"CLEBURY, (Salop) near Clee-Hill, on the N. side of the Teme, 98 cm. 118 mm. from London, has a Mt. on W. 'Tis called North-Clebury and Clebury-Mortimers, not only to distinguish it from Clebury, on the b. of Worcestershire, but, because its ancient Lds. were the Mortimers; one of whom built a castle here, which was taken and demolished by K. Hen. II. against whom he had fortified and maintained it, in favour of K. Step's. heirs. The manor however continued in the family, till the R. of Edw.IV. when it passed to the crown."

[Transcribed information from England's Gazetteer - Stephen Whatley - 1750](unless otherwise stated)

[Description(s) transcribed by Mel Lockie ©2015]

"CLEOBURY MORTIMER, a parish and market town in the Cleobury division of the hundred of Stottesdon, a vicarage, in the diocese of Hereford, the deanery of Burford, and archdeaconry of Salop, 328 houses, 1,662 inhabitants. It has a market on Thursdays, and fairs April 21, June 4, October 27, for horned cattle, sheep, and pigs. It owes its name to its having formerly belonged to the noble family of Mortimer, and consists of one large street. The church is an elegant building of what is commonly, though improperly, called Gothick architecture, and once belonged to one of the mitred abbeys. A strong castle which formerly stood in this place, built by Hugh de Montgomery, was entirely destroyed in the wars, between Henry the second, and his rebellious barons.

On the north side of the church, is a free school, founded by Sir Edward Childe, one of the masters in chancery, who left three thousand five hundred pounds, for its support, besides a liberal salary to the master.

Near the school, a little to the east, are conjectured to be the remains of a Danish camp, the history of which is unknown.

This town is generally thought to have been the birth place of Robert Langelande, otherwise John Malverne, author of the visions of Pierce Plowman;- a severe satire upon the clergy of the fourteenth century. Cleobury Mortimer is about 30 miles south-east of Shrewsbury, in LAT. 52. 24 N. LONG. 2. 86 W.

Robert Langelande was one of our most ancient poets, and was a disciple of the celebrated reformer Wickliffe. Boyle, in his dictionary, informs us that "The Visions" were published during the mayoralty of John Chichester of London, in the year 1369. If this account be correct, many of Chaucer's and Gower's pieces made their appearance before Langelande's work. There are, however, many passages in the Plowman's Tale of Chaucer, which strongly resembles some of those in "The Visions;" - a strong presumption that Langelande's work is many years older than Chaucer's. In the general idiom and phraseology of Langelande, there is a marked difference. There is a much nearer approach in the works of the former, to the peculiar genius ofthe Anglo Saxon language, particularly in the derivation of his words, while the latter attempted, with Gower, to soften the harshness of our native tongue, by the introduction of words from the Latin, Italian, and French languages; and borrowed, from Petrarch and Dante, the seven lined stanza, which he introduced into our poetry.

Langelande's poem is extremely irregular, both in action and design. It is a severe satire upon almost every action of life; but particularly on the conduct of the clergy of that period. It abounds with humour; but, instead of rhymes, the author has contrived to make almost every verse begin with the same letter. It may be easily imagined, that this whimsical alliteration does not contribute largely either to perspicuity of style, or vigour of sentiment. But this mode of versification was borrowed from the Saxon Bards, and the work is full of Saxon Idioms. The following is a specimen of the Introduction:-

" In a summer season when hot was the sun I shoupe me into the shroubes as I a shepe were; In habit as a hermit, unholy of works, Went wide into the world wonders to hear, And on a May morning on Malvern hylles, Me befell a ferly, a fairy methought, I was wery of wand'ring. "

Seldon, Spencer, Hickes, and others have spoken of this author in terms of commendation. But apart from that vein of humour and just satire which runs through the work, it contains little worthy of admiration."

" CLEOBURY FOREIGN, a township in the parish of Cleobury Mortimer, and in the Ludlow division of the hundred of Stottesdon."

" DODDINGTON, a township in the parish of Cleobury Mortimer, and in the Cleobury division of the hundred of Stottesdon."

[Transcribed information from A Gazetteer of Shropshire - T Gregory - 1824](unless otherwise stated)

[Description(s) transcribed by Mel Lockie ©2015]

