When 30,000 arrived at Wem by train

One hundred and fifty one years ago today a shooting contest and feast took place at Hawkstone Park which was talked about for many years afterwards.

More than 30,000 travelled on special trains to Wem on June 28, 1861, some of whom were persuaded to attend after Lord Hill, the Lord Lieutenant of the county, offered to pay out of his own pocket for the food and drink for the 1,200 Volunteers.

They were members of the Volunteer force which had been raised in 1859 when it was feared the French might invade England.

During the next two years, 18 volunteer rifle corps was formed in Shropshire. Two of them, the 1^st Corps and the 17^th, had headquarters in Shrewsbury and later became the 1^st and 2^nd Shropshire Volunteer Battalions of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.

The list for the 1^st Shropshire Volunteer Corps had 130 names, including 29 railway company clerks, workers from the Post Office, banks and the Inland Revenue, 14 solicitors, a barrister, five engineers, four gentlemen, two bankers, two school teachers, a dentist, a farm and the railway superintendent – but not one shop worker.

Numbers had increased rapidly in 1860 throughout Britain with 70,000 Volunteers by February that year, and 200,000 by November.

Patriotism and the chance to wear a uniform were two of the attractions to encourage the volunteers to join up, but the main one was the social side of joining the Corps with bazaars, dinners, fetes, an annual camp in July, a ball in February and a county rifle competition at Hawkstone Park, pictured below.

It certainly was a memorable spread put on by Lord Hill’s team. Newspaper reports said the tables groaned under the weight of the huge joints of meat and the Volunteers were able to help themselves to as much Hawkstone ale as they wanted, while picnics of  pigeon pies and pasties, lobster salad, sherry and champagne were held all over the park.

 It was probably fortunate the shooting contest began at 12 noon before the ale was served.

As one journalist at the event reported: “Never has such a sight been seen in Shropshire before, and we fear it will be many a long day before such a one will be seen again.”

There’s more about this story in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, signed copies of which may be bought for £5 plus postage by emailing John@jbutterworth.plus.com

Hotel's asking price is cut

I was interested to see in the Shropshire Star this week that the asking price for The Lion Hotel has been cut by more than £450,000 from £2.95 million to £2.495 million.

Owner 67-year-old Howard Astbury applied for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement to settle his debts and the historic Shrewsbury hotel, pictured below, was put up for sale six months ago.

The hotel is believed to have received two bids already but Gavin Wright of Birmingham-based Christie & Co told the newspaper that the hotel’s price had been reduced in a bid to attract more interest from potential buyers.

If the Wyle Cop hotel is not sold within the next 12 months it will be put up for auction to ensure that all the creditors are paid.

No members of the 40 staff are expected to lose their jobs through the sale of the Grade I listed building which has 59 bedrooms, 45-space car park, an 18^th century ballroom plus conference facilities.

For more details contact Christie & Co on 0121 456 1222.

My lecture raises £600 for appeal

I was delighted to receive an email recently from Professor John Patrick after I gave a lecture to the Friends of St Chad’s in Shrewsbury to help their fundraising project.

The church has so far raised £1.2 million during phase one of the project of a campaign to restore the unusual tower on one of the town’s most historic churches, pictured below.

More than 75 people attended the evening in the church when I spoke about the town’s three treasures from the 18^th century – the Shrewsbury Chronicle founded in 1772, The Lion Hotel redeveloped in 1777 and St Chad’s rebuilt in 1792.

All three have a fascinating history but especially St Chad’s. In 1788 Thomas Telford warned that the tower was in danger of collapsing – and a few weeks later it did on July 9 that year.

A mix-up by members of the parochial church council meant that Scottish architect George Stewart built a round church rather than the rectangular one they thought they were getting.

I think many people will agree that the PCC got a more spectacular church in the end.

Renowned architectural scholar Sir Nikolaus Pevsner certainly agrees, saying: “It’s one of the finest neo classical churches in Britain which occupies an uncommonly beautiful position.”

One of the most famous members of the congregation was Charles Darwin, who attended the church with his mother Susannah after being baptised there in 1809.

To stop history repeating itself and the tower falling down again members of the congregation have been appealing for grants and have  held a number of fundraising events.

They have done brilliantly raising £1.2 million so far and I wish them all the best with the remainder of their efforts.

My talk was well received and I really enjoyed the evening.

However, I was delighted when Professor Patrick wrote to say: “We at St Chad’s will always be in your debt!  We are not yet quite sure how much we 'made' on Monday night. It would be at least £600. So you have helped the cause a great deal! Thus, many thanks.”

If any other group would like to hear my talk on The Three Treasures of Shrewsbury email John@jbutterworth.plus.com