What to See in England Part 29

WELLINGTON AND THE WREKIN, SHROPs.h.i.+RE

=How to get there.=--Train from Euston. L. and N.W. Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Wellington.

=Distance from London.=--152-1/4 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 3-3/4 to 4-3/4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 22s. 8d. 15s. 0d. 12s. 0-1/2d.

Return 42s. 2d. 26s. 6d. 24s. 1d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Wrekin Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.

To reach the top of the Wrekin from Wellington--a distance of 3 miles--one must follow the main road to Shrewsbury for a mile; then turning to the left, having skirted a ridge of the hills, and following a lane one reaches the foot of the ascent. The Wrekin, although it rises in such a compact and lonely fas.h.i.+on from the level country, is not one single height, but a range consisting of four hills. Those on the north-east are called the Ercall and Lawrence hills, while those on the west are the Wrekin and Primrose hills.

The Wrekin is composed of igneous rocks, and is one of the most remarkable examples of eruptive trap in England. Its shoulders are of silurian and carboniferous strata. The sedimentary deposits within the influence of the volcanic action have pa.s.sed through considerable changes, the sandstone having become granitic quartz rock, chiefly composed of pure white quartz with particles of decomposed felspar.

Close to the valleys of Little Wenlock, to the south-east of the Wrekin, are irregularly shaped bosses of basaltic greenstone.

The folk-lore concerning the Wrekin is, of course, rich and full of detail. One legend says that two giants set to work to make themselves a citadel, and dug out the earth required for the purpose from the bed of the Severn. The top of the Wrekin is 1335 feet high, and owing to its remarkably isolated position the horizon on a clear day has a circ.u.mference of 350 miles. It is not surprising, therefore, that the hill was used as a beacon station in early days. The great sweeping prospect from the summit includes the Malvern Hills, Caradoc and the Brown Clee group, Plinlimmon, Cader Idris, the Brecknock Beacons, Arran Fowdy, and the Berwin chain of mountains, overtopped by the Snowdon range.

Wellington is chiefly modern, and its old church was rebuilt in 1789.

The chief industry is nail-making.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Valentine & Sons, Ltd._

THE WREKIN FROM WELLINGTON.]

WROXETER AND THE ROMAN CITY OF URICONIUM, SALOP

=How to get there.=--Train from Euston. L. and N.W. Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Upton Magna _via_ Shrewsbury (Wroxeter lies 2-1/2 miles south of Upton Magna).

=Distance from London.=--159 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 3-1/4 to 5 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 23s. 10d. 15s. 9d. 12s. 7d.

Return 44s. 0d. 27s. 6d. 25s. 2d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--At Shrewsbury, "Raven Hotel," "Lion Hotel," "George Hotel," etc.

The village of Wroxeter would not be of exceptional interest but for the proximity of the site of the Roman city of Uriconium. It is owing to this fact that the churchyard gate is composed of Roman pillars and capitals. A summer-house in an adjoining garden is also made of Roman materials, and the church contains a font in the form of an adapted Roman capital, obtained with the rest from Uriconium. The church is chiefly Norman, but probably a portion of the south wall of the chancel is Saxon.

The little village occupies the southern extremity of the Roman city whose circ.u.mference measures about 3 miles. One can trace the limits of the place by the indications of the vallum and fosse.

There is no doubt that Uriconium was the Romanised capital of the Cornavii, a British tribe, and it is equally well known that the town became the centre of a network of great roads leading in different directions. The walls enclosed an area more than twice the size of Roman London, and one may easily gauge its importance and its princely style of buildings from the traces of its forum and its amphitheatre, as well as from its wide streets.

The huge destruction brought about when the city was overwhelmed by the West Saxons left the place a ma.s.s of ruins, for there are evident signs that the place was plundered and burned. During the Middle Ages there must have been, however, more than mere rubbish heaps, and the many walls then standing were probably destroyed by monks in order to furnish cheap material for ecclesiastical buildings. There is, notwithstanding this, a great piece of wall 72 feet long by 20 feet high. The other remains consist of a blacksmith's shop and the site of a market-place. A warming apparatus under one of the floors is even more perfect than is usually discovered in Rome. The key of the enclosure containing the chief portion of the remains is obtainable at the neighbouring cottage.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Valentine & Sons, Ltd._

WROXETER.

Remains of the Roman city of Uriconium at Wroxeter. The wall is 20 feet high in places. A warming apparatus in the foundation of one of the houses is more perfect than those usually found in Rome.]

BUILDWAS ABBEY, SHROPs.h.i.+RE

=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.

=Nearest Station.=--Buildwas Junction (1/2 mile from Abbey).

=Distance from London.=--160 miles.

=Average Time.=--4-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 24s. 2d. 16s. 3d. 13s.

Return 45s. 6d. 28s. 6d. 26s.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Abbey Inn."

The village of Buildwas is situated at the foot of the Wrekin, on the banks of the Severn, half a mile distant from the ruined abbey lying on the south bank of the river. It was one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in England, and was founded by Roger de Clinton the Crusader Bishop of Chester in 1135, for monks of the Cistercian order. The building, erected on the site of a hermitage, to which an early bishop of Lincoln had retired in the time of King Offa, was destined to become one of the richest establishments in the kingdom. It was partly destroyed in 1536 and the site granted to Edward Grey, Lord Powis, who married Anne, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suss.e.x.

But though the monastery itself was destroyed, the outer walls of the n.o.ble church remain, together with a great portion of the ma.s.sive central tower, the choir chapels, and the east end, with its delicate lancet-windows. The clerestory, with its Norman windows, is also intact on both sides of the nave, and between the columns are remains of the screen which once shut off the eastern aisle. The door on the south side leading to the dormitories of the monks may still be traced.

The ruins of the chapter-house are remarkably fine, and in good preservation, with a beautiful early Gothic groined roof. Beyond the chapter-house are the refectory and kitchen, and on the side next to the river were the cloisters. In the outer court of the abbey stood the lodge, and there was formerly a fine gatehouse, which collapsed in 1828, and is now almost entirely gone.

The brook, that once flowed across the abbey court, still works the mill close by; but the fine old bridge over the Severn, built by the monks, was taken down in 1690.

A good way of seeing Buildwas is to go there from Shrewsbury by an early train, walking to Leighton and Eaton Constantine, both charming villages, and rejoining the train at Cressage for Shrewsbury. An alternative route is from Shrewsbury to Much Wenlock, where there are the ruins of a fine Abbey.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

BUILDWAS ABBEY.

The ruins of the Church. This was one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in England.]

LUDLOW AND ITS CASTLE

=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.

=Nearest Station.=--Ludlow.

=Distance from London.=--162 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 4-1/2 to 7 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 24s. 4d. 15s. 6d. 12s. 4-1/2d.