CO^HOUSESSHROPSHIREPAST ^ PRESENTFROM DRAWINGSILLUSTRATEDBYF.S.ASTANLEY M.P.,LEIGHTON,LETTERPRESSWITH DESCRIPTIVEBY THE ARTISTc)^LONDON : GEORGE BELL AND SONSYORK COVENT GARDENSTREET,1 190LloCCHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.TOOKS CHANCERY LONDON.COURT, LANE,PREFACE*' of remnants ofthis illustrated record of the Houses theShropshire,"old habitations will side side with residences which haveIN appear onlybythe builders' hands. There is no definite ofleft separationjust pointso has been the ofbetween ancient and andmodern, gradual process decayin theirand that there is no association.renewal, incongruitythose of were nine hundredsimilar toChanges, to-day, taking placethe but did not makeThe Normans ousted Anglo-Saxons, theyyears ago.nor was the new order of effecfled forcea clean things bysweep, only.to do with the harmonioushad a deal relations whichMarriage great grewbetween the the Saxon and the Celt.Norman,upThe of Feudal is indicated the ruins of theSocietypassing away byThe of old names marks aFeudal Castles. course ofnew,displacement bynatural which can and which hasresist,development nothing always pre-vailed. Of the houses in this first canvolume,fifty represented eight onlya earlier than and of fourclaim date are uninhabited;these,1500,five are of the sixteenth six of the seventeenth fifteen of the; ;centuryand sixteen of the nineteenth.eighteenth;How have the owners come into ?present possessionThe transmitters ...
CO^
HOUSESSHROPSHIRE
PAST ^ PRESENT
FROM DRAWINGSILLUSTRATED
BY
F.S.ASTANLEY M.P.,LEIGHTON,
LETTERPRESSWITH DESCRIPTIVE
BY THE ARTIST
c)^
LONDON : GEORGE BELL AND SONS
YORK COVENT GARDENSTREET,
1 190Llo
C
CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS CHANCERY LONDON.COURT, LANE,PREFACE
*' of remnants ofthis illustrated record of the Houses theShropshire,"
old habitations will side side with residences which haveIN appear onlyby
the builders' hands. There is no definite ofleft separationjust point
so has been the ofbetween ancient and andmodern, gradual process decay
in theirand that there is no association.renewal, incongruity
those of were nine hundredsimilar toChanges, to-day, taking place
the but did not makeThe Normans ousted Anglo-Saxons, theyyears ago.
nor was the new order of effecfled forcea clean things bysweep, only.
to do with the harmonioushad a deal relations whichMarriage great grew
between the the Saxon and the Celt.Norman,up
The of Feudal is indicated the ruins of theSocietypassing away by
The of old names marks aFeudal Castles. course ofnew,displacement by
natural which can and which hasresist,development nothing always pre-
vailed. Of the houses in this first canvolume,fifty represented eight only
a earlier than and of fourclaim date are uninhabited;these,1500,
five are of the sixteenth six of the seventeenth fifteen of the
; ;century
and sixteen of the nineteenth.
eighteenth;
How have the owners come into ?present possession
The transmitters of inheritances are heiresses. ofgreatest Twenty-six
these estates have often more than female descent. Theonce,passed, by
new-comers the break of thedisguisedfrequently continuity by assuming
name of their a custom much to bewives, deprecated.
But ever and the ranks of landowners are recruited from theanon,
of successful trade. theLondon,representatives Birmingham,Shrewsbury,
industrial centres of Cheshire and have done muchLancashire, Yorkshire,
to establish and maintain a substantial class inlandowning Shropshire.
bvsoldbeen andof these haveat least houses, boughtfiftyThirty-five
owe theirnot less than seventeenwere first andsince built, certainlythey
to trade.foundation dircdtly
tothe same fromdo not remain inFamilies position generation
to whatever socialall have their and dov^ns, degreeups'generation. They
and declension is constant.to The of elevationprocesshappen belong.they
this law. The ofofThe tlie peerageexemplifiesEnglish peeragehistory
Earldoms and Baroniesto the rule. The Normanis no exceptionShropshire
of lateThe isthe are all extind.of Salopian peerage essentiallycounty
this is the theVidorian creation. Andand fad:, although premierGeorgian
Duke is Baron oftitle from this and theEarl takes his county, premier
is annexed to thethe of ofClun and and Strange KnockynOswestry, Barony
Mr.same observation to other ranks.Dukedom of Athol. The applies
find owners ofin could1866, only twenty-one ShropshireEvelyn Shirley,
and of these one-in the male held land inland whose ancestors line, 1500,
The common belief that there arethird have since yeomandisappeared.
Afamilies of will not bear closegreat antiquity, investigation.
ofseldom lasts more than three The law movement,generations.family
the of the of orstill, rising sinking appliesimpossibility standing necessity
to all sorts and conditions.
in the creation andas has been is the most fadorTrade, said, potent
maintenance of a landed and in the feudal periodaristocracy, very early
—to assert its influence. is an theLaurence,began Stokesay example
built and foundedclothier of in the thirteenthLudlow, Stokesay century,
an in the seventeenth the estate was soldimportant family. century,Early
to a man of commercial Sir William Lord ofpursuits. Craven, Mayor
whose son was created an Earl. thein nineteenthLondon, Again century,
was sold the Earl to Mr. M.P. forCraven, Worcester,Allcroft,Stokesay by
who owed his to success in It be without feartrade. said,position may
of that landed is indebted to commerce for somecontradidtion, every family
of its and which has existed for three hundredwealth, every family years,
has the names of some of its members enrolled on the Trade of ourguilds
towns.
VISome houses are founded Four such foundations will beby lawyers.
noted in this volume.
In the accounts which the the as wellillustrations,accompany origin,
ofas the devolution the as far as be noted.estates, will, possible,
A seldom without some alteration made in acentury goes by being
either addition or diminution. Old sufferhouse,country by buildings
from the wealth than from the of their and themore owners,poverty simple
of former often be best observed in the manorarrangements days may
which have been as farmhouses.houses, long occupied
There are often ancient muniments to be found in new as wellhouses,
as but armour and whichbooks,old, furniture, silver, ornaments,personal
have been in the same house for two hundred are rare.
years,
Such are some of the considerations which themselves to thesuggest
student of the local of a which the hand of time hashistory county, upon
been so that the memorials of have not beenthelaid, obliterated,gently past
but rather framed in a more attra(5tive the ofsetting, progressby steady
material
development.
Stanley Leighton.
1 1.Jprily 90
of and in theThis volume of the "Houses wasShropshire" complete
hands when the unlooked for summons of death called its author
printers'
out of this life.
has fallen to and on meThe final revision of the sheets me,proof
rest the if errors or small inaccuracies be found inmust responsibility any
these pages.
to form aThe author had in five more similar volumes,preparation
"
but L'Homme Dieupropose, dispose."fully-illustrated county history,
Leighton.Jessie
Sweeney Hall,
1 1.JuneJ 90
Vll