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CLUN: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1831.

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"CLUN, a parish in the hundred of PURSLOW, county of SALOP, comprising the borough and market-town of Clun, and the townships of Edeclift, Hobendrid, and Newcastle, and containing 1781 inhabitants, of which number, 792 are in the town of Clun, 26 miles (S.W.) from Shrewsbury, and 157 (N. W. by W.) from London. This place takes its name from the river Colun, or Clun, which, rising in the forest of that name, six miles to the west, divides the town into two parts, and pursues an easterly course towards Ludlow. In the reign of Stephen, or, according to Camden, in that of Henry III., a castle was erected here by Fitz-Alan, afterwards Earl of Arundel, on a lofty eminence overlooking the river, the proprietor of which anciently possessed the power of life and death over his tenants; it was demolished by Owen Glyndwr in his rebellion against Henry IV. The remains still present an interesting and picturesque object in the surrounding landscape; they consist of the lofty and massive walls of the keep and the banquet-hall; and considerable masses of the ruins in various parts of the area indistinctly mark out both the ancient form and extent of this once stately pile. In the reign of Henry VIII. this parish was by statute annexed to, and made part of, the newly formed county of Montgomery, from which it was afterwards severed, and included in that of Salop. The town is pleasantly and romantically situated on a gentle eminence surrounded by hills of bolder elevation, and consists principally of one long irregular street on the north bank of the river, over which is an ancient stone bridge of five sharply-pointed arches, leading to that part of the town in which the church stands: the houses are in general built of rag-stone, and roofed with thatch, though occasionally interspersed with some of more modern structure; and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. The market is on Wednesday: the fairs are on Whit-Tuesday and September 23rd, for cattle, sheep, and pigs; and November 22nd, which is a statute and a large cattle fair. Clun, formerly a lordship in the marches, was first incorporated by the Lords Marchers, whose charter was confirmed to Thomas, Earl of Arundel, in the reign of Edward II., at which time its prescriptive right was admitted; the charter not having been enrolled in Chancery, and all the records of the Lords Marchers having been destroyed, its being an incorporated borough was proved by parole evidence: it was formerly the head of a hundred of the same name, which has been incorporated with that of Purslow. The government is vested in two bailiffs and thirty burgesses, assisted by a town- clerk, two Serjeants at mace, and subordinate officers. The bailiffs are chosen annually by the burgesses, from among their own body, on the first Sunday after the 19th of September, and sworn into office at the ensuing court leet, held in October; they are justices of the peace, and hold a court of record for the recovery of debts to any amount. The hundred court, for the recovery of debts under 40s., is held every third Wednesday, and courts leet in May and October: at that held in October constables for the town and the several townships in the parish are appointed. The town-hall, a neat modern stone building supported on arches, consists of one large upper room, in which the several courts are held; under it is an area for the use of the market, in which is a small prison for the temporary confinement of malefactors. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £13. 10. 5., and in the patronage of the Earl of Powis. The church, dedicated to St. George, is a very ancient structure in the earliest period of the Norman style of architecture, and has evidently been of much greater extent than it is at present, having had several chapels attached to it: it has a low tower of very large dimensions and of great strength, with a pyramidal roof, from the centre of which rises another of similar form, but smaller; the arch under the tower, which forms the western entrance, bears a strong resemblance to the Saxon arch, and it is not improbable that this part of the building existed before the Conquest: the northern entrance is under a highly ornamented Norman arch, on the east side of which is an arched, recess, richly cinquefoiled, and probably intended for the tomb of its founder.: the interior contains a fine old font and many interesting monuments; the roof is supported on massive circular columns and obtusely pointed arches, with flat mouldings; and in the north aisle the original oak ceiling, carved in quatrefoil, is still preserved. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. A charity school for twenty poor girls was built by the Rev. Mr. Swainson, the present vicar, who pays a mistress for teaching them reading, sewing, and knitting, and also the master of a similar school for boys, for teaching them to write. The charity school for boys, held in the town-hall, is supported partly by the vicar, and partly by subscription; in both these schools articles of clothing are given in reward for good conduct. Clun Hospital, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was founded in 1614, and endowed, by Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, with tithes in the several parishes of Church Stoke in Montgomeryshire, Knighton in Radnorshire, and Weston in the county of Salop, producing a revenue of £1000 per annum; the establishment consists of fourteen poor brethren, and a warden, who reads morning and evening prayers daily; the brethren have each a house and garden, and receive &Z per month; in addition to this, the warden receives a gratuity at the discretion of the Earl of Powis, as lord of the honour, by whom he is appointed; they occasionally wear a silver badge, on which is the crest of the founder: the management is vested in the vicar of Clun, the bailiff of Bishop's Castle, and the rector of Hopesay; the Bishop of Hereford is visitor. The buildings comprise a quadrangle of forty yards in length, and the same in breadth, in one angle of which is a very neat chapel, and behind the buildings is a large extent of additional garden-ground, apportioned to the several houses. Within a quarter of a mile to the north-west of the town is a single intrenchment, said to have been raised by Owen Glyndwr, as a shelter for his troops during their attack on the castle; and within half a mile to the south is Walls Castle, the station from which it was battered. About two miles and a half to the northeast is the camp of Ostorius, the station occupied by that general in his last battle with Caractacus; and about five miles to the south-east, near the confluence 6 the rivers Clun and Teind, and within a mile of Walcott, the seat of the Earl of Powis, are the Caer, or Bury Ditches, the station of the British hero, and the scene of his last effort against the Roman power: the camp, which is of an elliptic form, comprehends an area of from three to four acres, on the summit of a very lofty eminence, commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country; the steep acclivities are defended by a triple intrenchment of amazing strength, which, though overgrown with turf, is still in a state of entire preservation; the ramparts, varying from fifty to sixty feet in height, are constructed of stones aiid earth firmly compacted, and the intermediate spaces are from twenty to thirty yards in breadth: this fortification, evidently a work of prodigious labour, is one of the most interesting in the country, and, under the care of the Earl of Powis, is preserved with a due regard to its historical importance. In making a turnpike road from Clun to Bishop's Castle, in 1780, several cannon balls were found."

" EDECLIFT, a township in the parish of CLUN, hundred of PURSLOW, county of SALOP, containing 419 inhabitants."

" HOBENDRID, a township in the parish of CLUN, hundred of PURSLOW, county of SALOP, containing 255 inhabitants."

" NEWCASTLE, a township in the parish of CLUN, hundred of PURSLOW, county of SALOP, containing 315 inhabitants."

[Transcribed information from A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831](unless otherwise stated)

[Description(s) transcribed by Mel Lockie ©2015]