CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| Battlefield Church | [1] |
| The Battle of Shrewsbury | [2] |
| Relics of the Battle | [7] |
| Foundation of the Church and Chantry | [8] |
| Roger Ive’s Will | [10] |
| Dissolution of the College | [12] |
| Description of the College, temp. Edward VI. | [13] |
| The Seal of the College | [14] |
| Masters of the College | [15] |
| Description of Battlefield Church | [15] |
| Its Dimensions | [15] |
| The Tower | [16] |
| The Windows | [17] |
| The Bells | [19] |
| Our Lady of Pity | [19] |
| The New Vestry | [21] |
| The Corbet Monument | [21] |
| The Restorations of 1749 and 1861 | [22] |
| The Vicarage House | [24] |
| Incumbents of Battlefield | [24] |
| Illustrations | [26] |
BATTLEFIELD CHURCH, SALOP.
By the Rev. Wm. Geo. Dimock Fletcher, M.A.
F.S.A., Vicar of St. Michael’s, Shrewsbury.
Battlefield Church owes its foundation to the success achieved by King Henry IV. at the battle of Shrewsbury. That prince, who as Duke of Hereford had been banished in 1398 for ten years by Richard II., returned to England in the following year, on the death of his father, John of Gaunt ostensibly to claim his estates which the King had seized. He was joined by the Percies, Nevills, and other barons, and marched towards the west of England. Bristol having been captured, and the King shortly afterwards made prisoner, Henry avowed his design of seizing the crown, the Duke of York supporting him. Accordingly, the King was compelled to sign a deed of renunciation to the crown, and a parliament was summoned to meet at Westminster 30 Sept. 1399, at which Richard’s cession was read and approved, and the sentence of deposition solemnly passed, and the estates of the realm forthwith consented that Henry should reign over them. Although Henry’s claim to the throne was ridiculous, as opposed to that of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, who was not only great-grandson of Lionel of Antwerp, but his father Roger Mortimer had been as far back as 1385 declared by the King presumptive heir to the throne, still this revolution and elevation of Henry IV. to the throne was a national act, and the Lancastrian Kings must not therefore be considered as usurpers. The inhabitants of Shrewsbury, and of the county of Salop generally, assented to Henry’s accession “most joyfully, with their most entire will and heart,” as their own words, preserved on the Rolls of Parliament, show.
The Battle of Shrewsbury.
The Percies, we have seen, strongly supported Henry IV. on his first landing in England, and cordially assisted him in the events which led to his becoming king. Their friendship, however, was not of long duration. A variety of causes led to the formidable rebellion, which culminated in the battle of Shrewsbury. In July, 1402, the Scots invaded England, but were defeated by Henry Percy (called “Hotspur”), at Homildon Hill, on September 14th, and the Earl of Douglas and other nobles were taken. King Henry issued a writ eight days later, forbidding the Earl of Northumberland to dispose of his prisoners; and this was one cause of offence. They may too have been offended at Henry’s refusal to allow them to treat for the liberation of their kinsman, Sir Edmund Mortimer, uncle to the young Earl of March, from the hands of Owen Glyndwr; and they may have relented at the part they had acted against King Richard. Probably meaner motives actuated them, for King Henry left them to conduct the Welsh and Scottish wars on their own resources, and Henry Percy complains in a letter dated 26th June, 1403, remaining among the Privy Council Records, that “£20,000 and more” was owing to himself and his father on that account; their claim was left unpaid. The winter of 1402 was spent by the Percies in strengthening their party. They entered into a treaty with Owen Glyndwr, the Welsh chieftain, who, with remarkable success, had taken up arms against the English, and had repelled three formidable armies led by the king in person, for the overthrow of Henry IV. Historians have usually treated this insurrection as having been set on foot to dethrone King Henry, and to restore Richard II. if alive, or if dead to place Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, upon the throne of England.
The Earl of Northumberland was ill, and remained at Berwick; but his son, Henry Percy (Hotspur), with the Earl of Douglas and a great army, early in July, 1403, set out on his long march for Shrewsbury, where he had arranged to meet Glyndwr. He passed through Cheshire, where his army was reinforced by a number of the gentlemen of that county, who had always been attached to the memory of Richard II., and came to Stafford, where his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, joined him.
Percy’s army probably marched from Stafford, and entered Shropshire on its eastern side, passing through Newport by High Ercall and Haughmond Hill, and so arrived at Shrewsbury some time on the evening of the 19th July. They marched down the Castle Foregate, but finding that the king had only a few hours before entered the town, and seeing the royal standard floating over the Castle, Percy withdrew his forces to the Bull-field, an extensive common, which stretched from Upper Berwick to the east.
King Henry was at Burton-on-Trent, with an army which he had assembled against the Welsh, when he heard of the confederates’ hostile movements, and immediately marched towards Shrewsbury. On the 17th he was at Lichfield, and taking the Watling St. Road, he probably entered the town on the 19th over the English Bridge. By this course he secured the passage of the Severn, and prevented Owen Glyndwr, who had advanced with his forces to Oswestry, from crossing the river and effecting a junction with Percy.