A castellated turret is erected on a steep crag of the hill, down which the Scottish Earl Douglas leaped with his horse, on being closely pursued after his escape from the Battle of Shrewsbury, and received a severe injury. He was taken prisoner, but the king, in admiration of his valour, set him at liberty. At the foot of the hill is THE VILLAGE OF UFFINGTON, which is delightfully situated, and affords many rural beauties. Here for a time the lover of nature may enjoy that calm delight which moves the soul to contemplation; and whilst the eye has been charmed with the prospect enjoyed from the summit of the adjoining eminence, the heart seems hushed to the noise of a populous town, and a feeling of tranquillity imperceptibly steals upon the mind, for which a cause can scarcely be assigned. Parties from the town are often tempted by the beauty of the situation to make this place a holiday retreat, whose enjoyment is enhanced by the accommodations of a good inn, attached to which, above the banks of the Severn, is a pleasant bowling green. The church, overshaded by two venerable yews, possesses a primitive simplicity, quite in character with the village. THE VILLAGE OF ALBRIGHTON, distant three miles N.E. of the town on the Chester road, is a township in the parish of St. Mary, Shrewsbury. The church, a small humble structure, has been so effectually repaired by the modern goths with red stone and brick, that no reasonable conjecture can now be formed as to the period of its erection. A wooden loft issues from the west end, and inside the building is a curious ancient font, that will admit of total immersion, which has no doubt stood here for several centuries. The fine old mansion near the church was formerly the residence of the ancient family of Ireland, who purchased this manor {215} on the dissolution of Shrewsbury Abbey. A bridle road across a field leads to Albright Hussey and Battlefield. The former was the moated mansion of the Husseys, Barkers, and Corbets, but is now converted into a farm house. Here was a chapel, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, as appears by the grant of the land on which Battlefield church stands from Henry IV. to Roger Ive, of Leaton, who is there described as rector of the chapel of St. John the Baptist at Albright Hussey, and which chapel was by the said grant for ever annexed to the collegiate church of Battlefield; and Richard Hussey and his heirs were to be perpetual patrons of the same. The only vestige of the chapel is an old arch in a barn called the “chapel barn.” THE VILLAGE OF MEOLE, otherwise Meole Brace, is one mile south of the town. {216} The church stands on a little knoll above the Rea brook, and was erected on the site of an ancient edifice in the year 1800. It is a plain cruciform building, with a tower rising from the roof at the west end.