"CLEOBURY MORTIMER, a parish, and market-town, in the hundred of STOTTESDEN, county of SALOP, 32 miles (S.S.E.) from Shrewsbury, and 137 (N.W.) from London, on the road to Ludlow, containing 1602 inhabitants. The name of this place is derived from its situation in a district abounding with clay, and from the Saxon word byrig, a town; the adjunct, by which it is distinguished from North Cleobury, in the same county, is taken from its ancient possessor, Ralph de Mortimer, who held it at the time of the general survey. Hugh de Mortimer, his son, built a castle here, but having revolted in favour of the heir of Stephen, he fortified it against Henry II., who, with a powerful army, besieged and entirely demolished it. During the war between Henry III. and the barons, Cleobury suffered greatly from the incursions of the Welch, who at that time made frequent irruptions into this part of the country. The town is situated on an eminence rising gradually from the western bank of the river Rea, over which is a neat stone bridge: it consists principally of one long street, in which are many good houses, and the mutilated remains of an old cross; but it is neither paved nor lighted: the inhabitants are plentifully supplied with excellent water from a spring rising in the Brown Glee hills, and falling into a capacious basin in the lower part of the town. The trade is rapidly declining; formerly there were very extensive iron-works, but there are now only two forges: a few of the inhabitants are employed in the manufactory of paper, for which there are two mills. On the Glee hills, about three miles west of the town, are extensive collieries producing excellent coal 5 and on the higher part of them is a remarkably fine, though not extensive, vein of cannel coal, of which many beautiful specimens have been worked into snuff-boxes and ornaments of various kinds. The market, granted to Sir Francis Lacon, in 1614, is held on Wednesday: the fairs are on April 21st, Trinity-Monday, and October 27th. A constable is annually appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor, held in April. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £ 13, and in the patronage of William Lacon Childe, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure, with a plain square tower, surmounted by an octagonal spire of wood, considerably curved from the perpendicular. There are two places of worship for Wesleyan Methodists; and a Roman Catholic chapel is attached to Mawley Hall, the mansion of Sir Edward Blount, Bart., within a mile of the town. The free school was founded pursuant to the will of Sir Lacon William Childe, Knt., dated in 1714, whereby he bequeathed the residue of his personal estate, after the death of his wife, for its endowment: by a decree of the court of Exchequer, in 1735, a plot of ground was purchased, in 1739, on which the buildings were erected; the surplus of the endowment was vested in land, which, with property in the funds (of which £1000 in the three per cents, was given, in 1810, by Mr. John Winwood, of Bristol, formerly a scholar on the foundation), produces about £450 per annum: the management is vested in ten trustees. The master, who is appointed by W. L. Childe, Esq., as representative of the founder, has £60 per annum, and an usher £40: the boys are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic: a mistress is also appointed by the trustees, with a salary of £20 per annum, for teaching girls. The income is about £450 per annum: the present number of scholars is two hundred: thirty boys and forty girls are annually clothed, and a fee is occasionally given for apprenticing the boys on their leaving the school. Adjoining the tewn are a large schoolroom and dwelling-house, with a garden and a piece of waste ground attached, unoccupied and falling to decay: the premises were built by subscription, about 1727, for a free grammar school, but the institution has long since been dissolved, owing to the want of a permanent fund for its support. To the east of the free school are the remains of a Danish encampment; and within the distance of a mile and a half were the three castles of Cleobury, Toot, and Wall-town, of all which there is not a single vestige. Robert Langford, author of the Visions of Pierce Plowman, a satirical poem, on the clergy of the fourteenth century, was a native of this town."

[Transcribed information from A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831](unless otherwise stated)

[Description(s) transcribed by Mel Lockie ©2015]

"BOSCOBEL, (Salop) near White-Ladies, in the p. of Tonge, whose grove is noted for the oak, in which Cha. II. was hid, and saw the Pt. soldiers pass by, in quest of him, after the battle of Worcester; but they were diverted to the other side of the grove by the chace of an owl, which flew out of a neighbouring tree, and fluttered as if it had been broken wing'd. The tree was enclosed with a brick wall, but is almost cut away by travellers. Boscobel-house, which stands a bow-shot from the oak, was then the seat of the Pendrils, who gave the shelter above-mentioned to K. Cha. and have ever since had a pension of 200 l. a year. The garret of the house, which is a popish chapel, was formerly a nunnery in possession of the family of Ccoksey, whose descendant still keeps the gloves and garters, which his Majesty left behind him. The chapel is yet standing, and has some painted saints upon the wall."

[Transcribed information from England's Gazetteer - Stephen Whatley - 1750](unless otherwise stated)

[Description(s) transcribed by Mel Lockie ©2015]

An extract of Shropshire from Leonard's Gazetteer published in 1850. It provides a list of places, with a location for each in terms of relative distance and direction from nearby places, and a population count taken from the most recent census. County and market towns are marked and market days listed.

SHROPSHIRE is bounded, North by a detached part of Flintshire and Cheshire; East by Staffordshire; South by Worcestershire and Herefordshire; and on the West by Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, and Denbighshire. It is about 44 miles long, and 28 broad; and is divided into 15 divisions - Bradford (North), Bradford (South), Brimstrey, Chirbury, Condover, Ford, Munslow, Oswestry, Overs, Pimhill, Purslow, Stottesden, Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, and Wenlock. RIVERS; the Severn, the Camlet, the Terne, and the Clun. It has 16 MARKET-TOWNS. Is in the PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY, partly in the DIOCESE OF HEREFORD, and partly in that of LITCHFIELD AND COVENTRY; and it is in the OXFORD CIRCUIT. It contains 1341 square miles, or 856,240 acres. POPULATION, 239,041.

(c) - County Town.
* - Market Town.

"ABTON, (Salop) near Wenlock, is a manor which bel. heretofore to the Lovels, and Burnels, and came afterwards to the Norfolk family."

" ALDENHAM, (Salop) or AWDENHAM, near Bridgnorth, a noble seat of the Actons, whose family kept their station and estate for many Rs. one of whom was sheriff in the R. of Edv. I. and another was created a Bt. in the R. of Ch. I."

" ARCOLE, (Salop) 3 m. S.W. of Hinstock, a hamlet of Pullid, formerly the Lp. of Mortimer, ancestor of the Es. of March."

" ASTON-PIGOT, (Salop) near Chirbury, formerly the manor of Edward, Ld. Burnel; from whom it passed to John, Ld. Lovel; and from him it went, by marriage, to Sir Brian Stapleton, and Sir Edward Norris."

" AVELEY-UPPER, (Salop) a fine, old seat of the Littletons, Barts. with pleasant walks, on the E. side of the Severn, almost over against Higley on the W. side."

" BRADFORD, (Salop) tho' now an inconsiderable village, gave name to 2 Hs. viz,. N. and S. Bradford, in the former of which it stands, and gives title of Viscount and Earl to the family of Newport."

" CAER-CARODOCK, (Salop) a hill near the conflux of the Clun and Teme, where are still some vestiges of the fortification created by the famous British K. Caractacus, and gallantly defended by him against Ostorius and the Roman legions, but at last he took it; for which the senate of Rome decreed him a triumph. This is call'd in some of our maps Cradock-Hill."

" CAUS-CASTLE, (Salop) on the b. of Montgomeryshire, 4 m. E. of Powis-Castle, was anciently the Lp. of the Corbets, one of whom, in the R. of K. John, obtained a Mt. here. It afterwards passed, by marriage, to the Staffords; who held it down to Cha. I. when Sir William Howard inherited it, by marrying Henry Ld. Stafford's only daughter and heir, and was created Visc. Stafford. It came lastly to the Thynnes family, by the marriage of Sir John Thynne, an ancestor of Ld. Visc. Weymouth, to a daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward."

