Continuing the walk by the side of the river, the most prominent object is the tower on the castle mount, from whose lofty height a group of majestic trees decline to the banks of the Severn, which in this part bends gracefully over its gravelly bed. The pathway brings us to the island where a pageant took place in honour of Sir Henry Sidney (noticed page 11). A little beyond, on the opposite side of the river, is the ferry for conveying horses across by which barges are towed up the stream. {179} The meadows into which we have passed comprised a portion of the ancient Derfald, or enclosure for the keeping of deer,—in other words a park, which may not inaptly be called SHREWSBURY PARK, for it belonged to our first Norman earl, and in all probability to some of the Saxon monarchs. The situation of the ground, before it was stripped of its timber, possessed every advantage of pasture, water, and diversified surface.—According to the record of Domesday, it was the custom, when the king resided here, for twelve of the better sort of citizens to keep watch over him; and when he went out hunting, those having horses protected him. This practice probably arose in consequence of the murder of Alfhelm (an earl of the blood royal) in 1016, who, having been invited here and hospitably entertained by Ædric Streona (son-in-law to King Etheldred), was barbarously assassinated by a butcher while hunting, whom the perfidious Ædric had engaged for that purpose. The boundaries of these pleasant fields bring us to the Shrewsbury canal, which for some distance beyond passes above the banks of the river; while from the canal towing-path numerous pleasing views may be obtained, affording an agreeable half-hour’s walk to the picturesque village of Uffington. Retracing our steps along the green banks of the Severn, we arrive at a gentle ascent which leads to the promenade surrounding the prison. From hence the long ridge of Haughmond Hill, linked as it were to the noble Wrekin,—the stately character of the White Hall,—the patriotic Column in honour of Lord Hill,—the venerable Abbey Church, standing like a patriarch among its more modern compeers,—the Stretton Hills in the distance, and close at hand the frowning walls of the Castle, clad by nature’s hand with stains of sober hue, combine to attract the eye and the mind. On a line with the front of the County Prison is HOWARD-STREET, having at the top a fine colossal figure of Hercules, which was cast at Rome from the Farnese Hercules, and is no inapt memorial of the labour consequent upon the removal of upwards of 26,000 loads of soil in the formation of the street.