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Bridgnorth is an historic market town, dating back to Saxon times, which was once a busy river port, built at a crossing point on the River Severn. There are two "halves", Low Town, and High Town, the latter built on 100 foot high sandstone cliffs. The two are connected via seven sets of ancient steps, the oldest and steepest cliff railway in Britain, and by Cartway, a steep meandering street where, when Bridgnorth was a busy port, every other building was a pub, or worse!
Today, Bridgnorth is still well known for the number of pubs in the town, for details have a look at a map of Bridgnorth and click on the name of the pub of your choice.
Bridgnorth has always had connections with art, music and theatre; Alan Webb has chronicled the history of theatre before the 1800's. Today, live theatre can be found at the Theatre on the Steps, a converted chapel found halfway between High and Low Town on the Stoneway Steps.
The annual
Folk Festival is held in August, based at Oldbury Wells School, to the west of the town centre,
with events taking place around the town at various pubs and the Theatre on the Steps.
One year (2002) I actually participated as an artist - a member of the band Cut Throat Jake (don't ask!)
it was great fun - roll on next year!
Phone (01746) 768813 for more information about the festival.
For the more cultured amongst you, one of the musical attractions of Bridgnorth is the annual Haydn Festival which has taken place every year since 1993.
Bridgnorth is home to a number of talented artists; John Austin G.R.A. specialises in railway scenes, the Bingham brothers are known for their collaborative portrait work. Also resident are the Tarrant brothers, Jim Bridgen and Jeremy Mallard, who has a gallery called "Pen and Think" off the High Street displaying his portraits of legendary cyclists.
John Gorman, writer and performance artist, ex-member of the "Scaffold" who settled in Bridgnorth in 1996, had the idea of turning the town into one huge art gallery, with local shops exhibiting works by local artists. 1998 Gallery Bridgnorth was such a success that the event, coinciding with the twinning festivities, has become an annual event.
Bridgnorth also has links to the literary world - The author of Old Moore's Almanac, Dr Francis Moore, was born in Bridgnorth the son of a pauper, he taught himself to read and became a physician at the court of Charles II.
The Rev, Dr Percy, Bishop of Dromore, lived in Bridgnorth in the eighteenth century.
More modern literary figures include P.G. Wodehouse, who lived just outside the town in his formative years.
Other figures of historical interest with links to Bridgnorth include Cardinal Charles Acton and others who are mentioned in the following section on the history of the town.
For anyone who leads an active life, there is a sports and leisure centre, a fitness centre, mountaineering club , two bowling clubs, cricket, tennis, soccer, rugby, canoeing, rowing and golf clubs, and the River Severn provides excellent walks and fishing.
Another well-known tourist attraction is the Severn Valley Railway, possibly the best of the preserved steam railways in the country. The station can be seen in the foreground of the above picture, with Castle Hill rising behind it.
Here are a few pictures of old Bridgnorth for your perusal.
Bridgnorth is twinned with Thiers in France and Schrobenhausen in Germany.
More information about the town can be obtained from the Bridgnorth Town Council's website and the Bridgnorth District Council's website.
A new website has been set up (March 2005) which describes the Northgate Museum and the artifacts therein. Because the museum is actually in the first floor of the North Gate at the end of the High Street, access is difficult - this website gives everyone the opportunity to see the collection of local history from the comfort of their own armchair.
History
Here are a few dates for the keen historians among you...
912 The Saxons, led by Ethelfleda, built a fort on the Castle Hill site.
At the time of the Norman Conquest, the site was an outlying part of the parish of Morville, and the main centre of administration was the borough of Quatford, where a castle guarded the river crossing about two miles to the south.
The castle site became the property of Earl Roger de Montgomery, William I's chief lieutenant in Shropshire
1101 The Norman castle was built by Robert de Belesme from Quatt, son of Roger de Montgomery. This is mentioned in the Ecclesiastical History of Ordericus Vitalis, translated by David Burr.
1155 Henry II beseiged the town which was in the rebel hands of Hugh de Mortimer, and took it.
1157 The borough was incorporated by a Royal Charter of Henry II. About this time the new town was laid out, with a wide market street and three almost parallel streets to the west of it.
1260 The turf rampart and ditch which had surrounded the town was replaced by a stone wall. There were five gates in the wall, beyond each of which extended small suburbs.
1272 The first mention of a bridge at Bridgnorth when a Benthall man accused of robbery was cornered and killed there.
1272 The friars of Riverside were fined by Henry III for damaging the King's water mill at Pendleson by dumping waste into the river to reclaim land, thus altering the current flow.
1295 The town began to send its own members to Parliament, which it continued to do until 1885.
1360 Medieval Bridgnorth was an important route centre on the Bristol to Chester road and is one of only five towns named on the River Severn in Gough's map of Britain.
1449 a water baliff was employed to ensure free passage for traders on the river and towpath.
