2-995-932 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Shoemakers' Arbour, Shrewsbury, 1860. Engraving from a photograph by J. Groom. 'In Leighton's "Guide, Descriptive and Historical, through the Town of Shrewsbury," mention is made of these arbours and of the custom connected with them: "We now continue our walk along the undulating eminence which rises abruptly from the Severn...until we arrive at Kingsland, a large tract of ground, the common property of the burgesses, studded with small inclosures and buildings called "Arbours," to which the several incorporated trading companies of the town annually resort in procession on the second Monday after Trinity Sunday, accompanied by bands of music, flags, devices emblematical of their crafts, and preceded by "a king" on horseback, gaily dressed with 'crownlets and gauds of rare device,' either representing the Monarch who granted their charters, or some principal personage of their trades. The Mayor and Corporation, attended by many of the respectable inhabitants of the place, visit the several companies, and partake of refreshments prepared in their respective arbours. On the reformation of religion this ceremonious procession was of course discontinued...' From "Illustrated London News", 1860.