13 NOVEMBER 1897, Page 26

The Churches of Shropshire. By D. H. S. Cranage, MA.

(Hobson, Wellington.)—This part contains descriptions, illus- trated with eight plates of interiors and exteriors of churches, a churchyard cross, a triptych (a very remarkable Elizabethan monument to the Cornewall family), and monuments, also of the Cornewalls (triptych and monuments are in Barford Chard). The churches described number thirty-one in all, twenty-one being in the Franchise of Wenlock, and ten in the Hundred of Overs. Much Wenlock is the most important of all. Much Wenlock was the seat of a Cluniac priory. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the last Abbot of Shrewsbury became vicar of Wenlock. He kept a register, extending from November, 153S, to September 20th, 1562. The original perished a few years ago, but some important extracts were made from it before its destruction. Mr. Cranage discusses various problems in the disposition of the church with much care. We may note how many of the churches have some interesting survival or feature of some kind. Few, except the most recent, are absolutely barren of interest.