" CHERLTON-CASTLE, (Salop) under Wreken-Kill, bel. anciently to the Cherltons, Lds. of Powis, and was afterwards settled on Mrs. Jane Orwell, and her children."

" CLAY-HILL, (Salop) or BROWN-CLEE-HILL, on the N. bank of the r. Temd, bet. Clee-St.-Marga-ret and North-Clebury, produces the fceft pit-coal, has some veins of iron,and certain remains of an ancient camp."

" CORSHAM-CASTLE, (Salop) bet. Alcaston and St. Margaret's-Clee, is called Corvesham, because it stands on the r. Corve. This manor was given by Hen. II. to Walter, Ld. Clifford; and went afterwards, by marriage, to Sir John Giffard of Brimsfield."

" DALALY-CASTLE, (Salop) on the N. E. side of Wrekin-Hill, near the Watling-Street, was, in the R. of Rich. II. annexed, by act of Pt. to the principality of Chester."

" DELALEY-CASTLE, (Salop) near Wrekin-Hill, bel. anciently to the Earl of Arundel, on whose attainder it was forfeited to K. Rich. II. who. annexed it to the principality of Chester."

" DRAYTON, (Salop) 118 cm. 149 mm. from London, has a Mt. on W. and Fairs on the W. before Palm-Sunday, and Oct. 13. The Corbets family had a seat here, some of whom were sheriffs of this Co. from the 33d of Hen. III. in most of the succeeding Rs. to the 11th of Cha. I."

" DUDMASTON, (Salop) on the E. side of the Severn, and a little to the S. of Bridgenorth, was the ancient seat of the Wolriches, Bts. and is a noble structure, on a rising ground, that gives it a delightful prospect. Here was formerly a chantry."

" WENLOCK-GREAT, (Salop) 114 cm. 143 mm. from London, 10 from Shrewsbury to the S. E. in the road to Worcester, is an ancient corp. governed, pursuant to a charter of Cha. I. by a bailiff, recorder, and 2 other justices of the peace, and 12 bailiffs peers, or capital burgesses. The bailiff, who is justice of the quorum, is chose at the common- hall on Michaelmas-day, by 13 electors, who chuse another justice, the preceding bailiff being one for the year ensuing. In the Saxons time it had a nunnery, which was endowed with this manor, and it was afterwards turned into a convent for monks. It had in the R. of Richard II. a copper-mine. 'Tis now noted for lime-stone, and clay for tobacco-pipes, which are its chief mf. The Mt. is on M. Fairs Trinity-M. June 24, each 2 days, and Oct. 6, for 3 days. The manor bel. formerly to Sir John Winell, who, for his great services to Hen. VI. was created Baron of Wenlock, and Kt. of the Garter, but dying without issue, his estate fell to his cousin and heir, Lawley, from whom the Lawleys of this Co. are descended. The members of Pt. for this Bor. are chosen by the burgesses, who are about 100, and the bailiff returns them. 'Tis remarkable, that K. Edward IV. empowered this Bor. by charter to send one member to Pt. which is the first precedent of any such privilege inserted in the charter of any Bor."

" HOLGOT-CASTLE, (Salop) or HOULDGATE-CASTLE, anciently bel. to the Mauduits, who obtained a Mt. here, long since disused. In the R. of Edw. I. it was the Ld. Burnel's. In the R. of Hen. VII. it was Francis Visc. Lovel's, who forfeiting it, it was granted to Jasper D. of Bedford."

" HOWGATE-CASTLE, (Salop) N. W. of Brown-Clee-Hill, bel. formerly to the Mauduits; then to Burnel, Bp. of Bath; and afterwards to the Lovels."

" ISLE, (Salop) 2 m. from Shrewsbury, is a peninsula formed by the Severn, where those floats, called coracles, are much used; wherein only one man can fit, who rows very swiftly with one hand, while with the other he manages his fishing- tackle. They are of a form almost oval, and made of split fally twigs interwoven, and that part under the water is covered with a horse's hide. 'Tis about 5 foot long and 3 broad, round at the bottom, and so light, that they carry them on their backs to and from the water."

" KNOCKING-CASTLE, (Salop) on the S. E. side of Oswestry, was the manor and seat of the Lestranges, from the R. of Hen. II. to Edw. IV. when it went, by marriage, to Geo. Stanley, son to Thomas E. of Derby."

" LANTERDEN, (Salop) near the conflux of the rs. Temd and Colun, not far from Munslow; where are 2 burrows, in which were found, not long ago, burnt bones and ashes; and in the neighbourhood is a perfect Roman camp, called Brandon, and a British camp, called Coxall."

" NESS-CLIFF, (Salop) on the N. W. side of Shrewsbury, has a noted cave, and bel. formerly to the Le Stranges."

" PICKFORD, (Salop) on the S.E. side of Shrewsbury, near Condover, bel. anciently to the Pichfords, then to the Lds. Burnell. It was afterwards, for at least two centuries, the estate of the Oatleys. It is noted for a spring of pitchy water (from whence some derive its name) on the top of which there always flows a sort of liquid bitumen. Over most of the coal-pits here-abouts there lies a stratum of blackish rock; of which, by boiling and grinding, they make pitch and tar, and also distil an oil from it."

" REDCASTLE, (Salop) not far from Wem, is the decayed seat of the Audleys, on a rocky hill, anciently called Radcliff."

" ROSSAL-UP and DOWN, (Salop) N. W. of Shrewsbury, where the Severn fetches such a com. that it almost returns into itself, and incloses a tract of several miles round, which is therefore called the Isle."

