THE PROVINCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CX.—•TH-E WELSH MARCH :--SHROPSHIRE.—GEOGRAPHY.
SHROPSHIRE forms a nearly square block of territory, with an area of 1,291 square miles, or 826,055 statute acres (of which about 790,000 are supposedto be arable, meadow, or pasture), and a greatest length from north to south of 48 miles, and of breadth from east to west of 40 miles. Its most irregular frontier line is on the west, the districts forming which fall into three distinct projecting blocks or shoulders, the south-western district being breasted by Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire on the south and north ; the north-western district being similarly placed with respect to Mont- gomeryshire and Denbighshire ; and the intermediate district—a narrow strip of territory—forming an elbow resting on the town of Montgomery, the county of Montgomery interposing a long arm between this district and the southern one, and the apex of a right- angled triangle between the northern and intermediate districts. The eastern frontier line of the county, which is less broken, is formed by Staffordshire. The south frontier is a wavy line formed by Radnorshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. The northern frontier line, which is somewhat irregular, is formed to the east by Cheshire, between which county and Staffordshire an arm of Shropshire is interposed ; and to the west by a portion of Flintshire, which is embayed into Shropshire in a manner corresponding to the embayment of Herefordshire into that county on its southern frontier. The population of Shropshire was in 1851, 229,341; and in 1861, 240,959.
The river Severn separates the county into two nearly equal divisions, "and forms a boundary between the more elevated districts of the west and south, and an extensive level on the north and north-east." "No part of the surface," observes one of the topographers, "is quiteflat ; but the great plain of Salop, or Shrewsbury, is comparatively level. It extends lengthwise from Whitchurch, on the confines of Cheshire, south to Church Stretton, a distance of about 30 miles ; and from Oswestry, on the confines of Denbighshire, to Coalbrookedale on the east, about 28 miles. The Wrekin hill rises out of this extensive plain on the east side. The south-west parts of the county contain several ranges of flattish, square-topped hills, divided by beautiful valleys." Just within the north-western boundary is Selattyn hill (1,300 feet), the last of the Berwyn range of hills from Montgomeryshire. Near where the Severn enters Shropshire from the apex of the Montgomeryshire triangle, on its right bank, are the picturesque Breiddin hills, the lower ele- vations of which extend four miles into Shrop,shire. A moun- tainous range called Clun Forest—a forest no longer—enters the south-west of the county from Radnorshire, and attains an elevation of 1,200 feet and upwards. Corndon Mountain, 1,700 feet, is the highest point of an elevated tract to the north of Bishop's Castle, connected by intermediate hills with the preced- ing, and running nearly from south to north. The "singular mass of rocks called the Stiperstones," which begin at the extremity of that arm of Montgomeryshire which interposes between the southern and intermediate districts of western Shropshire, flank this elevated tract to the east. Going south- eastward, we have the Longmynd (1,674 feet), the most consider- able portion of a range which, together with a mountainous district on the south, to the east of Clun Forest, forms the water- shed between the Clun and Chnny rivers. The valley of Church Stretton lies to the eastward, between the Longmynd and the Caradoc hills (900 to 1,200 feet), which run from south-west to north-east across the Severn to near Wellington, where they terminate in the Wrekin. There is a narrow valley, again (Ape Dale), between the Caradoc hills and the ridge called Wenlock Edge, from the valley of the Chnny to the Severn.
In the east, again, are a number of detached rounded hills, planted and cultivated, and from these a rich district called Corve Dale brings us to the town of Ludlow. Northwards this valley extends nearly to Wenlock, and on the south it opens to the valley of the Teme. A range of hills, extending from Ludlow north- ward, form its eastern boundary, and are connected to the east with the Clee Hills, running due north and south, two of whose eleva- tions (Brown Clee Hill, 1,805 feet, and Tritteretone Clee Hill,
1,750 feet), are the highest ground in the county. The northern district of the county consists of a plain rising gradually from the banks of the Severn to an elevation of 300 feet on the extreme western frontier. A small portion of the extreme north-west of the county belongs to the basin of the Dee.
There is still a good deal of waste land and some bogs in the county, but cultivation is making progress every year. On the right bank of the Severn, between Bewdley and Cleobtuy Mor- timer, are the underwoods of Wyre Forest, the remains of the great forest which formerly gave its name to Worcester, and which still supplies (as in Roman times) the iron works in the neighbourhood. Shropshire is one of the great oak-timber districts of England.
