not, often employed in much more important work than in banking up the Severn, and gaining ground by encroaching on its channel. By the ancient seal of their foundation, an engraving of which is given on the following page, it may be seen that they were “prædicatores”—preachers. It was a dark age in which they discharged this office, and some blessed truths, which hold a prominent place in the system of the Gospel of Christ, were unknown to them, or known very indistinctly. Nevertheless, many a hooded Friar, in those days of darkness, did the best he could, with the little light he had, to enlighten the ignorant around him; and He who does “not despise the day of small things,” would not suffer his labour to be altogether in vain.
The Monks and Friars of former times have so bad a name among Protestants, (and indeed there is too much reason for it) that it may seem strange that I should express a hope, that the establishment of this Friary of Franciscans in Bridgnorth, should have answered any good purpose; yet I venture to do so. No doubt such establishments became in later years exceedingly corrupt—almost as corrupt as those who profited by their dissolution wished to make out. Often they harboured evils within them of an enormous magnitude. Nevertheless, they at times numbered among their members some most earnest and devoted servants of our Lord, who, in the retirement of their closets, meditated devoutly on His Word, and went forth from thence with a burning zeal to preach it to others. In expressing an opinion, that piety of the highest order might be found among the inhabitants of a cloister, however corrupt the system may have been with which they were outwardly connected, I am glad to be able to fortify myself by so great an authority, and so unsuspected a witness, as Archbishop Leighton. His biographer states, that although he was no friend to monastic seclusion, and regarded the greater number of the regular Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church as “ignavi fures,” yet at the same time “he recognized among them a few specimens of extraordinary growth in religion; and thought he had discovered in the piety of some conventual recluses a peculiar and celestial flavour, which could hardly be met with elsewhere. Of their sublime devotion he often spake with an admiration approaching to rapture.”[33] On such a topic I cannot refrain from quoting also the following striking passage from Dr. Maitland, whose acute and learned researches into the state of religion in the middle ages, entitle his opinion to the greatest weight. “I feel no doubt, that, in the darkest age, there were many true and accepted worshippers of God. Not formed into churches, and eminently bearing their testimony in corporate capacities as churches, against the See of Rome (for then I think we should have heard more about them); but as the sheep of Christ, dispersed abroad in the midst of this naughty world—known, perhaps, by this or that name of reproach—or, perhaps, the obscure and unknown, whose names were never written anywhere but in Heaven. I doubt not that there were such, living a life of faith and prayer and communion with God; overlooked in the bustle of cities, and the solitude of cottages, and even shut up in what some modern systems require us to consider as the strongholds of Antichrist—the cell and the cloister. I will not shrink from avowing my belief, that many a tonsured head now rests in Abraham’s bosom; and that many a frail body, bowed down with voluntary humility, and wasted with unprofitable will-worship—clothed in rags, and girt with a bell-rope—was a temple of the Holy Ghost; and that one day—a day when the follies of system, and the sins of party, and man’s judgment of his fellows, will have come to an end—these, her unknown children, will be revealed to the astonishment of a church, accustomed to look back with a mixture of pride and shame to the days of her barrenness. She may ask, ‘Who hath brought up these? Behold I was left alone; these, where have they been?’—but she will have learned to know the seal of the living God, she will embrace them as her sons, and will find better matter of discourse, than their superstition and her illumination. In the mean time, however, they are hidden—perhaps more completely hidden than they need be, if due pains were taken to look after them, and gather what might be known.”[34]
We have happily an instance, to which, without going out of our way, we can refer, in proof that the spirit of sincere and devoted piety may be found in a monk or friar of ancient days. It is that of a Shropshire monk of the twelfth century—Ordericus, the original historian of our county, to whose records we are indebted for some of the facts connected with the early history of Bridgnorth, related in the foregoing pages. In the close of his history he subjoins an account of himself, which breathes throughout a deep-seated humility, and ardent gratitude, which it would be well indeed if we, with our clearer views and larger knowledge, could catch the spirit of. The whole of it is well worthy a perusal, but I can only find room for the concluding passage.
“Thus, thus, O Lord God, Thou who didst fashion me, and didst breathe into my nostrils the breath of life, hast Thou, through these various gradations, imparted to me Thy gifts, and formed my years to Thy service. In all the places to which Thou hast led me, Thou hast caused me to be beloved, by Thy bounty, not by my own deserving. For all Thy benefits, O merciful Father, I thank Thee. I laud and bless Thee: for my numberless offences, with tears I implore Thy mercy. For the praise of Thy unwearied goodness look upon Thy creature, and blot out all my sins. Grant me the will to persist in Thy service, and strength to withstand the attacks of Satan, till I attain, by Thy grace, the inheritance of everlasting life. And what I have prayed for myself, I pray, O God, for my friends, and well-wishers. The same also I pray for all the faithful: and forasmuch as the efficacy of our own merits cannot suffice to obtain those eternal gifts, after which the desires of the perfect aspire,—
“O Lord God, Almighty Father, Creator and Ruler of the Angels, Thou true hope, and eternal blessedness of the righteous, may the glorious intercession of the Holy Virgin and Mother Mary, and all Saints, aid us in Thy sight, with the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer of all men, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.”[35]
The concluding passage of this prayer is slightly tinged with that superstition, which afterwards appeared in a still more objectionable form, and now so deeply stains the worship of the Church of Rome with the foul blot of idolatry; but with Ordericus the evil was but superficial, and though it does sully the beauty of his devotion, yet it is not deep enough to hide its intrinsic piety. His godly sincerity is still conspicuous, notwithstanding the error with which it was connected; for, as Milner well observes in his Church History, a measure of superstition is compatible with real godliness. We may hope that there were men of like spirit with Ordericus in the ancient Friary of Bridgnorth, and if so, Christ was not without a witness here, even in the darkness of the middle ages; and His holy name, though pronounced by faltering lips, and a stammering tongue, would bring salvation; and His truth, though taught obscurely and defectively, would be sufficient to guide the feet of wandering sinners into the way of peace, and to conduct the weary and heavy laden to their rest.
The historical notices of Bridgnorth which I have thus brought before the reader, will not, I hope, be considered wholly devoid of interest, at least not by those who are locally connected with the place. They are scanty indeed, but sufficient to shew them that the town, in which it is their lot to live, not only is one whose foundation is of very ancient date, and the Borough belonging to it one of the earliest in the kingdom, subsequent to the Norman Conquest, but that it has been at times the theatre of events of some importance in history; that the scenes with which they are daily familiar, and which are now comparatively so quiet and peaceful, have again and again been scenes of active warfare, where the besiegers and the besieged have confronted each other in deadly combat, and where, on more than one occasion, the Monarchs of England have appeared in person to vindicate the prerogatives of their crown, and loyalty and rebellion have striven valiantly and fiercely for the mastery. The rude hand of time has indeed swept away almost every memorial of these things, and scarcely a monument is left standing to mark the spot where they occurred; so that they who take their customary walk around the Castle Hill, or stroll along the towing path by the Severn side, see little or nothing to remind them of the furious combats which once signalized these scenes. The hill rises so peacefully in the midst of the valley, that it does not look as if it had ever been the object of a military assault, nor is it easy to imagine, when we look on the gentle flow of the river, that its waters were ever reddened by human blood. The contrast between what now is, and what has been in other days, is so great, that the beautiful lines which Sir Walter Scott has addressed to the Teviot, might, with little alteration, be accommodated to the Severn:
“Sweet Teviot, on thy silver tide
The glaring bale-fires blaze no more:
No longer steel-clad warriors ride
Along thy wild and willow’d shore:
Where’er thou wind’st, by dale or hill,
All, all is peaceful, all is still,
As if thy waves, since time was born,
Since first they roll’d upon the Tweed,
Had only heard the shepherd’s reed,
Nor started at the bugle horn.”
Introduction to Canto IV of the
Lay of the Last Minstrel.
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, inasmuch as they serve to connect our town, however slightly, with some of the memorable events in English history.
The reign of Edward III. is one of the most brilliant in the annals of England. The military prowess of the nation, directed by the genius and intrepidity of the King himself, and by the youthful heroism of his son Edward, the Black Prince, acquired a fame which has never since been eclipsed. This enterprising monarch had not been many years on the throne before he invaded the territories of France, and there obtained triumphs, so marvellous, when the superiority of the enemy’s forces is considered, that the names of his victories, Cressy and Poictiers, are “household words” with Englishmen, even in this day. It is very possible that some of the men of Bridgnorth may have taken part in these famous battles; for it appears from a public document, that just before the invasion of France by King Edward, a writ was sent to Bridgnorth, as well as to other towns in Shropshire, for raising a small contingent to the war. In this document it is stated that “Sir Roger de Strange of Knockin, John Aston and others, as chief persons within the County of Salop, were summoned to raise 40 men at arms, within the said County, and 30 Hobelers within the town of Salop; 10 Hobelers in Ludlow; 6 in Wenlock; 10 in Bridgnorth; 4 in Newport; and 40 in the rest of the County.”—(History of Shrewsbury, p. 163, note 1.) The men at arms were horsemen who wore a complete suit of armour, and were mounted on strong war horses, answering to our heavy dragoons; the hobelers were light-armed horsemen, who rode on “hobbies,” or small fleet horses, and were in the armies of the ancient English what the troops of light cavalry are in ours. They served the same purpose for Edward in his French campaign that our light brigade did for us in the famous charge at Balaklava. I do not know whether any man from Bridgnorth was among those gallant 600; but I know that some of our townsmen were exposed to other perils in the Crimean campaign, and met them with a fortitude that did no dishonour to their ancestors, who were enrolled under the banner of the Black Prince.
I have not been able to find out any other fact of any particular interest respecting Bridgnorth, during the reign of Edward III, except that the Burgesses of the town petitioned him, that they might have the use of his chapel, within the Castle, as a parish church. Hitherto this chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene had been exclusively allotted to the Castle, and perhaps was used solely by the garrison, and Saint Leonard’s was the only parochial church belonging to the town; but now, the Burgesses wishing for larger church accommodation, on account perhaps of the increase of population, or for some other cause which made it desirable, laid their petition before the King, that he would grant them the use of his royal chapel. Whether or not they succeeded in their object does not appear.[36]
About twenty years after this, in the same reign, the population was fearfully diminished by a pestilence, which twice swept over England, as well as the rest of Europe, and which was so destructive in its ravages, that it is computed that a third part of the inhabitants of every county was taken off by it. Shropshire suffered very severely. We have no record of its progress in Bridgnorth; if we had, it would doubtless afford us as many narratives of an interesting, though painful, character, as the visitation of the cholera did a few years since. This fact the historian Walsingham relates, that eighteen out of every twenty in the Friaries and Abbeys fell victims to the disease.[37] This may be in part accounted for by so many living together in the same house, among whom a contagious disease would be likely to spread with fatal rapidity. Others attribute the remarkable amount of mortality among the ecclesiastics at this time[38] to their frequent visitations of the sick—their constant intercourse with the diseased and dying. If this be a true account of the matter we may infer that the members of the religious houses in Bridgnorth—who, like their brethren elsewhere, perished in numbers—were thus charitably employed during this visitation, and sacrificed their lives to this ministry of mercy, imparting as far as they were able to do so, the consolations of the Gospel of Christ to the sufferers around them.