" ROWTON-CASTLE, (Salop) on the S. W. side of Shrewsbury, not far from the Severn, belonged formerly to the Corbets, and afterwards to the L'Stranges of Knockin; out of ill will to whom, Leolin Pr. of Wales razed it to the ground. It is now the seat of Rich. Lyster, Esq; to whose ancestors it came from the L'Stranges of Knockin."

" STANDFORD, (Salop) in the p. of Edgmond, in a fine sporting country, 2 m. from Newport, in the road from London to Chester."

" WREKIN-HILL, (Salop) to the E. of Shrewsbury, is by some called Gilbert's-Hill. It stands bet. Watling- Street and the Severn, and within 1 m. of Wroxeter, the famous Roman station. It ascends gradually for a great length, till it becomes the highest ground in the Co. and is well adorned with trees. The toast in these parts, To all friends round the Wrekin, is as common as that to these round St. Paul's is at London, &c."

[Transcribed information from England's Gazetteer - Stephen Whatley - 1750](unless otherwise stated)

[Description(s) transcribed by Mel Lockie ©2015]

"BLODWELL. See LLAN YBLODWELL, county of SALOP."

" BOSCOBEL, a district (extra-parochial), in the Hales- Owen division of the hundred of BRIMSTREE, county of SALOP, 7 miles (E.) from ShifFnall, containing 30 inhabitants. Boscobel House is celebrated in history as the place where Charles II. concealed himself in September, 1651, after the disastrous battle of Worcester, secure in the incorruptible integrity of five brothers, named Penderell: the house has been considerably modernised, but the place of concealment, called the Sacred Hole, is carefully preserved, and in front of the house is a Latin inscription, traced with white pebbles in the pavement, recording the circumstance. The Royal Oak, thought to have sprung from an acorn of the parent tree, among the branches of which the unfortunate monarch retired for greater security, when his .pursuers were searching the house and out-buildings, stands near the middle of a large field adjoining the garden; it is surrounded by an iron railing, and has an inscribed brass plate affixed to it."

" CARWOOD. See SIBDONCARWOOD, county of SALOP."

" HAGHMON ABBEY (or HAUGHMOND ABBEY), a liberty (extraparochial), in the Wellington division of the hundred of BRADFORD (South), county of SALOP, 4 miles (N.E.) from Shrewsbury. In 1110, William Fitz-Alan, of Clun, founded an abbey here for canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, and dedicated it to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, amounted to £294. 12. 9. It forms part of the demesne of Sundorn: the remains consist of the chapter-house, which is entire, the south doorway of the nave of the church, and a range of building supposed to have been the abbot's lodging and hall, partly in the Norman, but chiefly in the early, style of English architecture. The Rev. William Clarke, Chancellor in the Cathedral Church of Chichester, and an antiquary of no mean repute, was born at this place in 1696."

" HALSTON, a liberty (extra-parochial), in the hundred of OSWESTRY, county of SALOP, 3 miles (E.N.E.) from Oswestry, containing 39 inhabitants. There is a domestic chapel belonging to John Mytton, Esq., who appoints the minister. The Ellesmere canal touches on the boundary of the liberty, which is crossed by a small stream called the Perry; this, by a diversion of its channel, has been made to resemble a large river, called Halston Pool, covering about forty acres. The Knights Templars had a preceptory here, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which subsequently belonged to the hospitallers, and was valued, in the 26th of Henry.VIII., at £160. 14. 10. per annum; in the reign of Mary it was re-granted to the order of St. John of Jerusalem, and in that of her successor Elizabeth it was possessed by "William Home."

" HORDERLEY, a liberty (extra-parochial), in the hundred of PURSLOW, county of SALOP, 6 mile's (E. by S.) from Bishop's Castle, containing about 150 inhabitants."

" KYNNERSLEY. See KINNERSLEY, county of SALOP."

" POSENHALL, a district (extra-parochial), within the liberty of WENLOCK, county of SALOP, 1 mile (W.) from Broseley, containing 14 inhabitants."

" SHINETON. See SHEINTON, county of SALOP."

[Transcribed information from A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831](unless otherwise stated)

[Description(s) transcribed by Mel Lockie ©2015]

"SHROPSHIRE, (or Salop), an inland county in the W. of England, is bounded on the N. by Cheshire, E. by Staffordshire, S. by Worcestershire and Herefordshire, and W. by the Welsh counties of Radner, Montgomery, and Denbigh. It lies between 62° 18' and 53° 0' N. lat. and between 2° 14' and 3° 12' W. long. Its extreme length from N. to S. is 48 miles, and its greatest breadth from E. to W. is 40 miles. The area of the county is 1,343 square miles, or 859,520 acres, of which 790,000 acres are arable, meadow, and pasture. The population at the commencement of the century was 169,248; in 1851 it was 229,341; and in 1861, 240,959, or 42 per cent: over the number in 1801.

At the time of the Roman invasion the county was chiefly inhabited by the Ordovices and Cornavii, whose territory was divided by the Severn, and was subsequently included in the Roman province Flavia Cæseriensis. The Romans appear to have been stoutly opposed by the Britons in this part of the country, as evidenced by the camp called Caer Caradoc, supposed to be that of Caractacus, and the earthworks at Caer Ditches, near Clun, where Camden and others are of opinion the great battle was fought between this chief and Ostorius Scapula, which effected the subjugation of the W. of the island. The principal Roman station was at Wroxeter, on the Severn, called by Latin writers Uriconium, where a wall, rampart, and ditch still mark the extent of the Roman city. There are besides Roman remains at Rowton, Market-Drayton, The Walls, Bury Ditches, and other places in this county.

For many centuries it formed part of the kingdom of Powisland, with Pengwern for its capital, but the Saxons under Penda succeeded in conquering it in 626, and it became incorporated with the kingdom of Mercia, which extended to the base of the Welsh mountains, and was known as Myrcna-rice, the kingdom of the borderers; this was Latinised into Mercia, and finally was corrupted into the Marches of Wales. For the protection of his territory from the inroads of the Welsh, Offa made a dyke or rampart 100 miles long, which still bears his name, and extended along the confines of Wales, from Flintshire on the N. to the Bristol Channel on the S., with the Severn for an inner boundary.

