Wroxeter, Shropshire, England

Notes:
WROXETER is charmingly situated on elevated ground, near the eastern banks of the Severn, and is surrounded by a rich and beautiful country; it is a parish of the supremest interest, because of the great associations which belong to it owing to the Roman occupation of Shropshire; it lies six miles southeast from Shrewsbury, and is in the hundred of South Bradford, rural deanery of Wrockwardine, archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Lichfield. It comprises the townships of Wroxeter, Donnington, Dryton, Eyton-on-Severn, Norton and Rushton; and it contains within its area the site of the ancient city of Uriconium, which covered about one hundred and seventy acres. Its total area is 5,953 acres, and its population in 1801 was 544, and in 1901, 499 in the ecclesiastical and 566 in the civil parish.



Nennius tells us that the British name of Wroxeter was Caer Guricon (in old Welsh, Wrycon). The Romans called it Uriconium, or Vriconium. In Domesday it is Rochecestre, and in 12th century charters Wroxcestre and Wroccestre. The prefix is connected with Wrekin, which is a Celtic word, and is variously interpreted as meaning " the conspicuous hill," and also as being a feminine personal name; whilst the terminal is the Anglo-Saxon ceaster, a fortress, a word generally applied by the Anglo- Saxons to the ruins of Roman cities.



The tribe of the Cornavii had their habitation here until in the first century the Romans subdued them, and established a great walled city, with stately buildings of stone, and public baths and a basilica. In 410 the Roman legions withdrew, and in 584 the West Saxons, under the command of Ceawlin and Cutha, pushed up the Severn, and it is believed, captured Uriconium, and destroyed it by fire. The coins that have been dug up are not, however, of a later date than 383. Whenever Uriconium is systematically excavated, as Silchester has been, it is certain that much new light will be thrown on the Roman occupation of Britain.



In Saxon times Toret held Wroxeter, and five other Shropshire manors. At the Domesday survey, Rainald the Sheriff held Rochecestre in demesne under Earl Roger de Montgomery. It was a manor of one hide, and was worth 40s. per annum. Rainald came from Bailleul-en-Gouffern, in Normandy, and held seventy manors in Shropshire under the Norman Earl. He was succeeded by Alan Fitz Flaad, the ancestor of the royal Stewarts, and of the Fitz Alans, who became lords of Wroxeter and had a residence here. The manor remained with the Fitz Alans until 1561, when Henry, Earl of Arundel, conveyed it to Queen Elizabeth. The Queen in the following year granted the manor to Thomas Poyner and William Wolriche. In 1589, Thomas Poyner conveyed his moiety to Francis Wolriche. In 1626 Thomas and George Wolryche alienated the manor of Wroxeter to Thomas Ottley. From the Ottleys it passed soon after to the Newports, with whom it remained until 1735, when the 3rd Earl of Bradford left it in trust for John Newport, alias Harrison; and on his death in 1783 it came to Sir William Johnstone in right of his wife Frances Pulteney, cousin of the Earl of Bath. On the death of Sir William Johnstone, who took the name of Pulteney, in 1805, the manor passed to William Henry Vane, 3rd Earl of Darlington, who was created in 1833 Duke of Cleveland. On the death of the 4th Duke in 1891, it came to Lord Barnard, who is now the lord of the manor, and who owns practically the whole of Wroxeter, with the exception of the township of Norton, which belongs to Lord Berwick.

City/Town : Latitude: 52.6705241, Longitude: -2.6459647