Bloody Tales at Audlem District History Society

A large audience was kept enthralled, on Thursday evening, by an animated Dorothy Nicolle, a professional speaker and Blue Guide for towns in Shropshire, with her talk on The Bloody History of Shrewsbury.

Starting with the Roman invasion of the town, she described Caratacus (a persistent thorn in the side of the Romans) as the first British documented hero. He so impressed the Romans that instead of being killed by them was taken back to Rome to live there in peace.

The Welsh also proved to be a constant problem and this led to walls being built around the town, evidence of which can still be seen at the back of McDonalds!

When Prince David was hung, drawn and quartered in 1283 the executioner was paid the vast sum of 20 shillings.

The Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 was the first time that both sides used longbows. This resulted in 6000 dead in just 3 hours.

In 1687, Admiral John Benbow., a merchant seaman who was born in Shrewsbury mounted a successful defence against attackers and sailed into Cadiz with the heads of 13 Moors to claim his reward.

30,000 people turned up at Stafford Jail in 1856 to witness the execution of mass murderer Dr. William Palmer. He was a gambler from Rugeley who lost money whilst attending Shrewsbury Races.

Dorothy Nicolle concluded by reading out a war poem written by Wilfred Owen. His family were living in Shrewsbury when they received the news, on Armistice Day, of his death several days earlier. A poignant note on which to end an extremely interesting talk.

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