On the death of Edward III., the reins of government were committed into the feeble hands of Richard II., who, after a disastrous reign of twenty-two years, (during which I find no historical notice of our town worth mentioning) was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster. Henry, who assumed the sovereignty, under the title of Henry IV, was frequently in Shropshire, on account of the insurrectionary movements which took place among the Welsh, during the early part of his reign. Under the leadership of the hot-headed and enterprising Owen Glendwyr, they ravaged the border counties to a considerable extent; and, in consequence of this, the Council issued an order, that all the Castles on the borders—and Bridgnorth Castle was one of them—should be strengthened and put in a state of defence, to resist the incursions of the rebels. But previously to this, an act of Parliament had been passed, which had special reference to Bridgnorth, with other towns in our County, forbidding them to allow any one born in Wales, and descended from Welsh parents, to become a member of their corporations, or even to purchase land within the Borough. These restrictions, however severe they may appear, were considered necessary, on account of the spirit of disaffection, which so generally prevailed in the Principality.
But, notwithstanding these civil enactments and military preparations, the cause of the Welsh chieftain continued to gain ground, till it suddenly received unexpected support, from the accession to his party of the Duke of Northumberland, and his valiant son Harry Hotspur, who at the head of a formidable army of English and Scotch, marched towards the borders. He, as quickly as possible, united his forces to those of Glendwyr, and the combined rebel army encountering the royal forces, led on by the King in person, and Henry Prince of Wales, fought a great battle, well known to the readers of English History as the famous Battle of Shrewsbury; for it was fought under the walls of our county town. If we may rely on Shakespeare in this matter, who indeed is often, even in minute circumstances, an excellent historical authority, we may conclude that Bridgnorth was the place appointed by King Henry for the rendezvous of his army on the eve of this great battle. In the first part of the Play of Henry IV, the king is represented as addressing the chief leaders of his army, and giving instructions as to the mustering of his forces, in these words:—
“The Earl of Westmorland set forth to-day; With him, my son, lord John of Lancaster; On Wednesday next, Harry, thou shalt set forward; On Thursday, we ourselves will march: Our meeting is Bridgnorth: and, Harry, you Shall march through Glostershire; by which account Our business valued, some twelve days hence Our general forces at Bridgnorth shall meet.”
If our dramatist had any warrant for this representation, of which I have no doubt, the town of Bridgnorth must have witnessed on this occasion a fine military muster, and have had the privilege of receiving into its Castle one who has been ranked among the greatest of England’s heroes—Henry, Prince of Wales. He was just at that time beginning to emerge from the state of wild and thoughtless profligacy in which he had wasted his early years, and was about to exhibit those qualities, which have since made his name so illustrious in English History. The battle of Shrewsbury, at which he did some service, was very decisive; and the confederate army of the rebels, under Glendwyr, Hotspur, and Douglas, was completely routed. Nevertheless our county continued for years after to be ravaged by the Welsh insurgents, nor was it till the reign of Henry V., when the death of Glendwyr took place, that there was any security for life and property in the Borders.
In the succeeding reign of Henry VI. commenced that most destructive series of Civil Wars, known by the name of the Wars of the Roses, between the rival houses of York and Lancaster, which laid waste for many years the fairest provinces of the land. “It was not finished in less than a course of thirty years: was signalized by twelve pitched battles: opened a scene of extraordinary violence: is computed to have cost the lives of eighty Princes of the blood, and to have almost entirely annihilated the ancient nobility of England.”—History of Shrewsbury, Vol. 1, p. 166.
Shropshire was necessarily embroiled in these contests, and I have lighted upon one fact, which shows, I think, that Bridgnorth, as well as the neighbouring town of Shrewsbury, assumed the badge of the White Rose, espousing the cause of the house of York. The fact referred to, though a trifling one in itself, seems to me to connect Bridgnorth with the great leader of that party—Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. This nobleman, who had doubtless a clearer title to the crown of England than the reigning monarch, held the Castle of Ludlow, and was naturally very anxious to associate the people of Shrewsbury with his party, and to make them his adherents. He therefore entered into communication with them; and on one occasion, when a matter of some consequence was to be considered, the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury appointed a gentleman of Bridgnorth, the representative of this Borough, in company with others, to treat with the Duke at his castle of Ludlow. The following extract from the accounts of the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury, a.d. 1457, refers to this fact:—“Paid for a breakfast to Thomas Acton and Thomas Hoord, for their good council, touching the return of a precept to the Duke of York, directed to the Bailiffs for surety of the peace.” Again. “Money paid for the expenses of Thomas Hoord, and William Lyster, riding to the Lord Duke of York at Ludlow, to get the said precept dissolved.” (History of Shrewsbury, Vol. 1, p. 224.) This Thomas Acton was of Aldenham, and ancestor to the present baronet of that name; and Thomas Hoord was of Hoord Park, now called Park Farm, adjacent to our town, a gentleman of ancient lineage. He was member of Parliament for our Borough, and therefore it is not likely that he would have engaged himself to treat with the Duke of York, if he had not been aware that his constituents at Bridgnorth were well affected to his party, which was now growing formidable.
I have not had access to any records which shew whether our town took any very active part, or in what measure they suffered in consequence, in this fatal and disastrous strife; but it is scarcely possible that such great battles should have been fought in this and the adjoining counties, as Mortimer’s Cross, Tewksbury, and Ludlow, without Bridgnorth being more or less affected by them. I have little doubt that the state of decay and ruin, in which parts of the town were found some years afterwards, is to be traced to these civil contests. This is noticed in an Act of Parliament, passed in the year 1535. It recites that “many houses, messuages, and tenements of habitation, in the town of Bridgnorth, now are, and have of a long time been, in great ruin and decay, and specially in the principal and chief streets there being; in the which chief streets in time passed have been beautiful dwelling houses there, well inhabited, which at this day much part thereof is desolate and void grounds, with pits, cellars, and vaults lying open and uncovered, very perilous for people to go by in the night, without jeopardy of life, which things are to the great impoverishing and hindrance of the said town.” (History of Shrewsbury, Vol. 1, p. 318.)
These wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, which spread such ruin over the land, did not cease till after the battle of Bosworth Field, and the accession of the house of Tudor to the throne, in the person of Henry VII; and with this latter event, a very important one in English history, Bridgnorth was accidentally connected.
The Duke of Buckingham was the chief instrument of raising the Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII, to the throne of England, and this was occasioned, the historian Hall relates,[39] by a casual circumstance which occurred in the neighbourhood of our town. This Duke had large estates in Shropshire, in consequence of his being the representative of the ancient family of Corbet, and among these he had certain tenements in Bridgnorth. (Dukes’ Antiquities of Shropshire, p. 31.) His possession of this property was perhaps the cause of his visiting our town, in the summer of 1483. It was just at this time that he was plotting the overthrow of the government of Richard III, but feeling uncertain as to the person whom he should endeavour to make sovereign in his stead, when riding one day between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster, he accidentally met the Countess of Richmond, better known by the name of the Lady Margaret. This casual interview suggested to his mind the young and enterprising Earl of Richmond, as the fittest heir to the English throne; and he immediately set himself to raise an insurrection in these, and other parts of the kingdom, in his favour. The insurrection succeeded, though Buckingham himself perished in the enterprise; and the Earl of Richmond, became Henry VII, king of England. On so accidental a circumstance depended the accession of the house of Tudor to the English throne, and the consequences, which followed it, so important to the interests of this great empire.
It was during the sovereignty of the house of Tudor that one of the most important events in the history of our country took place, viz., the Reformation, commencing in the reign of Henry VIII., and being completed in that of Elizabeth. I greatly regret not having been able to collect any information respecting our town during this eventful and interesting period. One would like to know how it was affected by the great movement which was then taking place, and whether the pulpits of St. Mary’s and St. Leonard’s were late or early in announcing those glorious truths, which at that time began to stir the depths of people’s minds, and caused such a mighty revolution in the land—whether here, as well as elsewhere, there were men who stood up as fearless defenders of the truth, ready to seal their advocacy of it with their blood. We have no details on the subject; but we learn that the spirit of reformation was awakened in Shropshire as far back as the fourteenth century. A very remarkable Poem of that date, entitled “The Visions of Piers the Ploughman,” whose uncouth rhymes seem to have produced a wonderful effect on the popular mind, was written by an inhabitant of the neighbouring town of Cleobury Mortimer. (History of Salop, p. 202, note 1.) We also know that our county town had a courageous advocate of the cause in the reign of Henry IV in William Thorpe; who ascending the pulpit of Saint Chad’s, vehemently denounced the errors of the Church of Rome, and in consequence suffered imprisonment. It is not likely that such things should have gone on in the neighbourhood of Bridgnorth without our townspeople being more or less affected by them; but we have no particulars—none, I mean, that my very limited search could discover—respecting the progress which the Reformation made among them.
There is one document, however, which shews that the accession of Queen Mary was received by the inhabitants of Bridgnorth and its neighbourhood with great demonstrations of joy; but it is of course doubtful whether this resulted from their loyalty to the person of one whom they rightly regarded as the heir to the throne, or from attachment to those religious opinions of which she was known to be a patron. The document I refer to is an extract from the Register of Sir Thomas Boteler, Vicar of Much Wenlock, beginning November 26th, 1538, ending September 20th, 1562. “1553 Memorandum. That as some say King Edward VI, by the grace of God, &c., died the 6th day of this instant month of July, in the year of our Lord God as it is above written, and as some say he died on the 4th of May last proceeding in the same year of our Lord; and upon Mary Magdalene’s day, which is the 22nd day of this instant month, at Bridgnorth in the fair there was proclaimed Lady Mary, Queen of England, &c., after which proclamation finished, the people made great joy, casting up their caps and hats, lauding, thanking, and praising God Almighty, with ringing of bells, and making of bonfires in every street. And so was she proclaimed Queen on the same day, and at the Battle field in the same evening, with the like joy of the people, and triumphal solemnity made in Shrewsbury, and also in this Borough of Much Wenlock.”
The Act for the dissolution of Monasteries and other Religious Houses took effect here of course, and consequently the Friary and the Hospitals of St. John and St. James were all suppressed, and their property confiscated. The Brethren of Grey Friars seem at that time to have been in very reduced circumstances, so that the spoils obtained from them were hardly worth the seizure. The King’s Commissioners came here on the 5th of August, 1538, and the following note, which was signed by the Bailiffs of the town, shows the indigent condition in which this religious establishment was found—a plain proof of what little hold at that time the orders of monks and friars had upon the affections of the people. “Memorandum. This V daye of Auguste, in ye XXX yeare of Kynge Henry the VIIJth, that Rycharde bysehope of Dovor, and vesytor under the Lorde Prevy Seale for ye Kynge’s grace, was in Bryggenorthe, wher that the warden and heys Bredren in the presens of Master Thomas Hall, and Master Randolphe Rodes, Balys of the sayd towne gave the howse, with all the purtenans into the vesytores handdes to the Kynge’s use; for sayd warden and brethren sayd that they war not abull to live, for the charyte off the pepulle was so small, that in IIJ yeares they had not receyvyd in almes in redy mony to the sum of Xs. by yere, but only leve by a serves that they had in the town in a chapell[40] on the bryge. Thus the sayd vesytor receyveyd the sayd howse, with the purtenans to the kynge’s use, and by indentures delyveryd yt to us the sayd Balys to kepe to the kynge’s use, till the kynges plesur was further known. Thys wyttenes we the sayd balys with other.
