Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for WENLOCK (Much)

WENLOCK (Much), a town, a parish, and a borough, in Salop The town stands on the Buildwas and Craven-Arms railway, underthe NE end of Wenlock Edge, 11 miles SE of Shrewsbury; dates from the ancient British times; was anciently called Llan-Meilain, signifying "St. Milburg's church;" acquired importance from a monastery, founded in 680, by Milburga, daughter of King Merwald; suffered severely from the inroads of the Danes; became a borough, sending two members to parliament, in the time of Edward IV.; gives the title of Baron to the family of Lawley; is a seat of sessions and a polling place; consists chiefly of two streets, crossing at right angles; and has a post-office‡ under Wellington, Salop, a r. station, a banking office, an ancient guildhall, restored in 1848, a corn exchange of 1852, with agricultural library and reading room, an ancient church, partly Norman and recently enlarged, two dissenting chapels, a public library, an endowed school with £14 a year, alms houses, some other charities, a weekly market on Monday, and five annual fairs. The ancient monastery was destroyed by the Danes; and was refounded, as a Cluniac abbey, in 1080, by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury. The abbey gave rise, in 1164, to Paisley abbey, founded by the first Stuart; went, at the dissolution, to the Berties; passed to the Gages and the Wynnes; was a noble cruciform edifice, measuring 401 feet from E to W, and 166 feet along the transept; included a Lady chapel of the 15th century 48 feet long, and a chapter-house 60 feet by 30; and is now represented by extensive ruins, comprising large parts of the main body of the church, parts of the Lady chapel, the chapter-house, and the cloisters, and the prior's lodge and gate. An ancient hospital of St. John also was here.—The parish comprises 8,846 acres, and is a sub-district of Madeley district. Real property, £13,956: of which £441 are in quarries, and £40 in gasworks. Pop. in 1851, 2,398; in 1861, 2,494. Houses, 509. The property is much subdivided. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £180. Patron, J. M. Gaskell, Esq.-The borough includes 12 parishes and a part municipally, and 17-and a part parliament arily; is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors; and sends two members to parliament. Corporation revenue, about £560. Electors in 1833, 691; in 1863,1,011. Pop. of the m. borough in 1851, 18,728; in 1861, 19,699. Houses, 4,000. Pop. of the p. borough in 1851, 20,588; in 1861, 21,590. Houses, 4,369.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Much Wenlock AP/CP       Shropshire AncC
Place names: LLAN MEILAIN     |     MUCH WENLOCK     |     WENLOCK     |     WENLOCK MUCH
Place: Wenlock

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