WROXETER.
This village was the metropolis of the Cornavii, a tribe of Britons settled in Shropshire and some of the adjoining counties at the period when Julius Cæsar first invaded this island. On the subjugation of the Britons this place became the flourishing Roman station of Uriconium,—Wriconium, synonymous with the adjoining Wrekin, [221]—subsequently Wrekincester, and by contraction Wroxeter.
It is situated on a gentle eminence above the Severn, possessing those advantages which the Romans generally kept in view, viz. dryness of soil, extensive prospect, and the protection of a river. From the almost impenetrable obscurity in which its early history is involved, no adequate idea can now be formed of the pristine state of this interesting place.
The town was undoubtedly defended by a wall and ditch, the boundaries of which are still to be traced throughout a circumference of three miles.
According to the best writers, we find that the Romans entirely quitted Britain about the middle of the fifth century, on which the Britons continued to occupy this place (deserted by their former masters) until they were ejected from it by the superior force of the Saxons sometime in the following century, and obliged to find a retreat among “the alders and willows which hid the foot and the thickets which crowned the summit of the peninsular knoll, now covered by the capital of Shropshire.”
How long the fugitives remained at Caer Pengwern unmolested it is now in vain to enquire, but this appears certain, that they were soon followed thither by the unsparing Saxons, and compelled to seek another refuge in the mountain fastnesses of Wales.
There can be no doubt but the fall of Wroxeter was, as Leland asserts, “the cause of the erection of Shrewsbury;” and from the blackness of the soil in some parts its destruction seems to have been by fire; many of the coins also, and other remains discovered here, exhibit marks of their having been subjected to that element: in fact, the savage ferocity of the Saxon conquerors in their warfare, together with their ascendancy over the Britons, was so determinate and effectual in the demolition of those stations which they held, that little surprise need be excited so few vestiges remain of the Roman provinces in this kingdom, or of the many works of art which that nation doubtless left on their departure.
The Saxons on their invasion wielded fire and sword unsparingly. It was their practice, on gaining possession of a town or city, immediately to level it with the ground; and it is recorded, that one of these triumphant barbarians boasted that in three days after he has galloped his horse without stumbling over the spot on which the captured station stood.
Wroxeter will be regarded by the antiquary with curious attention, as affording matter of much investigation: indeed it is impossible, even in imagination, to look upon its fruitful fields, teeming in the rich luxuriance of culture,—once covered with a flourishing Roman town,—now presenting only the ruined remnant of a wall, without sensibly feeling the instability of human greatness, and exclaiming with Cowper—
We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works
Die too. The deep foundations that we lay,
Time ploughs them up, and not a trace remains.
We build with what we call eternal rock:—
A distant age asks where the fabric stood;
And in the dust, sifted and search’d in vain,
The undiscoverable secret sleeps.
The ruined wall still remaining is about 70 feet long and 28 feet high, and is composed of layers of rough stones and large flat tiles at alternate distances. It is arched, and the interior thickness is formed with rubble and small pebbles thrown in with the cement or mortar, which is become harder than stone. This venerable relic is thought to have been a portion of the fortification of the town. Other conjectures are, that it might have been connected with the Prætorium, or have been part of a bath, which was discovered at no great distance from it; but after a lapse probably of more than 1600 years, and where evidence is wanting to guide us, its original purpose must remain in uncertainty.
Tesselated pavements, sepulchral stones with inscriptions, urns, skeletons in deep graves and encased in red clay, several moulds for coining money, seals of different kinds, an Apollo (four inches in length) elegantly cast in lead, with other figures, and many curious and interesting remains of Roman manufacture, have been discovered whilst excavating on this site. A stone altar, found near the vicarage in 1824, is thus inscribed—
BONO REI
PVBLICAE
NATVS.
Great quantities of copper coins, and many of gold and silver, are constantly turned up by the plough. The copper coins are chiefly of the lower empire.
The town was situated on the line of the Watling Street road, in the direction towards Stretton. In the ford across the Severn the foundations of a bridge may be discerned at low water.
Near this spot a discovery was made at the end of the last century, which no doubt denoted the burial-place of some family of distinction resident at this colony. It consisted of an enclosure of large stones a little below the surface of the ground, within which were deposited three large urns composed of a beautiful transparent green glass, each having one handle elegantly ribbed, and severally containing burnt bones and a glass lachrymatory. Some earthen urns, an earthen lamp, and a few Roman coins, were also found at the same place, the whole being covered with large flat stones.
The village church, on the accession of Henry II. was granted to the canons of Haghmond Abbey, and is an edifice deserving of attention, displaying in its construction several specimens of architecture between the earliest Anglo-Norman and the incongruous reparations of the last century. The building consists of a nave and chancel; in the latter is a curious doorway, and the former seems to have had originally a south aisle. The tower was probably erected in the reign of Henry the Eighth.
In the church are three handsome altar tombs, bearing full-length cumbent effigies of Lord Chief Justice Bromley, who died May 15, 1555, and Isabel his wife; Sir Richarde Newporte, Knyghte (Queen’s Counsel in the Marches of Wales), and Margaret his wife, only daughter of the Lord Chief Justice; and John Berker, of Haghmond Abbey, Esq. and Margaret his wife, second daughter of Sir Francis Newport, Knt. who died in 1618.
In 1824 these were judiciously restored and beautified. In addition to which there are mural monuments, with inscriptions, commemorative of Francis, Viscount Newport and Earl of Bradford, who died Sept. 19, 1708; also the Hon. Andrew Newport, his brother; and a tablet to the memory of Andrew Newport, utter barrister, who died in 1611.
The vicinity of Wroxeter affords a delightful display of pastoral beauty,—the bright river, with every other requisite for the finest landscape scenery.