B R I 



546 



B R I 



Uridge- 

 iiiirth. 



machinery, and sent to Witney, where they are sold 

 as manufactured in that place. There are here two 

 annual fairs, and a good weekly market on Saturday. 

 Some accounts state the population of this town at 

 714-0, and the number of houses at 1688; while 

 others make the population only 1701, the number 

 of houses 386, and the number of persons engaged in 

 trade at 200. The last statement we suppose to be 

 the most correct. See Malkin's Tour in South Wales 

 ia 180k (*) 



BRIDGENORTH, a borough and market town 

 in England, is romantically situated upon the river 

 Severn, in the county of Salop, and hundred of Stod- 

 desdon, 22 miles south-east from Shrewsbury, and 

 140 north-west from London. The river divides it 

 into the upper and lower town, which are united by 

 an old inconvenient bridge of seven arches, which ha- 

 ving been frequently injured by the floods, is now re- 

 building, from a fund accumulated by a toll collected 

 under an act of parliament obtained several years ago. 

 The upper town stands upon the top and sides of a 

 hill composed of red sandstone. It consists chiefly 

 of two streets, which are wide, well paved, and would 

 be very commodious if the town-hall (which occu- 

 pies the middle of the high street) was removed. From 

 these principal streets, several others, that are narrow 

 and steep, branch oft, and pass down to the river. 

 The entrance from the south was formerly by one of 

 these, but being intolerably inconvenient and danger- 

 ous, a new and more commodious entrance has been 

 formed round the south-western base of the castle 

 hill. The expence of this was defrayed by a toll. 

 Many of the communications down the face of the 

 bank next the river, are by means of successive flights 

 of steps. A great number of houses are excavated 

 entirely out of the sandstone rock, so that it is not 

 uncommon to see the smoke rising in the middle of 

 little .hanging gardens, where nothing but the staik 

 cf a chimney appears. The town walls, of which the 

 northern gate only remains, was built by Roger de 

 Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, who also fortified this 

 place with a strong castle, and here, with a few des- 

 perate associates, made a stand against the forces of 

 his sovereign Henry I., but was soon compelled to 

 relinquish it and fly to Normandy. This castle is 

 now almost entirely demolished. One of the square 

 towers, however, which is still standing, is an object 

 of great curiosity, having been partly undermined du- 

 ring ihe civil wars between the king and the parlia- 

 ment : it now leans out of a perpendicular 21 feet in 

 the height of 70 feet. Within the precincts of the 

 castle, upon the scite of an old chapel dedicated to 

 St Mary Magdalene, a magnificent new church has 

 lately been erected, from a design and under the di- 

 rection of Mr Telford. It was finished in 1796. 

 The length is 121 feet, breadth 77 ; height of the 

 tower 114 feet; the height of the Tuscan order 

 which surrounds the whole church is 36 feet 6 inches. 

 Internally, sixteen Ionic columns reaching to the ciel- 

 ing, divide and support the body or cell. . Neither 

 externally nor internally is there a single ornament, 

 excepting the essential parts of these orders. Near 

 the north end of the town, in the highest part of the 

 hiU, stands the church of St Leonard, an old imper- 

 fect edifice. On the west side of the river are the 

 2 



remains of an ancient and magnificent convent, under 

 which there are several remarkable vaults running to 

 a great length. There is here a free school for the 

 sons of the burgesses, which also sends and maintains 

 eighteen scholars at the university of Oxford. Bridge- 

 north is governed by two bailiffs, annually elected 

 out of 24 aldermen, who must have gone through all 

 the offices of the borough, 48 common council men, a 

 town clerk, and recorder. It returns two members to 

 parliament, which privilege was grantedby Edward I., 

 and is vested in the corporation and freemen, amount- 

 ing nearly to 1700. The manufactures carried on 

 here ar- building barges, which navigate the Severn ; 

 tanning leather ; making carpets, which has been car- 

 ried to a very considerable length by Messrs Mac- 

 michaels ; as also a cast iron foundery, established in 

 the same town by Messrs Alien and Hasledine. 

 Cloth, stockings, and some ironmongery goods, are 

 also made here. The trade is considerable, being 

 a market for a great extent of rich country, and 

 carrying on, by means of its barges, a considerable 

 intercourse with the other towns upon the river Se- 

 vern. The market is on Saturday ; and its fairs, 

 which are on Thursday before Shrovetide, March 

 14, May 1, June 30, Aug. 2, and October 29, are 

 resorted to from most parts of the kingdom for cat- 

 tle, sheep, butter, cheese, bacon, and hops. The last, 

 which continues three days, is a very considerable 

 mart for horses, especially two year old colts of the 

 draught kind, and for weanling calves. This town 

 consists of two parishes, St Leonards and St Mary 

 Magdalene, containing in 1801, 910 houses, and 

 4319 inhabitants, of whom 3800 are employed in 

 trade and manufactures. 



The inhabitants are well supplied with water from 

 a spring about half a mile from the town, whence 

 it is conveyed by means of pipes. Water is also raised 

 from the river by a water wheel, up to a reservoir on 

 the edge of the castlehill. Near this reservoir a 

 walk is made round the castle, which forms one of 

 the finest terraces in England. The views from it, 

 particularly up the river to the bold and richly wood- 

 ed banks at Apley, are not to be surpassed. It is 

 situated in W. Long. 2 30', N. Lat. 52 38'. See 

 Buck's Antiq. and Plymley's Survey of Shropshire. 



*) 

 B 



RIDGETOWN, the capital of Barbadoes, lies 

 in the south-west part of the island, in the parish of 

 St Michael, and in the innermost part of Carlisle Bay. 

 Its situation was originally chosen entirely on ac- 

 count of its convenience for trade, without any regard 

 to the health of its inhabitants. It is surrounded 

 with low flat grounds, which being often overflow- 

 ed by the spring tides, rendered it very insalubrious ; 

 but which being now drained, it is reckoned as healthy 

 as any place in the island. This town was former- 

 ly the most elegant and largest in all the Caribbee 

 islands, but it has suffered greatly, both from fire and 

 hurricanes. (See BARBADOES, vol. iii. p. 254.) [t is, 

 however, again recovering its iormer appearance, and 

 affords most of the conveniences, either for entertain- 

 ment or amusement, which are to bt- found in any 

 city of Europe. The streets are broad, the houses 

 lofty and well built, and many of them rent as high 

 as those in London. The church of St Michael i a 



