Old H ou se s Sh rewsbu ry THEIR HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS . O R H . E F R EST , Val l e lu o . c Ca mdoc a nd S r n l d b H n S e . eve y C , “ ’ ‘ A uthor o the Fa una o Nor th W a les F a un a o S ho slz z re etc . f f ' f p , 1 1 9 1 . W S on m e e e . ilding , Li it d , Print rs , Shr wsbury P R E F A C E . LTHOUGH many books dealing with the history or 2 topography of Shrewsbury have appeared from time m work t o to ti e , no devoted the history of its old I houses has hitherto been published . n the present volume I h a ve tried to give a succinct a ccount of these in terestin g — ’ old buildings Shrewsbury s most a ttractive feature l a m partly by co lating all available dat regarding the , and partly by careful study and comparison of the structures themselves . The principal sources of information as to their past ’ history are Owen an d Bl akeway s monument a l History of S hrewsbur y , especially the numerous footnotes therein the Tra n sa ction s of the S hropshir e A r chwol ogica l S oc iety in clud ’ n d Bl k M S . a a ewa s ing the famous Taylor . y Topo ’ graphical History oi Shrewsbury Owen s A c coun t of S hrewsbury published an onymously in 1 80 8 S hropshir e Notes a n d Quer ies reprinted from the Shrewsbury Chr on i cle and S hr eds a n d P a tches a similar series of earlier ’ ’ date from Eddowes Journal . Owing to business and other engagements I ha d little m ti e to devote to looking out details in books or documents , l n n and I have to grateful y ack owledge the assista ce of Mr . m m m H . T . Beddows in searching out any ite s in the volu es a t the Reference Library . I also have to thank Miss Auden S . a a n d for revising the M . and supplying v luable notes criticisms : but more than anyone else I am in debted to who Mr . R . E . Davies has lived in Shrewsbury all his life and made the antiqua rian lore of the town peculiarly his own . His unique knowledge of loca l history and litera ture was a n a placed at my dispos l unstinti gly , while at every st ge of ’ n n the book s progress he has give most va luable assista ce . For the dra win gs in illustra tion of the text I have to th a nk Miss Moses a n d my da ughter the photographic and coloured plates were supplied by Mr . Wilding for the most part , though three of the former were taken by Mr . J . Franklin specially for this book . I n V iew of a possible second edition I should be glad if readers would inform me of any errors they may detect in the text . I send forth this little volume in the twofold hope that it may add to the attractiveness-of Shrewsbury for visitors , a n d that it will lead my fell ow townsmen t o take a more intelligent and loving interest in the OLD HOU SE S o r HREW BURY S S . OR T H . E . F RES . Ca stl e S treet 37 , S hrewsbur y , Al a r r r . y , g The figures in bra c kets a s (37) r efer to the position of house on the Pl a the n . — I . PART HISTORICAL . HE earliest mention of any house in Shrewsbury occurs in the writings of Llywarc h Hen the British poet who is supposed to have lived about the end of the sixth century . 'Critics aver that the poem was actuall y written in late Saxon m ti es , but , even if this were so , it would have some historic value as recording Ll w r h traditions that were generally accredited then . ' y a c had come from Northumbria t o take refuge with C n dd l an — y y prince of Powys whose home was at Pen gwern the British ri i Shrewsbury . The p“oet laments the destruction of U c on um and of Pen g wern whose maidens he bids to behold the C n dd l an P habitation of y y wrapped in flames . robably Pen gwern was not wholly destroyed then at any rate it was re- 606 Broc hmail i P soon occupied , for in pr nce of owys had his palace here on the site subsequently occupied by Ol ’ d . St Chad s church . Soon afterwards the Saxons took of possession the town , which became part of Mercia and Sc robbesb ri was first called y g , this name by a series of i m — mutations taking t s odern form Shrewsbury . Very little is known as t o its history from the 7t h t o the r ot h i a centur es , but early in the l tter we learn from a law made by King Athelstan t o secure uniformity of coinage through s ec ified m out his dominion , which p the number of oneyers w : i n in each town , that Shre sbury had one such moneyer the reign o f Edward the Confessor it had three moneyers . It is to be inferred , therefore , that in Saxon times Shrews r was a t bu y place of impor ance , and that it grew as time on went . Old H oa ses o S hrewsbur 2 f y . Another clue to the status of the town at this time is to be found in the fact that all its five principal churches m Of ca e into existence during the Saxon period . these the four within the compass of the Severn were almost certainly Orderic us for of stone , but we have the authority of stating that the little Saxon Church which preceded the Abbey was of wood . on t o All need for conj ecture ceases , however , reference m the pages of Domesday Book , that wonderful co pilation ’ made by the Conqueror s order , which records the name and status of every Saxon holder of property at the time of the Conquest . Prebendary Auden says in his book on Shrewsbury We learn from it that in the time of Edward the Confessor 2 2 s the town contained 5 houses , each inhabited by a burge s , so that the whole population would not much exceed a thousand That the houses were of wood with thatched roofs we gather from the fact that if a house were t o burnt even by accident without negligence , the burgess whom it belonged was required to pay to the king the large wo fine of forty s-hillings and also a fine of t shillings each to his t wo next door neighbours . When William the Conqueror created his kinsman 1 0 1 Roger de Montgomery Earl of Shrewsbury in 7 , he con on of ferred him , besides other lands , almost the whole was Shropshire . When Roger came to Shrewsbury there already a castle of some kind on the mound where n ow ’ stands Laura s Tower . This was probably only a wooden tower defended by a dry moat and palisades at any rate was so it wholly inadequate for this powerful Norman Earl , he proceeded to enlarge it and build a great stone castle I n after the accepted pattern of those days . order to make for 1 is room this he laid waste 5 houses , and it recorded that 1 0 6 another 50 lay waste in 8 . We may here enquire what portion of the town was In built over with houses at this period . order to under stand this it will be well to bear in mind that the peninsula on which Shrewsbury stands consists of two hills separated n of i l by a depressio . The tops the h l s are now called ’ respectively Castle Street and St . Chad s Terrace , whilst the i depression is occupied by the Market Hall . It s almost — Part I Historical 3 certain that during the Norman period Shrewsbury was n t o of co fined the first these hills , the Castle forming its nucleus . A strong reason for this supposition is afforded by the fact that the earlies t town wall (built about the year ’ 1 1 00 by Roger s son Robert de Belesme) enclosed only so much of the town as would be roughly defined by the lines n ow P Row occupied by Castle Street , ride Hill , Butcher , l Do o e . Fish Street , and gp Earl Robert headed the rebellious barons in their revolt i was I . n a against Henry , but the end defeated and b nished by the King who confiscated his estates and took possession was of . n Shrewsbury Castle -This a good thi g for the town , as the King was well disposed to the townsfolk and did O ’ much t o ameliorate their condition . n Henry s death in 1 1 35 the country was for twenty years ravaged by the civil war between Matilda and Stephen , and this acted as a se rious check upon the development of the town in the arts f It t o o .