Memorials of Shrewsbury / being a concise description of the town and its environs, adapted as a general guide for the information of visitors and residents

by Henry Pidgeon

SAINT GEORGES CHURCH.

Saint George’s Church is situated at the upper end of the suburb of Frankwell, and is dedicated to the tutelar saint of England, from its proximity to the site of an ancient religious foundation called in old writings “The free chapel of St. George.”

The present church was consecrated January 30th, 1832, and is cruciform in plan, having a small tower rising at the west end; it is built with fine Grinshill stone, from a design by Mr. Haycock. The architecture adopted throughout the building, with the exception of the tower, is of the lancet or early pointed style.

The west front is of three divisions guarded by projecting buttresses, the centre portion forming the principal entrance, a pointed arch bounded by a sweeping label; above this is a lancet light, succeeded by a panel intended for a clock dial. From this part the tower shows itself above the roof to the height of about 20 feet, and has mullioned windows in the style of the 16th-century, surmounted by an embattled parapet and four crocketed pinnacles crowned with finials. The flanks of the west end are quite plain, having in their centre narrow blank loopholes.

The nave has on each side four lancet windows, bounded by labels; and the northern and southern extremities of the transepts, with the chancel or eastern end, have triple lancet windows with recessed mouldings, resting on grotesque carved heads. The transepts and chancel terminate with gables, having on their apex a crocketed pinnacle.

The extreme length of the church is about 84 feet, and 30 feet in width, the transepts from north to south are 66 feet, and the tower to the summit of the pinnacles 60 feet.

THE INTERIOR

possesses a very pleasing appearance. The basement of the tower forms the vestibule, which is flanked on one side by the vestry, and on the other by the stairs leading to the gallery. The aisles of the nave and transepts are occupied by free benches, with a passage on either hand, the pews being placed along the side walls of the entire building.

The font is of free-stone, and placed on a pedestal in the area between the transepts; the basin is octangular, having on its side compartments a small quatrefoil sunk within a square panel.

On each side of the communion table are two carved gothic chairs; and nearly the whole extent of the eastern wall of the chancel is covered with a handsome altar skreen.

The three lancet windows are filled with splendid stained glass.

The subject occupying the centre window is a full-length figure of Isaiah, in an attitude strikingly prophetic, and clothed in a brilliant vest of purple, over which is thrown a green robe lined with ermine, denoting his royal descent.

The corresponding windows on each side have spirited figures of St. Matthew and St. Mark. The former exhibits deep and serious meditation, with a most benign countenance; in his right hand is a halbert, and in his left a Greek manuscript. St. Mark is a most venerable figure, whose head appears covered with the frost of hoary years, and he is pointing to an open gospel which he holds in his left hand.

The figures stand on rich bases, which display an highly ornamented quatrefoil, and are surmounted by canopies of the most elegant crocketed tabernacle work, which have a truly pleasing effect.

At the base of the window is a series of pointed arches in ruby glass, beneath which is the following inscription: HANC • FENESTRAM • PICTURATAM • AEDIS • SANCTI • GEORGII • DECORANDAE • ERGO • DONAVIT • RICARDUS • SCOTT • SACRAE • THEOLOGIAE • BACCALAUREUS • ANNO • SALUTIS • MDCCCXXXIII.

The triple windows of the north and south transepts are also embellished by the same benefactor with elegant mosaic patterns of elaborate workmanship, vying in richness and mellowness of colouring with the finest specimens of ancient stained glass.

The taste displayed in the execution of these windows is highly creditable to the talents of our townsman, Mr. David Evans, and will, we trust, long remain as a noble example of private generosity.

Attached to the west end is a deep gallery of free seats, which contains a small organ, presented by the Rev. Richard Scott, B.D. in 1834.

The church was erected by a public subscription and a grant from the commissioners for building churches. The total cost, exclusive of the site, was nearly £4000, of which sum, however, £400 has been vested in the name of trustees as a fund for future repairs.

There are 57 pews which will accommodate 290 persons, and 460 free and unappropriated sittings.

The right of presentation is in the vicar of St. Chad’s.

The Old Hospital of St. George stood on a site eastward between the present church and the Welsh bridge, which latter, as early as the reign of Henry II. was called “Saint George’s Bridge.” About the year 1150, the Bishop of Coventry, considering the great poverty of the brethren of the Hospital of St. George, Salop, released to all who should contribute to their necessities “thirteen days of penance enjoined them, and a share of all the prayers and alms within his Bishoprick.” In 1418 the church appears to have been in the gift of the Crown, and is supposed to have been taken down early in the reign of Elizabeth.

