This is the Story of Shrewsbury in the era of the town's Wool Cloth Trade when its location at the top of the navigable River Severn brought great wealth, and is is Part 15 in our sequence of videos.
Watch our video about this event below. Once the video is finished you may enjoy returning and scrolling down this page for a transcript of the video:
Video Transcript:
Part 15 - Shrewsbury - Wool and Cloth Trade Town
From 1485, Shrewsbury enjoyed almost one hundred and sixty years of peace and prosperity.
As in the 1380s, this prosperity was founded upon the importance of the River Severn.
The yellow line on the map below shows the River Severn.
The river was still navigable all the way from Bristol to Shrewsbury, Still, to this day, the lower parts of the River Severn attract many people who enjoy boats and river cruising.
And, the young at heart still try their hands at rowing flat bottomed boats!
The river, and surrounding fertile pastures, made it an important centre of the wool and cloth trade.
Flat-bottomed boats were hauled up-river by hand, and may have been based upon York boats*.
York Boats, a boat type which in Shrewsbury would have been loaded with bales of wool for the journey to Bristol.
The York boat was a usable 28 feet long, and thirty-six from tip to tip, being 8 feet wide in the middle, and 3 or 4 feet deep. It had a crew of 8 men, 6 oarsmen, a bowman and a steersman.
Unable to find any specific reference to the boats which would have traded the river in those days,
they seem likely to have been similar to the image here.
The York boat originated from the boats brought over by the Viking Norsemen to York, about 400 years previously.
The images of York boats here come from replica boats built to the same design, and used by the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada.
On the return journey down river to Bristol, each would be laden with hides, wool and woven cloth, which had been brought into Shrewsbury by farmers from close at hand and far afield, and sold to the Shrewsbury merchants.
Text generally based upon The Story of Shrewsbury, by Richard Graves, Hardwick House, Ellesmere 1993.
*The speculation on the York boat is the author's only, and not backed up by any historical text."
This is the story of the day that one man who thought he was very powerful is thought to have stopped an army on the original old Welsh Bridge. The halt only lasted one day, we are told, but nevertheless, it was a courageous thing to do.
Watch our video about this event below. Once the video is finished you may enjoy returning and scrolling down this page for a transcript of the video:
Video Transcript:
Invasion of Shrewsbury Halted by One Man (on the Welsh Bridge) The Story of Shrewsbury - Part 14
This video is about the time from Henry VII in 1485, to the Civil War of the 1640s.
It was not until 1485, eighty-two years after the Battle of Shrewsbury, that the town once again came to national prominence.
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond had landed in Milford Haven, determined to overthrow King Richard III, who after much good work in government had himself illegally seized the throne.
Marching to Shrewsbury, which he reached on about 15th August 1485, Richmond found the town gates closed and the portcullis down.
When he demanded to be admitted, the chief bailiff of the town, Thomas Mytton, replied:
"I know no king but Richard, whose bailiff I am, and I swear that you will only enter Shrewsbury over my belly".
On hearing this, Richmond rode back to Forton Heath, near Montford Bridge,
where he and his army spent the night. There must have been some rapid negotiations,
because the next day Shrewsbury surrendered.
To preserve Mytton's honour and not be accused of not keeping his word, he lay down on the ground, while Richmond stepped over him.
At which the portcullis of the Bridge was drawn up, and Richmond and his army triumphantly entered the town.
The town gates, which Richmond found closed, are thought to have been on the original "Old Welsh Bridge" over the River Severn, were demolished long ago.
The Old Welsh Bridge, stood at the end of the street shown here. The photo shows the Mardol, taken from Shoplatch.
The old bridge was demolished once the present Welsh bridge (shown here), was completed in 1795.
It was thought that little or no evidence remained of the Old Welsh Bridge, with its large fortified gatehouse on the bridge, and a second gate to prevent a surprise attack, at the Frankwell (Welsh) end, until during excavations for the new Shrewsbury Theatre in 2006 and 2007, archaeologists discovered what is thought to have been part of the old road and west abutments.
Parts of the structure excavated during the dig, may have been close to Mytton's bold "stand" against Richmond's great army.
So, it was that Shrewsbury became the first town in which Richmond was proclaimed to be King Henry VII.
He stayed for a while in Wyle Cop, three doors below the Lion Inn.
It was from here that he marched to his famous victory at the battle of Bosworth Field.
The first image of the Old Welsh Bridge, shown again here, is attributed to artist Paul Sandby, and painted much later, in the 1700s.
The second image of a fortified bridge, shown again here, is of the Monnow Bridge in Monmouth, Wales which still exists!
The famous artist Joseph Mallord William Turner also painted the old Welsh Bridge, just before its demolition in 1795.
