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49-687: This was a village dance done in winter for fun and a bit of money. It usually includes three to twelve dancers. Some of the earliest accounts of a border morris tradition are provided by E.C. Cawte . There is reference to questions about "any disguised persons, as morice dancers, maskers, or mum'ers" to St. Mary's Parish Church in Shrewsbury in 1584 and an amazing account of morris dancers at Hereford races in 1609, describing "two musicians, four whifflers, and twelve dancers, including hobby horse and maid marian", all from villages within 14 miles (23 km) of Hereford. The account claimed, "Hereford-shire for

98-567: A chapter, "The Folk-Lore of the Shire" to his book Memorials of Old Herefordshire published in that year. In 1905, she joined both the Folk-Lore and the Folk-Song Societies. As her skill with music was rudimentary, she had difficulty providing transcriptions of tunes until 1906, when she was put in contact with composer Ralph Vaughan Williams . Williams secured for Leather a phonograph which had

147-476: A collaboration with Ralph Vaughan Williams , and various notes to the journal of The Folklore Society . Ella Mary Smith was born 26 March 1874 in the hamlet of Bidney, in Dilwyn parish, Herefordshire , England to Mary Ann (née Griffiths) and James Smith, a farmer. After attending Clyde House School, she completed her schooling at Hereford High School for Girls . Smith married a solicitor, Francis Leather, in 1893 and

196-732: A cost of £200 (£10,000 in 2014). Some of this came from Trier , and the remainder from the Cistercian nunnery of Herchen. In the south chapel is glass from the church of Saint-Jacques in Liège . Elsewhere there is glass dating from the 16th century of Dutch and Flemish origin. Much of the 19th-century glass is by David and Charles Evans. In March 2007 some of the glass was loaned to the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne for their exhibition of 16th-century German stained glass. These include an inscription on

245-485: A crucifix, to parishioners who died during World War I , with a list of names that include VC recipient W. N. Stone . Katherine Harley , a Suffragist , is also commemorated on the memorial; she was killed at Monastir in 1917, while nursing Serbian refugees. She was the sister of both Field Marshal Sir John French and the Irish Nationalist Charlotte Despard . Thomas Anderson, a soldier in

294-573: A depiction of the Jesse Tree . By tradition it was made for the Franciscan church in Shrewsbury, moved to St Chad's Church after the dissolution of the monasteries , and then to St Mary's in 1792. Although it was much restored in 1858 by David and Charles Evans, much of the original glass remains. This glass is dated between 1327 and 1353. Glass in the north windows of the chancel and the central part of

343-486: A further ten years.) Through contact with E.C. Cawte, with reference to notes made in Leominster, his talking with former dancer, Tom Postons, and his recollections of the dancing of the time as having "lots of bowing, hat-raising, and clashing of sticks on the ground" led to the "revival" of Postons' stick dance. Cecil Sharp visited the town on 27 December 1909 with local folklorist Ella Mary Leather , and collected tunes from

392-635: A morris-daunce puts downe, not onely all Kent, but verie neare (if one had line enough to measure it) three quarters of Christendome". Cawte quotes further accounts describing complaints to the local magistrates about disruptive morris dancers in Longdon, Worcestershire , disrupting the Sabbath day from 1614 to 1617 and another account of dancers in Much Wenlock in 1652, causing a disturbance in an ale house at Nordley. Later records from Shrewsbury mention payment to

441-520: A plaque on the tower to the memory of Robert Cadman , a tightrope walker who was killed in 1739 when his rope broke. Also in the tower is a recumbent effigy by Richard Westmacott junior depicting Col C. R. Cureton who was killed in India in 1848. Inside the west entrance of the nave is a brass upon marble plaque memorial to men of the 85th Regiment of Foot who died serving in the Afghan War of 1879–80. In

490-454: A pointed-headed window. The south porch is built in Grinshill stone. It is in two storeys, the lower storey being built in the 12th century, and the upper storey added in the 14th century. The upper storey has a two-light transomed window. The outer doorway has a round arch and three orders of shafts; the inner doorway also has a round arch, but with one order. There are small windows in

539-523: A vestry to the north of the chancel. Work was performed on the chancel in 1889–92 by A. E. Lloyd Oswell. The top fell from the spire in 1894, causing much damage to the clerestory, and this was repaired by John Oldrid Scott . The tower underwent a restoration in 1924–26 by the firm of Lloyd Oswell and Iredale. The church was declared redundant in 1987, and vested in the Churches Conservation Trust. From 1651–1662 no priest. The plan of

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588-426: Is a "complex corner" with a variety of windows. The north transept itself has 12th-century pilaster buttresses, a small north doorway, and lancet windows. The north aisle has Perpendicular windows and a porch. Within the porch is another Norman doorway, with one order of shafts. In the opinion of the architectural historians John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner , the nave arcades are "the finest piece of architecture in