- per me Thomam Halle.
- per me Randull Rowdes.”
- (Wright’s History of Ludlow, p. 342.)
An incidental proof of the state of penury to which these poor Friars of Bridgnorth were reduced, may be gathered from a note kept among the records of the town of Shrewsbury, of the expenses which were incurred by Roger Thomas, their senior Bailiff, and Thomas Bromley, afterwards Lord Chancellor, in a journey which they made from Shrewsbury to Bewdley on important business. On their return they stopped at Bridgnorth, and had their dinner at the principal inn, and this is the note of their expenses:—“Dener at Bruggenorth 3s. 4d.; to Shepay the frere 1d.” This Shepay was no doubt a member of the Grey Friars, who waited upon the travellers at their inn, to beg alms for his house. (History of Shrewsbury, p. 302.)
It might have been expected that when Queen Mary came to the throne she would have restored all the religious houses in England to their original use; but on the contrary, pressed by strong political motives, she confirmed by her own acts the confiscation, which had been made in the reign of Henry VIII., of the property belonging to them; and thus under a Popish sovereign it became irrecoverably alienated from the Church.[41]
The Hospital of St. James, Bridgnorth, affords a striking example of this. In the year 1566, the Queen, in conjunction with her husband Philip, made over to Sir J. Parrott, in consideration of £184 15s., and for his faithful services, all the property belonging to this Hospital.[42] In the year following, Sir J. Parrott transferred the same to Mr. R. Smith of Morville. In the following reign of Elizabeth, it was transferred to William Tupper and Robert Dawes; and the property, after passing through the various families of Smith, Dovy, Kinnersly, Nevitt, Tyner, and Bach, came into the family of Stanier, and now, by another turn in the wheel of time, the name of Smith is again connected with the property. There was an order in Council at one time, that this estate should pay to Bridgnorth Church a yearly sum of twenty nobles—equal to £6 13s. 4d. This order was lost out of the town chest, and afterwards recovered; but in one of the wars it was burnt, after which the property rendered nothing but a pound of frankincense every Easter, to be burnt in the Church of the High Town: but this last customary payment has long been discontinued.
What may have been the value of this pound of frankincense I do not know, but whatever it may have been, it is certain that the Incumbents of Bridgnorth receive from the present owners of St. James’s, in their liberal support of the religious institutions of the town, something far more valuable than this former impost upon their property.
We now enter on the era of Elizabeth. There is perhaps no period in the history of our country to which Englishmen are accustomed to look back with more satisfaction. Whatever may have been her faults and foibles as a woman, she was undoubtedly a great Queen, and swayed the sceptre of this realm with such a steady and vigorous hand, as made her revered by her subjects, and dreaded by her enemies. She contributed more perhaps than any sovereign that preceded her, to raise the character of our country, and place it high in the scale of European nations. Besides, she was under God, the great means of strengthening the cause of the reformed faith, and resisting the colossal power of the Church of Rome.
It would have been very gratifying to find any record which would have connected the history of our town with the public events which took place in the reign of this great princess; but I have not been able to find any, none at least but what are of a very trivial nature. I find, for instance, that in the singular proclamation which she issued, for the purpose of compelling every one in her realm to wear woollen caps, except the nobility, she mentions Bridgnorth, as a place where the company of cappers used to flourish;[43] which seems to indicate that the people now enjoyed a considerable share of quietness, and were acquiring wealth by their trade and industry. Again I find that when her great favorite, the Earl of Leicester, visited Shrewsbury, and where preparations were made to receive him with an honour, little short of that which would have been offered to the Queen herself, one of the three who were appointed to address him on the occasion, was a Bridgnorth youth, Richard Hoord, son of John Hoord, of Hoord Park; no slight distinction, considering the almost royal dignity which was attached to the person of the Earl of Leicester. But it is only in circumstances of this nature, and not in matters of weightier import, that I can find any reference to Bridgnorth in this reign. I ought not however to be disappointed at this, for one who had far better opportunity for making researches of this kind, than I have, and far greater aptitude for the task, has stated that “from the 27th year of Henry VIII till the year 1629, he could discover no historical notice of the Town or Castle of Bridgnorth.”[44]
This latter date brings us to a very remarkable period in the history of our town. In that year, viz, the 4th of King Charles I., and on the 2nd day of October, the King made a grant of the Castle, to Gilbert North, Esq., one of the Gentlemen of the Privy Bed Chamber. It had been a royal castle from the time that it was taken by Henry I. from Robert de Belesme—a period of more than five hundred years. But now, perhaps on account of the cost of keeping it in repair, it was transferred to the possession of a gentleman belonging to the King’s household, who by a subsequent deed of the same year, transferred it to Sir William Whitmore, Knight, in whose family it has continued ever since.[45] It is indeed greatly to be regretted that its present possessor should have so small a remnant of it to call his own, and that the leaning tower on Castle Hill, as it is popularly called, should be all that is left of this once noble fortress of the middle ages. But how it came to be thus reduced to utter ruin, is the subject which must now occupy our attention; and it is one which is intimately connected with the stirring events of that period.
At the time in which Bridgnorth Castle was transferred to the Whitmore family, the nation was in a great state of political disquietude. The King was disposed to carry his royal prerogative beyond the limit which the law had assigned to it; and many members of the Houses of Parliament in resisting the encroachment, were tempted to invade the rights of legitimate authority, and became in the struggle fierce and unrelenting enemies to the Crown. This contest of prerogative on the one hand, and the spirit of liberty on the other, brought about the Great Rebellion; and this fair land was once more destined to be the scene of civil strife, in which was shed the best and noblest blood of England. Of the two parties into which our countrymen were then divided, the Royalists and Roundheads, it is not my province to say much; I know to which of the two, had I lived at the time, my feelings and principles would have attached me; yet I feel bound to acknowledge, that while I regard some of the opinions and some of the acts of the insurgent party with a feeling nothing short of abhorrence, there were among them, both among their soldiers and their divines, men of the highest character, and whose minds were cast in the finest mould; nor am I unwilling to allow that England is in a great measure indebted to this party for the present freedom of her institutions.[46] Respecting, however, the great leader of the party, Oliver Cromwell, I cannot agree with some late writers, who have endeavoured to canonize his memory, and who try to represent him as a pure and unselfish patriot. He was indeed a man of great qualities, of fearless fortitude, and untiring energy; and perhaps at the commencement of his public course he was upright and single hearted in his intentions: but there can be no question of it, that he became ambitious of earthly power; and the religious phraseology, which was once perhaps the sincere expression of his feelings, he afterwards employed as a crafty instrument to further his designs, and to conceal their evil character.[47] Nor must we, if we would form a just estimate of him, lose sight of the fact that while he was a subject he was an enthusiast on the side of liberty, but when he himself was placed on the seat of power, no Stuart or Plantagenet was ever more despotic in his rule.
In this great intestine struggle, the inhabitants of Bridgnorth, as was natural from their hereditary loyalty, espoused heartily the cause of Charles I., as that of their legitimate sovereign; and suffered severely for their allegiance. In the year 1642, preparations were made throughout the country for the commencement of hostilities; and in consequence, the authorities here thought it necessary to put the town, as far as possible, in a state of defence: and the Corporation have still in their possession some interesting records, containing the Common Hall orders which were made on this occasion. The first is as follows:—Bridgnorth. At a Comon Hall in the said towne, the XXVI day of August, Aᵒ. R. Caroli Angl, &c., XVIIIº Aᵒ Dⁿⁱ 1642, John Harryson and Robert Richards, Gents, being Bailiffs.
“Concerninge the makinge of a draw Bridge upon the Bridg over Severn in Bridgnorth aforesaid, and other things for the defence of the said towne, upon a warrant from John Weld, Esq., High Sheriff of this county of Salop, in respect of the extreame danger which is now come neare unto us.
It is agreed, That the makinge of a draw Bridge shall be respited untill further consideration; and that for the present necessity, Posts and Chaines shall be made at the two ends of the Low Towne, viz., At the farther end of the Mill Strette, and at the farther end of St. John’s Streete, and at other needfule places in the said Towne; and also that the Gates of the said Towne shall be repayred, and made stronge with chaynes and otherwise, as shall be convenient for strength and defence of the said Towne.”
But very early in the year, the Bailiffs had projected another means of defence. They had petitioned Thomas Corbett, Esq., of Longnor, in this county, to exercise the young men of the town, and of the immediate neighbourhood, in the practice of arms and military tactics, that so they might be ready to repel any attack which might be suddenly made by the rebel forces. The following is the letter which Mr. Corbett addressed to Sir Francis Ottley, Governor of Shrewsbury, on this occasion:—
“1642. Noble Sir,
The Bayliffs of Bridgnorth, in behalf of the town, having been importunate with me to take upon me the exercising of the young men in this town, and others in the country neare adjoining, for the defence of the towne upon any needfull design, I have been persuaded by them to take the same upon me; and they having shewn me a letter which they intend to present unto the high Sheriff, for a warrant unto me in that behalf, I pray be pleased to consider thereto, and impart your advice unto me, and further Mr. Sheriff’s directions therein, as you in your wisdom shall think most convenient, and you will oblige
Your respective kinsman,
and friend who truly
Honoureth you,
Thos. Corbett.
Bridgnorth, 5 Feb., 1642.
To my noble friend and kinsman Sir Francis Ottly, Knight, at Shrewsbury House.” (Blakeway Papers, Bodleian Lib.)
No time indeed was to be lost, for four days before the date of the order above referred to, the King had set up his standard at Nottingham, and the parliamentary forces were in the field, under the command of the Earl of Essex. On the 20th of the following month, the King removed into this county, and Clarendon states, that “a more general and passionate expression of affection cannot be imagined, than he received by the people of Shropshire, or a better reception than he met at Shrewsbury.” (History of the Rebellion, Vol. 2, p. 18.) But on his march thither he heard of the rebel army advancing towards Worcester, and in order to watch their motions, and if possible to check their progress, he dispatched his nephew Prince Rupert with all his horse across the Severn; and it was most likely on his return from this expedition, that the Prince passed through our town, and took up his residence for the night at Cann Hall. He had conducted the expedition with that intrepid gallantry which characterized all his military movements; he had with a handful of men attacked a large body of the enemy as they were defiling out of a narrow lane near the city of Worcester, and completely routed them in the first onset, slaying several of their number, and taking the commanding officer prisoner; (History of the Rebellion, Vol. 2, p. 25) so that he came to Bridgnorth, flushed with the first victory which was gained in these civil wars. While he was here he addressed a letter to the Jury appointed to choose a Bailiff, dated September, 21st, 1642. It is as follows:—
You Gentlemen of the Jury, who are to have voices in this election, these are to entreat you, out of a tender care both of his Majesty’s service and your own happiness and welfare, that in the present election you make choice of such men for your Bailiffs as you are sure are well affected for his Majesty’s service. By which you will oblige me to remain,
Your Loving Friend,
Rupert.
The Bailiffs chosen were Thomas Dudley and John Farr, ancestors most likely of some of our townsmen who now bear these names; and there is no doubt, from the choice made of them at this critical time, that they possessed those qualifications for being Chief Magistrates of the Borough which Prince Rupert described.
