of the building, the first church would appear to have been built of travertine.  Above Hampton’s Loade, the wooded heights of Dudmaston and of Quatford, with the red towers of Quatford Castle, come into view; but a deviation of the line, and a deep cutting through the Knoll Sands, prevent more than a passing glimpse. Quat is an old British word for wood, and refers to a wide stretch of woodland once included in the great Morfe Forest; and ford to an adjoining passage of the river—­one, half a mile higher up, being still called Danes’ Ford.  On a bluff headland, rising perpendicularly 100 feet above the Severn, close by, the hardy Northerners, who thus left their name in connection with the Severn, established themselves in 896, when driven by Alfred from the Thames; and on the same projecting rock, defended on the land side by a trench cut in the solid sandstone, Roger de Montgomery afterwards built himself a house.

And tradition adds that, in consequence of a vow made by his second wife, Adeliza, the church close by was built upon the borders of the forest, then the favourite hunting-ground of the Norman earl.  The church, like other neighbouring structures of ancient date, was built of tuffa, or travertine, a material found in the beds of brooks in the district, and portions of the chancel, including its fine Norman arch and pillars, are still composed of the same.  Among old endowments of the church, is one, from a source unknown, of a piece of land, the proceeds of which defray the expense of ferrying persons attending church across the Severn.

The old man at the ferry is a fisherman, who knows well where to get “a rise” of trout, or to hook a grayling, and where to look for pike, or perch, or gudgeon.

[Perch and Gudgeon:  18.jpg]

In the parish of Quatford is Eardington, celebrated for the manufacture of iron for guns, wire, and horse nails; and parochially and manorially combined with Eardington is the More, the ancient tenure of which indicates the manufacture of iron here at a very early period.  By it the tenant was required to appear yearly in the Exchequer, with a hazel rod of a year’s growth, and two knives, the treasurer and barons being present.  The tenant was to attempt to sever the rod with one of the knives, the other knife was to do the same work at one stroke, and then be given up to the king’s chamberlain; a custom which was continued until recently.

BRIDGNORTH

[Bridgnorth:  19.jpg]

Population, 6,569.

Market day—­Saturday.  Fairs—­January 20th, February 17th, May 1st, June 9th, July 14th, August 18th, September 15th, October 29th, December 28th.

Principal Hotel—­The Crown, for which, as well as for the Swan, the Raven, and the George, see Advertisements.