In the south corner of this court is a lofty mount, on which is erected a watch tower, now converted into a pleasant summer room, from which is commanded a grand and diversified prospect of uncommon richness and beauty. The mount, rising abruptly from the margin of the Severn, crowned with its venerable tower, its bold and abrupt bank being richly clothed with the foliage of various species of trees and skirled by the majestic stream which rolls at its base, has also, when viewed from a distance, a beautiful and picturesque appearance. Shrewsbury, though the most important station on the Welsh border, and though frequently thrown into possession of its enemies, never sustained more than two sieges. Its natural and artificial strength might probably deter an adverse army from investing it in a regular way, for it was protected not only by its castle, but by Walls, fenced with towers which completely surrounded it. The first stone rampart extended only across the isthmus to the river on each side, and was raised by Robert de Belesme. In the reign of Henry III. the inhabitants of this place having suffered greatly during the rebellion of the earl of Pembroke, were exhorted to secure themselves by building a wall entirely round the town, which, by the aid of the royal bounty, was accomplished in 32 years. An additional rampart, by order of Oliver Cromwell, was constructed, as it is said, from the materials of Shrawardine castle, and extended from the wall of earl Robert at the river’s brink to the Welsh bridge: though now ruinous it forms a tolerable connecting path between the northern and western ends of the town.—Of the old ramparts, those on the northern and eastern sides of the town have long since disappeared; their foundations, which are easy to be traced, form the groundwork of modern houses. On the south, a considerable portion remains, and part of it is kept in repair as a public walk; but it retains little of its original appearance, having been considerably lowered, and entirely stripped of its battlements. The towers have been all taken down except one, which stands on this wall, between the bottom of Swan Hill and Belmont. It is square and embattled, and has two stories, the entrance of the higher being from the top of the wall, through a small pointed arch, which does not appear of older date than the time of Henry IV. The town, according to Leland, who beheld its fortifications entire, was more than a mile in compass; which extent may probably be a third more in modern computation. There were formerly three principal Gates to Shrewsbury; one near the Castle called the North Gate, and one on each of the bridges; that on the east called the Abbey Gate, and that on the west the Welsh Gate. A part of the southern tower of the north gate is the only remain of these once formidable fortifications. The Town Hall