Image: Lillyshall (Lilleshall) Abbey, Shropshire. A view of the ruins of the medieval priory with a canal barge pulled by a horse on the Marquis of Stafford’s Canal. Lilleshall was also home to a residence of the Marquis, a member of the Leveson-Gower family with extensive industrial, agricultural and transport holdings across the Midlands and beyond.

“Madeley, on the northern bank of the Severn, formerly had an excellent market, which was discontinued in the time of the civil wars and not revived until 1763. Here the Shropshire canal runs from the Severn to the Ketley iron-works; having been joined, in its course, by the Marquis of Stafford’s canal, which, taking a northerly direction, passes Lilleshull. About a mile below the iron bridge, is an inclined plane, by which iron coals, etc. are lowered in troughs, about six feet wide, from the canal above; and hence, by a small canal, of about half a mile in length, made by damming up the Severn water, they are conveyed to warehouses at the Wooden Bridge.

In forming a foot-road in this parish, in the year 1788, a spring of native, or fossil, tar burst forth from several holes, one of the streams of which was six or eight inches in diameter. For a long time, several hogsheads of tar per day were caught; but the spring is nearly, if not quite, exhausted. Here is a work, however, for obtaining tar from the condensed smoke of pit-coal. Various coal and iron-works are in the neighbourhood.

At Coal Port, just below the inclined plane, is a china manufactory; and a little further, is the Wooden Bridge, already mentioned.

Nearly opposite to Madeley, on the southern bank of the stream, is the village of Jackfield. A little further to the south, is the market town of Broseley, the inhabitants of which are chiefly employed in the iron and coal works. Here also are large manufactories of coarse ware and glazed tobacco pipes. Broseley is remarkable for a burning spring, or well, that was discovered there in the year 1711. This spring, by sinking a coal pit near it, some years afterwards, entirely disappeared. For its combustible qualities, the water was supposed to be indebted to a mixture of petroleum.

The neat little market town of Wellington, eleven miles eastward of Shrewsbury…has a handsome modern-built stone church, the roof of which is supported by cast-iron pillars. The window-frames are also of cast-iron….The neighbourhood abounds with limestone, coal and iron, which are employed to great advantage….

Five miles north-east from Wellington, is the retired village of Lilleshull; about a mile to the south-east of which are the remains of an abbey, or priory, now the property of the Marquis of Stafford.”

Harral, vol.1, p 232 -237

Image: Buildwas Bridge, Shropshire. This view shows the old bridge which was replaced by an iron bridge designed by Thomas Telford and built by the Coalbrook Dale Company in 1796.

“This structure, supposed to have been of very ancient erection…is thought to have been formed chiefly for the convenience of the abbey. From the narrowness of its arches it greatly obstructed the navigation of the river; and, although the accident of its destruction, by a high flood, in the year 1795, subjected the county to the expense of a new bridge, the consequent advantage has been great. The present edifice, completed by the Coalbrook Dale Company, in 1796, is of cast iron, admirably executed, from a design by the county surveyor, Mr Telford, of Shrewsbury.

The river, soon after it leaves Buildwas, passes by a place called The Birches, supposed to have derived its name from some large birch-trees which formerly grew there. This spot is memorable in the history of Shropshire for a concussion of the earth, which, in the month of May, 1773, pushed the Severn somewhat out of its course; so that what was formerly its right bank is now its left…. It was an earthquake…which forced the Severn from its accustomed channel, and converted a scene of rural beauty into a tract of terrific devastation. The effects of this extraordinary convulsion of nature are thus strikingly described, in a sermon which, on the succeeding day, was preached on the spot, by the Rev. Mr Fletcher of Madeley:-

“But leaving the newly formed mounts, through heaps of ruins, go to the ancient bank of the Severn. You come to it and she is gone! You are in the middle of her old bed…you stand in the deepest part of the channel and yet you are in a wood! Large oaks spread their branches where bargemen unfurled their sails: – you walk to-day on solid ground where fishes yesterday swam in twenty feet of water. A rock that formed the bottom of the river, has mounted up as a cork and gained a dry place on the bank, while a travelling grove has planted itself itself in the waters, and a fugitive river has invaded dry land.” 

