The founding of the Town by The Twentieth Legion
As the Pax Romana was being established in the area, by the advancing LEGIOXX Valeria Victrix under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, a team would have been sent out to scout out the next days march. It was the custom while travelling in potentially hostile territory to select a site where a temporary fortified camp could be made. They were skilled at this procedure and they found the perfect spot, a low hill with good water and at the right distance; it was to become Mediolanum and began the history of Whitchurch where people would live and prosper to the present day.
The Cornovii
The border area between what is now England and Wales was at this time the home of the Cornovii we do not know if they occupied Whitchurch in any numbers but due to its proximity to places like ‘Bury Walls’ and 'Maiden Castle' it is likely that a small settlement would have been here when the XXth arrived. The Cornovii were well aware of the power of Rome and its Legions, and had decided not to oppose them. It began a long co-operation that was to see their romanisation to the great benefit of all. This would lead to the growth of the temporary encampment into a small Romano British town. The XXth whose emblem was a charging Boar were replaced at Chester for a short while but returned and made it their home for the next 300years or so.
Under the protection and with the help of the XXth and no doubt Auxiliary Cohorts Mediolanum grew and prospered becoming a substantial stone built town.
The beginings of a Christian Tradition
The matyrdom of St Alban shows that Christianity had travelled to Brittania even before Contanstine made it the state religion. After the ‘conversion’ of the Empire a town like Mediolanum would have had a Christian Church; families here would have had a strong Christian tradition by the time that rule from Rome was ended. Being long established as a centre of administration and commerce would have enabled the Town to face the problems caused by the withdrawal of the XXth by Maximus Magnus to try and take the already dead Empire. The once unified province of Brittania now broke up with the lower tiers of former Empire officials being forced to run their own affairs.
The Saxons Arrive
The Saxons were steadily encroaching from the west and the Legions were no longer here to stop them. The deal struck by Vortigern with Hengist and Horsa meant the defeat of the Picts and Scots but left him and his people with new neighbours. You can imagine how local auxiliary cavalry units would have continued to maintain law and order. These tales were taken from Bardic material and Saxon chronicles by Geoffrey of Monmouth and turned into that best seller King Arthur and the Knights of the round table; you are now in one of the places where that legend was born.
The Princedom of Powys
Gradually the land of the Cornovii became the Princedom of Powys. The people of Mediolanum must have been very flexible to ride out these changes and assimilate the Saxon arrivals. As more Saxons arrived the nature of the town changed and communites such as; Whixall ‘Hwittuc’s hahl’; Doddington the town of Doddas people; Alkington the place of Ealhmund’s people, and many others grew up around it. The Kingdom of Powys now gave way to Mercia the final border being forged in battle and blood.
Stone Gives Way to Wood
The skills required to maintain the fine Roman buildings were lost and Saxon structures put up on top of their foundations still following the layout of the Roman town around: High Street (part of Watling Street); Pepper Street, St Mary’s Street or Back Street as it was previously known, and Yardington. These timber-framed structures were to be the norm until the building of Ellesmere House at 28 Doddington in the early part of the 18th c. The skeletons of these structures can still be found in the innards of the buildings of the town, the sketch is reproduced from "Vernacular Buildings of Whitchurch &
Area and their occupants" Madge Moran Logaston Press 1999 ISBN 1 873827 16 4 page 90. The oldest buildings The Old Eagles public House and Walkers Bakery High Street having survived fire; armed raids; civil war, and the dreaded town planners, to the present day. The town was now known as Westune or West Town.
The Pope sends Augustus and Paulinus to Britain
When Augustus and Paulinus were sent to Brittania by the Pope to convert the pagan Saxons; Engles, and Jutes there must have been many families who had continued the Christian tradition of the former Empire.