On the 12th of October the King left Shrewsbury, and quartered for the night at Bridgnorth, where, Clarendon observes, “there was a rendezvous of the whole army, which appeared very cheerful.” [Vol. 2, p. 42.] Here the king stayed three days; and I am one of those who feel, that our town and Castle were never so honoured by a royal visit as on this occasion. Many of the Monarchs of England have been here; many crowned heads have entered the portals of our Castle, and rested within its walls—Normans, Plantagenets, and Lancastrians—but to none of them, in my mind, attaches the same deep interest, and to none is due the same tribute of veneration, as to this unhappy monarch of the House of Stuart. Not only was he by far the most accomplished Prince that ever sat on the English throne, and endowed with considerable intellectual powers,[48] as his successful controversy with Henderson, the Presbyterian Minister, clearly proved; but he was distinguished in all the relations of private life by the highest moral principle: by a purity, fidelity, and love, which are rarely seen in king’s courts, and have seldom been equalled in retired domestic circles; and these virtues in him were combined with a deep-seated reverence for religion. He was not blameless in his public conduct; far from it. There was a weakness and want of stability in him, which justly exposed him to the charge of inconstancy, if not of insincerity. He was subtle and evasive, and it may be at times, under the pressure of very trying circumstances, disingenuous in his transactions with his opponents, so that they complained that they could not depend upon him. But he was refined in the furnace of affliction. “Sweet” to him, as they have been to others, were “the uses of adversity”; so that when his end drew nigh,[49] there appeared in him, as his enemies allow, a calm heroic fortitude—saintly magnanimity—a firmness, combined with a gentleness and forgiving love—which we do not often find surpassed even in the early Martyrologies. No memorial then connected with our Castle, is to me of equal interest to that of its having been occasionally, during his declining fortunes, the residence of Charles I.
It was on one of these visits that he passed that eulogium, so well known, and, in the opinion of many, so well deserved, on our Castle Walk; namely, that it was the finest walk in his dominions. We can easily picture him to our minds, (for there is no King with whose lineaments we seem to be so familiar, in consequence of the many inimitable paintings of him by Vandyke) we can easily picture him, with measured step and pensive aspect, taking his walk along this terrace, and his face for a moment lighted up with pleasure at the fair scene which burst upon him; each step as he advanced bringing into view some new and striking object—the bold front of the High Rock—the wooded declivities of Apley—the graceful winding of the Severn, with its “margent green,” and the sloping uplands on either side of it. But he could not give free indulgence to such pleasurable emotions, for a heavy burden of care lay upon his mind, which did not admit of his thoughts being long diverted to anything else.
He left Bridgnorth on the 15th of October, and eight days after was fought the famous Battle of Edge Hill,[50] in Warwickshire, where, if it had not been for the fiery impetuosity of Prince Rupert, such a signal victory might have been gained by the King over the forces of the rebels, as to decide the fate of the campaign in his favour. Then followed the taking of Banbury Castle, the march of the King’s army to Oxford and Reading, and the capture of the town of Marlborough. These military operations in different parts of the country convinced the authorities of Bridgnorth of the necessity of making further preparations for the defence of the town, and we find a Common Hall order was passed for this purpose, dated November 29th, 1642:—“Watch and ward shall be duly set day and night in all convenient places of the towne where the Bayliffs shall think fit, and the open places within the said towne to be made up as the Bailiffs shall find expedient; and such as are minded for their own safety, and the safety of the towne, to bear arms, they are desired with all convenient expedition to provide arms at the general charge of the towne.”
But in the beginning of the next year they deemed it necessary to introduce a few horse soldiers into the town, as appears from a Common Hall order, dated January 25th, 1643; by which it was agreed that nine dragoons should be maintained at the general charge of the said town. Towards the charge of the said nine dragoons, it is stated that Mr. Thomas Corbett undertook to lend a horse and provide a rider, so that the town should bear the charge of the horse and rider. Thomas Glover undertook to provide two horses, saddles, and bridles, at 1s. per day for the hire of each horse. Several other persons furnished a horse and sword, and a bandolier each. Captains of the watch and ward were appointed, with orders that the said watch and ward be from Six o’clock in the morning until Six o’clock in the evening, and from Six o’clock in the evening until Six o’clock in the morning; and it was appointed that eight men should watch in the night, and six men in the day.
In the beginning of this year, the King had made Lord Capel, Lieutenant Governour of our county, than whom there is not one in either party during those troubled times that bore a more honoured name—a loyal-hearted servant of the crown—a dutiful and devout member of the Church of England—one of the firmest, as well as noblest, champions that the royal cause could boast of.[51] While exercising his function as Lieutenant Governor of Shropshire, he was not unmindful of so important a post as Bridgnorth, but adopted means for its security, as we find by an order of the Common Hall, of May 23rd, 1643:—“The Right Honorable the Lord Capel, Lieutenant General to the Prince his Highness, of his Majesty’s forces in the countyes of Worcester, Salop, and Chester, and the six northern countyes of Wales, hath appointed Sir Thomas Wolrich, Knight and Bart., to draw his forces of the trayned band of this county which are under his command, to this towne and neighbourhood hereabouts of Bridgnorth; it is agreed that fortifications be made in all fords and places about this towne, and the liberties thereof, where the said Thomas Wolrich shall think good to appoint, and that all the men of this towne shall come themselves, or send labourers to this work, with all speed; unto which work Edward Cressett, Esq., and Edward Acton, Esq., justices of peace of the said county, being present, do promise to send labourers and workmen out of the country. Secondly, whosoever has volunteered will bear arms for the defence of this towne, and the neighbourhood hereabouts, shall be listed, and attend the service of training weekly, upon every Tuesday, to be exercised therein, whose teaching and training for that service Lieutenant Billingsley (at the towne’s entreaty) is pleased to undertake.”
The year 1644 was a disastrous one to the royal cause, in consequence of the signal victory, which Cromwell gained over Prince Rupert at Marston Moor, July 2nd; and the following year opened very gloomily on the fortunes of the king; but the people of Bridgnorth did not desert the cause of their sovereign, though recent events had proved it to be a failing one, but they made further preparations for resisting the insurgents, and for holding out against them.
It appears that a Committee had been formed for the purpose of hastening forward the works, and for putting the town in as good a posture of defence as the circumstances would allow. The following is a copy of another order made by them, dated May 21st, 1645:—
- “Commissioners present,
- Sir Lewis Kirke, Governor.
- Sir Edward Acton, Bart.
- Edward Cressett, Esq.
- Francis Billingsley, Lieutenant Colonel.
- Thomas Wynde, Lieutenant Colonel.
- John Bromley, Esq.
- Arthur Weaver.
- Edward Latham.
It is ordered that with all convenient speed Colonel Billingsley shall place soldiers and arms in the North Gate, in Whitburn and in the Hungry Gates, and that the barns without the works be pulled down, and that the prisoners who are there be taken thence and disposed of elsewhere, by Mr. Bailiffs, and that the Towne Walls on both sides North Gate, and the works about the towne, be presently made up, and the Towne Hall and New House pulled down, and for the making of the said wall the treasurer to lay out money not exceeding £10 for workmen, to be repaid out of the first money raised out of the delinquents’ Estates. Copia vera.”
The West (or Hungry) Gate.
From a Sketch in the Bodleian Library.
On the 10th of June there was a farther order on the subject. “At a Comon Hall it was agreed that the Chamberlain of the towne should cause the Towne Hall to be taken down with all convenient speed according to the foregoing order from Sir Lewis Kirke, governor of the said towne, and other above-named Commissioners, and that the Chamberlain shall make sale thereof for the most benefit of the towne, and what they cannot sell thereof, to cause the timber which shall remain to be carried into the church, there to remain until further use shall be for the same for the towne. And the New House is in the like manner to be taken down if needs require. And it is further also agreed that the Towne’s Bonds and writings concerning the towne, which are in the New House, shall be left with the Towne Clerk, or in any other place which the Bailiffs and he shall think fit. And if they shall happen to be taken from them the towne is to bear the loss of them, and not they, because they are not able to warrant them, nor anything else that they have of their own, as it is very well known both to the towne and country, whereof they are all very sensible, this towne being every day in danger of being taken.” The Town Hall, which, as it appears by a deed, dated Oct. 20th, 1645, stood upon the site of the old Poor House, of St. Leonard’s Parish, outside the North Gate, was accordingly pulled down forthwith, and in the month following, July, 1645, the New House was also pulled down. [Apley Papers.]
Four days after the date of this order, was fought another great battle, at Naseby in Northamptonshire—fatal to the fortunes of the King; for here again, through the impetuous and fiery temper of Prince Rupert, who could brook no delay when an enemy was in sight, and listen to no counsel that was not prompted by a spirit as daring as his own, the King’s troops were hurried on prematurely to the attack, and though they displayed a courage worthy of the Cavalier who led them, they were eventually routed, and suffered a signal defeat. All the cannon, ammunition, and baggage, were taken, and the whole of the infantry made prisoners. The King in person had the command of the main body, and, as Whitelock observes, “displayed in this action all the conduct of a prudent general, and all the valour of a stout soldier;” [Hume, Vol. vii, p. 54.] but he was forced at last by the solicitations of his friends to retire, leaving the insurgents masters of the field. He retreated to Lichfield, thence to Bewdley, thence to Raglan and Chepstow Castles, and afterwards to Wales, uncertain as to the best place for collecting the remnant of his army, and for providing for his own personal safety.
But an incident took place at Bridgnorth, about a month after the Battle of Naseby, which might have changed the whole aspect of the affairs of the kingdom, and restored Charles to the throne; but Providence designed it otherwise. Cromwell was near meeting his death beneath the walls of our town; and if the Bridgnorth soldier had been a little better marksman, we should never have heard of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, or possibly of the Commonwealth of England.
The account of this incident may be found among the Blakeway Papers, in the Bodleian Library, and is as follows:—“1645. Weekly Account. Tuesday, July 15th. Lieutenant General Cromwell riding within twice pistole shot of the town of Bridgnorth, on Friday last, to view it, making some stand to speak with his officers that were with him, a brace of musquet bulletts, shot from the enemies works, hit a Cornet of his regiment with whom the Lieutenant General was then talking, but blessed be God the person aimed at escaped without any hurt.”
Amidst the disaffection which prevailed at this time in so many parts of the kingdom, Shropshire still continued firm in its allegiance to the King; and therefore it was thought advisable, when he was about to take up his winter quarters at Worcester, that he should pass through our county, as affording him the safest line of march; and this route brought him again to Bridgnorth. It is thus noticed by Clarendon:—“Prince Maurice waited on his Majesty, [at Denbigh] with 800 horse. And now being thus strengthened, they less apprehend the enemy; yet continued their march without resting, till fording the Severn, they came to Bridgnorth, the place designed.” (Vol. 2, p. 714.) There are also several entries in a Diary, called “Iter Carolinum,” which state that Charles was here occasionally about the same time; but it is not easy to make out an exact correspondence between the dates which it gives, and those referred to by Clarendon. The Diary, which is one of much interest, bears the following title:—“Iter Carolinum: being a succint relation of the necessitated marches, retreats, and sufferings of his Majesty Charles the First, from Jan. 1641, till the time of his death in 1648. Collected by a daily attendant upon his sacred Majesty during all the said time.”[52] From this Diary I have copied the following entries:—
- “October 12, 1642. To Bridgnorth.
- August, 1645.
- Wednesday, the 6th. To Gurnevil. Sir
- Henry Williams’. Dinner.
- Supper, Yeoman’s House. 18 miles.
- The Court dispersed.”