637-451: Is a stair turret in the northeast corner. The spire is octagonal, and recessed behind the parapet. It carries three tiers of lucarnes . The spire is said to be the third tallest in England. The windows in the north and south sides of the aisles and clerestory are Perpendicular. In the west wall of the south aisle is a round-headed lancet window , and in the west end of the north aisle is

686-564: Is a tomb chest with the effigy of a knight, and probably dates from the 1340s. In the south aisle is a grave slab from about 1100 carved with a cross and interlacing . Trinity Chapel contains separate stone tablets to men of the Shropshire Yeomanry who died in the World Wars, besides a roll of honour listing names of those who died in the Second , and a sandstone parish war memorial, headed by

735-413: Is added, "Pack & Chapman, London, Fecit 1775". An old bell from Battlefield , cast by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester , was hung in a turret at the south-west angle of the chancel as a sanctus bell in 1871. The two treble bells have again been re-cast, and now bear the following inscriptions:- "W. G. Pennyman, Vicar. Edw. Burd [1] , Wm. Alltree, A. E. Lloyd Oswell, H. Steward, Churchwardens." "Ring out

784-479: Is possible that the spire was added to the west tower at this time. The church escaped any significant damage during the suppression of the college in 1548, or during the Civil War . The first major restoration was carried out by Thomas Telford in 1788. The east window was enlarged in 1858 by S. Pountney Smith , who also reconstructed some of the roofs between 1864 and 1870. In 1884 Paley and Austin added

833-454: Is tiled. The canopied clergy stall of 1897 was designed by C. E. Kempe ; it was formerly in the chapel of Shrewsbury School . In 1729 John Harris and John Byfield designed and built a new three- manual organ to replace an earlier organ. This was rebuilt and enlarged in 1847 by Gray and Davison . The present four-manual organ dates from 1912. There is a ring of ten bells, eight of which were cast in 1775 by Pack and Chapman at

882-585: Is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust , the Trust designated St Mary's as its first Conservation Church in 2015. It is the largest church in Shrewsbury. Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of 'best' English parish churches. St Mary's originated as a collegiate church (The Collegiate Church and Royal Free Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, a Royal Peculiar ). According to tradition it

931-653: The British Legion ). On corner posts of the stone kerbs are listed battles or campaigns from World War I in which the men died. Photographs of St Mary's including many of the fine windows Citations Sources Ella Mary Leather Ella Mary Leather (26 March 1874 – 7 June 1928) was a British collector of the local folklore and songs of Herefordshire . Her seminal work, Folklore of Herefordshire, published in 1912, has been recognized as an authoritative "model of scientific scholarship." Amongst her other works are Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire ,

980-748: The Whitechapel Bell Foundry , and the other two in by 1911 by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough . St Mary's bells are inscribed thus; "We were all fixed here by voluntary subscription, in the year 1775." "Happiness to all worthy contributors." "Success to the Worshipful Company of Drapers ." "Unanimity and welfare to all the inhabitants of Salop." "Peace and Felicity to this Church and Nation." "Prosperity to St. Mary's Parish." "E. Blakeway, M.A., Minister, J. Watkins, J. Warren, E. Elsmere, H. Kent, Churchwardens." "May all whom I summon to their grave, enjoy everlasting bliss." To each inscription

1029-421: The "Bedlam Morris" in 1688 and 1689. The dance depends on the numbers available, as at Brimfield. The dances collected from a particular place sometimes differ quite markedly between informants, as at White Ladies Aston, reflecting the flexibility from year to year. Sometimes a gang would only have one dance, sometimes two, or as at Malvern and Pershore an indeterminate set of figures . The common features are

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1078-468: The 1170s the transepts were altered to provide altars for the canons. Construction of the aisles followed, first the south aisle with a porch. Work on the north aisle continued until the 1220s. The crossing was then rebuilt. In the early to mid 13th century the transepts were raised, and the chancel was lengthened and raised. During the 14th century the Trinity Chapel was added to the south of

1127-746: The 17th-century building, using it as a private study. She also published a guide to the parish church and began work on the History of Weobley , but she did not complete it prior to her death. In 1928, she served as president of the Herefordshire Women's Institute. Leather died suddenly from a heart attack on 7 June 1928 and was buried at the Weobley Cemetery. She is remembered for her collaborations with Sharp and Williams, but also for her original work in collecting folk songs and dances from Herefordshire. "Leather made more phonograph recordings than any of