The first known Church
Paulanus who was sent to Mercia clearly succeeded as the first known church was built here by Aethefleda Queen of Mercia around 914a.d. She dedicated it to Alkmund whose name it still bears to this day. Aethelfleda was the eldest daughter of King Alfred and Widow of Ethelred who was slain by the Danes. She continued the fight against these interlopers and in journeying along the old Roman Road between Shrewsbury and Chester would have been a frequent visitor to Whitchurch. Alkmund a Prince of Northumbria had a large following and is believed to have been killed by a Pagan and so considered to be a Martyr to the Faith. There are only six other Churches dedicated to him all in the former Kingdom of Mercia.
The Town Acheives Royal Status, and A New Name
Just before the arrival of William of Normandy the town achieved Royal Status by becoming the property of Harold this ended along with his hopes at Hastings and William de Warrene took his place. As was their custom a castle was built at Westune to secure the area from incursions by the Welsh and to keep the locals in order; one can imagine how much of an upset the building of this fortification was to the townsfolk who not only had to suffer the inconvenience but also pay and supply manual labour for it. Quite a few Westunians must have lost their homes to this endeavour; thankfully it did not destroy the original layout of the town. De Warrenne also rebuilt the church and as white Grinshill stone was used, it provided the town with a new name Album Monasterium in Latin and Blanc Minster in the tongue of the new elite; the locals would have called it Hwit Cirice or Weis Kirche (White Church ) in their own tongue and as there were more of them, the name stuck and that is why it is known as Whitchurch today.
Murder and Theft
The Abbey at Combermere became a rival power in the town as witnessed by the murder of William de Albo Monasterio by the Abbot over the theft of cattle. The dead man’s widow Clemencia sued the Abbot for the murder and also several of the Monks for violent conduct on the orders of the Abbot. The Abbot and the Monks were cleared but three men were outlawed for the murder.
King John visits
On 8th July 1211 King John assembled an Army at Whitchurch and marched into Wales penetrating as far as Snowdonia.
Sir John Talbot
Sir John Talbot is one of the most famous sons of the town born at Blakemere in the latter quarter of the 14th century, (NR45 passes this place just outside of Whitchurch). At that time there was a beautiful manor house there; today there is no sign of it, the mere is to be seen by the railway bridge and is quite lovely; it is said that the Manor House was on the south side of the mere. Sir John features in Shakespeare in the first part of King Henry VI Act II to quote the Countess of Auvergne from the lines of the play;
"Is this the scoure of France? Is this the Talbot so much feared abroad, that with his name the Mothers still their babes?"
Sir John held numerous public offices and was slain at Castillon near Bordeaux in 1453 by forces inspired by Joan of Arc marking the end of the ‘hundred years war’. His mummified heart was brought back and buried under the porch of St Alkmund’s; later the rest of his remains were also returned to Whitchurch. The town has also commemorated his name by giving it to the Comprehensive school.
The last Welsh Raid
The last major raid by the Welsh in 1404 caused great damage much of the town being destroyed and the Mill completely dismantled, it took seven years to make good what had been lost. The town recovered from this and also overcame when the Black Death struck.
John Leland visits
John Leland visited Whitchurch around 1540 and wrote the following believed to be the earliest known written account by a visitor;
“So to Whytechurch by meately fruteful sandy ground, at the hither end is a very faire poole having bremes, pikes tenches, perches and daces….. the toune of Whitchurch hath a veri good market.”
He went to Blakemere and wrote of his visit; it would appear that he was a very keen angler because he also writes about the fish and pools seen by him there.