Harral, vol.1, p 209-223.

Image: Llandrinio Bridge, Montgomeryshire. As the Severn draws closer to Shrewsbury, the extent of river traffic increases and Harral comments on the growth of roads and evidence of prosperity.

[Image from Thomas Harral, Picturesque Views of the Severn, 1824.

Shropshire Records and Research]

“About three quarters of a mile from the town of Welch Pool, the Severn, increasing in importance, is navigable for small barges up to a place called Pool’s Stake, or Pool Quay, where it receives the waters of a rivulet called the Gledding. Hence its navigation is continued all the way down to Portshead Point; a distance probably little short of two hundred miles, without any lock, or the least assistance from art. The Thames, it may be remarked, would not be navigable, without much assistance, much higher than Richmond; certainly not half that distance from its mouth, at the Nore.

The traffic here is carried on by vessels of two sorts, barges, or frigates, as they are called, and trows. The former from forty to sixty feet in length, bear a single mast with a square sail, and carry from twenty to forty tons. The trows, or larger vessels, are from forty to eighty tons burden. These have a main and top mast, about eighty feet high, with square sails; and some have mizzen masts. They are generally from sixteen to twenty feet wide, and sixty long. When new, and completely fitted out, they are probably worth from £300 to £400 a piece.

As far back as the year 1758, the number of vessels employed between Welch Pool and Gloucester amounted to four hundred: they were mostly navigated by three or four men each, robust and resolute fellows. This trade has proved a valuable nursery for seamen.

At Buttington, Mr Ireland was desirous of obtaining a boat to convey him to Shrewsbury; but he was disappointed, as the only acquatic conveyance that happened to present itself was one of the ancient British coracles, which are yet extensively in use for the fisheries on the Welch rivers.

Six miles below New Quay, at a small village called Llandrinio, one of the roads from Lllanfyllin to Shrewsbury crosses by a handsome stone bridge of three arches….this is the first bridge of stone over the Severn. Two miles below Severn receives a tributary from the Virnwy – adds greatly to its size.

At Montford Bridge, the great road from London to Holyhead crosses the Severn. This bridge, built of a reddish stone, was unfinished at the period when the annexed view was taken. It consists of three arches, and was erected after the design of Mr Carlisle, of Shrewsbury. At this part the river is about thirty yards wide.

Various improvements have recently been made in the road between Montford-Bridge and Oswestry, by the removal of mud banks, by making small cuttings and embankings, and by widening; effected by cutting off quick bends, setting back fences, and re-constructing the surface. It is also intended to ease the hill, by cutting, widening, embanking, and removing the road near the bottom.

From Montford Bridge to Shrewsbury, the country is eminently fertile, and exuberantly chequered with meadow and cornlands, which constitute the uninterrupted embellishments of the expanding current: whose banks continue to be no less adorned by the villas of the opulent; and the rich and tasteful style of the buildings, – seeming to vie with each other in a display of the wealth and liberality of the prolific county of Salop.”

Harral, vol.1, p 78-92.

Image: Powis Castle, Montgomeryshire. 

“The situation of the old castle is imposing, and the views which it commands are magnificently grand….Beneath are stretched the vales of Montgomery and Shrewsbury, though which the placid waters of the Severn most beautifully meander, apparently interrupted at intervals by green and fertile meadows….in the distance are seen the Wrekin, in a conical form, rising solitary amid the vale of Salop; to the south the extensive chain of the Frieden Hills, with the summit of Snowdon; and westward, the colossal Cader Idris terminating the sublime prospect.

At this time (1823) the entire building is undergoing a thorough repair, with extensive improvements on a tasteful and judicious plan, under the direction of its noble owner, Viscount Clive. The old castle, of red stone, forms the greatest part of his lordship’s mansion. The grand entrance, from the south, is through an ancient gateway, between two massy round turrets….These entrance turrets have, under the improvements which are now going forward have been Grecianized.