- “Thursday, the 7th. To Ludlow Castle to dinner.
- Colonel Woodhouse. 14 miles.”
- “Friday, the Great Fast, the 8th. To Bridgnorth,
- Sir Lewis Kirke, Governor. 14 miles.”
- “Sunday, the 10th. Dinner near Wolverhampton,
- in campis. At Litchfield supper, the Governor’s
- in the Close. 22 miles.”
- “September, 1645.”
- “Monday, the 29th. Dinner at Chirk Castle.
- Supper at Halton, in Montgomeryshire.
- Mr. Lloyd’s. 26 miles.”
- “Tuesday, the last. in camp.
- Supper at Bridgnorth, the Governor’s. 30 miles.”
The King on, this occasion staid here two nights, and on Thursday, the 2nd. of October, moved to Lichfield, stopping for dinner on the way at Rudge Heath.
In the Diary[53] kept by Captain Symmonds, which has already been referred to, there are entries which afford additional proof of King Charles being at Bridgnorth, at different intervals during this critical juncture, and of our town being a scene of much military bustle at the time.
“Sunday, September 28th. About One of the Clock, Afternoon, ye King marched through Ruthvyn, where there is a large castle, and fortified, to Chirk Castle, County of Denbigh. Here Prince Maurice mett us with his troupe, and those of Prince Rupert’s horse that came from Bristoll. His horse in tᵒ 6 or 700.”
“Munday, 29th. September. To Llandicilio and Llandernes, Co. Montgommery.”
“Tuesday. From thence early at day breake marched, leaving Shrewsbury [at this time in the hands of the rebels] 3 myle on the left hand: that night, late and tediously, to Bridgnorth; ye rear guard gott to Wenlock Magna, Com, Salop. In this march, 3 or 4 alarmes by Shrewsbury horse, and 5 or 6 of them crosst the way, and killed and tooke some.” ([p. 59.])
“Thursday, October 2nd. Ye King marched to Lichfield. This day Generall Goard’s Regiment returned from the Rendevous, quite tired, to have some refreshments under Bridgnorth garrison. Ego etiam.” ([p. 60.])
“20th. October. Sevrall Colonels with their Regiments were in Bridgnorth:
Foot.
Sir Lewis Kirke’s Governor.
Col. Jo. Corbett’s.
Col. Billingsley’s, ye trayned band and his Regiment in the town.
Col. Sir Mich. Earnley’s one company of ym.
Sir Cha. Lloyd’s, come here from ye Devises.
Foot, about in all, of all sorts, 260.
Horse.
Sir Fra. Ottley, ye High Sheriff.
Sir Edw. Acton. 10.
Governor’s troope. 60.
“Wednesday, October 22nd. Lieut. Col. Slaugher marched out of Bridgnorth about 2 of ye Clock, afternoon. Governor’s troop, commanded by Cap. Singe, 40. That night by 8 to High Arcall. Thence marched, 30 horse and 20 drag. with us, about 12 of ye Clock that night. By 9 next day to Chirk.”
“Thursday, December 18th. Sir W. V. drew out the horse he had with him afore, and some from Dudley and Ludlow. 6 or 700 horse, commanded by Col. Smyth. Horse 5 or 600. Marched from Bridgnorth, and had a Rendevous towards S. Friday morning came intelligence to Bridgnorth that Hereford was lost.”[54]
There are extant two letters[55] of King Charles’s, written to his Secretary Nicholas, from Bridgnorth. They contain nothing of any great moment; but the fact of their being written from our town, under the peculiar circumstances in which he was then placed, invests them with a certain degree of interest. The first is dated October 1st.: the year is not given, but it was most probably 1642,[56] as we find from the “Iter Carolinum” that he was here in the October of that year.
“Bridgenorthe, 1st. Oct.
Nicholas,
None of the letters have hitherto miscarried, this day having receaved ye 12th. by Pyteford, and shall at the tyme more insist upon letting you know of my desynes, and giving you directions, than in answers, having commanded your fellow Secretary to supply that. First then, (that you may know whether to send to me) I intend my course towards Newarke, where I shall take further resolutions, according to occasions. Understanding that my horse, under Goring, is likely to be {either/224} {beaten/173} or {starved/36} : 3 : 380. where they are: I have comand him to breake through to me. Now they must passe by or near Oxen, when my pleasure is {that/288} : {you/110} . 232 . {take/226} : {that/443} opportunity {to/290} : {send/264} {Duke/125} : {of/231} : {Yorke/541} : {to/290} : {me/213} : for since it is the fashion to {yielde/314} : {townes/54} : basely, none can blame me for venturing my children in an army, rather than to be besieged. I have no more to say, but that I approve of all ye advyse in your last, and meanes to follow them. One of the enclosed is for {Queen/247} : {of/231} : {England/360}. The other speakes itself; so I rest,
C. R.”
The other letter was written three years later by the King to his Secretary, the day after his arrival at Bridgnorth, on his march from Ludlow to Lichfield.
“Bridgenorth, 9th. August, 1645.
Nicholas,
This morning I receaved yrs of the 30th. of July, which requyres no answer, but thankes for yr often advertisements: and particularly for those which are of moste freedome. In answer to which, I shall desyre you (with ye lyke freeness) to take heede that {Digby’s/358} : {friends/376} make not much of suspicion * * * * * for {I/174} : 111 : {cannot/29} : {con/18} : 115 ceale {from/148} {you/316} : {that/276} : 358. [erased] perfectly—and all that are believed to be his particular friends; and I assure you that there is no dispatch yet come to me from —— For newes I refer you to your friendes, only I must tell you that tomorrow I intend to march to Lichfield, and so to Newarke ye next day; but if ye Irish be come, then I turne to Chester. My laste was from Cardiffe, which was written in such haste, that I forgot to bid you sende me worde (which now I earnestly desyre you not to forget to doe) how my printed letters, &c., have been receaved at Oxfd. by the severall sorts of people, according to their dyverse humours. This is all at this tyme from yrs
C. R.”
Soon after the date of this letter, the King set out for Newark, from whence, after a while, he retreated towards Oxford, where he arrived on the 7th. of November, “having finished,” as Clarendon writes, “the most tedious and grievous march that ever King was exercised in: having been almost in perpetual motion from the loss of the Battle of Naseby to this hour, with such a variety of dismal accidents, as must have broken the spirits of any man who was not truly magnanimous.” (Vol. 2, p. 713.)
While the King was being exposed to these personal hazards and distresses, many towns and cities in his interest, in different parts of the country, had been obliged to submit to the parliament, and among these Bridgnorth; which, after a vigorous resistance, and holding out boldly for three weeks, was compelled at length to surrender.
It appears, however, that long previous to the final siege and capture of Bridgnorth, the rebels had on one occasion got possession of it for a short time. The following letter, which refers to this fact, and which describes a sharp encounter between the rebel and royalist forces, will be read with some interest; though it is probable that the facts are somewhat distorted by the strong party feeling of the writer.
1642, Oct. 5. Letter from Bridgnorth to
Dudley Norton.
Exceeding joyful news from his Ex. Earl of E.
Sir,
Having received so many favors from you in this kinde, I have thought it requisite to inform you what hath happened here at Bridgnorth since my last letter. His E. his Qr. Master General came hither on Sunday, the 2 of Octr.[57] and by virtue of a Commission from his Ex. provided billeting for 10 regiments of horse, and near 6000 foot, with us and in our neighbour villages. Now, by the way, I must inform you that a great many having been lately oppressed by his Majesty’s forces, seemed somewhat unwilling to give entertainment to any more souldiers, but to be short they must do it, or else deservedly suffer under the censure of a malignant party, and so be in danger of having their houses plundered by souldiers, who take upon them to execute justice without or feare or law, or religion, esteeming all those papists, or favourers of papists that doe not desist from countenancing such uncivil actions, but deny to be assistant in the performance; wherefore, after the necessity was well examined, they were resolved rather to put all into the hands of Almighty God, then any way to seem averse, which would not only bring ruine to the estate, but presents. [sic.]
On Thursday, at night, we expected his Ex. would have made Bridgnorth his quarters, but before noone we heard the echoing notes of the shrill trumpet, which caused to think his Ex. had been neare, but having sent out scouts to descry the truth, and give us notice, they brought us word that Duke Maurice, the Lord Strange, Marquisse Hartford, the Lord Paulet, M. Hastings, of Leicestershire, S. John Biron, with a very considerable army, were upon a march to our town, which news began to startle us: instantly an alarm was given, every man from 16 to 50, and upwards, got himself into such arms as they could presently attaine, or could imagine be conduceable, for the defence of the towne.
Likewise we had 5 field pieces and 3 troups of horse, which came to guard them from Worcester, in our town, being come the night before; those we mounted upon the church, and the rest in the best places where we could conceive we might prejudice the enemy. Our troups of horse made good a passage where they were to pass over before they could attaine to the towne. Our foote made good severall other marches and entrances, according to our utmost skill and best endeavours. The Lord Strange feeling himself thus defeated, and having been gauled twice or thrice with our pieces from the top of the church, made a stand and drew up some companies of foote under the covert of a grove of willows, who, with their muskets, played upon our troups of horse and beat them from their passage, wounding neare 20, inasmuch that they began to wade the foard,[58] which being descried, we, with our bowes and arrowes, sent to them, which did so gaul them, being unarmed men, (only offensive armies) that with their utmost speed they did retreat, striving to renew the shelter of the grove to hide them from us.
During this conflict, his Ex. with severall regiments of horse drewe neare the towne; which caused the Lord Strange to draw into a champayn field between our towne and him, endeavouring to intercept his passage, having got intelligence that his grosse body was about 3 hours march behind. Notwithstanding the Lord Strange his armie was very considerable both of horse and foote, yet the forces under the command of the Earle of Essex were so eager to fall on, that maugre all perswasions they would not stay till that the foote marcht up to second them; but having received directions from the Earle, they charged them boldly with their carbine shot, deviding so their troups, that at one onset both van and reare were charged so fiercely that, spight of all the cavalier’s discretion, they lost their order, and in a confused manner retreated basely.
In this confusion many men were lost and hurt on both sides, but which side most, is not yet apparently knowne; and amongst them my Lord Paulet[59] was noosed, who, as it was reported, made a wise speach at the head of the armie before the skirmish, animating them on to bloody crueltie, and we doubt not but that he shall in some measure taste of the same dish he hath provided for others.
The next day a messenger was sent to Shrewsbury, to desire that Captain Winget, who was taken prisoner before Worcester, might be exchanged for one of the others; but what return wee shall have is not yet knowne.
It is conceived there was about 80 killed and 45 wounded on both sides, but which side lost most I cannot say; onely we ought to give God thanks that during the space of five hours bickering, no more blood should be shed. This is the truth of our proceedings. At my next opportunity I shall send to you. Fare well.
John Norcroft.
We learn also from the following extract from a Puritan tract, entitled “The Burning Bush not consumed,” that in the Autumn of the year 1645, that is, about half-a-year before the capture of the town and castle, a detachment from the garrison of Shrewsbury [at that time in the hands of the rebels] made an attempt on Bridgnorth, which partially succeeded:—“About the 12th. inst., (i. e. 12th. Sept., 1645) we received certain intelligence by letters from Shrewsbury, that the valiant and victorious forces of that brave and most active garrison, having intelligence in what posture the enemy lay at Bridgenorth, they suddenly and silently marched thither, and undiscovered fell upon the sentinels, soone surprized them, carried the town itself, and then fell upon the enemy, drove them into the Castle, slew some of them, and tooke some prisoners that the enemy had of theirs, tooke about 180 horse, and some good pillage; all which they safely brought away, and returned triumphantly to Shrewsbury againe.” (Part iv, p. 268.)
