OBSERVATIONS
Made during an Excursion
To Wednesbury in Staffordshire, distant eight miles, on the road to Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury.
You proceed down Snowhill, and having passed the one mile stone, there are a few trees close to the road side, and opposite to them there is an extensive view over Barr-beacon, and the adjacent country, including the lofty trees in Aston park; over whose tops, the elegant spire of that church is seen. In descending the hill, when you have passed the buildings, the eye is delighted, on the right hand, with an extensive view over Hunter's nursery grounds, and on the left is Hockley abbey: this building was erected upon a piece of waste, boggy land, about the 1779, by Mr. Richard Ford, an ingenious mechanic of Birmingham, who, among other things, invented a one-wheel carriage, which he constructed entirely of iron; and for his ingenuity in the formation of that vehicle, the society of arts presented him with their gold medal. As he employed a number of hands, several of whom expended nine or ten shillings each week at the alehouse, it occurred to him, who was not given to drink, that he would lay aside two shillings every day; and having done so for a considerable time, as his business required him to keep a horse and cart; when they were at leisure, he sent them to Aston furnace,[[5]] to bring away large masses of scoriae, usually termed slag or dross, that lay there in great abundance. Having collected together a large quantity of it, he began to erect this building, to represent ruins; and to add to the deception, there is in the front of the house, in small pebble stones, the date, 1473; and all this was done, as he informed the writer of this article, without advancing any other money than the fourteen shillings per week. It is now nearly overgrown with ivy, and if no account had been given of the materials with which it is erected, posterity might have been at a loss to know what substance the walls were built with. Hubert Galton, Esq. now resides there, who pays rent for the house, and about fifteen acres of land, more than £100. per annum, exclusive of the enormous parochial taxes of Birmingham, which for these premises, from Michaelmas, 1816, to Michaelmas, 1817, amounted to the astonishing sum of sixty-one pounds and ten shillings, viz. thirty-six levies for the poor, at 30s. each, three highway levies, at 30s. each, and two levies for the church, at 30s. each. In the back ground, beyond this, is seen a glass-house, belonging to Messrs. Shakespear and Fletcher.
A blast furnace, for the making of pig iron, very near at hand.
You now cross the Bourn, a small stream of water, that separates Warwickshire from the county of Stafford, and passing by Mr. Boulton's plantations on the left, when you are about half way up the hill, there is on the right hand, Prospect-house, where the late Mr. Eginton carried on his manufactory of stained glass.
At the two mile stone, on the left, is the entrance to Soho, where Matthew Robinson Boulton, Esq. resides, who is proprietor of the Soho Manufactory.
The road leading to this magnificent pile of building is on the left, when you have passed through the turnpike. The spot upon which it is erected, was, in the year 1764, a sterril, barren heath, and so it continued until 1793, when it was inclosed by act of parliament. The late Mr. Boulton, in the first instance, expended more than nine thousand pounds in the erection of buildings, exclusive of machinery. He soon after removed his manufactory from Birmingham; and then this enterprising genius established a seminary of artists; men of ingenuity being sought after, from all parts of Europe, and patronised with the greatest liberality: thus fostered by his benevolence, they soon produced an imitation of the or molu.—These metallic ornaments in the form of vases, tripods, candelabras, etc. found a ready sale, not only in this kingdom, but in France, and almost every part of civilized Europe. This business being established, silver articles were manufactured in such profusion, that it became necessary to make application for an assay office to be established in Birmingham; which was carried into effect in the year 1773. About this time, a mechanical process was discovered of copying pictures, in oil colours, which was brought to such perfection, that the most experienced connoiseurs were sometimes deceived. The process was chiefly under the direction of Mr. Francis Eginton, who afterwards commenced the business of staining glass.