belonging to the Canal Company, where this indispensible necessary of life may be obtained, of excellent quality, at fifteen shillings per ton. Coal is also procured at the collieries of Welbatch and Uffington, three miles distant from the town.
THE SUBURB OF FRANKWELL,
anciently written Frankville, lies on the west side of the Welsh bridge, and is a township within the parish of St. Chad. In former times it suffered much from the ravages of the Welsh, being in the line of road to the principality, as it is now the thoroughfare to Holyhead.
The inquisitive eye of the antiquary will discover in this suburb many curious specimens of the half-timbered dwellings of our ancestors, one in particular, better known now as the “String of Horses,” appears, from initials, &c. over the chimney piece, to have been erected at least as early as 1576. To the left of this building is “New Street,” leading to Millington’s Hospital, Kingsland, &c. Roads also branch off to the village of Hanwood, and the mining districts of Pontesbury and Westbury.
Passing onward to the right is St. George’s church (page [89]), a short distance from which is the “Mount,” so called from a strong outwork erected during the civil wars, under the direction of Lord Capel, and in which he planted several pieces of cannon to protect the town. The garrison of this fort vigorously resisted the attacks of the parliamentarians, even after the town and castle had been captured. In the evening, however, of that day, they had no other alternative but to surrender upon bare quarter.
Near this fortification stood a religious house called Cadogan Chapel, which, in the third year of Edward VI. passed into lay hands. In 1604 it was remaining, though in a ruinous state, having been appropriated in that year as the “Pest House.” [190]
The precinct of this chapel probably extended as far as Millington’s Hospital, the site of the latter being to this day called “The Chapel Yard,” and in the gardens adjoining it skeletons have been found, while a strong yew-tree hedge, still visible at the western end of Cadogan Place, was no doubt its boundary in that direction, near which spot stood “Cadogan’s Cross,” where sermons in other days were occasionally delivered. The bailiffs’ accounts, for 1542, record the item of sixpence for wine given to the Lord President’s chaplain, preaching at Cadogan’s Cross on the Rogation day. The meadows below (on the banks of the Severn), called “Monks Eye,” were granted by Reginald Pinzun to the “Almonry” of Shrewsbury Abbey, in the reign of Henry III. previously to which they bore the appellation of “Crosfurlong.”
Extending our walk for one mile on the great Holyhead road (with the fine woods of Berwick on the opposite side of the river) we reach the township of Shelton, where are some neat suburban villas which unite architectural taste and rural decoration with beauty of situation and commanding prospects. At this place stands
GLENDOWER’S OAK,
famed from the tradition that Owen Glendower, in 1403, ascended its branches to ascertain the event of the Battle of Shrewsbury, a circumstance not unlikely when it is considered that the country was probably more open at that time than at present.