 Central
Shropshire |
|
Buildwas can be found a little upstream from the Ironbridge Gorge. Its most prominent feature is the ruined Abbey. It was founded in 1135, but little is known of its early years except that perhaps it existed more in name than in any other way. However, the fortunes of the Abbey began to change under the second Abbot, Ranulf, between 1155 and 1187. Buildwas Abbey began to amass lands which eventually included property in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Flintshire and Ireland as well as their lands within the county. This land was given to them for a variety of reasons, sometimes even in return for the promise of sanctuary should it ever be needed, some land was purchased outright and some rented. The abbey became in effect, the head of a co-operative, purchasing products and reselling them through its own marketing channels. By 1264 the Abbey had its own barges on the Severn carrying wool from its lands to Bristol from where it was exported to France, and a few years later they expanded their market to include Italy. All this trade without the EC or Maastricht Treaty!
Cressage is to be
found on the A458 Shrewsbury to Much Wenlock road. It gets its name
from Christ's Oak, a tree a meeting was held between local priests and
the Pope's envoy in 597AD.    |
The
parish of Boscobel
lies on the Staffordshire border some five miles east of Shifnal. And
if the name rings a bell, it is probably because it was here that King
Charles II hid in an oak tree. IT was in September, 1651, that Charles
found himself fleeing his enemies after loosing the Battle of
Worcester. He and his loyal companions were forced to flee northwards,
and one of the party, Charles Gifford, a relative of the owner of
Boscobel, suggested it as a place to hide. Although Boscobel House had
hiding places built into it, it was decided that the King would be
better hidden somewhere else, and the place chosen was an oak tree. He
stayed in the tree for fourteen hours, and some accounts even maintain
that Roundhead troops searched directly beneath the tree, where the
King heard them discussing what they should do with him, and the one
thousand pounds reward, if they found him. That night the King hid in a
small hole beneath an upstairs floor which can still be seen today. The
following day he left Boscobel and Shropshire to continue his escape
which ultimately led to France. Boscobel House is now in the hands of
English heritage as is nearby White Ladies Priory. (
The
parish of Condover,
despite the busy A49 and its close proximity to Shrewsbury, is still a
very rural parish, and mercifully the village of Condover is far enough
away from the main road to remain a beautiful and comparative quite
spot. It is said that Richard Tarlton came from here and tended pigs
before heading for London, where he subsequently became a jester to
Queen Elizabeth I. He is generally believed to have been immortalised
in the line, "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of
infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." which many will recognise as
being from Shakespeare's Hamlet.