That this is a fact may be inferred from the similar temperature of Shrewsbury with that of Sidmouth, in Devonshire, one of the most healthy places perhaps in this kingdom: In the year 1814, the mean temperature was 47°, only one degree above that of Shrewsbury. This observation is also supported by the tables published by Dr. Price, on Reversionary Payments, in which he proves, from the Bills of Mortality that out of 1000 persons born, there were alive
| Age | London. | Northampton. | France. | Vaud, Switzerland. | Shrewsbury. |
| 18 | 334 | 459 | 621 | 618 | 555 |
| 54 | 125 | 218 | 406 | 367 | 326 |
| 85 | 7 | 13 | 36 | 17 | 41 |
The relative degrees of vitality are thus shewn in a more perspicuous manner than by any other method and from the above table it is evident that the temperature of Shrewsbury is in most instances nearly equal, and in some superior, to the warm climates of France and Switzerland, and extremely favourable to longevity.
The elevation of the town, together with the purity of its atmosphere and the excellence of its water, renders its situation extremely salubrious. Contagious diseases are very rare. The scarlet fever, measles, hooping cough, &c. are usually very mild. The residents in the immediate vicinity of the Severn are most liable to illness, and in these cases the inflammatory symptoms generally run high. Many parts of the town and its environs may justly be recommended as eligible residences for invalids, who visit Shrewsbury from Ireland, Wales, and various parts of the United Kingdom, to avail themselves of the able medical assistance which the town affords.
Shrewsbury is built on two hills, of easy ascent, which for the most part gently slope to the river Severn; by this stream the ground on which the town stands is formed into a peninsula, the castle being judiciously placed on the isthmus, and thus commanding the entrances to the town.
Like most ether places not of Roman origin, its streets are extremely irregular; nor had its buildings, until within these few years, any claim to superiority, the ancient houses being chiefly built with projections into the public streets—an inconvenience very properly remedied by the elegance of modern erections. Its suburbs have of late years very much increased, and, in conjunction with this, many excellent improvements have been made in removing obstructions from the entrances to the town: but, notwithstanding the natural advantages it possesses, the bad state of its pavement and the filthy picture continually presented by its streets, is a source of poignant regret.
The plain of Shropshire, in which the town is situated, is of considerable extent, divided by the Severn into two unequal portions, and though flat, when compared with the surrounding hills, of a very varied surface. Its greatest length from N. to S. is about 30 miles, comprehending the space between Whitchurch and Church Stretton; its breadth from Oswestry to Coalbrookdale, is about 28 miles. Shrewsbury, when viewed from any of its adjacent eminences, presents a beautiful and interesting scene, and the eye of the spectator is led to survey the most extensive amphitheatre of mountains which perhaps the island can boast. The Wrekin is connected by the gentle hills of Acton Burnel and Frodesley, (over which the gigantic summit of Brown Clee is conspicuous,) with the Lawley and Coredock, generally called the Stretton Hills, from whence the Longmynd, Stiperstones, and Long Mountain, from an uninterrupted chain, with the bold and precipitous cliffs of the Kefn y Castyr, Moel y Golfa, and Breyddin, surmounted by an obelisk in honour of the late gallant Lord Rodney; thence the horizon is bounded by the stupendous Berwin range, losing their blue summits in the clouds; while the northern view is terminated by the humbler but beautiful eminences of Grinshill, Pymhill, Hawkstone, Haughmond, &c., round to the Wrekin. The whole of this vast circle incloses a finely wooded and beautifully diversified champaign country, of gentle hill and dale, studded with numerous gentlemen’s seats—watered with various streams—eminently fertile in arable, meadow, and pasture; and amply justifying the eulogium of an ancient British poet, who, after gazing, as he tells us, on the plain of Shropshire, from the height of Charlton Hill, calls it the paradise of Cymru. [33] The glittering rays of the Sun gilding the lofty spires of the town—the bold and ancient appearance of its ivy-mantled castle—the lovely pleasure and garden grounds which nearly surround it and gently slope from the mouldering ruins of its once warlike walls to the majestic Severn, which, fringed with lofty tufts of trees of various foliages, “proudly rolls its crystal stream along;” altogether form one of the most picturesque and enchanting prospects any where to be met with. Added to this, the well known salubrity of its air, and the many agreeable promenades which on every side of the town present themselves; and the compiler thinks he will not be esteemed too vain in asserting, that his native town is not surpassed, (though, for aught he knows, it may be equalled,) in point of situation, wholesomeness, and picturesque scenery, by any place of equal size in Great Britain.
The general character and manners of the inhabitants of Shrewsbury, as they assume no characteristic sufficient to distinguish them from those of other towns similarly circumstanced and situated, will not long detain the attention of the visitor. He will not often be disgusted with the petty assumptions of office clothed with a “little brief authority,” nor will he be displeased in perceiving, in a large majority of the inhabitants, a considerable portion of civility, hospitality, social intercourse, and liberality of opinion; and if great refinement of manners do not characterise them in the aggregate, the stranger will have employed his leisure to little advantage, who does not soon discover in the town a very extensive share of that frankness, benevolence, and warmth which is a prominent feature in the old-British character. Numbers in the different ranks of society are to be met with whose lives are adorned with the honours due to industry, integrity and virtue; and if we add the munificence with which the various public charities are supported by Salopians in general—who
— Learn the luxury of doing good,
in the diffusion of a part of these superfluities with which a benignant Providence has crowned their labours, the writer thinks he is not saying too much when he observes that benevolence is strongly marked in the general portrait. The different churches and chapels are, on the whole, well attended; and in few towns of equal size is there a more decent and orderly observance of the Sabbath. It is, however, to be regretted that many of its residents are destitute of that urbanity and politeness which should ever be displayed to strangers; but it is probable this circumstances to be attributed chiefly to the pride of nobility and ancestry, which looks down with half averted eyes on supposed inferiority; and to the want of an enlarged commixture with mankind, producing a generosity of disposition, and moderation of principle which are the natural results of extensive commercial pursuits.