Shortly after the union of the Saxon kingdoms under Egbert, this part of the country became a prey to the ravages of the Danes, who arrived here in great force in 849, and pushed on to Wales. At Cleobury Mortimer is a camp, supposed to have been formed by this people, and near Bridgnorth are traces of a fortification. When Alfred the Great had expelled the Danes he formed this district into a county under the name of Scrobbesbyrigshire, after its capital, then a city of much importance, of which its present name is a corruption.

During the two following centuries the county was frequently invaded by the Welsh, and at the Norman conquest was given by William I., with the adjoining county of Montgomery, and the title of the Earl of Shrewsbury, to Roger de Montgomery for his services in the reduction of Edric the Forester. About this period most of the castles in the county were erected by the Norman nobles, who obtained grants of land on condition of maintaining their castles garrisoned against the Welsh, and were appointed Lords Marchers, with power to decide all questions of grievance between the English and Welsh, establish courts of judicature, build towns, &c., but the Welsh continuing to harass the border, Edward I. determined on their subjugation, and having taken David-ap-Llewellyn, the last prince of Wales, summoned a parliament to meet at Shrewsbury in 1283, by which the prince was declared guilty of treason, and condemned to be hanged and quartered, which was accordingly done. A parliament was again appointed to meet here by Richard II. in 1397.

During the revolt of Owain Glyndwr in the reign of Henry IV., the county was the scene of many lesser conflicts, and the final battle was fought at Shrewsbury in 1403, when the Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V., with a portion of the king's army, defeated the joint forces of Glyndwr and the Percys, and slew Harry Hotspur, son of the Earl of Northumberland, which terminated the war. In the struggle between the rival houses of York and Lancaster the county was again engaged, and many important events took place. On the landing of the Duke of Richmond in 1485 he was proclaimed as Henry VII., and joined by the tenants of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and many others, who rendered him signal service in the battle of Bosworth Field. When Charles I. became obnoxious to a portion of his subjects he retired to Shrewsbury, and many of the towns in this county declared in his favour, but in 1644 the parliamentarians gained the ascendency, and continued to hold it, notwithstanding the unavailing efforts of the royalists, who rose in arms in 1655, and again in 1659.

The county is remarkable for the variety and beauty of its scenery, which in some places displays itself in rugged mountainous districts, and in others in rich and well-cultivated tracts, diversified by gently rising elevations with intersecting valleys. The county is divided by the Severn into two almost equal parts, the southern portion assuming the mountainous character of the adjoining counties of Montgomery and Denbigh, while the northern district is nearly level, relieved only by a few solitary hills and finely-wooded valleys. The elevated summits on the S.E. are for the most part extensions of the great western, or Welsh, range of mountains. The highest points are Brown Clee Hill, 1,805 feet above the sea-level, and Titterstone Clee Hill, 1,750 feet; W. of the Clee hills is the mountainous district called Clun Forest, formerly a wooded tract, but now well cultivated and divided into small freehold properties. Separating these two districts is a mountainous tract which stretches to the N.W. in a range of hills, the loftiest of which is Longmynd, 1,674 feet high, and still further N. is Stiperstones, a very peculiar mass of rocks. The remaining most important mountain ranges are the Berwyn range, which enters from Montgomery and terminates in this county in Selattyn Hill, 1,300 feet high; the Breddin hills, extending for about 4 miles, but in no place of considerable altitude; and the Wrekin, an isolated elevation of 1,320 feet, near Wellington, which forms a conspicuous object, being much higher than the neighbouring hills. It is connected with the Caer Caradoc hills, which border on the Longmynd.

The principal river is the Severn, which is noticed in a separate article. Its course through this county is winding and navigable through its entire extent of 70 miles, during which it receives from the E. the waters of the Tern, and its tributary the Roden, and of several small streams from the W. The S. is also watered by the Teme, which is joined by a number of small tributaries, and after forming part of the boundary between Herefordshire and Shropshire, falls into the Severn below Worcester. The Dee washes the N.E. corner of the county, separating it from Cheshire. The only lake of any size is Ellesmere, near the town of that name, which covers an area of 116 acres. The canal accommodation is very excellent, all the lines being to the N. of the Severn; the principal are the Donnington, which extends from Donnington Wood to the neighbourhood of Newport, where it is joined by the Shropshire canal of about the same length, which runs into the Severn below Coalbrookdale; a branch communicates with Ketley. The Shrewsbury canal, starting from the Severn at Shrewsbury; runs along the left bank of the river, and then, turning to the N.E., joins the Shropshire and Donnington canals near Wellington. It is 17 miles long; at Atcham it passes through a tunnel 970 yards in length, and it crosses the valley of the Tern by the first cast-iron aqueduct that was ever made; besides several other minor canals.

The county is well supplied with railways; Shrewsbury, its capital, being in direct communication with Chester and Liverpool by Crewe, Stafford, Birmingham, and Gloucester and South Wales by Hereford. Coach roads were formerly very bad, but have of late years been much improved. The principal is the London and Holyhead road, which enters the county between Wolverhampton and Shiffnal, and, passing Shrewsbury, leaves it near Chirk.