It is, however, the final siege and capture of Bridgnorth that is the matter of chief interest to us, and fortunately we have a very detailed account of what then took place.[60] The Parliamentary Committee of Shrewsbury, after the surrender of the garrison of High Ercall, despatched a party of horse and foot against Bridgnorth. But these being delayed longer than was anticipated, on account of the length of the march, and the fatigue which they had suffered in consequence, the inhabitants received notice of their design, and had time to make some preparations against the attack. Nevertheless the day following, i. e. March 31, 1646, they were summoned to surrender. Colonel Billingsley, who commanded the town, made no reply to the summons, and Colonel Howard, who held the Castle, sent a peremptory answer of defiance. On this the Parliamentary forces formed themselves into three divisions, and determined to storm the town. The cavalry approached the North Gate by the Broseley Road; that part of it, lying between the present Turnpike Gate and the Innage Lane, being then a very deep and narrow defile, in some places 80 feet deep. At this point they suffered severely; for the King’s troops, taking advantage of the nature of the ground, killed many of them, not only by shot, but by rolling down large stones upon them from the summit of the rock. A body of infantry, however, made their approach by a path considerably to the left of this, most probably by the fields adjoining the old Rope Walk, and from thence by Love Lane they advanced against Saint Leonard’s Church Yard. Into this they easily forced an entrance, as it was only slightly fenced by palisades. There a sharp encounter ensued between them and a body of the King’s troops, and before the fight was done many were left companions of the dead, on whose graves they had so fiercely fought. Among these was the gallant Colonel Billingsley, the leader of the Royalists. The sword which he used on the occasion, is now in the possession of a descendant of the family, in the parish of Astley Abbots, by whom it is preserved with all the reverent care, which is due to so valuable an heirloom. It had often been drawn by this brave cavalier in the cause of his rightful sovereign, and it did its last service in one of the consecrated enclosures of that church, which he, as well as other noble soldiers of his time, felt it both his duty, and one of the privileges of his birthright, to defend. He lies buried in the Church Yard of Astley Abbots, his native parish; but the parish of Saint Leonard has reaped a benefit from its Church Yard having been the scene of the last gallant action which he performed; for it was partly at least on this account, that a connection of Colonel Billingsley founded and endowed the Hospital for ten poor widows, which stands on the south side of Saint Leonard’s Church. The inscription over the gate bears witness to this. It is as follows.—
“Anno Domini, MDCLXXXVII.
These Almes Houses, for ten poor Widdows of this upper Town, were Built and Endowed by Francis Palmer, late Rector of Sandy, in the County of Bedford, who had an affection to this Place, his Mother being buried in this Church, and was Sister to Colonel Francis Billingsley, late of Abbots Astley, slain in this Church Yard, in the Service of King Charles ye first.”
But it is time to return to the narrative of the siege. The infantry of the Parliamentary forces having succeeded in the encounter with the King’s troops in the Church Yard, immediately opened the North Gate, and gave admittance to the cavalry; and before this combined body of horse and foot, the Royalists were compelled to retreat into the Castle. On their way they were annoyed by the inhabitants of the town, who hurled stones and other missiles on them, from the stalls and piazzas which lined the High Street. It is evident that a bad feeling had sprung up between them, from what cause is not exactly known. I have seen documents which clearly prove that some Roundheads had been for a time in the town, secretly plotting against the cause of the King; and these very likely stirred up ill will between the soldiers and the inhabitants, which, as other documents clearly prove, was aggravated by the rude license which soldiers under such circumstances often give themselves.[61] Whitelock states ([p. 206]) that the town had refused to bring in a month’s provisions for the troops, which had been expected, and this was a wrong which no doubt deepened the feeling of resentment already existing. To this, some suppose is to be attributed the destruction of the town by fire, which the King’s troops effected after getting into the Castle. This act on their part, however, may have been, one, simply of self defence; for they very probably thought, that if the enemy obtained possession of the town as it stood, it would give them great advantage in carrying on the siege of the Castle, and of this advantage they were determined to deprive them. They therefore at once set fire to the town. The first house that caught fire was one in Listley Street, which stood near the northern postern of the Castle, and from this it spread till it reached the middle of High Street; there it was extinguished by the exertions of the Parliamentary troops. The garrison of the Castle made a second attempt on Easter Tuesday, and completely succeeded. Unhappily for the ancient Church of St. Leonard’s, the rebel army had converted it into a powder magazine—for in the rude time of war but little respect is paid to the consecrated houses of God, provided they can be turned to any advantage; and they who scrupled not to make Worcester Cathedral a stable for their cavalry horses, would not hesitate to turn the Parish Church of St. Leonard’s into an ammunition store. But it proved fatal to the building; for the Governor of the Castle, Sir Lewis Kirke, hearing of the circumstance, caused a cannon to be mounted on a round tower on the North East side of the Castle, and from thence bombarded the Church, and set fire to it. The wind being high, the flames quickly spread to the adjoining College and Almshouses, and at last consumed all that remained of the High Town.[62] The soldiers belonging to the army of the Parliament endeavoured to arrest the progress of the fire, but they were so galled by shots fired from the walls of the Castle, that they were obliged to give over the attempt; so that the flames spread in every direction without resistance, and soon accomplished the work of destruction. Thus was our ancient town laid in ruins: scarcely anything belonging to it was spared. Private houses and public offices—the receipt of custom and the hall of justice—the mart of merchandise and the sanctuary of God—alike had become a prey to the devouring element; and little or nothing was left but bare walls, blackened and defaced by fire. The misery of the inhabitants is described as having been most severe. Rich and poor alike (for it was one of those visitations which levels all distinctions) were left houseless, and sought shelter where they could, in the fields around the town, in thickets, and under rocks: all their household property destroyed, and their life itself in jeopardy. Many a wretched invalid, wholly unfit to be moved, would be hurried from his bed to escape the flames—those at least who had any to care for them; while some, no doubt, in the confusion and alarm would be forgotten, and left to die a more awful death than they had looked for—their own bed becoming their funeral pile. He surely brings on himself a fearful responsibility who heedlessly evokes the spirit of war, and without an imperative necessity draws the sword to do its dreadful work.
Saint Leonard’s Church.
The Parliamentary army were not deterred from the purpose on which they were sent, by the horrors that surrounded them (for they were dauntless men); but laid close siege to the Castle. They directed their attack against the Close, which was a place within the inner Castle adjoining the Great Tower, and containing within it the Governor’s house. They chose Pam-pudding Hill as the best platform on which to erect their battery, and from thence they bombarded the Castle for three weeks; but to no purpose. No breach was effected. The garrison, from the great eminence on which they stood, quite overlooked the besieging party; and their cannonade from the tower was so effective as to overpower that of the enemy. A singular incident is related as having taken place while this cannonade was going on. “The battery on Pam-pudding Hill played very furiously on the besieged: the cannoneer, answering them very smartly from the town, sent his ball in the clear, or bore, of one of the great guns, burst it, and killed the engineer and many others.” It is curious that an exactly similar circumstance is said to have occurred in an early stage of the siege of Sebastopol. A Russian artilleryman, making answer to one of ours, sent a ball directly into the mouth of the English gun, and a splinter from the gun struck our poor artilleryman dead.
The leader of the Parliamentary army, seeing how fruitless the operations were which he had hitherto engaged in, devised another mode of assault. He determined to sap the Castle; and for this purpose employed a party, under Colonel Lavingstone, to make a large opening on the South side of the hill, intending to lay a Mine immediately under Saint Mary’s Church, where the garrison had stored their ammunition. They commenced their excavations, and the opening which they made is still visible. It may be seen in the face of the rock which stands to the right of the New Road, before you ascend the hill, and it still bears the name of “Lavingstone’s Hole.” The enemy had no occasion to proceed far with this mine; for the Governor, Colonel Howard, perceiving what inevitable destruction it would cause to the Castle and the garrison, if the mine were sprung, surrendered to the enemy, to prevent an unnecessary waste of human life.
The terms of Capitulation have been preserved.[63] They were honourable to the brave men, who had with such valour, and with such true fidelity to the king, maintained this post so long in his name, and adhered to his cause so firmly amidst the disheartening events which were daily taking place. The Castle on its surrender came into the possession of the Parliamentary party, who, a few months after the seizure, entirely demolished it, and gradually removed all its ruins, except that one lonely fragment of it, which stands on the south east side of the Castle Hill.
Such was the end of this famous fortress—a stronghold indeed, made so by nature, as well as by engineering skill, around whose walls the storm of war had so often and so fiercely raged—a royal castle also, over which the banner of the Kings of England had floated for more than five hundred years, and which now sank into rain cotemporaneously with the overthrow of the monarchy.
The Remains of the Castle.
It may perhaps be a matter of surprise that in the account which has been given of Bridgnorth during the civil wars, and of the town and fortress, no mention has been made of the name of “Whitmore,” although Sir William Whitmore at this time was the owner of the Castle; but the fact is, that he had business enough on his hands in endeavouring to defend his own residence at Apley from the attacks of the insurgents, so that he had no time to devote to other interests. He maintained possession of Apley till the spring of 1644, when it was taken by a party of Roundheads, under the command of Sir John Price,[64] and Sir William himself made prisoner. An attempt was made to recover it in the month of June, of the following year, by some of the King’s forces from Worcester, Lichfield, and other garrisons; but they were encountered by a detachment of the opposite party from Shrewsbury, and four hundred of them taken prisoners; and Sir William Crofts, of Hereford, was among the slain. (History of Shrewsbury, Vol. 1, p. 460, note 2.)
The property of Sir William Whitmore, like that of other Royalists, was forfeited, and became the spoil of the Parliamentary party: all his personal goods and chattels were sequestrated, and sold for the benefit of the State, for the sum of £583 3s. 2d. His estates were siezed, and he was afterwards allowed to compound for them by paying the sum of £5,000.[65] This was the common lot of such, as in those troubled times stood for the defence of their King, and were loyal to the last. Their personal property was put into the hands of Parliamentary sequestrators, and sold as forfeit to the State; and their landed estates were bought back by their rightful owners at a considerable sacrifice. A register was kept, and afterwards published, of the names of those who thus suffered in the cause of loyalty, with the sum, for which they compounded, affixed to each. It is entitled, “A Catalogue of the Lords, Knights, and Gentlemen, that have compounded for their Estates. London, printed 1655.”[66] In it are to be found the familiar Shropshire names of Whitmore, Wolwryche, Acton, Corbett, Ottley, Billingsley, Littleton, Eyton, Newport, Weld, Pigot, &c.; and certainly it detracts nothing from the honour which belongs to these ancient families, that their names are inscribed in this “black legend,” as it was very fitly termed. On the blank leaf of the copy which I have seen is the following entry in manuscript:—
| “Total Fines | £1,275,667 |
| Value of Annuities, at 10 years | 90,000 |
| Amount of Money at the period of exaction | 1,365,667 |
| Equal in money of the present period, | £5,462,668 |
| 1842, to four times the amount |
But under the government of Cromwell, not only laymen who drew the sword in defence of the crown, but clergymen who maintained and taught the principles of loyalty, and who were too honest to abandon them when they became unpopular, were deprived of their revenues. It is computed that the number of ministers in the Church, who were ejected from their livings on this account, were above 9000; and the sufferings which many of them underwent, in consequence, form materials for the most deeply affecting narratives.[67] I am sorry to say that the minister of Saint Leonard’s was not found among those who were faithful to their principles. While Shiffnal, and Wellington, and Chetton, and Sidbury, and Kemberton, and Cleobury, and Highley, and others could boast of pastors, who willingly endured persecution for conscience sake, Gilbert Walden, Minister of Saint Leonard’s, Bridgnorth, was found unfaithful in the day of trial, and seems to have sacrificed his principles to his interest. His name is found in the Parish Register as minister, within a year of the date of the siege, when the town was in the hands of the Royalists; then it disappears from it, when it was evident that the fortunes of that party were declining; and then appears again, when the town was in possession of the Parliamentary party. So that it is to be feared that he professed allegiance to the King and Church when he thought their cause likely to prosper, but when it declined he attached himself to the Roundheads.