Text based upon The Story of Shrewsbury, by Richard Graves, Hardwick House, Ellesmere 1993. Details of the old bridges were added.
We hope that you enjoyed this video, which is part 14 of the ever increasing series of videos which makes up "The Story of Shrewsbury" series.
Having won the Battle of Shrewsbury, Henry IV had Hotspur's body taken into Shrewsbury, where it is said to have been rubbed in salt, crushed between two millstones beside the pillory.
Want to know more about this? Watch our video introduction to the rest of the contents of this page, below now!
After that it was cut-up into pieces, and sent to the principal cities of the kingdom, as a warning to other would-be rebels.
But, Owain Glyndwr, was clearly not deterred by such treatment.
The following year, he returned and this time he fought his way up to the gates of the Welsh Bridge, but not before destroying much of the Shrewsbury suburb of Frankwell.
On the battle-ground, Henry IV built the church of St. Mary Magdalene; There he installed eight chaplains, whose principal duty was to pray for the souls of those who had lost their lives in the battle.
The church stands to this day.
The fiercest part of the battle took place in the area now marked by the church, and many of the dead were said to be buried there in a mass grave.
The college closed in 1548 and the church passed to the Hussey family, and, later in 1638 to the Corbet family.
It was declared redundant in 1982, and is now in the hands of the Churches Conservation Trust.
What Other People Say About The Battle of Shrewsbury
Located just to the north of Shrewsbury is Battlefield, site of the Battle of Shrewsbury. Fought on 21st July 1403 between the Percy family of Northumbria and the Lancastrian King Henry IV, influenced the course of English and French history and lay the foundations of the War of the Roses, which dominated the later 15th century... via Battlefield1403.com
In July 1403 the powerful Percy family rebelled against Henry IV and allied themselves with the Welsh freedom fighter Owain Glyndŵr. As the two rebel forces attempted to rendezvous with each other, the King cornered Sir Henry 'Hotspur' Percy and, at the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403), crushed the English element of the rebellion.
Richard II came to the throne in 1377 but his reign was blighted by failure in the Hundred Years War as well as social and economic issues caused by the Black Death. On top of this Richard had alienated many of his key magnates. None more so than the heir to the vast Lancastrian inheritance - Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby - whom the King had exiled in 1397. When Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, died in 1399 the King seized his estates. Exploiting Richard's absence on campaign in Ireland, Henry illegally returned from exile nominally to reclaim his lands. However, when he found the King was deeply unpopular, he changed his objective and sought to seize the throne. One of the key magnates that supported him was Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland who felt his power had become fettered under Richard II... Battlefieldsofbritain.co.uk
On Saturday July 21st, 1403, the vigil of St Mary Magdalene, two armies met just outside Shrewsbury. One was led by Henry IV (1366-1413), king of England since the summer of 1399, and the other by his erstwhile ally, Sir Henry Percy (1364-1403), son of the Earl of Northumberland, and better known to history as ‘Hotspur’. The ensuing encounter was the hardest fought battle between Englishmen since that of Evesham in 1265. Engaging the royal forces with cries of ‘Henry Percy King!’ the rebels threatened to undo the Lancastrian revolution of 1399, and plunge England into renewed turmoil.
The stakes at Shrewsbury could not have been higher for Henry IV, as both he and his eldest son Hal, the future Henry V, were present at the battlefield. The last battle fought between Englishmen, that at Radcot Bridge (Oxon) in 1387, had been little more than a posturing skirmish, and although some were killed, most of the energy had been expended in manoeuvre and flight. But Shrewsbury was an entirely different affair. The widespread use of archers, more than 2,000 in Prince Hal’s retinue, and nearly 870 in that of Hotspur (as estimated by Philip Morgan) ensured a heavy death toll. The prince himself was struck in the face with an arrow which, had it landed with more force and accuracy, could have inflicted the type of fatal wound sustained by King Harold at Hastings, as shown on The Bayeux Tapestry... via historytoday.com
No prizes for guessing what Battlefield Road and Battlefield Way refer to! But who exactly was the battle between, and why was it in Shrewsbury? The aim of this article is to retell the story of the battle using nearly 40 street names to guide us. These streets are predominantly in Harlescott Grange and the Battlefield Enterprise Park, but some are in Greenfields.
