Shrewsbury: a town to look up to
By Helen - 01/04/2011
With an incredible 660 listed buildings, Shrewsbury has an historic story around every cobbled corner.
We’re getting stiff necks from wandering around Shrewsbury – and it’s not just because our guide, Martin, is 7ft 2ins.
This is, quite literally, a town that you have to look up to; with no less than 660 listed buildings. Whilst shoppers gaze at ground-floor window displays, we’ve got our sights set higher. We’re studying the ostentatious exhibition of 15th/16th century wealth on the beautiful black and white timbered buildings which make up the Tudor heart of this town.
One minute we’re craning to look at 400-year-old wooden statues on the roof of the Edinburgh Wooden Mill. This is Owen’s Mansion; the intricate statues depict the wife, sons and nephew of a man so loaded that he ‘captured’ them for everyone to see from the Market Square opposite. The next, we’re in the square, being amazed by what Martin describes as “a very early loft conversion”. What’s different about this building, now accommodating the Fat Face store, is that its finely decorated top storey, with its original windows still intact, came from a nearby property. Whilst I ponder the logistics involved in such a move, Martin explains; “It was dead simple to do that in those days as all the timbers were pegged and numbered. If you moved in Tudor times you literally moved house. You took it with you.”
Its intriguing little insights like this in to the lifestyles of Shrewsbury’s earlier residents that make our visit come alive.
In Wyle Cop, one of the two ancient entrances into the town, a plaque on yet another magnificent building, this time above a chocolate shop, tell us that this is Henry Tudor House where Henry VII stayed before the Battle of Bosworth.
We duck – in Martin’s case, very carefully – inside the Prince Rupert Hotel in Butcher Row. In just a few, very crooked, steps we are transported even further back in time; 600 years to be precise. Part of the hotel was once the mansion of Thomas Jones, the first Mayor of Shrewsbury. There’s only one word to describe its interior and that’s ‘wonky’. I’m clinging on to banisters and door jambs, completely disoriented by the perspective.
This is where Martin comes up with another enlightening cracker. I’d always assumed that buildings like these sagged with the centuries. Not so! They looked pretty much like this almost from the start, having been built with freshly-cut ‘green’ timber. As the wood dried out, it would twist and lock into place, giving the building tremendous strength as well as its crooked character.
Martin whisks us up Grope Lane, so named because it was the red light district in the 1800s. Here he shows us more examples of these inventive building techniques with the numbers on the timbers clearly visible.
Later I peek into McDonald's, having been told that a stretch of the original 11th-century town walls can be seen in the basement. Half expecting to see just a few bricks, I am surprised by the scale of it.
Our hotel, The Lion, is another curious place and one that’s very easy to get lost in, given its myriad of passageways. Shrewsbury’s most famous son, Charles Darwin, stayed here before he left for the five year survey on HMS Beagle which was to form the basis of his theory on the origin of the species.
Charles Dickens was another illustrious guest. Our view down Wyle Cop still “looks all down the hill and slantwise to the crookedest old black and yellow houses”, much as Dickens described it in 1858.
The names of Shrewsbury's Shuts and Passages – a maze of narrow alleys which criss-cross the town centre – are another curiosity, with names such as Dogpole, Mardol and Gullet Passage. Other streets are named after the commodities once sold along them; Butcher Row, Fish Row, Candle Lane and Milk Street. There’s also the Bear Steps, where people would once have watched bear baiting.
We trace the Severn’s horseshoe shape around Shrewsbury along tree-lined paths through peaceful parkland known as The Quarry after its original purpose. On the river, dozens of boys from Shrewsbury School, where Darwin himself was once a pupil, row gracefully. Every August the Quarry throngs with thousands of visitors to the world’s longest-running flower show. At its centre, gates lead us into The Dingle, a delightful sunken garden with alpine borders and tinkling water features. It’s the creation of TV’s first ‘celebrity gardener’, the late Percy Thrower, during his time here as parks superintendent.
Back in town, it’s the famed stained glass in the Church of St Mary the Virgin which mesmerises us. The most beautiful is the huge 14th century Tree of Jesse window, filled with figures of Old Testament kings and prophets. But it’s the colourful panels depicting the life and work of the 12th century St Bernard which spark our imaginations. They form a sort of medieval strip cartoon, with ribbons of words, showing him riding a mule, curing the sick and getting rid of flies from an abbey.
