Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway | Page 9

pronounced the finest in his dominion, commands a prospect that
cannot fail to interest. Below, the river winds like a thing of life;
around, are wave- like sweeps of country, red and green, broken by
precipitous rocks into a succession of natural terraces, many of which,
being higher than the town itself, afford the most enchanting views.
The Hermitage is one of these, the prospect from which, on a clear,
sunny day, is such as to commend the choice of the anchorite, who is
said to have exchanged the excitements of a court for retirement in such
a spot. The tradition is, that Ethelwald, brother of King Athelstan, who
succeeded his father, Edward (924), retired here to escape the perils of
the period; a tradition which receives support from the following royal
presentations found on the rolls of Edward: "On the 2nd of February,
Edward III., 1328, John Oxindon was presented by the king to the
hermitage of Athelardestan, near Bridgnorth. On 7 Edward III., Andrew
Corbriggs was similarly presented to the hermitage of Adlaston, near
Bridgnorth. On 9 Edward III., 1335, Edmund de la Marc was presented
to the hermitage of Athelaxdestan," a name signifying the stone or rock
of Ethelwald.
The Cemetery lies embosomed in a sunny opening of the rocks below
the Hermitage, where nature and art combined--the former
predominating so much by means of a noble amphitheatre of
rocks--have given to the spot a quiet, pleasing interest. Outside the
Cemetery, a winding path leads to the High Rocks, the road to which
the inhabitants have recently improved. This elevated position above
the Severn well deserves a visit, commanding as it does the Vale,
through which the river winds amidst alluvial lands, bounded by the
heights of Apley and Stanley, the hills of the Wrekin and Caradoc, and
those of the Brown and Titterstone Clees, with the Abberley and
Malvern hills in the distance. The castellated structure at the foot of the
High Rocks, now used for manufacturing purposes, occupies the site of
the Old Town's Mills, given by Henry III. to the inhabitants, and out of
which he made provision for the hermit of Mount St. Gilbert.

APLEY.
On leaving Bridgnorth the scenery becomes exceedingly interesting.
On the left is Hoard Park, Severn or Sabrina Hall, and Little Severn
Hall. Astley Abbots and Stanley lie higher up on the hill on the same
side; whilst on the right, rocks, crowned by trees, rise from the river in
undulating lines, and introduce us to the picturesque grounds of Apley.
The house is a castellated structure of fine freestone, with a domestic
chapel on the north side; it occupies a slight elevation above the river,
where it is thrown into pleasing relief by woods that crown still greater
heights. The park is diversified by clumps of noble trees, by projecting
rocks, pleasing glades, and grassy flats, on which groups of browsing
deer are seen; and the terrace is one of the finest and most extensive in
England. From its great elevation it commands pleasing views of the
park, of the Severn, and of wide, undulating districts on either side, rich
in sylvan beauty. The proprietor is T. C. Whitmore, High Sheriff of the
county, whose ancestors, from the time of Sir William Whitmore
(1620), have occasionally enjoyed that honour. Opposite to Apley is

LINLEY STATION.
The angler, desirous of a few hours' amusement, may here find good
sport at the fords, where the brooks come down and enter the river.
Grayling and trout are often caught, and chub, less in favour with
fishermen, of large size.
[Chub: 25.jpg]
If the tourist be a geologist he will find it pleasant to follow the course
of Linley Brook, on the banks of which he may find fish of ancient date,
in beds forming a passage from the Upper Ludlow to the Old Bed
Sandstone. He will be interested, too, in noticing the angles at which
the latter dip beneath the carboniferous strata, and these again beneath
the overlying permians.
A series of interesting dingles now occur, where the nightingale is

heard in May and June, through which whimpering streams come down,
and where Tom Moody hunted with the famous "Willey Squire." Tom's
exploits have been immortalised by Dibden in the song,--
"You all knew Tom Moody, the whipper-in, well, The bell that's done
tolling is honest Tom's knell."
A plain slab in Barrow churchyard covers Tom's remains, and simply
records the date at which he died. At

COALPORT STATION,
Seven miles from Bridgnorth, and thirty-six from Worcester, the
Severn is crossed by a handsome iron bridge, at the opposite extremity
of which is the London and North-Western Company's line to the
Shropshire Union at Hadley.
The China Works are about five minutes' walk from the station; they
are extensive, and