History

- The Bewdley Civic Society's Town Trail


Walk 1

The walk starts at LOAD STREET, a street of fine timber-framed and brick houses some of which may have been part of the town described by Leyland in 1539.

1. THE GUILDHALL. Here, for hundreds of years many of the towns' most important events took place. The present sandstone building was built by Lord Ward in 1908, behind it runs the 18th century Shambles, now the town's CRAFT MUSEUM. Bewdley is a royal borough and the town's coat of arms is incorporated in the wrought iron gates of the Guildhall: the town retains its ancient charters, the oldest dating from 1472.

2. THE GEORGE HOTEL. Across Load street stands the George Hotel. A former coaching inn the hotel was probably the most widely known in Bewdley. During the e 19th century coaches ran from there to Birmingham with connections to London and Worcester and Bristol.

3. BEWDLEY INSTITUTE. This timber-framed building, considerably restored, is dated 1632 and was originally the Wheatsheaf Inn, vying with the George Hotel as the leading hostelry in Bewdley. It became the Institute in 1877 when Mr. Edward Pease presented it as a Literary and Scientific Institute. Relics of its former coaching days are the iron rails in the entrance yard.

4. ST. ANNE'S CHURCH. St. Anne's was built between 1745-48 to a design by Thomas Woodward of Chipping Camden and replaced a 16th century wooden structure which had included medieval guild and chantry chapels.

HIGH OR UPPER STREET
5.THE BAILIFF'S HOUSE (now JAMES' PUB AND RESTAURANT). This was built by Thomas Bolston in 1610 and is a fine example of the elaborate timber-framing of Worcestershire and the border counties.

6. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH This was formerly an early Presbyterian meeting house, established about 1696. It was rebuilt in 1778 and became a Roman Catholic place of worship in 1953.

7 and 8. THE REDTHORNE (now THE REDTHORNE RESIDENTIAL HOME). The Redthorne was built in 1765 for the Prattinton family. Peter Prattinton, who was born in 1776, became the noted antiquary whose collections on Worcestershire and Bewdley in particular are now owned by the Society of Antiquaries in London.

8. The fine house known as the Manor House, across the street, was built in 1607.

9. THE QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND JUBILEE GARDENS. These gardens were opened in 1978 in an area which since medieval times had been used for gardens, brickyards and tanneries, evidence of tanning pits has often been found during building work in the area. During the Tudor period Bewdley is believed to have had as many as 12 tanneries; the last closed in 1928.

10 and 11. METHODIST AND BAPTIST CHAPELS. The Methodist Chapel, opened in 1795, was long hidden by a row of houses land stands opposite the Baptist Chapel, also an early foundation being established in 1649.

12. No. 25 HIGH STREET. This timber-framed house was refronted in 1780 by Samuel Skey whose chemical works outside Bewdley brought him wealth; he founded the original Bewdley Bank here in 1760.

13. Nos. 43 & 44 HIGH STREET. The 18th century brick front of this row of houses conceals a late medieval hall-house; smoke-blackened timbers were found in the roof during recent reconstruction work on this building which is probably one of the oldest in the town. At this point visitors might like to pause and note that in almost all medieval towns building land was valuable and therefore building often took place at right angles to the street with tenements and gardens running back behind the houses and shop-fronts. This can be clearly seen in High Street.

14. LOWER PARK. In 1625 Samuel Sayers endowed the almshouses which still bear his name and were restored in 1974, also in Lower Park is the Friend's Meeting House established in about 1691 making it one of Bewdley's oldest religious foundations; it was here in 1718 that Mary, wife of the first Abraham Darby was buried. The Rectory was built in 1760 and at Lower Park House Stanley Baldwin, later to become Prime Minister, was born in 1867.

15. LAX LANE. The Danish word for salmon is commemorated in Lax Lane, the lane runs the length of Snuff Mill Brook, now culverted which led to the ancient ford which is believed to have been used before the medieval bridge was built in 1447.

SEVERNSIDE SOUTH 16. RIVER HOUSE built at the end of the 17th century and KIMBERLEY HOUSE of about the same date are fine examples of houses built on the wealth accrued from Bewdley's prosperous river trade. Since the 14th century the people of Bewdley had traded on the Severn and continued to do so profitably until the construction of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal in 1772.

17. SITE OF MEDIEVAL BRIDGE. Site of the medieval bridge, the third to be built in Bewdley which was constructed in 1483 on 5 arches, one of which supported a gate house and a sanctuary chapel. The bridge was in a dilapidated state when in 1795 a great flood swept down the Severn and destroyed most of the structure.

18. TELFORD'S BRIDGE. The present bridge was built in 1798 to a design by Thomas Telford who was at the time Surveyor of Public Works in Shropshire. It was constructed by John Simpson of Shrewsbury and the total cost, which included buying land each side of the bridge, was £11,000.

19. QUAYS SEVERNSIDE SOUTH AND SEVERNSIDE NORTH. From this position the visitor can see the extensive range of quays. On the opposite bank is Wribbenhall with its wharves and warehouses; originally a separate village it is certainly as old as Bewdley; at 7 Stourport Road a remarkable 14th century roof survives.

20. THE ANGEL HOTEL. The Angel, rebuilt in 1938 was host to Charles 1 during the Civil War; the King stayed there in June 1645. In the 18th century it has a fashionable Assembly Room where Sarah Siddons once played. Return to Guildhall along Load Street.