Shropshire is as important from the richness and variety of its minerals as it is interesting from the beauty of its scenery and the numerous remains of antiquity which may yet be seen there. The New Red sandstone formation occupies the whole N. of the county, and the Old Red sandstone extends over most of the S., the Severn being in most parts the boundary between the two systems. The northern limit of the older formation is the coalfield of Coalbrookdale, and on the E. it extends to the Wyre, or Bewdley coal district which passes into the adjoining county of Worcester. Its south-western boundary consists of an extensive tract comprising nearly one-fourth of the entire county, and composed of stratified rocks of the Silurian and Cambrian systems, but there is a considerable outlying district of the Old Red sandstone nearly 100 square acres in extent, separated from the larger portion of the Silurian rocks, which reaches into Radnorshire, and includes nearly the entire of Clun Forest. The Ludlow hills belong to the Silurian system, and rise from the Old Red sandstone at Corvedale to elevations of 1,000 to 1,100 feet, and from these to Coalbrookdale extends an unbroken escarpment called Wenlock Edge, consisting of Wenlock limestone. W. of this rise the Caradoc, or Church Stretton hills, where Ostorius is said by some to have defeated Caractacus, and which are formed of amorphous trap; Longmynd, which belongs to the Cambrian system, and raises its square-topped head to a height of 1,674 feet; and Stiperstones, rough and ragged, in which is a rich lead mine. The New Red sandstone formation in the N. of the county is broken towards Market Drayton by a bed of lias containing fossils corresponding to those found in the great lias formation of Warwick and Worcestershire, from which it is distant upwards of 60 miles. The plain of Shrewsbury is in most parts formed of the newer sandstone, but several patches of coal are scattered through it, and they are also found at intervals between the transition chains which indent this same plain.

The important coalfield of Coalbrookdale, the most extensive and most productive in the county, extends from Wormbridge to Coalport on the Severn. It is 8 miles in length and 2 in breadth; the coal is of the kind called slate coal, and contains from 1 to 3 per cent. of ash. Some of the beds are very sulphurous, and the coals are only used in making lime on account of the foetid odour which they emit when burning. The most productive parts of the field are about Hadley, where 16 seams have a total thickness of 15 yards; Dawley, where the coal seams are 14 yards in depth; and Madeley, where the beds are narrower, and 24 of them only measure 10½ yards. The entire field is much faulted, some of the dislocations amounting to 600 or 700 feet. Coal is found at every part of the district at varying depths, and alternating with ironstone, sandstone, and other substances. The ironstone is not rich, but being accompanied by the coal and flint supplies all the requisites for smelting, which is extensively practised. The ores of iron are peroxides in sandstone, argillaceous carbonates in shale, and sulphurets in coal. Brown Clee Hill and Titterstone Clee Hill, a few miles S. of Coalbrookdale, have their summits covered with overlying masses of granite, but coal is worked midway from the base. In the former it is found only in their strata, but in the latter the principal bed is 6 feet in depth. At Cornbrook there is a very valuable field 1 mile long and a quarter of a mile in breadth. The Billingsley tract, to the E. of the Clee hills, stretches from Dense Hill on the N. to the borders of Shropshire and Worcestershire, a distance of 8 miles, but it is doubtful whether this is one continuous field, or consists of several smaller ones adjacent to each other. The rocks which bound or separate these coal fields consist principally of sandstone, limestone, trap, and schists, containing lead and calamine, the most important of which, as already mentioned, are in Stiperstones mountain. The matrix is crystallized quartz, with sulphates and carbonate of barytes, and carbonate of lime. The ore is sulphuret of lead, carbonate of lead, red lead, ore, and blends, which contains besides calamine, or zinc, and the rock at Pimhill is strongly tinctured with copper. Mineral pitch exudes from the red sandstone at Pitchford. Freestone, marble, slate, and pipe-clay are raised. Saline springs are found among the New Red sandstone and coal measures in the N. and there is one also at Saltmoor, near Ashford, on the banks of the Tern, where salt is said to have been manufactured before the Norman conquest. Chalybeate springs also occur near Wenlock, at Moreton Bay, and in other places, and on the W. side of Longmynd, on Prolley Moor, there is a spring containing chloride of lime.

The climate is generally salubrious, but varies much according to the elevation above the sea and the nature of the soil, the lands in the E. being level, are dry and warm, so that the harvests there are frequently ripe a fortnight earlier than in the W. and middle. The soils are too varied and intermixed to admit of any general description, but the land is for the most part fertile and well cultivated, except the elevated districts, which are generally too rugged and barren to admit of much use being made of them except as sheepwalks. Agriculture is improving, grass lands receiving less attention than arable. The meadows near the Severn are very fertile, and are often enriched by the overflow of the river.

The county is not remarkable for dairy produce, but a fine quality of cheese is made and sold as Cheshire. The cattle are generally of the improved Hereford, Lancashire, Leicester, and Cheshire breeds. The horses are of good quality, but of no particular kind. The sheep are remarkable for the excellence of their wool. In many parts there is a species of horned sheep peculiar to this county and resembling South Downs. They are small and hardy, weighing about 10 lbs. the quarter, and yielding fleece of about 2½ lbs. Pork and bacon are much used by the people. Large flocks of turkeys are raised, and there are fine orchards, particularly in the S., where hops also are grown.

China of delicate and elegant pattern is made at Coalport and Caughley; earthenware at Coalport, and a coarse quality is also made at Broseley. There are glass works at Brockwardine, and porcelain is made at Bridgnorth, also carpets and cloth. Flannels are manufactured at Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Worthen, and Church Stretton, and linens and linen thread at various places. Gloves and paper are made at Ludlow, and there are paper works also in different parts of the county.

The principal industry, however, is devoted to coal and iron. The collieries under inspection number 59. The yearly produce is estimated at upwards of 300,000 tons, most of which is consumed in the iron furnaces at Coalbrookdale, Lightmoor Ketley, Donnington, Madeley Wood, and Snedshill on the N. of the Severn, and Calcot, Willey, Broseley, and Benthall S. of that river. Seven-tenths of the iron produced in the county, or 7 per cent. of that in the entire kingdom, is raised at Wellington, Dawley, and Madeley. The manufacture at Wellington and its neighbourhood is yearly increasing by the establishment of iron foundries, saw mills, new workshops and forges for the making of bar iron, which is there extensively carried on.

