Title: King's Head Passage
Description: Shuts of Shrewsbury 23
Description: Shuts of Shrewsbury 23
Proud Salopian - July 31, 2005 06:56 PM (GMT)
Shuts of Shrewsbury No 23 - King's Head Passage
Mardol - Smithfield Road
The King's Head is one of the oldest pubs in Shrewsbury and is situated on the bottom of Mardol on the right hand side as you walk down towards the River Severn. Before the Welsh Bridge was built in the late 18th Century, Mardol was the main route from Frankwell to Shrewsbury, via St George's Bridge (which was replaced by the Welsh Bridge). The pub was known as the Last Inn because it was the last one in town before the bridge.
On the left hand side of the pub is the King's Head Passage.
The passage twists to the right and then to the left. The floor is concrete, though interestingly as this ancient passage hasn't been altered in any way (either the route or the level of the ground), the old Saxon defensive ditch can be seen here. It cut across this area and was the boundary of Shrewsbury before the town walls were built.
This photo is taken facing the back of the King's Head pub (behind me is Smithfield Road) and it clearly shows the outline of the old ditch. It even fills with water sometimes (and the passage floods almost completely when the Severn has a severe flood such as 1998 or 2000).
On the right are some old warehouses which hopefully will soon be redeveloped. On the left is land owned by the pub - the properties here still follow ancient land boundaries (medieval strips of land eminating out from Mardol). These strips curve towards the river (Smithfield Road is a relatively new highway and didn't exist in medieval times) and gave the Mardol properties access to the river.
Mardol - Smithfield Road
The King's Head is one of the oldest pubs in Shrewsbury and is situated on the bottom of Mardol on the right hand side as you walk down towards the River Severn. Before the Welsh Bridge was built in the late 18th Century, Mardol was the main route from Frankwell to Shrewsbury, via St George's Bridge (which was replaced by the Welsh Bridge). The pub was known as the Last Inn because it was the last one in town before the bridge.
On the left hand side of the pub is the King's Head Passage.
The passage twists to the right and then to the left. The floor is concrete, though interestingly as this ancient passage hasn't been altered in any way (either the route or the level of the ground), the old Saxon defensive ditch can be seen here. It cut across this area and was the boundary of Shrewsbury before the town walls were built.
This photo is taken facing the back of the King's Head pub (behind me is Smithfield Road) and it clearly shows the outline of the old ditch. It even fills with water sometimes (and the passage floods almost completely when the Severn has a severe flood such as 1998 or 2000).
On the right are some old warehouses which hopefully will soon be redeveloped. On the left is land owned by the pub - the properties here still follow ancient land boundaries (medieval strips of land eminating out from Mardol). These strips curve towards the river (Smithfield Road is a relatively new highway and didn't exist in medieval times) and gave the Mardol properties access to the river.
Proud Salopian - November 3, 2006 11:24 PM (GMT)
I asked someone from the borough council about the lack of signage on some of the shuts and passages in town and got a good reply. For this passage...
"A scheme for the Kings Head Passage has been proposed, as more ornate signage has been sought for these locations. The Kings Head Passage is nearing completion we are just awaiting permission off one of the property owners."
:)
"A scheme for the Kings Head Passage has been proposed, as more ornate signage has been sought for these locations. The Kings Head Passage is nearing completion we are just awaiting permission off one of the property owners."
:)