On the wall outside is a plaque in memory of steeplejack and showman Robert Cadman, who fell to his death in 1739 performing what can only be described as the craziest of stunts. His trick was to slide down a rope tied to the spire – one of the highest in England – on a board with a groove in it, all the while blowing a hunting horn.
Martin is also the town crier and, not surprisingly, the tallest one in the world. Wandering about with him is, I imagine, a bit like accompanying Santa on his rounds. Everyone, from small children to businessmen, calls and waves. At one point we meet the town’s MP, Daniel Kawczynksi, who is ‘only’ four inches shorter than Martin. Daniel is known as ‘Mr Shrewsbury’ and MPs are said to run a book to see how many times Daniel can mention Shrewsbury in the House of Commons, such is his pride in the town.
Speaking of pride; the restaurant in The Lion is named after Sam Hayward, the 18th century coachman of the Shrewsbury Wonder. He was revered for his ability to get the 156 miles from London to Shrewsbury in less than 16 hours. He’d change horses every eight miles, doing so in 55 seconds. “Almost as fast as a Formula One pit stop,” jokes Martin.
Sam was regarded as being so reliable that council bigwigs set the town clock by his arrival as he came thundering up Wyle Cop. He’d then sweep his coach and four through the sharp and narrow arch to The Lion’s yard with a half inch gap on either side, never once hitting the walls.
The tourist spiel had described Shrewsbury as “almost an island in the loop of the Severn, tucked away from the rest of the world.” But with its huge range of unusual, independent shops, delis and eating places, stuck in the past it is not.
Visitors are also warned to be mindful of other sightseers, so engrossed by the fascinating features above their heads that they don’t always watch where they’re going. It’s a warning I’d repeat, even after being in Martin’s hard-to-miss presence.
What else to see and do
*Wroxeter (AD58-88) was the fourth largest city in Roman Britain. Initially it was a fortress occupied by a legion of 6000 men. When the army left a civil settlement, Viroconium, was founded which prospered until the late second century. You can see the remains of what were a Roman leisure centre and a parade of small shops. No one really knows why it was abandoned, but the deserted buildings were gradually dismantled. Roman stone can be found in local churches and houses. Five miles east of Shrewsbury on the B4380. www.english-heritage.org.uk (01743 761330).
*Attingham Park; the National Trust is running a project to restore this charming mansion, once owned by the Berwicks. The estate was bankrupted by the second Lord, who married a teenage courtesan and did nothing but spend. By the time the eighth lord inherited the mansion, it was abandoned and shabby. With sensitivity and little money he and his wife Teresa lovingly rescued the gracious interiors. Teresa kept samples of fabrics and trimmings in shoe boxes for historians to discover. Together with these and details from the bankruptcy catalogue the trust is refurbishing the house to how it would have looked in the 1800s. Four miles south east of Shrewsbury, on B4380, at Atcham.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/attinghampark (01743 708162).
*The Battle of Shrewsbury site; this is where one of the bloodiest battles in English history was fought in 1403. Around 75,000 were killed during a 2.5 hour battle. Visitors can walk the Hotspur and Royal Trails and see the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, built in the 1400s to commemorate the battle. There is also Battlefield 1403, with exhibition, café, farm shop and butchery. Three miles north of Shrewsbury on the A49 Whitchurch road. www.battlefield1403.com (01939 210 905).
*Shrewsbury Castle; this houses the Shropshire Regimental Museum with collections of pictures, weapons, uniforms and other memorabilia from the 1700s to the present. If you go up the nearby Laura's Tower, built by Thomas Telford, you'll be standing on the original motte, the site of Shrewsbury’s Norman castle. www.shrewsburymuseums.com/castle (01743 281205).
*Shrewsbury Abbey, founded 1083, is also well known as the fictional home of Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael, the crime fighting monk. www.shrewsburyabbey.com (01743 232723).
Where to stay
The Lion Hotel, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury, is a Grade 1 Listed 16th century coaching inn with stunning architecture and period features. www.thelionhotelshrewsbury.co.uk (01743 353107).
Where to eat
The Golden Cross, Princess Street, Shrewsbury, has been an inn since 1428. It’s now a popular restaurant with some particularly good fish choices, as well as daily specials using seasonal ingredients. It also has rooms. www.goldencrosshotel.co.uk (01743 362507).
Where to find out more
*For guided tours with Martin Wood; www.towncriershrewsbury.co.uk
*Guided walking tours are available year-round through Shrewsbury Visitor Information Centre in Barker Street. Email: visitorinfo@shropshire.gov.uk (01743 281200).
Pictures by Robin Weaver