Memorials of Shrewsbury: being a concise description of the town and its environs, adapted as a general guide for the information of visitors and residentsPidgeon, Henry
Science
Memorials of Shrewsbury: being a concise description of the town and its environs, adapted as a general guide for the information of visitors and residents
Pidgeon, Henry
Shrewsbury (England) -- Guidebooks
Passing up PRIDE HILL, formerly called Corvisors’ Row, we reach the High
Pavement, where, opposite the present Butter and Poultry Market, once
stood
THE HIGH CROSS,
which was no doubt similar in design to the elegant structures at
Chichester and other places. It appears to have escaped the iconoclastic
zeal of the puritans; for we learn that the old stone cross was not taken
down until the year 1705. All general proclamations, as in former times,
are still made upon this spot, whilst the reminiscences connected with it
afford a melancholy picture of feudal severity. Here David, the last of
the British Princes, underwent his cruel sentence, for defending by force
of arms the liberties of his native country; and here the Earl of
Worcester and other distinguished noblemen, after the battle of
Shrewsbury, atoned for their rebellion by the loss of their heads.
Continuing our course, we enter CASTLE STREET, which is terminated in a
picturesque manner by Laura’s tower on the Castle mount, and the
umbrageous foliage with which it is surrounded. At the extremity of this
spacious street stands
ST. NICHOLAS’S CHAPEL,
the only one existing of eight similar structures. Its present
appearance proves it to be of Norman foundation, and built probably by
Earl Roger de Montgomery for the accommodation of such of his retainers
as resided in the _outer court_ of the castle within which it once stood.
It was subsequently appropriated for the accommodation of the President
and Council of the Marches of Wales. The west end displays a pointed
window divided by a mullion, and in the interior is a massive
semi-circular arch, which separated the nave from a chancel now
destroyed. In lowering the floor in 1825, several human skulls and bones
were discovered. The building is 50 feet long, by 19 wide, and is used
at present as a coach-house and stable.
[Picture: Gateway of Council House]
To the right of this edifice is a handsome timber gateway, erected in
1620, which leads to
THE COUNCIL HOUSE,
or LORD’S PLACE, originally occupied as the residence of the Court of the
Marches of Wales; the Lords President and Council of which, in
assembling,
“With temper’d awe to guide
An old and haughty nation proud in arms,”
were frequently received here “righte royallie” by the corporation and
trading companies; the latter, no doubt, considering that the great
number of persons which this Court attracted to the town in its judicial
capacity, independent of the attendant pomp and feasting, was of no small
benefit to them in their respective crafts and occupations, by
multiplying the consumption of the necessaries of life, and imparting to
Shrewsbury somewhat of the importance of a second capital.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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