By another ascent of steps the upper floor is gained. To the left are offices for the clerk of the peace, with a fire-proof room as a depositary for records. Similar rooms to the right are appropriated for the town clerk. In the rear of the building is a house for the hall-keeper, resting over an entrance intended as a passage for the cart conveying prisoners from the gaol, where they are set down in an area having stairs leading to spacious and airy cells; these, with cellars for other purposes, occupy a considerable portion of the base of the building, which stands upon a concrete foundation, 10 feet thick, rendered necessary (from the insufficient state of the ground) to support the weight of a massive structure. In excavating for this purpose, many curiosities were found; and although the required depth was 19 feet below the level of the street, the natural strata was not discovered, the whole bed being a complete bog of peaty soil of unequal depth,—a sufficient cause for all the fissures visible for several years past in the external and internal walls of the former fabric, which was only completed in 1785, at a cost of £11,000. In 1832, Thomas Telford, Esq. was requested to examine the nature of the foundations, when it appeared that the oak sapling piles, or rather stakes, on which the building rested were totally decayed, and become as soft as the earth by which they were surrounded. To restore the walls to a sound state was deemed a difficult and expensive undertaking, even if practicable. A new building was therefore determined upon, Sir Robert Smirke having guaranteed a sufficient foundation on the old site, by taking out the whole of the soil, and replacing it by an artificial body of concrete. His plan was adopted by the county magistrates, Jan. 28th, 1834, and in the month of April workmen commenced taking down the old edifice, {116} and the new building progressed towards completion so as to be ready by March, 1837. The foundations appear to have succeeded beyond the expectations of all concerned, and the building does great credit to the contractors, Messrs. Birch and Sons. The estimated cost is about £12,000, raised by a county rate. THE GUILD HALL AND EXCHEQUER of the town is incorporated with the county hall, by an arrangement with the county previous to the erection of the late edifice. The following portraits, presented to the late corporation, will decorate the walls of the new building:—King Charles I. Charles II. William III. George I. George II. George III. Queen Charlotte, Admiral Benbow (a native of Shrewsbury), the Right Hon. Lord Hill (by Sir William Beechy), and Admiral Owen (by R. Evans, Esq. a townsman). The two latter portraits possess life and spirit in their execution, and are justly esteemed most faithful resemblances of these illustrious heroes and fellow-citizens. THE MARKET HOUSE