Indeed this is scarcely a mere matter of inference, as the reader may judge for himself from an entry, still remaining in the books of the Corporation. It is as follows:—Bridgnorth. Aᵒ Dⁿⁱ 1644. “At the Court Leete held in the said Town of Bridgnorth, the VIIᵗʰ day of May. Aᵒ Caroli Augᵗ XXº Richard Synge and Willᵐ Bradley, gent, being Bayliffs. At this Leete it was moted by the Bayliffs and others, That forsomuch as Mr. Gilbert Walden, the late publiq Preacher of the said Town, is recesste and gon out of the said Town, and hath deserted his place ever sithence aboute a moneth before Easter last. That one Mr. Thomas Laughton, Master of Artes, a Preacher (who is recommended to the place by Sʳ Lewis Kirke, Knight, Governoʳ of the said Towne, and whoe hath supplyed the place since Mr. Walden’s goeing away) shold be accepted by the Town in the said Mr. Walden’s place, to be publiq Preacher of the said Town, wᵗʰ the profitte and allowance thereunto belonginge; unto wh. all that were here present at this Leete agree, and nominate him, the said Mr. Laughton, publiq Preacher of the said Town, with all such proffits and allowance as the said Mr. Walden had of the Town’s allowance in that behalfe, Soe as he preach two Sundayes at the High Church, and the third at the Low Church, as Mr. Walden did. And this to be further confirmed at a Common Hall, yf it be desired.” The Parliament were not unmindful of Gilbert Walden, but in reward for his desertion of the Royalists, placed him again in his office as Minister of Saint Leonard’s, and restored to him all its emoluments. But far happier were they who stood firm in the evil day, and had the Christian courage to brave the consequences—and with such sainted men as Hall, and Usher, and Hammond, and Jeremy Taylor, submitted to the penalties of sequestration, poverty, imprisonment, and exile, rather than desert what they believed the cause of God and of His Truth.
But it must not be supposed, from anything that I have said on this subject, that I regard as evil-minded, and unprincipled men, all the Ministers of religion, who in those difficult and trying times sided with Cromwell and the Parliamentary party. This would not only be a most uncharitable opinion, but one formed in direct opposition to the plainest historical evidence. There were men of deep piety and extensive learning, who unhappily lent their countenance to the usurpation of Cromwell—men who afterwards suffered persecution themselves for conscience sake, and whose Christian worth was such, that we may safely say of them, what Dr. Johnson says of Watts—that they were to be imitated in everything except in their nonconformity. Nothing indeed can be said in justification of the line of conduct which they pursued, but they were prompted to it by pure and not by corrupt motives, and so far they are to be respected. Among the great and good men who were allied to the Parliamentary party, I should especially name one, on account of his connection with Bridgnorth, namely, Richard Baxter. It appears that he began his ministry in this town, in the Church of St. Leonard’s; but left it after some time, with, I am sorry to say, a very unfavourable impression as to the character of our townsmen of that day. It is said that on leaving them he shook off the dust of his feet against them, and declared that their hearts were harder than the rock on which their town was built. But his disappointment at the want of success in his ministry here did not estrange his mind from the inhabitants of a place, where he had commenced his course; but he felt, after years of absence, the strongest desires for their welfare. A very pleasing proof we have of this, in an old edition of his work, entitled “The Saint’s Rest” (A. D. 1654); for there we find the following dedication to the people of Bridgnorth:—
TO MY DEARLY BELOVED FRIENDS
THE INHABITANTS OF
BRIDGNORTH,
BOTH MAGISTRATES AND PEOPLE,
RICHARD BAXTER
DEVOTETH THIS PART OF THIS TREATISE,
IN TESTIMONY OF HIS UNFEIGNED LOVE TO
THEM, WHO WERE THE FIRST TO WHOM HE
WAS SENT (AS FIXED) TO PUBLISH THE
GOSPEL; AND IN THANKFULNESS TO THE
DIVINE MAJESTY, WHO THERE PRIVILEGED
AND PROTECTED HIM.
It has been already stated that the fire, which took place during the siege of the Castle, entirely destroyed the High Town, and left it a heap of ruins. A few houses indeed survived the general destruction.[68] One of these, which is still standing, deserves a passing notice, as being the birthplace of Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, the well known author of “The Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.”[69] It stands at the bottom of the Cartway, adjoining Underhill Street, and is conspicuous among the dwellings which surround it, not only from its size, but from its picturesque appearance, being ornamented with several pointed gables, and being constructed partly of solid beams of oak, in some places curiously carved, and partly of masonry. It was built in the latter end of the sixteenth century, as the following embossed inscription in the entrance hall informs us:—
“Except the Lord BViLD the OWSE,
The Labourers thereof evail nothing.
Erected by R. For [Qy Foster] 1580.”
It was a large and stately mansion, and when the Cartway was the principal entrance to the town it was well situated, and must have been regarded as a dwelling of some importance. It is now in a neglected condition, a large part of the building is untenanted, a part of the premises is used for an iron foundry, and another part for a huckster’s shop. But even in its present rude and decayed condition, a certain degree of interest attaches to it, as being one of the few surviving relics of our old town; which interest is further enhanced, from its having been, about an hundred years ago, the birth place of one, whose literary attainments may be supposed to reflect no little honor on Bridgnorth.
It remains for us to consider how the town recovered from the state of almost total ruin in which it had been left, and was made habitable again. It appears that in the same year in which it was destroyed, the Bailiffs and others forwarded a Petition to the House of Commons, setting forth in strong terms the miserable condition to which the inhabitants had been reduced, and praying for relief. They state that the loss sustained by them amounted to £90,000, or thereabouts; that upwards of three hundred poor families had been “inforced” by the loss of their goods, their trade, and habitations, “to disperse into severall parts of the country, for harbour and for subsistence, many among them crying aloud for bread”: and they humbly beseech the Parliament to authorize a general collection to be made for them throughout the country, or in some other way, to afford relief to their necessities. The Rev. Gilbert Walden, who has been referred to before, took this petition to London, and by his zeal and diligence obtained a favorable answer to it; as appears from the following extract in the Common Hall Order Book:—“Bridgnorth. At a Comon hall of the said Town of Bridgnorth, the 27th. of January, Aᵒ Dⁿⁱ 1647. Francis Burne and Richard Synge, Gent., being Bailiffs, &c. * * * * At this Comon hall, Mr. Gilbert Walden, Minister of this Town, and Publiq Preacher, returning to the Town from London, 25th. of this January Instant, came into this comon hall in his own pson, & acquainted the Town with his great care & paynes in solliciting the Parliament with a peticion from the Town, for some repaire of their great loss by the late burning of the High Town of Bridgnorth, when the Church, Colledg, and Almshouses were burnt with the said Town. All the losses thereby sustynedd amounting to 90,000£, as by the said Peticion was set forth and certified: and the said Mr. Walden pducing lres pattents, under the great seale of England, for a general collecion thorough out all England, for rebuilding of the said Town, and repayringe the said losses, and moving for some course to be taken for distributing the Briefs, and setting them on work in all shires of England and Wales, with all ye convenient expidicion that might be, and advising a way to that behalf; and shewing the Town withall that it had cost him in the acquiring & getting of these Lres pattentes and Briefs, besides the great troubling of his friends to ayde & assist him therein.”
But these letters patent, under the Great Seal, granted by the Parliament, seem to have yielded but little fruit to the impoverished inhabitants of Bridgnorth; and the collections made under its sanction were so inadequate to their wants, that they were obliged to resort to other means for obtaining relief. They addressed a circular letter, (to some merchants in London, as I conclude from the contents of it) complaining bitterly of the very little sympathy which had been shewn to them throughout the country, and of the very scant measure of assistance which they had received, and very earnestly soliciting their aid. It also appears that another circular was drawn up, to be sent for the same purpose to persons whom they supposed to be well affected to Bridgnorth, in the counties of Derby, Worcester, and Gloucester. The first is as follows:—
“Gentlemen,
In the behalfe of our poore Towne, whereof wee are now the representative Body, wee heartiely thanke you for that you have ben pleased to put your helping hands to raise us up againe out of the Ashes. Our greatest hopes is in the charity of yourselves and your friends in the citie. Wee have had sad experience of the countries chariety, yet what the further result wil be wee daylie must expect; howsoever, wee shall acknowledge our engagements unto you above all other, be it less or more. Wee beseach you continew your care and paynes for us: and your reward shall be implored from God by us, and ourselves, both for our minister and our whole Towne, shall acknowledge your goodness with hartie thankes and praiere, and wee be unto you
Your ready servants,
& friends to cerve you.
Bridgnorth, 10 may,
1647.”
The state of destitution, in which the inhabitants of this ruined town were placed, was such, that it is no wonder that they looked in every direction for relief, from whence they thought it at all likely to come, and that they were thus urgent in their appeal for it. In one case they were not disappointed, as appears from the following letter, addressed, about the same date I suppose, to Mr. Pully, of Essex: a name well known, and gratefully remembered by the people of Bridgnorth, for other benefits besides those referred to here.[70]
“To Mr. Pully, of Essex.
Wee have cause to blesse God that our miserable towne affords a native friend so far to besteed us as by yourself. Wee will studdy some requitall, as God shall please, to raise us out of our ashes.
Wee entreat you to go on in helping us, as Mr. Bushopp hath told us you have begun. The Lord reward you, wee and all ours shall pray for you; and if ever wee shall be happy to see you, wee shall give some further testimony of our thankfullness.
Who speake in the behalf of ourselves, our minister, and whole towne.”
The want of a Town Hall seems to have been much felt by the Burgesses of Bridgnorth—the former one, which stood outside the North Gate, having been pulled down during the Civil Wars; but the erection of a new one, with new materials, was more than they could possibly accomplish, in the impoverished state in which they had been left. They therefore applied to Lady Bartue of Wenlock, and petitioned that she would grant them the materials of an old barn which were about to be sold, for the sum of £40 or £50; by means of which they might be able to rebuild the Hall.[71] The petition was granted; but whether the old materials were bestowed as a free gift, or sold for the sum specified, does not appear. The building was in consequence erected; and partly, at least, through the earnest advice of Mr. Gilbert Walden, in a letter addressed by him to the Bailiffs, was placed, not in the situation of the former Hall, but in the middle of the High Street. It was not completed, however, till four years after the date of his letter (April 24th., 1648); as appears from the following entry in the Common Hall Order Book:—
“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 Town Hall.
