Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/202

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the iron ore as a flux. Under its beetling brow the curious wheel of a mill is seen, whose circum- ference is one hundred and sixty-two feet, made of cast-iron at the adjoining works. The cottages, stuck as if by accident on the rocky sides of these heights, add much to the singularity of the picture. Staffordshire opened to the left as we proceeded, with the Severn rolling between us and its distant fields. On the right we were still accompanied by Shropshire, which we, were to leave shortly after visiting its ancient town of Bridgnorth. This cu- rious place consists of two parts, separated by the river Severn, over whose waters is a stone bridge of eight arches, where a toll is exacted from the pas- senger. The higher town has chosen a lofty and beautiful situation on the summit of a red sand rock, whose face is cut into habitations for many indigent families. The lower one is spread along the banks of the Severn, who is here navigable for vessels of one hundred tons. Many vestiges of its having been a fortified place remain; amongst which the fragment of a tower is most remarkable, which inclines upwards of fifteen feet out of the perpendicular. Standing under its projecting head, we could hardly persuade ourselves of the security winch til., laws of mechanics insured to us in a situation so apparently perilous.

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