After Edward I's conquest of Wales the strategic importance of Bridgnorth declined. By the 1540's the walls were still standing, but much of the castle had been converted to housing.
The growth of river trade in the sixteenth century brought new life to the town, with cheap fuel from the Ironbridge Gorge area.Throughout the centuries when the barge trade flourished, many of the barge owners built their homes in Bridgnorth, while many of the vessels used on the river were built in the town's boatyards.
1642 King Charles I visited Bridgnorth for three days, and reportedly said that the view from Castle Walk was the finest in his dominion. It is not known whether he had visited any of the pubs first!
1644 The River Severn was first used for troop transport when Prince Rupert ferried two regiments down the river to Bridgnorth then marched them to Wolverhampton en route to relieve the seige of Newark.
1646 The Civil War, the final seige and capture of the castle by the Parliamentary forces. The castle was blown up by gunpowder, leaving just the remains of the keep leaning at an angle of 17 degrees - three times more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
1717 To increase the water supply, William Whitmore of Apley paid for and presented to the town an undershot waterwheel on the quayside to pump filtered river water up to a tank on Castle Hill behind the Governor's house.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Bridgnorth became a resort town, a place where people with ample money but no landed estates made their homes.
1760 The town mills at the confluence of the Worfe and the Severn were converted to an iron forge by the Coalbrookdale Company, and were worked by them for about forty years.
On the river banks below Bridgnorth were two groups of forges at Eardington and Hampton Loade which flourished from the late eighteenth century until well into the nineteenth.
1792 St Mary's church built by Thomas Telford.
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A foundry was established by John Hazeldine (brother of the more famous William) in Low Town between Mill Street and the river in the early seventeen nineties. Parts were cast there for some of the early high pressure steam engines designed by Richard Trevithic, including the locomotive demonstrated on the "Catch me who Can" railway in London in 1808.
One stationary engine built there can be seen in the Science Museum in South Kensington, and there is a good model of it in the museum at Bridgnorth. One of John Hazeldine's partners was John Urpeth Rastric, the famous railway engineer.
The products of the foundry included armaments as well as steam engines, and two men were killed there in 1828 while proving a cannon.
1800 Carpet weaving was introduced by the McMichael family from Kidderminster and the carpet trade provided employment for a large proportion of the population of the town in the nineteenth century.
1862 The arrival of the original Severn Valley Railway.
1848 A new workhouse was built in Innage Lane. The buildings eventually became Innage Grange residential home, when new premises were built for the residents, it was converted into flats and is now known as Andrew Evans House.
1892 The Castle Hill cliff railway was built.
1965 The BR line was closed and the Railway Preservation Society was formed.
There follows a short description of some of the best-known features and buildings of the town - adapted from Bridgnorth District Council and Bridgnorth District Tourist Information material.
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The Town Hall
The Civil War caused extensive damage to Bridgnorth, and the original Town Hall was destroyed. Set on a sandstone base one storey high, in the middle of the High Street, the present Town Hall is one of the many timbered buildings rebuilt just after the war. It was originally a barn, bought from the nearby town of Much Wenlock for fifty pounds. It was completed in 1652, since then the sandstone base has been faced in brick and the building was extensively altered in 1887. The splendidly preserved interior contains many historical town relics and is frequently open to the public, well worth a visit.
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Church Street to St Leonard's
The alms houses on the left of the street were established in 1503 and rebuilt in 1792. St Leonard's church was built on the highest part of the town and has a fine churchyard. The church is surrounded by a series of beautifully preserved historic buildings, (see below). The original church dated from before 1250 but the present red sandstone building is almost entirely Victorian.
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Palmer's Hospital
These almshouses in St Leonard's Close date from 1687 and were rebuilt in 1889 with a stone ground floor and "half timbered" upper floor.
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Grammar School
In St Leonard's Close there is a terrace of three brick faced houses built in 1639, each with stone mullioned* windows and diagonally set chimney stacks. Originally one was the school house, one was for the school master and one was for the vicar of St Leonard's and later used for dormitories.* Vertical bars dividing the panes.
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The Old Grammar School
Also in St Leonard's Close, the institution of a Grammar School was founded around 1500 in the former chapel of St John the Baptist. The present building on the site dates from 1785.
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Richard Baxter's House
Another historic building to be found in St Leonard's Close is Richard Baxter's house. In 1640-41 this house was occupied by the famous Puritan preacher who was at one time curate of St Leonard's.
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The North Gate
Found at the north end of High Street, this gate is the only one of five of the town's original fortifications remaining, and most of it has been rebuilt. Originally of wooden construction, the site dates back to the eleventh century. There is a museum in the large room over the arches, displaying local artifacts. Adjacent buildings date from the 17th century with modifications of a later date.
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The Hospital
The present hospital is a hundred yards through the North Gate towards Broseley. It dates from 1896; for a more comprehensive history of Bridgnorth's hospitals there are extracts from a book compiled by Jean Hawker, who was hospital matron until 1989. The hospital has a casualty unit, two general wards, a maternity unit, and an up-to-date operating theatre which is used by local GPs and visiting Consultants. The hospital "Fete" is one of the town's premier annual events.
