town of Shropshire in England, seated on the river Severn, which divides it into two parts; but they are united by a handsome stone bridge, and these are called the upper and the lower town. It is said to have been built by Ethelfleda, widow of Etheldred king of the Mercians, about the year 675. Robert de Belizma, son of Robert de Montgomery, built the castle, and maintained it against king Henry I. by which means it was forfeited to the crown, and remained so till the reign of Richard III, who gave it to John Sutton lord Dudley. This town has undergone several sieges; and in the civil war it suffered very much, many fine buildings, and the whole town, being almost destroyed by fire, when Sir Lewis Kirke defended the citadel for king Charles. There are now no other remains of the castle than a small part of the towers, and a place yet called the castle, within the walls of the old one; within which stands one of the churches, dedicated to St Mary Magdalen, which was made a free chapel, and exempted from episcopal jurisdiction. The other church is at the north end of the town, on the highest part of the hill, near to whose church-yard stood a college, which was destroyed by fire in the civil wars, together with the church just mentioned; which has been since rebuilt by the inhabitants. On the west bank of the river are the remains of an ancient and magnificent convent, under which were several remarkable vaults and caverns running to a great length. Part of the cow-gate street is a rock, rising perpendicularly, in which are several houses and tenements that make a very agreeable though grotesque appearance. In many other places there are also caves and dwellings for families, in the rocks; and indeed the whole town has an appearance surprisingly singular. W. Long. 2. 30. N. Lat. 52. 40.