Nooks and Corners of ShropshireTimmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
History
Nooks and Corners of Shropshire
Timmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
Shropshire (England) -- Description and travel
Bromfield church, whether regarded as a prominent feature in a fair
landscape, or examined in the details of its architecture, cannot but
afford the visitor much pleasant matter for contemplation. Seated upon
one of those waterside meads the monks of old so frequently selected,
its broad, massive tower and weather-stained gables are seen mirrored in
the stream that winds around the churchyard, and with the ancient Priory
ruins, flanked by a group of dark firs rising clear against the sky,
makes a charming study for the artists' brush.
Internally, too, the church has many points of interest. The chancel
arch of the old Priory church may be discerned in the eastern wall, the
chancel itself having been pulled down when the parish came into
possession. A remarkably handsome modern triptych is a noticeable
feature of the church, contrasting favourably with the plaster ceiling
overhead, whose colour-decorations have been aptly described as 'the
best specimen of the worst period of ecclesiastical art.'
Crossing the Teme by an old stone bridge, we enter Oakley Park, a
glorious stretch of ferny glades and secluded woodland dingles, boasting
such Druid oaks as it would be hard to match elsewhere. Right ahead rise
the richly timbered slopes of Bringwood Chase, a picturesque range of
hills, whose topmost crests are crowned by three conspicuous clumps of
trees, landmarks for miles around. Oakley Hall, a red-brick Georgian
mansion, lies off upon our left, and is chiefly remarkable for its
uncommonly beautiful situation on the banks of the Teme, overlooking
some of the choicest scenery in the district.
Away towards Downton lie certain parcels of land known to this day as
'Crawl Meadows,' and thereby hangs the following tale. Once upon a time,
a certain fair maid having plighted her troth with a valiant but
impecunious knight, the angry sire vowed her sole dower should be just
so much land as his daughter could crawl over, on hands and knees,
between sunset and dawn of day. Commencing her journey at Bromfield, the
young lady travelled with such vigour that, by the time old Sol peeped
over the hills again, she was well on her way to Downton, a good four
miles, as the crow flies, from her starting-place at Bromfield.
But the waning daylight warns us to be astir, while the towers of Ludlow
Castle, rising darkly against the eastward sky, tell we are within a
measurable distance of our journey's end.
So betwixt fields and hedgerows we now hasten along, exchanging a 'good
e'en' with the cottagers as we trudge through a wayside hamlet, and
coming to a bridge over Teme, where the last of the daylight flickers
upon the waters of a rushing weir. Then up a steep way through Dinham,
passing a dusky old building, now a coach-house, but once a Gothic
chapel, and rounding the outskirts of the castle: the homing rooks in
the elms overhead announcing our arrival in their own vociferous
fashion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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