Crime and Punishment
What is now Tesco car park known as the ‘White Lion Meadow’ was for many years the pool providing a head of water for the Mill which was located in the area of the junction of Mill Street and Castle Hill. The lock up house was also in this area and was the centre of the administration of justice; the Mill Pool featuring heavily in the punishments of the times; there was a ducking stool behind the lock up house. A short jetty reached out over the water and miscreants were strapped to a stool on the end of a pole and forced beneath the water. Of course this water was not clean and clear, it being a repository for much of the waste from the area. At the bottom of the Hill in Mill Street the stocks were located where offenders were secured for the amusement of passers by, who could if they wished hurl rotten vegetables and the like at the prisoners. Another punishment of those times reserved for difficult wives allowed the husband to put a metal cage around the head with a metal piece forced into the mouth, a chain was attached to this device and the unfortunate lady was then dragged around the streets in this fashion. Regular Policing did not make an appearance until the 19th Century when a Police Office was built in Claypit Street where the Brownlow centre is today. In 1860 the present Police Station was built in Station Road it is one of the oldest operational Police Stations in the Country.
The Third Church
The Third Church was built in the latter part of the 14th Century and was a very fine building with lancet windows. A Tower added a hundred years later proved to be the undoing of the building as it was built over the now hidden Roman defences. On the evening of Sunday 31st July 1711, while the church was empty, the Tower suddenly collapsed. The resultant devastation was beyond repair and the town’s ecclesiastical authorities were forced to plan a complete replacement. This was a very sad event as a wonderful mediaeval building was lost to prosperity.
The Fourth and Present Church
Within 18 months the present church was completed; it is the largest parish church in the County outside of Shrewsbury and can accommodate 2000 persons. The dedication took place in 1713; the church was built in the classical style, a joint effort between John Barker of Derbyshire and William Smith of Warwick both well-respected architects.
Civil War
The Town declared for the King in the civil war; poor old Lord Capel; Sir Vincent Corbett and Sir Michael Woodhouse were charged with defending the town and keeping the line of communication between Chester and Shrewsbury safe. Parliamentary forces were at the west and east in Wem and Nantwich under the very capable Sir William Brereton. Capel opened the game with an attack against Nantwich using Dragoons raised in Shropshire who were not of the best, it was a disaster with many of the Dragoons running off without firing a shot, Corbett had to escape on his hands and knees an experience he was to have to repeat later on at Market Drayton after another defeat. In May 1643 Capel took most of his forces off to Warrington to take part in the siege there. The Town was left in the hands of Woodhouse and about 700 defenders. Brereton made a surprise attack on the 30th with around 800 soldiers and breeched the defences at the Claypits (Claypit Street). During this fierce and bloody engagement over a 100 Royalists were killed and prisoners taken. The Roundheads did very nicely out of this, taking the Royalist soldiers pay amounting to £2000 in cash. In September of the same year a large engagement took place near to Wem; Capel trying to be clever thought to outflank the Roundheads and take Wem by surprise, despite a skeleton garrison of around a hundred he was not able to take the Town the event being perpetuated in Rhyme:
“The Women of Wem and a few Musketeers
Beat Lord Capel and all his Cavaliers”
With the end of the Civil War the death of Charles must have been mourned by many in Whitchurch, but I suspect not all. The town has always had a core of free thinkers and those who want to improve things; that has sustained it through the past two thousand years.
Celia Fiennes
Celia Fiennes was one of the first recorded leisure tourists and made several epic journeys. In 1698 she travelled from Durham to Shrewsbury on horseback riding side-saddle. Her account of approaching Whitchurch from Northwich is particularly fascinating. As she approached Beeston crossing the Nantwich/Chester ‘Great Road’ two men appeared and began to follow her. She suspected that they were ‘Highwaymen’. They stayed with her until she neared Whitchurch and began to feel safer as there were more people about, it being market day in the town. Before she entered the town the men went off. We will never know whether they were ‘Highwaymen’ or not, or why they didn’t attack Celia if they were. There is a memorial commemorating Celia's travels in the area at No Man's Heath near to Whitchurch sadly not on 45, so I have included a photograph of it.
Memorial commemorating Celia Fiennes journey in this area in 1698.© Mike Clarke
To read Celia’s account of her visit to Whitchurch and also all of her other journeys follow this link
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe the author of ‘Robison Crusoe’ also a contemporary of Celia Fiennes, included Whitchurch in his ‘A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain’, first published in three volumes from 1724 to 1726. It is not known if Defoe personally visited the places documented in the work or if he obtained the information from others. The work is written from the perspective of the writer as the traveller. I have included an extract from the journey from Cheshire into Shropshire.
