Ch. IX. 



SHROPSHIRE. 



203 



At High Ercel also, a little more to the 

 east, there was a park according to the 

 same authority; it is also mentioned by 

 Leland. 



A modern park which dates soon after 

 the year 1803 is at Chetwynd, on the 

 confines of Staifordshire. It contains 

 212 acres, and from 1 50 to 1 60 fallow-deer. 

 But this is not the original park here; 

 there had been one before, as appears by 

 an Inquest on the death of John de Chet- 

 wynd in 1281.' 



South of Chetwynd is lAlleshall: the 

 park belonging to the Abbot of this place 

 was in the adjoining parish of Preston on 

 the Wealdmoors, still called Lubstree 

 Park. It is now a farm belonging to the 

 Duke of Sutherland.' 



Farther south, and still on the Stafford- 

 shire borders, were ancient parks at 

 Shiffnal, Tongcastle, zxA Albrighton: the 

 latter is thus noticed . by Leland in his 

 'Itinerary:' ' Syr John Talbot that maried 

 Troutbeks Heire dwellith in a goodly 

 logge in the hy toppe of Albrighton parke, 

 it is in the very egge of Shropshire, 3 miles 

 from Tunge.'^ In another place* he tells 

 us the park is called ' Pepper-Hill^ as it 

 is marked in Saxton's Survey. 



Madeley, which lies to the south of 

 Shiffnal, but on the northern bank of the 

 Severn, was a park belonging to the Prior 

 and Convent of Wenlock licensed by King 

 Edward I. in the year 1283.' 



South of the Severn, near Wenlock, Le- 

 land notices a park at Willey : it was on 

 the bounds of the Royal Hay or Forest of 

 Shirlot ; and south of this wood or forest, 

 Saxton marks a park at Upton Cressett. 



' Eyton, vol. viii. p. 86. 



"^ lb. p. 258. 



'' Itin. vol. v. p. 29, fol. 30. 



■• lb. vol. vii. p. 24, fol. 3S. 



A comparatively modern park should be 

 noticed at Apley near Bridgenorth, con- 

 taining 24s acres and about 200 fallow- 

 deer. It is celebrated for the great beauty 

 of its sylvan scenery. 



In the central part of Shropshire, south 

 of Shrewsbury and the Severn, according 

 to Saxton also, there were parks at 

 Langleyaxid Plash. The Castle of Acton- 

 Burnell is a little north of these places, 

 and here also was an ancient park, en- 

 closed by the celebrated Bishop of Bath, 

 Robert Burnell, as early as the fiftieth of 

 Henry 1 11.^ This is an existing park 

 belonging to Sir F. C. Smyth, Bart. : con- 

 tiguous to it is Longnor, the ancient seat 

 of the Corbetts. Here a park is noticed by 

 Leland,' which at present contains 40 acres 

 and a herd of 60 fallow-deer. 



A modern and existing park is at 

 Attingham or Atcham, on the banks of 

 the Severn near Shrewsbury, belonging to 

 Lord Berwick. 



About eight miles west of Shrewsbury 

 and south of the Severn, is Rowton. 

 Here was an ancient castle, and a park, 

 which is given in Saxton's Survey; ad- 

 joining is Loton, the seat of Sir Baldwyn 

 Leighton, where there is an existing park 

 of 260 acres, with about 100 head of fallow-' 

 deer. The date of this park is unknown, 

 but it is not in the ancient surveys. It 

 may be noted here that Sir Richard 

 Leighton, Bart., an ancestor of this vene- 

 rable family, reserved to himself in a 

 certain deed of feoffment power to make 

 a park in his Manor of Leghton in the 

 year 1300. This manor is near Buildwas 

 Abbey on the Severn.^ 



° Eyton, vol. iii. p. 320. 

 " Cal. Pat. Rolls, p. 38. 

 'Itin. vol. V. p. 30, foL 31, 

 ^ Eyton, vol. vii. p. 337. 



