ROWLEY’S MANSION,
said to be the first brick structure erected in Shrewsbury. It appears to have been built in 1618 by William Rowley, draper, and the first of his family who settled in this town, of which he was admitted a burgess in 1594, and made an alderman in 1633, under the charter of Charles the First. His grand-daughter and co-heiress married John Hill, Esq. who lived in great hospitality in this mansion, from whom the street received the appellation of Hill’s Lane, instead of Knuckin-street. He died in 1731, and the house was soon afterwards inhabited by the talented Dr. Adams, incumbent of St. Chad’s from 1731 to 1775.
The portal of this mansion is curious, and is accurately delineated by the wood cut. The great chamber, or withdrawing room, remains nearly in its original state, and is adorned with a basso relievo representation of the Creation, and other devices in stucco, &c. The oak wainscot from the other apartments has lately been removed. It is now used as a storehouse for grain, and presents a striking picture of—
“Some banquet Hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled, whose glory’s dead,
And all but it departed.”
Retracing our steps to Mardol, at the top of the street is a pile of ancient houses, decorated on the exterior with plaster and stone ornaments, in the fantastical fashion of the time in which they were built. The turning below these leads to Claremont Street, formerly Doglane. On the left is a curious half-timbered house, built in 1613, with a projecting porch. A little lower is the Baptist Meeting House. Keeping to the left, is an old mansion, called