Cylchgronau Cymru

FOURTH SERIES.—VOL. XI, NO. XL! JANUARY 1880. WATTLESBOROUGH. Wattlesborough is in the Marches of Wales, in the shire of Salop, in the hundred of Ford, in the parish of Cardeston. It is ten miles from Shrewsbury, and eight from Welshpool. The old road between those towns passed under the walls of the Castle. Standing with one's face towards the south, the Breidden Hills lie on the right hand, about three miles distant; in front the low back of the Long Mountain limits the horizon, and on a spur of its western slope the wooded elevation of Caus Castle is distinctly visible. Behind Caus, the Stipperstones form a fine background. Turning still more towards the left is the opening plain of Shrop¬ shire ; at the back rises Loton Park, formerly called " The Reawood". To understand the position of Wat¬ tlesborough as a place of defence in old days, we must imagine the whole cultivated ground between the Castle and the Long Mountain, through which now runs the main road to Welshpool, as an unenclosed and undrained morass, difficult to pass in wet weather. This tract of land, known as Wattlesborough Heath, stretched from Bragginton, through Wollaston, to Westbury, and on by Stretton Heath to Amaston and Rowton. It was not enclosed till the year 1780; and many are the records of disputes and litigation, from the reign of Elizabeth to the reign of George III, between the Leigh- tons, lords of this manor, and the Owens of Condover, 4th seb., tol. xi. 1