But notwithstanding these applications for assistance from various quarters, and the earnest efforts made by the inhabitants themselves, the town appears to have continued during the period of the Commonwealth, almost in the same state of ruin in which it was left after the siege—the Church, College, and Almshouses,[72] still roofless and dilapidated—and nothing effectual was done for their restoration, and the rebuilding of the town, till the reign of Charles II. Shortly after he was restored to the throne, a very earnest Petition was forwarded to him from the Bailiffs and Burgesses of the Borough, and other inhabitants of the town, praying for relief; and this Petition was accompanied by a certificate, under the hands and seals of Sir William Whitmore, Sir Thomas Wolrich, Sir Walter Acton, Sir John Weld, Sir Richard Ottley, and others, attesting the damage which had been done to the town, and the amount of the loss of property sustained by the inhabitants in consequence. This petition, backed by this certificate, drew from the King a proclamation,[73] addressed to all his subjects in behalf of Bridgnorth. It is very long and elaborate—very carefully worded—and not only sets forth very fully the wants of the petitioners, but pleads their cause with a warmth and earnestness which one would not expect to find in an official document. It authorizes a general collection to be made throughout the kingdom; “in all and every the Cities, Towns Corporate, Priviledged Places, Parishes, Hamlets, Villages, and all other places whatsoever,” in order to assist the destitute people of Bridgnorth in rebuilding their shattered town; and it directs both Ministers and Churchwardens to do what in them lies to further this object in their different localities. It would be interesting to know the exact amount which this royal proclamation, and another which followed it in about ten years, produced. There is no doubt that it was something considerable—sufficient to give an impulse to the industry of the inhabitants—to enable them to restore their ruined Church, College, and Almshouses—to efface in a great measure the damages of war, and to make Bridgnorth again a habitable town.
Thus, from the happy restoration of the monarchy in England, and the re-establishment of its church, we may date the restoration of our town from the state of ruin, in which it had been left; and its restoration being coeval with these important and felicitous events, many would be disposed to regard as no bad omen of its welfare. The motto in the arms of a neighbouring city may well express our wish for its future prosperity; for though the terms are hardly suitable to a town of so small a circumference as ours, yet it merits well the character it has maintained, in almost every era of its history—Floreat semper fidelis civitas.
My subject was “The Antiquities of Bridgnorth.” I have already far passed the boundaries which confined me to such a subject, by referring to matters which occurred so late as the reign of Charles II. I would, however, venture one step farther, and refer to an event which took place in the reign of his successor, James II, for I find that it was taken particular notice of in Bridgnorth at the time of its occurrence; and it is one which, from the great interest and importance that attaches to it, seems to claim attention from us whenever it happens to be brought before us.
The event referred to occurred in the memorable year of 1688. In the “Blakeway Papers,” in the Bodleian Library, which contain matters concerning Bridgnorth, the following entry is made respecting it:—“When the Bishops were quit, there were 16 bonefires in this town, and the ringing of bells night and day. Mr. Cornes and Mr. Bailey, the two Ministers, refused to sign the Declaration.” This notice alludes to the well known Declaration issued by King James, and the acquittal of the seven Bishops who had been imprisoned for venturing to oppose it. James the Second was as zealous a member of the Church of Rome, perhaps, as any of his subjects, lay or ecclesiastical; and the great object of his life seemed to be, to regain for his Church the same usurped authority over the civil and religious liberties of our country, which she possessed before the Reformation. Among other means for furthering this object, he published this famous “Declaration.” It was a very singular document. On the plea of establishing liberty of conscience, it abrogated, on the King’s sole authority, all the penal laws which were in force on the subject of religion, the King thus assuming to himself, as one of his royal prerogatives, the power of dispensing with exiting statutes, without the consent of Parliament. The real intention of the King in all this was, to open the door to Roman Catholics to places of power and authority, which the laws then in force strictly forbade, as being incompatible with the freedom and safety of the state. To give publicity, as well as sanction, to this Declaration, the King issued a command that it should be read by the Clergy during Divine Service, in every church in the kingdom. The whole proceeding was perfectly arbitrary and despotic; and if it had been allowed to go on unchecked, it would, as it has been well observed, have given a death blow to the Constitution, and have laid the nation’s liberties at the feet of the sovereign. Where then were the champions of freedom in this great crisis of danger? Where were to be found the men, who had courage enough to resist this portentous encroachment on the liberties of England? Where the assertors of the nation’s rights against these unlawful inroads of the royal prerogative? Not in a band of youthful and ardent enthusiasts in the cause of freedom—not in a knot of ruthless republicans, whose tempers were impatient of monarchial rule, and who hated the very name of King—not in a set of restless innovators, who loved innovation for the excitement it produced, or for the spoil which it might yield to them—not in a rude soldiery, who were ambitious of enterprise, and longed to signalize themselves again by deeds of daring—but in the persons of seven aged Bishops of the Church, some of whom were not only oppressed by the burden of age, but weighed down by sickness and infirmity; and all of them, both from temper and principle, averse to anything that seemed like resistance to kingly authority. Yet it was these who stood forward at this time of danger, as the defenders of the nation’s liberties. Their names were well known to our townsmen at the time, for Bridgnorth, as well as other places, rang with unusual joy at the news of their acquittal; and it is well that their names should be known to our townspeople now, as the names of men who have laid the nation under a deep debt of gratitude. They were Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury; Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph; White, Bishop of Peterborough; Turner, Bishop of Ely; Lake, Bishop of Chichester; Trelawney, Bishop of Bristol; and Ken, the pious Bishop of Bath and Wells,[74] a saint indeed, formed on the primitive model, whose devout aspirations in his Morning and Evening Hymn have served to kindle the devotion of the members of the English Church for nearly two centuries. These seven Prelates met together at Lambeth in this critical juncture, and drew up a petition to James, in which they set forth in plain but respectful language the illegality of his Declaration, and humbly prayed him not to insist on their publishing it. In consequence of this they were committed to the Tower. The King, notwithstanding their dutiful remonstrance, was resolved on enforcing on the clergy throughout the kingdom the publication of this unlawful document, and sent his commands to that effect: but of the many thousands to whom this mandate was sent, not two hundred complied with it; and among those who had the courage to refuse, we are glad to find the names of the two Ministers of Bridgnorth, Mr. Cornes, and Mr. Bailey.
The Bishops after a short term of imprisonment were admitted to bail, and at the ensuing Sessions were impeached at Westminster Hall on a charge of publishing a seditious libel. Every circumstance which took place on this memorable occasion is full of interest, and historians have thought the most minute details not unworthy of record. On their way to the scene of trial, the Bishops, it is mentioned, received every possible expression of reverence and sympathy from the populace, who formed a lane for their passage, through which as they moved, many kissed their hands and their garments, and many fell on their knees and earnestly asked their blessing. Westminster Hall never witnessed such a scene as their trial presented. As it proceeded, the interest felt by the spectators was intense; and when at length the verdict was given by the foreman of the Jury, “Not Guilty,” the profound silence which had reigned throughout the court was broken by the most tumultuous acclamations. The multitudes assembled there raised, in spite of the menace of the Solicitor General, such a shout as shook the old fabric of Westminster Hall, and conveyed, quicker than the speediest messenger could do, the tidings to the city. The Bishops on leaving the court immediately repaired to Whitehall Chapel, to return thanks to God for their deliverance, and other churches were thronged by multitudes who assembled in them for the same purpose. “The bells rung from every tower, every house was illuminated, and bonfires were kindled in every street.” The joy was not confined to London, it was propagated throughout the kingdom, and felt in the remotest villages. Bridgnorth, as we have seen, fully shared in it. Our streets on the occasion echoed with loud shouts of triumph—the river Severn reflected on its stream the blaze of many a bonfire—and the tuneful bells of St. Leonard’s and St. Mary’s rang incessantly night and day to celebrate the event.
I have thus brought before the reader the few historical notices which I have been able to collect, respecting Bridgnorth, from the time of Alfred the Great to the close of the reign of James II. I am aware how much more interest would attach to these if they had been skilfully handled, inasmuch as they touch on some very important events, and memorable epochs of our national history. Those indeed who feel the force of local attachment may read them with interest, whatever defects may be apparent in the mode of bringing them together, and it is for such readers that they have been collected. I am aware also, that I have dwelt much longer on certain facts in our history than many would think at all necessary, or than was exactly pertinent to my subject. My reason is, that some would read these things here, who would not be likely to read them elsewhere; and I thought it advisable, on account of their importance, that they should be known in detail. Besides, I was anxious to make this little work more useful in its character, than it would have been if I had confined myself to a statement of the facts relating to our town, without connecting them with the general history of England. As it is, the review which we have taken, ought not to be without its moral influence. Many generations of men have thus passed rapidly before us: having acted their parts in quick succession, they have disappeared from the stage of life. They had “their exits and their entrances,” and now are seen no more. It is natural for us to reflect, how utterly unimportant to them it now is in what capacity they appeared—whether as kings or subjects—whether as masters or as slaves—whether they were honoured or dishonoured—illustrious or obscure—prosperous or unfortunate. It matters not to them now, whether their projects succeeded or failed—whether the enterprises they so keenly entered on issued in triumph or disaster. Their restless activities have been put a stop to. The hand of death has arrested them. The same destiny awaits ourselves. We too shall soon make our exit; and the interests which now so deeply engage us—the circumstances which now press on us in all their vivid reality—the scenes which are now before our eyes, and the busy part we take in them—will ere long be reckoned among the things that have been; and nothing will be left us, but the character which we have acquired in passing through them—our fitness or unfitness for a better state: and this reflection I desire to leave on the mind of the reader.
It would seem, however, scarcely natural for me to close these pages, without expressing a wish for the future welfare of a place, the scattered notices of whose past history I have here collected. I have been too long, and too intimately connected with it, not to feel the wish. In Bridgnorth I have passed more than twenty years. I reckon them the happiest of my life. I have good reason for doing so. Many domestic blessings—many social pleasures—many natural enjoyments—have here been allotted to me. Here “the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places,” and in the fair scenes of nature which surround us, there has been open to me a source of “unreproved pleasures,” of which it is my own fault if I have not largely partaken. Here too I have formed acquaintances, which have ripened into friendships—friendships which have yielded me something more than mere enjoyment—and which I have reason to hope will last as long as life itself. But still closer ties bind me to this place. Here I have been entrusted with the care of souls, and have been called to minister in the Church of God. This consideration necessarily outweighs every other, and prompts me with the most earnest wishes for the welfare of a place, between many of the inhabitants of which and myself there is so strict and sacred a fellowship. And not from these alone, but from those also with whom I am not thus officially connected—from the inhabitants of St. Mary’s parish, as well as from those of St. Leonard’s, I have received such proofs of kindness and regard during my ministry here, as make me feel an interest in everything that can concern their well-being. May they prosper in every way—as a community, and as individuals—in their civil and commercial interests—in their social, moral, and religious condition. May they secure to themselves that which has “the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come:” that when things temporal shall give place to things eternal—when the changes and chances of this mortal life shall cease—and all the vicissitudes which so painfully diversify the history of this world have passed away—they may have their lot and part in that kingdom which cannot be moved, and “of whose government and peace there shall be no end.”
Finis.
[Click map to view hi-res image.]