The park, containing spacious and verdant lawns, diversified with swelling hills, was, in ancient times, enriched with extensive and finely wooded plantations….For many years, the castle and grounds had been suffered to fall into a state of decay; the pride and ornament of the park had been felled for the value of the timber; and, but for the recent determination to restore its pristine glory, the beauty of Powis would, at no very remote period, exist only in the recollections of the past…

The neatly built town of Welchpool stands about a mile below Powis Castle….The town is large, and, although somewhat irregular in its plan, it is well built…The Montgomeryshire canal, which passes by the town, has caused many new houses, chiefly of brick and covered with slate to be erected in the last few years….The chief manufactures carried on here are those of flannel, called gwart, or webb, and coarse woollen goods, such as are used for soldiers clothing. These are purchased to a great extent, mostly for ready money, by the Liverpool and Shrewsbury dealers. With an increasing population of 3,500, the place has altogether an air of great opulence and comfort.”

Harral, vol.1, p 57-75.

Image: Newtown, Montgomeryshire. Newtown and Montgomery were larger than Llanidloes, but also combined industrial activity in a rural setting

“(Newtown) is a large, irregular market-town…Lying in a beautiful valley of meadow and pasture, it is bounded on each side of the stream by moderately rising hills, most of which are mantled with wood.

Here is the chief manufactory of Welch flannels, the weaving and spinning of which are carried on in several buildings in and next to the town….Nothing can divest the mountain-sheep of the country of the fineness of their fleece, which is of short staple, and admirably adapted to the purpose.

From Newtown, the Montgomery canal accompanies the Severn for many miles. Much business is transacted on it, in the conveyance of lime, coal, slate and timber.

Although Montgomery is the county town, it was, no further back than the year 1756, little more than a village in extent….Formerly it contained only about two hundred timber–and-plaister dwellings, forming a single street; but the houses are now chiefly of brick, roofed with slate: altogether its appearance is remarkably clean and neat, and around the market-place it is not without some pretension to elegance. The circumjacent scenery indicates fertility of soil; and, from the number of pretty cottages of a superior class, which occupy the most agreeable spots in the environs, it may be said to possess considerable attractions for persons of moderate fortune, fond of good society, and of the inexpensive enjoyments of life. The process of tanning is carried on to some extent in this town; but its general traffic is not considerable. Here, however are five annual fairs for horses, sheep, and horned cattle.

The surrounding country is luxuriantly rich in meadow and corn land; and the views, in every direction, are extensively and beautifully diversified.”

Harral, vol.1, p 24-28, 38-57.

Image: Near Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire. One of the small Welsh towns on the river, Llanidloes was a market town, river crossing and centre for wool production.

“The Severn, anciently regarded as the queen of British rivers, is the most rapid stream of our island; and, for the length of course, for majesty of aspect, for extensive advantages afforded by her fertilising waters to agriculture and commerce, she justly ranks as second only to the Thames.

In compensation…for the absence of regal dwellings, of the peaceful abodes of science and the arts, the banks of the Severn are occupied by noble and venerable cities – by towns, rich and flourishing in commerce – by splendid mansions of the great and wealthy – by the modest, yet lovely retreats of ease and refinement; mouldering remains of many a hollowed pile, and dilapidated towers of many a baronial castle….

This interesting river, which, in its progress to the sea, is said to be increased in the volume of its waters by no fewer than forty tributary streams, rises at a place called Maes Hafren, amidst extensive moors, in the high, wild and, and morassy tracks of Plynlimmon. The circumjacent scenery presents a singular combination of the wild the grand, and the beautiful.

Proceeding to the summit of Plynlimmon, the sides of its acclivities, as well as the adjacent hills, are destitute of wood; the barren steeps presenting one expanse of cheerless solitude. Here and there a wretched farm, or cottage divested of inhabitants, peeps forth. These desert tracks may be justly termed the region of sheep-walks; where…the numerous flocks, driven from distant places to feed on the summer herbage in these exposed pastures, are heard to bleat at the close of day. Thus every cottage throughout the vale is merely a winter habitation….