Henry, Duke of Lancaster (Lancaster Road) seized the throne from Richard II in 1399, becoming Henry IV (Henry Close). He also organised the murder of his predecessor, so he was regarded by many as a usurper, and his reign was characterised by unrest. Indeed, Shakespeare has him say the famous words ‘uneasy lies the head that wears a crown’. Some of Henry’s chief allies were the Percy family (Percy St), the senior member of which was the Earl of Northumberland (Northumberland Place). His eldest son was Sir Henry Percy, nicknamed ‘Hotspur’ (Hotspur St and Park), on account of his impetuous bravery and horsemanship. The Percies guarded the northern border against the Scots, and the king also enlisted Hotspur to do the same in Cheshire, to repel the Welsh led by Owain Glyndŵr (Glendower Court). So Hotspur became popular in the area, especially with the Cheshire Archers (Archers Way), who had formed a personal bodyguard to Richard II, but had been disbanded by Henry IV. via shrewsburylocalhistory.org.uk
The family's dissatisfaction stemmed from a feeling that they had been mistreated by the king after helping him gain his crown in the wars against King Richard II. Raising an army from among the Richard's former supporters, including longbow archers from Cheshire, Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy moved south with the goal of destroying a small Royalist force at Shrewsbury commanded by the 16-year old Prince of Wales. As he marched, Hotspur was joined by his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, who brought with him almost 1,000 men who had defected from the Prince's army.
As Hotspur moved south, King Henry IV was marching north towards the Percy's lands in Northumbria. Arriving at Nottingham on July 12, and hearing of Hotspur's activities, he turned his army west and moved to aid his son. He arrived at Shrewsbury on the 20th, just in time to prevent Hotspur from assaulting the town. via thoughtco.com
When Henry Bolingbroke had usurped the throne of England from his cousin Richard II in 1399, becoming King Henry IV, he did it with the assistance of the powerful Percy family, including Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland . But the relationship between Northumberland and the king was far from amicable. By 1403 the Percys were demanding payment for outstanding debts from 1399 amounting to GBP20,000; an exorbitant figure. Added to this was their severe displeasure at the King's insistence of keeping the Scottish nobles captured at Homildon Hill the previous year as prisoners of war rather than applying for their ransom. To Northumberland, who had led the victorious English troops, this was adding insult to injury and further depriving him of what he considered to be due reward. Henry was unlikely to have been deliberately withholding payment, he simply did not have the resources.
Northumberland's son, the infamous Sir Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, had been given high office in Wales, where he had completed several successful campaigns against the rebellious Owen Glendower, in 1401 and 1402. But he too awaited payment for services. In a complete reversal of allegiance the Percys now formed an alliance with Glendower and Edward Mortimer. Mortimer was uncle to the Earl of March, still in his minority, as well as brother-in-law to Hotspur and son-in-law to Glendower. In an effort to gain support and justify their actions the Percys now claimed that they had only supported Henry in 1399 on the understanding that he only sought to reclaim his confiscated lands and that they had no idea he intended to usurp the throne. They also accused Henry of starving Richard to death in his castle at Pontefract. via douglashistory.co.uk
On 21st July 1403, a rebel army led by Sir Henry Percy, known as Harry Hotspur, son of the 1st Earl of Northumberland, gave battle to the forces of King Henry IV. The somewhat beleaguered monarch was supported by his oldest son and heir, Henry of Monmouth, Prince of Wales, who was only 16 years of age. This young man was later to become the legendary king of Agincourt fame, “Hammer of the Gauls” as his tomb inscription lauds him. That sunny day was darkened by clouds of arrows and rang with the screams of the many dying. It may also have defined the future Henry V as we remember him.
The background to the Percy rebellion was a mounting list of grievances that they felt was going unaddressed. They had been loyal to the new regime initially, but went unpaid for their ongoing defence of the troublesome and perilous Scottish border. Harry Hotspur, a famed soldier in his early forties, was dissatisfied that his wife’s brother, Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March was being left to languish as a prisoner of the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndwr, his ransom unpaid. Harry and his uncle, Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester marched south to offer battle to the king on the Welsh border. The two armies met on 21st July at Shrewsbury in fierce fighting that Holinshed recounts lasted three hours... via mattlewisauthor.wordpress.com
Henry IV knew quite well that he was not the real heir to the throne, although he tried to make people believe that he was. The real heir was Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March.
Richard II was the son of Edward the Black Prince, who was the eldest son of Edward III. Edmund Mortimer was descended from Lionel of Clarence, who was the third son of Edward III. Henry Bolingbroke [Henry IV] was descended from John of Gaunt, who was the fourth son of Edward III. So, of course, Edmund Mortimer had a better right to the throne than Henry Bolingbroke had. But Edmund Mortimer was only a little boy, and, like so many other little princes, he was passed over and forgotten. The people chose rather to have a strong man who could really rule, than a little boy who could rule only in name. But Henry was afraid of Edmund, and kept him a prisoner in Windsor Castle, although he was not otherwise unkind to him. via luminarium.org