The firft Town we came to in Shropshire, called Whitchurch, is a pleafant, large, and populous Town, and has a very good Church, in which is the Monument of the great John Talbot, firft Earl of Shrewsbury, who was called in his Time the English ACHILLES, and who was fo renowned in the Wars in France, that no Man in that Kingdom dared to encounter him fingle-handed.
Defoe is a very interesting character and his biography makes for a good read. To find out more visit.
The Stage Coach
In the latter part of the 17th century, the Stage Coach began to operate and Whitchurch was, thanks to the Roman road builders, on important routes between Shrewbury; Oswestry; Nantwich; Stafford, and Chester; this led to the growth of Coaching Inns. The coaches themselves were named and had regular routes associated with specific Inns. The ‘Royal Mail’ ran every day to and from Chester from the White Lion Hotel, and the ‘Hero’ from the same Inn, daily to and from Shrewsbury. The ‘Fair Trader’ called at the Red Lion Inn High Street to take passengers to Birmingham via Shrewsbury. The ‘Albion’ called every forenoon at the Lord Hill Hotel Mill Street, Sundays excepted, from Liverpool via Chester. Goods were also transported from the Swan Hotel in Watergate from the Black Bear in High Street and the Lord Hill. An idea of the journey can be gained from this account of 1739:
“The Chester Stage is no despicable vehicle for a Country Gentleman. The first day with much labour we got from Chester to Whitchurch, twenty miles. The second day to the Welsh Harp; the third day to Coventry; the fourth to Northampton; the fifth to Dunstable, and as a wondrous effort on the last to London before the commencement of night”
A Commercial Centre
Despite all the set backs the town prospered and as the population grew it continued to develop its role as a commercial centre. The market hall in the High Street (now Barclay’s Bank) was built in 1715 to provide a covered place where poor persons could sell their produce.
Clock Makers and other Trades.
Whitchurch has always been the centre of local trade and services to the agricultural industry the earliest market place was in the Bull Ring. Trade in salt was a natural commodity with brine pits in the locality. The trade of leather tanning had been practiced in the Town maybe from Roman times and had developed into among other things a thriving saddlery and shoe manufacturing centre. 
Other trades mentioned are Blacksmiths; Coopers; Joiners; Nail Makers; Coach Builders; Tin Plate Workers; Braziers; Tallow Suppliers; Rope Spinners and so on. Many of these trades were carried on in 'yards' off the main streets. The sketch on the left shows Barlow's Yard in 1900. The arrival of a clock maker gave the town another string to its bow; at one time there were several clock and watchmakers. Only William Joyce and Son survive still making tower clocks at premises in Station Road (on NR45) where they have been since 1904, after moving from the High Street. This is a fascinating story in itself; you will be amazed at the places where this little firm’s products can be found.
Markets and the Payne Book
Markets were held in the High Street with particular trades having set places for their stalls All this activity had to be regulated and the appropriately named ‘Payne’ book provided a list offences and punishments. One man had the job of clearing the remains on a Saturday after trade and taking it off to the fields. The appropriately named 'Thomas Payne' had this job at one time and either forgot or got too drunk and left a pile in the street for which he was fined two shillings, ooops!
The French Navy stays for awhile.
The town was used for captured French Naval Officers during the Napoleonic Wars and during their time here they formed a Masonic Lodge. The memory of this time is preserved in the name ‘Mile Bank’ the road leading to the cemetery. Officers could give their word that they would not escape; in exchange they could have a parole, but there was a limit of one mile from the town, hence the name.
Canals.