The county is divided into North and South Shropshire, the former containing the hundreds of Oswestry, Pimhill, North Bradford, South Bradford, and the liberty of Shrewsbury; and the latter the hundreds of Brimstrey, exclusive of Halesowen parish, Chirbury, Candover, Ford, Munslow, Overs, Purslow, including Clun, Stottesdon, and Wenlock franchise. It comprises 231 parishes, distributed among the dioceses of Hereford, Lichfield, St. Asaph, and Worcester, but all in the province of Canterbury. The civil government is entrusted to the lordlieutenant and custos rotulorum, high sheriff, and about 138 deputy-lieutenants and magistrates.

The county is in the Oxford circuit; the assizes and quarter sessions are held at Shrewsbury, where the county gaol, lunatic asylum, and Shropshire infirmary are situated, and there are 14 market towns. The county returns 12 members to parliament, two for the northern and two for the southern divisions, constituency 5,315 and 4,170 respectively, in 1865, and two each for the boroughs of Shrewsbury (1,505), Bridgnorth (647), Ludlow 382), and Wenlock (999). The detached district of Halesowen is included for elective purposes with the county of Worcester. The election for the northern division is held at Shrewsbury, and for the southern at Church Stretton."

[Transcribed and edited information from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868]

Search the GENUKI Gazetteer. [Click the Gazetteer link at the top of any page, not the search box which searches GENUKI pages.] 
The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.

The GENUKI Church Database. [Click the Churches link at the top of any page, not the search box which searches GENUKI pages.]
This covers the whole of the UK and includes facilities for listing other churches and parishes within any specified distance of the parish church.

• The Vision of Britain site provides: A vision of Britain between 1801 and 2001. Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions. 
  - read the guide to searching places, units and locations 
  - check the sources on which this excellent site is based
• The downloadable PARLOC program is available from Dave & Chris Bennett's site.
• The Open Domesday project enables you to locates places (and their details) from the Domesday book.

GENUKI Gazetteer maintenance - Ireland

Basic information

All the Irish Civil Parishes and Townlands appear in the gazetteer, but for many we do not have an actual location. So as a starting point it uses the centre of the county when we have no location. Where we have a parish location we use that as a starting location for the townland. All very approximate but it helps guide reasearchers to the appropriate area and as we add locations it gets nearer and nearer to the real value. So most of this work is to achieve that. There is also other documentation describing how it is achieved.

• The status of each county section can be seen on the statistics page which helps identiy the amount of work required for each county.
• Details of the format of the source files and basic techniques are described in the Gazetteer maintenance page.
• Work already mostly done on developing the Irish counties is a useful adjunct.

Work required

The starting point for each county is to take a look at the Parishes column on the statistics page. If you hold the mouse over the numbers it explains what they represent. We want to get to the stage where there is just single number here where we've created a web page for each parish. If there is a name other than Phil Stringer in the Maintainers column then somebody is already working on this county.

In the end we want to get to the stage where there is nothing in the Approx column, and nothing in the No links column but it is easiest to do some of the tasks in a particular order.

Exact location for parish

In the Approx column, if there is a number marked Parishes with an approximate location this is the simplest one to resolve first. It is those parishes that had a location in our original data and location should be nearly right. Click the number for the names of the parishes, and click each name to see a page with links to online maps. Select This place shown on a Google map. Zoom the map appropriately and drag the icon to where you think the centre of that place is. You then have the correct value to go the csv file and can change the Approx field (column C)from Y to N. If you find the Google map does not take you to a place and ther is none nearby on the map, then perhaps then perhaps an error was made in the past. So use the instructions in the next step for finding the centre location of the parish.

Parishes where we need a location

These can be identified in the Parishes column, and are labelled Civil parishes for we don't yet have a location. Click the number and see the list of names. Click a name to take you to links to online maps, the ones in the south are much easier to do.

• North - the Irish Times site is your friend as it shows where they all are on a map. It is not always easy to relate this to the modern Google map as it does not show place names. But you need to open a Google map in another browser tab and pan it and move the marker to then centre of the area shown on the Irish Times. You then have the centre location of the parish.
• South - follow the link to the Irish Ordnance survey site. Use the search menu on the right, and select the county and then Historic parishes. That shows you a historic map of the parish along with its boundaries. Pan the map until the red cross is in the centre of the parish. Don't pan it again on subsequent clicks as it changes the location that you've just found!. I find it best then to go to the 'Preview map series' menu on the right and select 'Wind report' it changes to a modern map which is much easier to relate to the Google map. Zoom, without, panning so that you can see place names that you can relate to a Google map that you've open in another tab. So look at that the OS map with one eye and move the marker on the Google map to the same location. You then have the centre location of the parish.

Cut and paste the location (Lat/Lon) into column B in the csv file for that parish entry. Change the Approx field (column C) from Y to N. Now for all the townlands without a location in this parish, change the Approx field (column C) to P, and add the parish centre location to column B. This makes the most significant improvement to the gazetteer.

Places with no location at all

As updated versions of the csv file are updated the entries that need attention in the statistics file thankfully drop. At this point the Places with no location at all in the Approx column should now have disappeared. If not it is worth fixing these now as there will be very few left for this county. Sometimes you may see Market Town in column K with the name of a description in column L. Search the gazetteer for this place to read the description. It may tell you this is also a parish. If so copy column L into column L for the parish where it is missing and then you can probably just delete the duplicate Market Town entry. For others a Google search can help identify it and lead to a location.

Townlands with a parish centre location

We are now getting to the more tedious work, but once done it makes it much more useful for researchers. In the Approx column there is probably a significant number entitled Places with a parish location. This gives list of all the names which can be clicked to link to maps, such as Google centred on the parish centre, the value in that entry in the csv file. However going through this alphabetically can be slow and it isn't as easy to spot mistakes.

