said to be the first brick structure erected in Shrewsbury. It appears to have been built in 1618 by William Rowley, draper, and the first of his family who settled in this town, of which he was admitted a burgess in 1594, and made an alderman in 1633, under the charter of Charles the First. His grand-daughter and co-heiress married John Hill, Esq. who lived in great hospitality in this mansion, from whom the street received the appellation of _Hill’s Lane_, instead of Knuckin-street. He died in 1731, and the house was soon afterwards inhabited by the talented Dr. Adams, incumbent of St. Chad’s from 1731 to 1775. The portal of this mansion is curious, and is accurately delineated by the wood cut. The great chamber, or withdrawing room, remains nearly in its original state, and is adorned with a basso relievo representation of the Creation, and other devices in stucco, &c. The oak wainscot from the other apartments has lately been removed. It is now used as a storehouse for grain, and presents a striking picture of— “Some banquet Hall deserted, Whose lights are fled, whose glory’s dead, And all but it departed.” [Picture: Portal of Rowley’s Mansion] Retracing our steps to Mardol, at the top of the street is a pile of ancient houses, decorated on the exterior with plaster and stone ornaments, in the fantastical fashion of the time in which they were built. The turning below these leads to _Claremont Street_, formerly Doglane. On the left is a curious half-timbered house, built in 1613, with a projecting porch. A little lower is the Baptist Meeting House. Keeping to the left, is an old mansion, called THE BELL STONE, from a large stone which formerly stood outside the wall that surrounded the portion of the court not occupied by the buildings. The stone is now removed to the area in front of the house, which before the recent alteration was a good specimen of the smaller mansion of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was erected by Edward Owen, Esq. a bailiff of the town in 1582. Leaving the new Theatre on the right, we enter the street called SHOPLATCH, a name supposed to be derived from SHUTT PLACE, the residence of an ancient Shrewsbury family of the name of Shutt, the remains of which are still to be traced in the massive walls of a stone edifice long disused, however, for domestic purposes, and arrive at Mardol Head, formerly called THE STALLS. At the corner leading to High-street is IRELAND’S MANSION, once the town residence of the ancient family of Ireland, long seated at Albrighton. It is a spacious half-timbered building, four stories high, finished with gables, on the beams of which are the following armorial bearings—Gules, three fleurs de lis, three, two, and one, Argent. The front consists of four ranges of bay windows, the original entrance having been in the centre under a Tudor arch. It is now divided into three excellent dwellings.