The soil of these mountainous districts consists chiefly of maiden turf, which the officious had of cultivation has never yet approached; the pasturage affording nutriment to sheep, goats, black cattle, and herds of merlins, or diminutive wild horses, commonly called Welch ponies.

Winding, in an east-south-eastern direction, through a chain of stupendous hills, the Severn pursues its precipitous course over large craggy stones, which occasionally produce falls of considerable magnitude; particularly in the rainy seasons, when the rude hand of winter, combining with the tremendous rush and roar of waters, gives birth to scenery so wild and terrific, so majestic and sublime, as would excite the imagination…by the time it reaches Llanidloes, the expanse of its waters has acquired a considerable increase.

This little market town…is seated on the right bank of the Severn. Its name derives from Saint Idloes to whom the little church is dedicated….The chief articles of trade are wool and yarn: the latter is manufactured to a considerable extent by young country women, and sent to Welch Pool, once a fortnight, for sale. Over the Severn…is an old wooden bridge, much decayed; but as the river, though of considerable width, is shallow, and generally fordable here, it is used only in winter, at the time of floods. Near the town are several extensive sheep walks; and in the neighbourhood is an excellent quarry of coarse slate.”

Harral, vol.1, p 1-2, 6-19.

Image: Ruins of Montgomery Castle from the Severn. This is one of the most picturesque of Harral’s views, a portrayal which is consistent with Milton’s pastoral vision of the river in Comus.

Visitors to the river were entranced by its beauty. John Milton in his masque, Comus, which was first performed at Shropshire’s Ludlow Castle in 1634, personified the Severn in verse:

There is a gentle nymph not farre from hence
That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream,
Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure….
Made goddesse of the river; still she retaines
Her maiden gentlenesse, and oft at eve
Visits the heards along the twilight meadows;
Helping all urchin blasts and ill lucke signes
That the shrewd medling ele delights to make,
Which she with precious violed liquors heals;
For which the shepheards at their festivalls
Caroll her goodnesse lowd in rusticke layes,
And throw sweet garland wreaths into her streame
Of pancies, pinks, and gaudie daffadills.

John Milton, Comus, a Masque (1637 edition).

In 1785, the Severn attracted another visitor, Anna Seward. Her poem, Colebrook Dale transformed Milton’s pastoral vision into a scene of industrial rape:

Scene of superfluous grace, and wasted bloom,
O, violated Colebrook! in an hour,
To beauty unpropitious and to song,
The Genius of thy shades…
Slumbers! – while tribes fuliginous invade
The soft, romantic, consecrated scenes;
Haunt of the wood-nymph, who with airy step,
In times long vanish’d, through thy pathless groves
Rang’d; – while the pearly-wristed Naiads lean’d,
Braiding their light locks o’er thy crystal flood,
Shadowy and smooth.  What, though to vulgar eye
Invisible, yet oft the lucid gaze
Of the rapt Bard, in every dell and glade
Beheld them wander; – saw, from the clear wave
Emerging, all the watry sisters rise,
Weaving the aqueous lily, and the flag,
In wreaths fantastic, for the tresses bright
Of amber-hair’d SABRINA. – Now we view
Their fresh, their fragrant, and their silent reign
Usurpt by Cyclops; – hear, in mingled tones,
Shout their throng’d barge, their pond’rous engines clang
Through thy coy dales; while red the countless fires,
With umber’d flames, bicker on all thy hills,
Dark’ning the Summer’s sun with columns large
Of thick, sulphureous smoke, which spread, like palls,
That screen the dead, upon the sylvan robe
Of thy aspiring rocks; pollute thy gales,
And stain thy glassy waters. 

Anna Seward, Colebrook Dale, c. 1785 (see the website and Digital Library for a full version of the poem).