TRINITY CHURCH.

The necessity of additional church accommodation for a population of 2200 persons who inhabit the Suburb of Coleham having been generally acknowledged, inasmuch as most of them were destitute of sittings in the parish church, where many of the pews are freehold, and others let at such rents as are beyond the means not only of the labouring poor (who form the greater part of the township) but of the class immediately above them, a meeting of the parishioners and others interested in the spiritual welfare of this isolated district of the town, was therefore held in the vestry of St. Julian’s church, Dec. 7th, 1835, when it was resolved to be highly necessary to erect a chapel of ease in Coleham, with free sittings for at least two-thirds of the number it may contain.

A committee was formed for the purpose of carrying the proposed design into execution, and of soliciting pecuniary assistance in all proper quarters. No sooner was this announced than Salopian generosity was immediately excited, and the town and neighbourhood by their contributions, in co-operation with those of the parishioners, soon raised one thousand pounds, which has been subsequently increased by a grant of £600 from the Lichfield Diocesan Society for building churches, and a further grant of £150 from the Incorporated Church Building Society.

The parishioners of St. Julian’s, desirous also of remedying the inconvenient and crowded state resulting from repeated interments in the cemetery adjoining their church during a period of one thousand years, purchased an eligible piece of land in Meole Road, for the two-fold purpose of erecting the new church and affording additional burial ground. The foundations of the church were commenced in July, 1836, and (under active management) the structure is now in rapid progress towards completion, and will be dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

The front elevation is sufficiently detailed in the foregoing vignette; the body has four windows on each side, corresponding with those in the front. The chancel is an elliptical recess, separated from the nave internally by a circular arch.

The interior is 72 feet by 46, and intended to afford 812 sittings, 500 of which will be free, having a gallery over the principal entrance.

Without further detail of the building, it may be observed that it possesses one paramount advantage, viz. usefulness; and it is to be hoped, that as the inhabitants of the suburbs of our town become possessed of greater facilities for hearing the Word of God, they may value the blessing, and support it practically by their influence and example.

The estimated cost is about £1835; builder, Mr. Stant. The appointment of minister is vested with the incumbent of the parish church.

Religious Houses or Chapels, in former times, stood at five different approaches into Shrewsbury: of these St. Giles’s only remains.

The chapel of St. Mary Magdalene appears from the following extract to have occupied a site near Trinity church. Edward III. 5 June, 1356, granted to his beloved in Christ Roger, Hermit of the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, situated without Salop, a certain plat of waste called Spelcrosse, contiguous to the said chapel, and containing an acre of land: to hold the same to him and his successors, hermits there, for their habitation, and to find a chaplain to pray in the chapel for the king’s soul, &c. A deed also of 1634 mentions “The Hermitage lane leading into Meole-field.” A tea-garden near the site of “Belle Vue” was, in the recollection of many inhabitants, called “the Hermitage.”

DISSENTING MEETING HOUSES.

The first regular Presbyterian congregation formed in Shrewsbury was by the Reverends John Bryan, M.A. and the learned Francis Tallents, who were ejected by the Act of Uniformity in 1662 from the livings of St. Chad’s and St. Mary’s. After experiencing the various alternations of suffering and indulgence during the unsettled reign of Charles the First, and assembling for some time in private houses, they at length built a meeting house in the High-street, in 1691. But while they separated themselves from the established church on account of her discipline, they did not renounce the leading doctrines of the gospel as preserved in that church, which is evident from the inscription set up in their new building:—

“This place was not built for a faction, or a party, but to promote repentance and faith, in communion with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

The year 1715 was particularly unfortunate for the Protestant Dissenters in this and the adjoining counties: several of their places of worship were destroyed by riotous mobs raised against the king and his government. During the violence of these insurrections, the High-street meeting house was demolished, in the night of July 6th, 1715, and the pulpit publicly burnt. Government, however, speedily caused it to be rebuilt; after which the royal arms were placed within the building.

The good and pious Job Orton preached here for several years. On his resignation in 1766, a difference of sentiment arose among the members of the congregation in the choice of a minister. The building is now used for worship by the Unitarians. It is 70 feet by 30, and fitted up in the heavy style of the last century.