Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway | Page 9

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 were established during the latter half of the last century, at which time they were removed here from Caughley. The productions are of a high order of merit, and combine those distinctive characters for which Caughley and Nantgarw were celebrated. They were successful, some years ago, in obtaining a medal awarded by the Society of Arts; in obtaining a First Class Exhibition Medal in 1851, also in 1855, and again in 1862. The works are very advantageously situated, having the river, the canal, and two railways adjoining.
The Art-Journal, in giving the history of these works, thus speaks of them: "The productions