The easiest method I've found is to look in the csv file at all the entries in a parish, the smaller parishes being easier. Use the gazetteer to search for the entry for the parish and ask it to display all the places in the parish on a Google map. There will be townland names on the Google map which should match the ones you need to find. If none match then the parish location may be wrong! There do seem to townlands in other parishes with the same name as actual parishes. In the rare event that this has happened, then fix the parish centre location as described above. Drag and drop the marker on the map to find the location of the townlands and change the location field in the csv file and also change the Approx to N.

Start with the ones where we already have an approximate location as they show up reasonably easily to start with. Then compare the unknown townland names nearby on the Google map with the csv file. Where they match, drag and drop and you have another answer. Google does at times have two identical names close by. I tend to use the one in the larger font as that seems to be the older one. If both are the same size I drag to point mid-way between.

So what about the townlands that don't seem to be on the Google map? Well we can go to the Irish OS site and search for the townland and see where it is on the map. Be careful that the one you get is the one you want as there can be multiple townlands with the same name. Again a useful check is to look at adjacent ones on the map and see if they are in that parish in the cav file. The Irish OS technique can only be used for counties in the South as it doesn't have the countties and townlands in the search menu for the north. If it is a county in the North try the map provided by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. We haven't found a way to link into a location so you will need to zoom and pan to the parish location and then search for townland names. There does seem to be better coverage than Google, and it appears to have more accurate locations.

There will be some very small townlands that the Irish OS site doesn't have in the menu. If it is an island, then browse the Irish OS 6" historic map for the parish and pan and zoom across the wet areas. It is easy to find island names there. For tiny townlands that aren't islands, try a Google search as somebody may have described the location. Otherwise you are left with panning the historic 6".

There is also a technique that will find the townlands plotted on a Google map. Go to https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@?dg=dbrw&newdg=1 and put the place and county in the search bar. It normally finds it and shows a marker on a map with a rough outline of the townland. What you want is the location of the marker. So right click next to the marker and a menu will appear. Select What's here? and the lat/lon is placed in the search bar. I tend to compare that with other places in the parish to make sure it is nearby and so the right one.

In the larger parishes I find it useful to put in a framework of townlands, upload the csv file, and wait for the nightly update. Things are then clearer on the map the next day. There is less clutter and it is easier to finds ones that still need doing. You need to zoom in for Google to make some visible.

The remaining places with approximate locations

That ones that are left with approximate locations come from the CIA World Fact Book. Some will be duplicates of existing places, some geographic features and some places smaller than townlands. So take each one in the list, and select nearby places on a Google map.

• Look at nearby places marked on the map, and if a duplicate, remove it from the csv file.
• I look at all Cross Roads and tend to remove any that match the name of a nearby townland. If it is a new name check on the Irish OS map and zoom in when it usually becomes visible. You then know the exact location and can drag/drop the Google marker. It is also useful loohing at the historic 6" to see which parish it was in, and put that name in the Parish field. The CIA didn't always get the spelling right, so make any adjustments that are needed.
• If it is a named bridge, then I keep these setting the exact location, and filling in the Parish name.
• Then any small places I treat in a similar way.

It is during this phase that the towlands with parish boundaries running through them become visible as we have two or more markers at the same spot. Zoom in to make it clearer and perhaps drag one to the side to check the names and the parishes.

We only want the user to be presented with a single place at that location. We don't multiple gazetteer entries for any of these as we are trying to specify where they are, not to document an administrative hierarchy. But we can do our best to tell the user that it is in multiple parishes. So for the first entry for the townland put the names of the parishes it lies in, in the parish field separating the names with a colon ':' character (without quotes). Then delete the entries from the other parishes. We then have a single place listing all the parishes it is in.

Gotchas

There do seem to be some parishes split across counties. If you find one, get in touch with Phil as he has devised a technique to handle it but has not yet implemented it.

The Post Office's Postcode Finder

The Post Office no longer supports their postcode finder tool. Instead they advise: for the most up-to-date address and postcode details, please use your preferred mapping service such as Google Maps or Apple Maps, or use a search engine.

• The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.
• A Gazetteer of British Place Names provided by the Association of British Counties. This comprehensive place-name index for Britain lists more than 50,000 places and gives the Ordnance Survey grid reference, the ancient or geographical County, and current local government information for each place name. There is comprehensive coverage of alternative spellings (including Welsh and Gaelic versions) and detailed notes specifically aimed at historians and genealogists. Appendices relate present day registration districts to local government areas and list those places which lay in a different "registration county" to their ancient County in the 19th century.
• The GB1900  Project - a crowd-sourced historical gazetteer based on the 1:10560 Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain
• GENUKI Church Database provides an online Parish Locator covering the whole of the UK. This includes facilities for listing other churches and parishes within any specified distance of the parish church.
• UK Placename Finder from Popular Archaeology includes details of 160,000 UK places.
• The archived copy of the BBC Domesday Project Reloaded website provides a method of searching the contents of the original BBC Domesday Gazetteer disk - a huge crowd-sourced description of the UK, dating from 1986 - by using the TNA Discovery Catalogue's results filtering facility.

Some historical gazetteers:

Lewis, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of England. 4 vols. London: S. Lewis and Co., 1831

Southall, Humphrey; Aucott, Paula; Fleet, Christopher; Pert, Tom; Stoner, Michael. GB1900: engaging the public in very large scale gazetteer construction from the Ordnance Survey “County Series” 1:10,560 mapping of Great Britain. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, Vol. 13, No. 1, (2017), p. 7-28. [PDF]

Wilson, John M. The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. Six Volumes. Edinburgh, Scotland: A. Fullerton, 1870

The National Gazetteer: A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands. Virtue and Co., London (1868) 3 vols. [Full text - vol 1 (A-E), vol. 2 (F-M), vol. 3 (N-Z)]

Gazetteer of the British Isles. Edinburgh, Scotland: John Bartholomew and Sons, Ltd., 1966.