We enjoyed a pleasant stroll around a part of Bridgnorth that we hadn’t explored before. Unfortunately the church wasn’t open. We will have to try again another day.
St Leonard’s Church dates from the early 13th century, and was built to cater for a population that had now expanded beyond the castle bailey – although it was much rebuilt in the 1840s and 1860s. During the Civil War there was a fierce battle in the churchyard and many Royalist troops, including their leader, Colonel Billingsley, were killed.
The small black and white house as you enter the Close on the left once belonged to Richard Baxter (1615 – 1691), one of the founding fathers of non-conformity and an influential religious writer. He started his career as assistant priest of St Leonard’s.
The town’s former grammar school was founded in 1503 and was located within the church. Its later premises were the two storey red brick building, on the left, whic was built in 1785. Among the schools famous pupils was Thomas Percy, who became Chaplain to George III and Bishop of Dromore, County Down. The girl’s High School was established in 1887 and its boarding house is now the offices of the Town Council, on the right of the Close. the two schools merged in 1909 to become what is now Bridgnorth Endowed School, Northgate.
The unmistakeable six-gabled building to the right was also part of the former grammar school: one section was for the school’s scholars, the centre part for the headmaster and the third for the priest of St Leonard’s.*
*info from a signboard in front of St Leonard’s Church
No doubt a hidden gem in Shropshire.
Will you show us more interesting towns in Shropshire in the future?
We will have to see where my adventuring takes me