[ w ] 
VII* An Extrafl of a Topographical * Account 
of Bridgnorth in the County of Salop, com- 
municated to the Royal Society by the 
Rev . Mr, Stackhoufe, Minijler of St. Mary 
Magdalen in that Town 5 containing an 
Account of the Situation, Soil, Air, Births 
and Burials of that ‘Place , and of fome Tu- 
muli Sepulchrales near it. 
Read jane 3. If} Ridgnorth a is pleafantly fituated 
> 7 + i - jfj upon the River Severn , on the 
Weft of the antient Foreft of Morfe , and was built, 
according to Camden , by Edelfleda\ Lady of the 
Mer- 
* Taken from the original Papers of the Rev. Mr. Richard Comes , 
late Minifter of the Parifh of St. Mary Magdalen in Bridgnorth. 
*■ A fofter Pronunciation only of its old Name Brugg or Brugg- 
north. In a Charter of King John , it is called Bruges ; in another of 
Edward III. Brugg and Brugg-north , and in a Third of King Charles I. 
Bridgnorth, alias Brugg-north , alias Bruges. Both Brugg and Bruges 
iignify a Bridge or Bridges, and the Termination Norths whether it be, 
as fome would have it, a Corruption of the Word Morfe or not, was 
doubtlefs added with regard to the Situation of the Place. N. B. Bruges 
in Flanders is fo called from its many Bridges, and Brugg-bote is an old 
Word for Pontage or Bridge-toll. 
b Edelfleda alias Elfleda , eldeft Daughter of Alfred the Great , faid 
by fome to be the firft abfolute Monarch over the Engli(b. She 
married Ethelred , to whom Alfred gave the Government of the City 
of Lojzdon, which he had then taken from the Danes , and the Title of 
Earl of Mercia , an empry Title, till by his Valour he became Matter 
of a great Part of that Province. After his Death, Elfleda , being a 
Princefsof great martial Prowefs, took upon her the Government of 
her Husband, and fortified many Towns, to keep the Danes out of 
Mercia 