Seward’s poem is important; it was one of the first commentaries on the polluting effects of industry upon landscape at a time when the application of technology and the exploitation of nature were generally portrayed as progress. Erasmus Darwin’s Botanic Garden for example, celebrates industrial achievement in verse. In time the Severn became a tourist attraction, not just for what remained of its natural beauties, but for its record of industrial activity. Harral’s Picturesque Views… describes the factories, forges and foundries along the river’s bank. His description of Coalbrookdale, based on Samuel Ireland’s words, presents an awesome picture of the industrial energy of the place. Elsewhere his picture of industry is more factual.

Image: King Road, viewed from the entrance to the Bristol Avon, where the Lower Avon, after running through Bath and Bristol, joins the Severn and forms the Bristol Channel. This engraving shows the mixture of river traffic and ocean going ships as the Severn meets the sea.

In 1824, a publication, Picturesque Views of the Severn, with Historical and Topographical Illustrations by Thomas Harral was published. The book, originally in two volumes was illustrated with engravings and accompanied by a detailed commentary which explored a journey from the source of the Severn in Wales, until it entered the Bristol Channel. The prints were “embellishments from designs” produced by the artist, Samuel Ireland, several years before. In some editions, the pictures are in colour. Produced for the wealthy 19^th century tourist, Harral’s illustrations and text provide an account of the waterway when urban growth, commerce and industrial activity formed part of the Severn’s attractions.

The Severn rises in Wales and enters the sea via the Bristol Channel. At two hundred and twenty miles is the longest river in Britain. The name emerged from several possible roots. In Welsh, the river was called Hafren or Queen of Rivers. The British word, Sabi or Sabrin denotes muddiness or cloudiness and the Romans, deriving the name from this source, called the river Sabrina. In old maps the Severn is called Seavren, probably from Se-havren, the prefix being a reference in Welsh to the hissing sound made by streams. The word Saefyrne is first recorded as a label for the river in 706 AD (Harral, vol.1, p 3). Whatever the origins of the name, the Severn has played an important role in the history of Britain and the Midlands region.

For centuries, the river has been an agent of economic growth. As a liquid motorway, the Severn transported imports and exports to and from the interior of Britain, coastal ports and the wider world. By the 18^th century it was intimately connected with the development of industry along its route. Without the Severn trade, coal, iron and other mineral resources would have been more difficult to exploit. Pastoral and arable farming flourished in the fertile and well-watered river valley. The Severn became an artery connecting central Wales, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire with the national and global economies.

In other respects the waterway was important. The high ground, through which the river ran, provided suitable locations for castles and settlements, as at Bridgnorth. One example of a town which developed at fords where the river could be crossed or where bridges were built was Bewdley. Shrewsbury emerged because the meandering river provided a good location for defence.

Image: Llandinam, Montgomeryshire. The engraving shows the combination of themes which recur in Thomas Harral’s description of the Severn, the combination of the grandeurs of nature with human settlement and economic activity. This quotation describing the nearby Welsh countryside illustrates these subjects:

“The Severn, combining with the rich and hilly country through which it flows, here forms a beautiful and characteristic landscape…. On the banks of the stream here, are a few scattered mills for the purpose of spinning woollen thread. The domestic manufacture of flannels, by the farmers and cottagers, extends through this vale from Llanidloes… In the descent …one unvaried expanse of smiling cultivation presents itself on either margin….”

Harral, vol I, p 22-24.

Thomas Harral, Picturesque Views of the Severn, 1824
[Image from Shropshire Archives]

Summary

This Journey down the Severn, selects from Harral’s material to explore the experiences of an observant early 19th traveller, following the route of the river. Using engravings based on images by Samuel lreland (d.1800) who travelled the Severn in the 1790s, Harral notes how the mountains of Wales give way to fertile soil and sheep farming, whilst the banks of the river show increasing evidence of human settlement, bridge building, industry and commerce. The route passes through growing towns, such as Montgomery, Shrewsbury and Stourport, as Harral describes local history, architecture and economic activity. Alongside the attractions of nature, he notes the contributions of landowners, engineers and entrepreneurs to the shaping of the Shropshire landscape. Women and workers are absent from his record.