CARRIERS.
To CRAVEN ARMS, Thomas Bluck, from the White Horse, Monday, Wednesday & Saturday
To HEREFORD, Gibson and Co’s Waggon, once a week
To NEW TOWN, John Jones, from the Three Tuns, every Friday
To SHREWSBURY AND NORTH WALES, per the Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway Company, Gibson & Co. agents
BRIDGNORTH,
WITH THE VILLAGE OF QUATFORD AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Bridgnorth is a market town and borough, both corporate and parliamentary, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Stoddesdon; 139 miles N.W. from London, 20 S.E. from Shrewsbury, 13 N.N.W. from Kidderminster, the like distance W. by S. from Wolverhampton, and 27 W. by N. from Birmingham. It is charmingly and romantically situated on the banks of the Severn, which river divides it into two parts, called the Upper Town and the Lower Town. The Upper Town lies on the summit and steep declivities of a rock, rising abruptly to the height of one hundred and eighty feet from the western bank of the river, and presents an appearance singularly picturesque. The river is crossed by a handsome stone bridge of six arches, leading into the Lower Town. This place, according to some authorities, was anciently called Brugia, Brug, and (including Little Brug) Bruges, deriving its name from a bridge over the Severn, built by the Saxons and destroyed by the Danes. Upon the erection of a new bridge, about a mile and a half to the north of the former, it obtained the appellation of Brug North, whence its present name is deduced. Mr. Smalman’s opinion respecting the derivation of the name, ‘Bridgnorth,’ is somewhat opposed to this statement; we therefore refer the reader to that gentleman’s ‘History of Quatford,’ as well meriting the attention of the etymologist. This town appears to have obtained some consequence as early as the time of Ethelfleda, wife of King Ethelred, and was fortified and furnished with a castle by Robert de Belesme. This fortress was of great magnitude, and was of much importance so late as the civil war, when it sustained great damage in the struggle for its possession by the royalists and parliamentarians.
The trade of Bridgnorth, to a certain extent, may be said to arise from the navigation of the river, which affords every facility for the transit of goods. At one period it had a good iron trade, which has declined; and the principal manufactory now existing here is that for carpets, carried on by two establishments. The malting business is a branch in which many persons are employed, and the article produced is of a very superior quality. There is at present (1856) in the course of erection, at the bottom of High-street, a large and elegant Town Hall, which will, when completed, be a great ornament to the town. There are two good commercial Inns, the ‘Castle’ and the ‘Crown,’ both in High-street. About three miles to the south of Bridgnorth, on the western bank of the Severn, are the Eardington Iron Works, being one of the most extensive establishments for the manufacture of charcoal-wire iron in the kingdom. The inhabitants of this town received a succession of charters from the reign of Henry I. to that of James II. Under the latter the borough was governed until the Municipal Act, passed in 1835, vested the jurisdiction in a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, assisted by a recorder and town-clerk. The mayor and borough magistrates hold a court of record in the Town Hall, every alternate Monday, for the trial of petty offences committed within the borough. The county magistrates meet at the justices’ hall every alternate Saturday, to determine cases which occur without the liberties of the borough; and quarter sessions are held for the borough, before Uvedale Corbett, Esq. the recorder, who is also the judge of the County Court, which latter is held monthly in the Town Hall, for the recovery of debts and damages not exceeding £50. This town received the elective franchise in the 23rd year of Edward I, and from that time has continued to return two members; the mayor is the returning officer. The gentlemen returned to sit for the borough, at the general election in 1852, were Henry Whitmore; Esq. White House, and J. Pritchard, Esq. Broseley. The Boundary Act defines the limits of the borough to comprise ‘the old borough of Bridgnorth, and the several parishes of Quatford, Oldbury, Tasley, and Astley Abbotts;’ and the same act appoints Bridgnorth a polling station at the election of members to represent South Salop. By charter of King John, the burgesses are exempt from tolls, or other duties, in all cities, towns, fairs, or markets in England, except the city of London and its liberties.
There are two parish churches—that of Saint Mary Magdalene and that of Saint Leonard. The first named is a modern edifice, in the Grecian style of architecture, with a lofty tower, surmounted by a cupola, and stands near the site of the chapel formerly belonging to the castle. The church of Saint Leonard, formerly collegiate, was originally a very magnificent and spacious structure, comprising seven different chapels; it suffered greatly while in the possession of the parliamentarians during the civil war, and now consists only of a nave, one aisle, and a chancel. The chancel has lately been in part restored, and a beautiful painted window furnished on the south side—the gift of an individual. Both the livings, which were formerly perpetual curacies, are now rectories, the tithes having been made over to them by the liberality of the late Thomas Whitmore, Esq. of Afley. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, Baptists, Irvingites, and Roman Catholics. The free grammar school here was founded by the corporation in 1503; it has three exhibitions to either University. The other free schools are a blue coat school, and two conducted upon the national plan. An infirmary and general dispensary, a savings’ bank, a subscription library, and a mechanics’ institution, are the other principal public establishments. The market is held on Saturday; and the fairs on the third Mondays in January, February, and March, the 1st of May, the second Monday in June (for wool, stock and cheese), the second Monday in July, the third Mondays in August and September, the 29th of October (for stock, hops, butter, and cheese), and the second Monday in December. The October fair is a very large one for cattle, butter, and cheese, the December fair is for nearly the same commodities, on a smaller scale. The borough of Bridgnorth, exclusive of the parishes added to it by the Boundary Act, contained, by the returns made to Government in 1841, 6,198 inhabitants, and in 1851, 5,724.
Quatford is a parish, consisting of two portions, under the same parochial management, partly divided by the river Severn; the eastern division, consisting of the township of Quatford, in the liberties of Bridgnorth; and the western, of the township of Eardington, in the hundred of Stoddesdon. The village is situated close to the Severn, within a mile and a half from Bridgnorth. ‘The ancient history of this place,’ says Mr. Smalman, ‘has been misrepresented by most modern writers, and strangely applied to Bridgnorth, before the latter could possibly exist.’ The modern interest of Quatford has arisen from considerable architectural additions, made with reference to the natural character of the place, since the larger portion of it became the property of the late Mr. Smalman, and the site of his former building establishment. The parish of Quatford, including the township of Eardington, contained in 1841, 553 inhabitants, and in 1851, 692.
POST OFFICE, West Castle-street, Bridgnorth, Charles Edward Macmichael, Post Master.—Letters from London and all parts (except Alveley, Burwarton, and Chelmarsh) arrive (from Shiffnall) every morning at six, and are despatched thereto at a quarter before eight in the evening.—Letters from Alveley, Burwarton, and Chelmarsh arrive (by foot-post) every evening (Sunday excepted) at half-past five, and are despatched immediately after.
A Day Mail arrives at half-past six in the evening, and is despatched at half-past seven in the morning.