The coaching trade even survived the coming of the canal in 1805, originally this was the Ellesmere Canal connected to the Chester Canal at Hurleston. At this time it was still a mile from Whitchurch so in 1808 a branch was opened as far as Sherryman’s Bridge, and in 1811 extended into Doddington to a large basin with warehousing and wharves. These innovations in transport allowed the shoe and cheese trade to grow with goods being transported along the canal in larger quantities than was possible by road.
& Railways
Even the building of a railway station at Beeston allowed the coaching trade another opportunity conveying passengers from the Whitchurch area to the Station. The writing was on the wall however, as the great iron horse approached and in 1858 the steam train rolled into the town with the opening of the Shrewsbury to Crewe line and Whitchurch has never been so quiet since. In 1863 the railway linked Ellesmere to Whitchurch by what was later to become the Cambrian Railway. The first passengers by rail from Ellesmere to Whitchurch were Captain Jebb and his Company of Rifles on 20th April 1863. Whitchurch was linked to Chester in 1872 by a branch line having stations at Tattenhall, Malpas, and for a short time a halt at Grindley Brook.
Whitchurch and the Bike
The Whitchurch Cycling Club 1880.
Since the invention of the bicycle Whitchurch has always welcomed those who travel by their own power on two wheels; there was even a cyclists hotel in the High Street.
The Cyclists Hotel and High Street Whitchurch 1900.
This photograph taken in 1930 of a parade shows how the bicycle was still an essential part of everyday life until replaced by wider car ownership, it is one of a number of decorated cycles taking part.
Art; Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886) although not widely known today in this Country, was a very famous Artist and Illustrator of books and periodicals. There is a society who have a web site, that preserves and promotes his work. Randolph, from Chester, started his working life in a small Bank at Whitchurch and during his time in the Town developed his artistic style. Views of the Town regularly featured in his works. He is more widely known in the United States today. The Randoplph Caldecott Society has a wonderful website.
Music; Sir Edward German.
Sir Edward German (1862-1936) was another famous son of the Town. A musician and a composer, he is famous for his music for the stage and English comic opera. His Father was the Organist at St Alkmund’s and from an early age showed a great talent. There is a good biography at Wikipedia. The Old Town Hall Vaults is associated with him as it was for a time his home. He is also commemorated by having a street named after him.
The World Wars
The first world was saw big changes especially at Prees Heath used as a training ground for soldiers to be sent to the slaughter in France. A railway line was set up and the place became quite a complex with its own cinema and other entertainment for the boys. This led to the first Police Women in Shropshire being put on duty to deal with the large number of local girls who headed out to this wild and wicked place.
The Second World War brought a new contingent of newcomers witnessed by the graves of Polish soldiers in the cemetery. Prees Heath was again pressed into military service and turned into an airfield where bombers would leave every night to drop bombs on the homes of German families. The closest the Americans got was to Wem so the town was spared much of the Americanistion that afflicted other less fortunate places.
Demise of Industry and Commerce.
The town has not prospered since the end of that war, seeing the slow demise of most of its industry and the near death of its rail network. A new industrial estate has provided some local work and the by-pass opened in 1992 has reduced the amount of through traffic making life more tolerable for cyclists. Unfortunately the increase in motorised traffic since then has largely eroded the initial reductions.
Dormitory Town
Today most of the inhabitants use the town like a dormitory suburb of the places where they work socialise and shop. In the age of the modern motorcar the town’s location has not favoured it. This is proved by the increase in housing and the decrease in shops and manufacture.
The Photographs above are examples from "Whitchurch Remembered Millenium Edition" Whitchurch History and Archeological Group 2000, ISBN 0-9540687-0-X. There are many more unique photographs in this publication and it s well worth obtaing a copy.
The Whitchurch History and Archeology Group have a very interesting selection of books and publications for sale representing the work of many local enthusiasts, and a wealth of unique information.
Another great resource for more information is at The Whitchurch Heritage Center. Their web site has some good information including opening times.
To find out more contact Mike Clarke at email mikeclarke@ncr45mercianway.co.uk
