Bridgnorth

Bridgnorth, town and municipal borough of Shropshire, 19 miles S.E. of Shrewsbury. Of the two parts into which it is divided by the Severn, the Lower is on the river, the Upper is on a rocky sandstone height about 180 feet above the bank. There was formerly a fortress on this height, but only a fragment of it now remains. The town formerly sent two members to Parliament, and from 1868 till 1885 it still sent one. The chief industries are carpet and worsted making. There are two parish churches and a grammar school of Henry VIII.'s time. The castle was demolished and the High Town burnt by the Parliamentary forces during the Civil war. There is still to be seen a fine old Tudor house, which escaped the fire, and in this house Bishop Percy was born in 1728.