1176-713: The Commandant of the Red Cross volunteers stationed at Sarnesfield Court Hospital. For the duration of the war, she invested her time to war activities. Her son, John Francis, died in France in 1918. When the war ended, much of her time was devoted to other endeavors. She was a sought-after speaker for antiquarian societies and worked with the Women's Institute . In 1925 she published Collecting Folk-Melodies from Gypsies in Herefordshire , which

1225-664: The Dragoons was executed, as a deserter and Jacobite sympathizer, near the Butchers' Arbour on Kingsland , Shrewsbury on 11 December 1752. He was the last English martyr for the Stuart cause. The Revd Benjamin Wingfield, in the face of official hostility, allowed Anderson to be buried in St Mary's Churchyard and read the burial service over the grave. The grave is situated in the south-western quarter of

1274-455: The Not For Joes) and Keith Francis (of Silurian Morris) a distinctive border morris style has grown. The tradition is characterised by black faces , tattered shirts or coats, much stick-clashing and a big band traditionally comprising melodeons , fiddles , concertinas , triangles and tambourines , although they now often also feature a tuba or sousaphone , and flute or oboe . Under

1323-632: The Welsh as ' bluestone ', a rock found in the Preseli Mountains , in Pembrokeshire, of which it is said Stonehenge was constructed. St Mary%27s Church, Shrewsbury St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church in St Mary's Place, Shrewsbury , Shropshire , England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building , and

1372-536: The ability to record and reproduce sound. By 1907, her reputation as an authority on folk lore was firmly established, when she published a selection of folk tales in the inaugural issue of Herefordshire Magazine . Leather worked with Cecil Sharp in making wax cylinder recordings. One of his recordings occurred in December 1909, when Leather took him to see Morris dancers on Boxing day in Brimfield . She copied down

1421-404: The chancel. In the following century, possibly about 1477 when a bequest was made to the church, further improvements took place, including the construction of a clerestory on the nave and chancel, which replaced the tower at the crossing and the chancel vault. At this time the transept roofs were reduced in height, a large east window was inserted, and larger windows were added to the aisles. It

1470-408: The church consists of a four- bay nave, with north and south aisles, and north and south porches, a crossing with north and south transepts, a two-bay chancel with a vestry to the north, the Trinity Chapel to the south, and a west tower. The tower has four stages, the bottom three stages are in red sandstone , and the top stage in white sandstone. The bottom three stages are Norman in style, while

1519-406: The church", each consisting of four wide bays, with semicircular arches. The oak ceiling of the nave has 15th-century carvings depicting birds, animals and angels. The Trinity Chapel contains a triple sedilia . The stone mensa of the medieval high altar was excavated in 1870 and placed below the present altar, which shares the same dimensions. The riddel posts and English Altar were erected during

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1568-441: The churchyard. Dr Samuel Butler , headmaster of Shrewsbury School and later Bishop of Lichfield , is buried in the churchyard where his Latin-inscribed tombstone is still visible. The churchyard contains the plain sandstone war memorial cross to Shrewsbury townsmen who died in the two World Wars, erected 1920 after World War I by the " National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers (Shrewsbury branch)" (predecessor of

1617-536: The complexity of Cotswolds Morris, but many – e.g. Bromsberrow Heath – had a stark simplicity of one figure and one chorus repeated forever. In the 1960s, E.C. Cawte, the folklorist, proposed that these dances from the English side of the Welsh borders – Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire – constituted a Welsh border tradition. Since the 1960s and with further collecting in the 1970s by people such as Dave Jones (late of Silurian Morris, founded 1969, and later

1666-488: The dance steps to accompany the recording and on the same trip, introduced Sharp to local fiddlers John Lock and William Preece, who were also recorded by the duo. Sharp found using the new technology to record folk tunes impracticable, but Leather is thought to have recorded close to thirty songs on multiple cylinders between 1907 and 1913 and possibly a dozen more. Leather's seminal work, Folklore of Herefordshire published in 1912, has been recognized as authoritative and

1715-456: The darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be." The stained glass is of various styles dating from the 14th to the 19th centuries, and was brought to St Mary's from elsewhere, much of it from Europe, in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is said that "no other church in the country has a collection to equal it". The "main treasure" is the east window of the chancel, which contains

1764-591: The guidance of Dave Jones and Keith Francis, Silurian Border Morris sought to interpret the collected dance material, preserving as much of the traditional styles and features as can be deduced. By contrast, in 1975, John Kirkpatrick created a new border tradition with the Shropshire Bedlams, which seeks to capture the spirit of the border sides, but not recreate any specific tradition or dance. Their dances feature much "whooping" and this has become characteristic amongst many other border sides. Perhaps in keeping with