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The King's Head
This is an important timber framed building with three gables and diagonal struts. The passage leads to a coach yard and stables behind. The Raven opposite (now part of the Crown & Raven) dates from 1646.
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St Mary's Street
Central of the three streets off High Street, which formed the planned new town of the mid 12th century. Brick facing conceals timber framed buildings on narrow fronted "burgage plots"* with side passages leading to long gardens containing workshops, stables and cottages for the servants. This layout is repeated in Whitburn Street and Listley Street, but St Mary's Street is the best preserved.* Plots of land in a town on a yearly rent.
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The Swan
Situated in High Street, near the Town hall, the Swan is a mid 17th century coaching inn with yard behind. Adjacent is a 19th century painted brick building and opposite, another timber framed building to which four caryatids* were added after 1888.*Female figure used as a pillar to support a cornice etc.
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New Market Buildings
Built in 1855 in the italianate style to house street traders, but they resisted the change. It is situated at the southern end of High Street, and the narrow street at the front used to lead through the postern gate to the castle outer bailey. Part of this building now houses the Costume and Childhood Museum.
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Waterloo Terrace
Off the south end of High Street, here you have a choice of routes.The terrace leads down Stoneway Steps to the Theatre on the Steps, or to the Cliff Railway, or the Castle Hill walk which follows the line of the Castle Battlements.
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Cartway
Leading off from the southern end of High Street, Cartway was at one time the only route for wheeled vehicles between High Town and Low Town and the river warfs, where goods were brought by packhorse and waggon from as far afield as Manchester and the Potteries for forwarding to Bristol by barge.There are several caves in the sandstone walls which were used as family dwellings until 1856.
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Bishop Percy's House
Situated near the bottom of Cartway, Bishop Percy's House was built in 1580. It was one of the few timber-framed buildings to survive the fire of 1646. It was named after the Rev. Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, who was born in the house in 1729. The house used to be a boys club but has now been sold privately.
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Theatre on the Steps
The theatre is found halfway up Stoneway Steps, which run parallel to
the Cliff Railway. The 185 steps are formed of cast-iron sections with the step
height and depth designed for donkeys rather than people! The theatre was a
former 18th century Congregational Chapel. It houses an amateur theatre
company and hosts visiting professional touring companies.
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The Castle
The site of a pre-Norman conquest castle rebuilt by Robert de Belesme between 1098 and 1101. All that remains of the once vast Norman castle is part of the keep tower which leans at an alarming angle, resulting from an attempted demolition after the Civil War. The castle grounds offer fine views of the River Severn and the Severn Valley Railway.
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East Castle Street
Once part of the castle outer bailey, the present street dates from 1769. No. 18, the former castle Governor's House, is a notable brick building with stone trim, of about 1633. The other houses are late Georgian. St Mary's Church, originally attached to the castle, was rebuilt in 1792 to the design of Thomas Telford, with the tower at the north end to take advantage of the vista along the street.
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Castle Hill Railway
Until recently the only inland Cliff Railway still working in Britain, it was
opened in 1892, is 201ft (66m) long and has a vertical rise of 111ft (37m). It
originally operated on a water balance system where water was pumped into the
top carriage and out of the lower one, the increase in weight of the top carriage
being enough to raise the lower one. The system was converted in 1933-4 to
electrically driven colliery-type winding gear.
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The Friary
Excavations in 1989 have revealed extensive remains of an impressive Franciscan Friary constructed in the 13th century alongside the river north of the bridge. The scale of masonry and quality of tiles and glass found indicate that Bridgnorth was of strategic importance and, as a bridging point controlling Severn trade, was of economic importance in the medieval period.
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Lavington's Hole
During the Civil War the Royalists were forced to retreat to Bridgnorth Castle after a severe battle. The Parliamentary forces laid seige for weeks and Colonel Lavington was in charge of digging a tunnel under Castle Hill with the intention of blowing up St Mary's Church which housed the munitions. The Royalists surrendered before the tunnel was completed.
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The Bridge
Affording a fine view towards High Town, the bridge was rebuilt in 1823 to the design of Thomas Telford. On the clock tower at the east end of the bridge is an inscription commemorating the building of the first steam locomotive in 1808 at John Hazeldine's foundry which was just up-river.
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Bridgnorth Station is now the northern end of the privately run railway which operates regular services to Bewdley and Kidderminster. The line used to run through a tunnel under High Town and proceed through Ironbridge to Shrewsbury. Behind the station is Pampudding Hill which may have been an Iron Age hill fort, and was the vantage point where the Parliamentary forces sited their cannons.
You may read a description of the railway in English , French , Dutch , Spanish , German or Japanese .
You can look at a clickable map of the route and see pictures taken at the stations and at various points along the line.
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