The Severn river enters the county from Montgomeryshire, a short distance below its junction with the Vyrnwy, and flows first somewhat tortuously, but in a general direction from west to east to Shrewsbury; then turns south wards as far as to the neighbour- hood of Leighton, and, after a short eastward course, again south- wards to Bridgenorth, from which it flows south-east to the neighbourhood of Bewdley, where it quits the county. Its course through Shropshire is nearly seventy miles in length, and during the whole it is navigable. It nearly forms the division between the new red sandstone system on the north and the older formations on the south. "An outlier of lias, situated between Whitchurch and Market Drayton, lies in an elliptical basin, the new sandstone rising from beneath. This outlier is situated sixty- miles from the great lies formation of Worcestershire and War- wickshire." The Silurian and Cambrian systems of rocks occupy all the southern division of the county lying west of a line drawn from Ludlow to the Severn at Coalebrookedale, with the exception of Chin Forest, which is an outlier of old red sandstone. "There are numerous saline springs issuing from the new red sandstone of north Shropshire. A saline spring, called Saltmoor, occurs also near Ashford on the banks of the Teme, below Ludlow, from which it appears that at the period of the Norman Conquest salt was manu- factured. On Prolley Moor, on the western aide of the Longmynd; there is a spring containing chloride of lime. Chalybeate springs occur near Sherlot Common, in the neighbourhood of Wenlock, at Moreton Say, and other places." The coalfields of Coalbrookedale, the most extensive and productive of the county, extend from near- Wenlock, on the right bank of the Severn, across the river to Wellington and Lilleshall. The Shrewsbury coalfield extends from the Severn at the Breiddin hills on the west to Shrewsbury on the east, and occupies a semicircular bay. The coalfield of Oswestry is situated on the western verge of the county, is quite distinct from those already noticed, and its productive part is limited to a small area between Oswestry and the hills of Llanvonla, Trefonen, Trefleck, Sweeney. The remaining coal- fields of Shropshire are situated on the south side of the- county. The Tritterstone Clee Hill coalfield lies between the' towns of Ludlow and Cleobury Mortimer. At Knowlsley the iron ore is profitably worked. The coalfield of the Brown Clee hills lies a few miles to the northward. The coalfield of Wyre or Bewdley Forest lies east of those just mentioned, occupies the south-eastern corner of the county, and extends into Worcester- shire, to which county it chiefly belongs. The principal mineral products of the county, besides coal, are iron, lead, limestone, and freestone. "With the exception of South Wales, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, and Northumberland, more iron is made in this county than in any other county of Great Britain." The
are principallyin Coalbrookedale, between Wellington and Wiley. Excellent china-ware and superior pottery are made at Coalport on the Severn and its neighbourhood. The soil of the county "varies, but is generally fertile. In the east it consists of red sandy loam, like that of Cheshire; in the south a mixture of clay and loam is most prevalent ; and in the west there is a good deal of gravelly light soil. The harvest is said to be a fortnight earlier on the east than on the west side of the county. Shropshire is chiefly under tillage, but in the south and west breeding and' dairying are carried on to a considerable extent." The wool of the hilly tracts used to be particularly fine, but has deteriorated, being sacrificed by the farmers to the size of the breed and the weight of the fleece. "The total stock of sheep is supposed to exceed- 420,000, producing annually about 7,000 packs of wool." Hops are produced on the borders of Herefordshire.
Some of the landed estates are very large, but there are many- of a very small size. On the Welsh side the farms are very small, some not exceeding twenty acres, but on the east side of the county they vary from 100 to 500 acres or more. "The district of Chin Forest is divided into small freehold properties, varying in value from £5 to £150 a year, the majority being of the smaller class. Their occupiers, who, in most cases, are also the owners, employ
few labourers. Leases are less common now than formerly, and farms are generally held from year to year," and this has a sensibly retarding effect on the improvement of the agriculture of the county. On the east side of the county, however, where the farms are large, the tenants are active and enterprising, and agriculture much improved.
Besides the Severn, we may notice a few other rivers of Shrop- shire. The Tone, entering the county from Herefordshire a short distance above Ludlow, flows southward to the border of the county, which it separates from Herefordshire and Worcestershire, which latter county it enters below Tenbury. The scenery of its course is rich and picturesque throughout. The Chen and the 0»uty are its feeders. The Tern, rising in the north-eastern district of the county, on the borders of Staffordshire, and flowing south-west from Market-Drayton, turns south, and is joined by the Mees from near Newport, then west, receiving the Roden, and falls into the Severn between Atcham and Wroxeter, its whole course being about thirty miles. Besides several smaller streams, we may men- tion the Carve, from the western slope of the Clee hills, and which flows through Carve Dale into the Tente at Ludlow ; and the principal of several streams, called Rea, which rises in the northern projection of the same hills, and running south, past Cleobury Mortimer, unites with the Tone below Tenbury. There are also several canals, which supplement the water communica- tion of this county, which is now well supplied with railways as well as roads. The largest lake or pool of water is Ellesmere, near the town of that name, which is about 116 acres in extent. The fish of the rivers of Shropshire are chiefly trout and greyling, the Severn adds salmon, pike, eels, &c., and a few lampreys.
Its coal and iron works and foundries are now of course the great industries of Shropshire. "In 1740 there were six furnaces in Shropshire, producing 2,000 tons of iron annually. The trade was then languishing, in consequence of the scarcity of wood charcoal for smelting. But about this period the ironmasters of Coalbrookedale adopted Edward, Lord Dudley's, invention of smelting iron with pit coal, and with such success as to give a great and decided impulse to the trade, not only in Shropshire, but throughout England."
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