To MALLWYDD, William Williams, from the Three Tuns, Wednesday
To MANCHESTER, LIVERPOOL, CHESTER and SHREWSBURY, by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway Company, daily
To NESCLIFF, — Benyon, from the White Horse, Wednesday
To PENYBONT-FAWR, Thos. Roberts, from the Three Tuns, Wednesday
CONVEYANCE BY WATER.
To CHESTER, LIVERPOOL, MANCHESTER, &c. the Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Co. from Maesbury wharf, daily
To WELSHPOOL, NEWTOWN, and all parts of SOUTH WALES, the Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Co. from Maesbury wharf, daily
SHIFFNALL,
WITH THE PARISH OF LILLESHALL, PAINS LANE, AND NEIGHBOURHOODS.
Shiffnall is a parish, in the hundred of Brimstree—the market town is 136 miles N.W. from London, 18 E. by S. from Shrewsbury (17¼ by rail), and 13 N.W. from Wolverhampton (12¼ by rail); situated on the Shrewsbury and Birmingham railway, the line of which is carried over the market place by a lofty and handsome iron bridge—and here is the passenger station. The town was anciently called Idsali, and is supposed to have been of greater note and extent previous to its destruction by fire, which circumstance is recorded in a book printed towards the end of the fifteenth century, entitled ‘The Burnvnge of the Town of Idsall, alias Shiffnall.’ Petty sessions are held here the first Friday in every month, and a court leet annually by Lord Stafford, the owner of the manor. The County Court Act for the recovery of debts under £50. includes Shiffnall within the Madeley circuit of towns. The general trade of the place is mainly supported by its own inhabitants, and by the custom of the gentry and farmers residing in the surrounding country. At Priors-Lee, about three miles hence, the Lilleshall Company have their office, and the iron and coal mines belonging to the establishment approach to within two miles and a half of the town.
The parish church of Saint Andrew, is a large ancient cruciform structure, with a tower rising from the centre: the prevailing style of architecture is the later Norman, with many modern alterations. In 1810, the church was thoroughly repaired, when the richly carved roof of the nave was injudiciously covered with a plaster ceiling. There are some ancient monuments, and a tablet to the memory of one William Wakely with an inscription, stating that he died in 1714, having lived in the reigns of eight kings and queens. The living of Shiffnall is a vicarage, in the presentation of the Rev. John Brooke. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists, and at Priors-Lee is a chapel of ease under Shiffnall. The free school here was originally founded by John Aaron, in 1595, since which period it has been benefitted by subscriptions, and it is now conducted upon the national plan: attached to this school are three exhibitions to Christ Church College, Oxford, founded in 1689, by Edward Careswell—but the benefit of them is enjoyed by a private classical school, the master of which is nominally classical master of the free school. Six poor girls are clothed and instructed in reading and sewing, by a means of a small endowment bequeathed by Beatrice Jobber, and there are some minor bequests for the benefit of the poor. A savings’ bank some time established, is well supported. Shiffnall, the centre of an Union, under the new poor law, of fifteen parishes, and for the purposes of the union the old workhouse has been considerably enlarged and otherwise improved. The market is held on Tuesday, and the fairs on the first Monday in April, August 5th, and November 22nd, for horses, sheep, and horned cattle. A market (not chartered) is held at Oakengale, every Saturday, which is well attended. The parish of Shiffnall comprises the townships of Hatton and Woodside, and the chapelry of Priors-Lee with Oakengale (or Oakengates), these, with the town of Shiffnall, contained together in 1841, 5,244 inhabitants, and in 1851, 5,616—of which last number, 1,957 were returned for the town.