1813-415: The north transept is a wall memorial to Rev John Brickdale Blakeway , vicar of the church, and a local historian, who died in 1826. Also in the north transept are memorials to Nicholas Stafford, who died in 1473, and Admiral Benbow , (sculpted by John Evan Thomas and unveiled 1843) who died of wounds in 1702. The oldest memorial in the church stands in the arch between the chancel and Trinity Chapel. It

1862-559: The original tradition, the Original Welsh Border Morris (founded 1973) meet only once a year, at Christmas, and dance the traditional dances of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. With many of the newer sides, the dances have often become complex, involving many invented and evolved steps, figures and choruses. Many dances were collected by Cecil Sharp and later collectors, and several were included in Bacon's book, but border morris

1911-423: The prolific local gypsy fiddler John Locke. The Leominster men use several of Locke's tunes in their repertoire today. Border morris dancing was different on the Welsh side of the border, and a team on the Welsh side was formed in 1992. Initially the side was named Morys ar y Clwt but it was changed to Carreg-las in 1997. They use traditional Welsh and English folk and morris dance tunes. Carreg-las translates from

1960-419: The rather short sticks and sometimes a stick and handkerchief version of the same dance, also usually a high single step akin to the local country dance step. Such detail as starting foot rules and phrase endings are notable for their apparent absence. Some of these village sides blackened their faces . There is no record of any sides dancing together. A few – both Upton-on-Severn dances for example – matched

2009-408: The remodeling of the sanctuary by Sir Charles Archibald Nicholson in 1931. The Altar frontals were worked and embroidered by Beatrix Mary Pennyman, wife of the vicar, during World War I . The octagonal font is Perpendicular, and is carved with arcading and (now headless) angels, The pulpit dates from 1853, it is polygonal, in stone, and designed by S. Pountney Smith . The floor of the church

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2058-413: The side walls of the porch. The south transept has a small Norman doorway and three lancet windows on the south side, and single lancet windows in the west side. The Trinity Chapel has four large three-light windows on the south, and a seven-light window on the east side. The east window of the chancel has eight lights. Above the north vestry are three stepped lancet windows. To the east of the north transept

2107-534: The south aisle were made for the Cistercian Altenberg Abbey between 1505 and 1532. They depict scenes from the life of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux , and were bought for St Mary's by Rev W. G. Rowland, the vicar in 1845, at a cost of £425 (£40,000 in 2014). Also in the south aisle are two windows from the church of St Aspern, Cologne . Windows elsewhere consist of part of a collection of 15th-century stained glass bought in 1801 by Sir Brooke Boothby at

2156-448: The top stage is Perpendicular . In the bottom stage is a west doorway with a round arch of two orders. To the left of the doorway is a re-used Roman stone with a Lewis slot . In the next stage, over the doorway, is a clock face. The third stage contains paired Norman windows, and in the top stage are paired two-light transomed bell openings. The summit of the tower has an embattled pierced parapet , and crocketted pinnacles . There

2205-405: The two moved to the town of Weobley , where their three sons, John Francis, Geoffrey and Godfrey were born. When Leather first became interested in collecting folklore is unknown, but by 1904 her private journals indicate that she had already compiled networks of collaborators with whom she was working to gather folk songs of the area. A local author, Reverend Compton Reade asked her to contribute

2254-740: Was based on material she had collected between 1908 and 1912. That same year she was a co-founder of the Herefordshire chapter of the English Folk Dance Society. In 1926, Leather published "The Timber Houses of Weobley" in the Woolhope Naturalists Club's journal Transactions . That year, a dance she had collected, "Haste to the Wedding" was performed at the Royal Albert Hall in the first National Festival of Folk Dance. Intent on saving Weobley's old grammar school, she purchased

2303-412: Was founded by King Edgar in the 10th century. By at least the 13th century, it was served by a dean and nine canons . Excavations in 1864 revealed the presence of an earlier church with a nave and an apsidal chancel . Building of the present church began in the 12th century, consisting of a nave without aisles , and a cruciform east end. A large west tower was added, and in about

2352-488: Was largely neglected by revival morris sides until late in the 20th century. The Silurian Morris Men of Ledbury , Herefordshire, included border dances in performances from the early 1970s and changed exclusively to border morris in 1979, and the Shropshire Bedlams were founded in 1975; both became pioneers of a resurgence of border morris among revival sides in the following decades. The Leominster Morris were reformed in 1988, split from The Breinton Morris (who disbanded after

2401-528: Was reprinted numerous times through 1990. It contained lyrics and music notations for 23 ballads, carols, and songs and was fully referenced with extensive notes on sources and people who were consulted on the materials. That year, she introduced Williams to several local traveller encampments and he collected the song, "The Unquiet Grave" from tenor Alfred Price Jones. The two would collaborate in 1920 on Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire . In 1913, Leather put aside her collecting and began working as

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