Ellesmere is a market-town of Saxon origin, and takes its name from the water, which was called Aelsmere, or the greatest mere, being the chief in this part of the county. This lake is 101 acres in dimensions, and is exceedingly well stocked with fish. The environs have two advantages superior to other lakes: a good town borders on one side; and the fine park of Oatley, the seat of Mrs. Vaughan, is a great ornament to another. This is the ancient seat of the Kynastons. The house appears to be very old, and stands low; but the park is a very fine one, having the greatest quantity of the finest elm-trees perhaps to be seen in any part of England.

This town has little to boast of except its situation. The principal trade is that of malt, the barley of the neighbourhood being remarkably good. Near the Mere is a house of industry for the poor of five parishes, from which is a delightful prospect ; and on the Castle Hill there is one of the finest bowling greens in the kingdom ; nine different counties may be seen from the green. A new canal is cut to this town, called the Ellesmere Canal.

The houses in general are neat, and the streets well paved, in the principal one of which is the church, an ancient Gothic building, consisting of a nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a lofty square tower at the west end, wherein is a ring of eight bells.

Here was formerly a strong castle, but little of its ruins are now to be seen, it having been destroyed during the civil wars, in the 17th.

The market is on Tuesday, and the town consisted, according to the late return, of 1143 houses, and 6056 inhabitants.

The country, from Wem, a town situated to the south-east, is, for the greatest part of the way to Ellesmere, flat, dirty, and unpleasant. On the approach to the town, however, it becomes more agreeable, breaking into most beautiful risings, fertile, and finely wooded. The bottoms are, indeed, destitute of rivers, but frequently filled with little lakes, called here meres, elegantly bordered by the cultivated hills. It is singular that none of them are the parents of streams ; their increase from rain and springs, and their loss by exhalations, keep such equal pace.

— Topography of Great Britain by George Alexander Cooke, written: 1802-29

ELLESMERE is a market and union town, and parish in the Western division of the county, hundred of Pimhill, Oswestry county court district, rural deanery of Ellesmere, archdeaconry of Salop and diocese of Lichfield, with a station on the Cambrian railway, 8 miles east-north-east from Oswestry, 16 north-north-west from Shrewsbury, 11 miles from Whitchurch, and 177 from London; it is on the north-western extremity of the county, close to Flintshire, on the high road from Shrewsbury to Chester and Liverpool. The town is of Saxon origin, and in part derives its name from the fine sheet of water, or mere, on the east side of the town, which is the largest lake in this part of the country, being about 116 acres in extent and well stocked with fish. Ellesmere formerly gave its name to a hundred, which, with several dependencies, was annexed to that of Pimhill in the reign of Henry VIII.

The town was formerly governed by a bailiff, chosen annually by a jury, at a court leet of the lord of the manor, with a coroner and other minor officers, but a Local Board was formed in 1859, and this has been superseded by an Urban District Council, under the “Local Government Act. 1894” (56 & 57 Vicrt. cap. 73). The Ellesmere canal, which forms a communication between the river Dee at Chester and the Severn at Shrewsbury, is connected with other canals and with various railways, which put this town into communication with all parts of the country. The town was thoroughly drained in 1869 by Earl Brownlow; the houses are in general well built, and the streets are mostly paved with Staffordshire bricks and lighted with gas from works under the control of the Urban Council. This place has given the title of baron (1603) and earl (1846) to the Egerton family.

The church of St. Mary, standing on a considerable elevation, overlooking the mere, is a spacious cruciform building of stone in mixed styles, consisting of chancel with two side chapels, nave of five bays, aisles, transepts and a central tower containing a clock and 8 bells. The old nave was Norman, the tower and north transept Early English merging into Decorated, while the east of the chancel, the south transept, and the two side chapels are Perpendicular; but in 1849 the church was restored and the nave and aisles rebuilt, the church being reconsecrated October 11, 1849; the north transept and the nave were rebuilt in the Middle Pointed style, from the designs of the late Sir G. Scott R. A. at a cost of upwards of £8,000, towards which the late Countess of Bridgwater gave the sum of £3,300; the south, or Oteley chapel, contains a fine altar tomb with two recumbent effigies in marble of Francis Kynaston and his wife, 1590; in 1881 this chapeL was restored at the cost of the late Salusibury K. Mainwaring esq. of Oteley, and a stained window inserted; the west window is a memorial to Thomas Stanton esq. of this town, who died in 1869, and was presented by J. and G. Stanton esqrs.; in the north transept is a memorial window to J. L. Menlove esq. of Elson, who died in 1850; and in the south transept another to the Rev. J. A. Cotton, late vicar of this parish 5 in the south aisle are several smaller windows, given by the Oswell family, the widow of Captain Fowler and Maj. Gen. F. O. Salusbury C. B.; in the north aisle is a window, presented by Miss Mary Edwards, in memory of Elizabeth Maria, widow of Captain Fowler, and another, erected as a memorial of W. K. Thompson esq. of this parish, who died in 1850, by his widow; the organ, which cost 300 guineas, was removed to the north side in 1881; the churchyard is now closed; in 1889 the east end of the chancel was rebuilt at the sole cost of Earl Brownlow P. C. and a fine east window was erected in memory of H. F. C. Cust esq. of this parish, d. 1884, and Sara Jane, his wife, d. 1877, the cost being defrayed by their children; this window takes the place of the former stained east window, destroyed by the sinking of the foundation of the chancel; the sanctuary floor is of Belgian marble; there are Perpendicular sedilia and a piscina of ancient date on the south side, and a brass altar rail was presented in 1889 by Miss James, in memory of Dr. Watson. The register of burials dates from the year 1653; marriages, 1654; baptisms, 1657. The living is a vicarage, average tithe rent-charge £345, net yearly value £225, with residence, in the gift of Earl Brownlow P. C. and held since 1864 by the Rev. John Peake B. A. of Hertford College, Oxford, and. surrogate. The vicarage house is in a pleasant situation, on elevated ground near the south side of the churchyard.

Here are Congregational, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels.

A cemetery of 3 acres, at Swan hill, was formed in 1865, at a cost of £4,000, and has two mortuary chapels; it is under the control of a committee formed from the Urban District Council of Ellesmere and the Parish Council of Ellesmere.

The Town Hall, in the Market place, erected in 1833, is an edifice of brick in a plain style, the principal front being of freestone; the upper storey consists of a spacious room, renovated and decorated in 1878 by Earl Brownlow, in which the petty sessions are held on the first Monday in every month; it is likewise used for public meetings, concerts, balls, lectures and occasional assemblies, and for there purposes will hold 250 persons.

In the ground floor of the Town Hall is a fine reading-room, established in 1884, and supported by subscription; it is free to all residents in the town and neighbourhood from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; attached is a Reference and Lending Library of about 1,000 volumes.

The Ellesmere Natural History and Field Clubs’ ornithological, botanical, mineralogical, and entomological collections are displayed in a portion of this room, and there is also preserved here in a glass case an ancient British canoe, measuring some 12 feet by 2 ½, which was dug out of the Whattal Moss, when cutting a drain through the moss in 1864.

The Savings Bank, in Scotland street, was erected in 1830.

The trade of the town is chiefly derived from agriculture, and the butter and cheese produced in this part of the county are of the finest description.

The market, which is well attended, is held on Tuesdays and Saturdays; and the fairs for horses, cattle, sheep and pigs are held every alternate, Tuesday in the Smithfield. The Market Hall, in Scotland street, is a large and plain building of red brick, erected in 1879, at a cost of about £2,000, on a site given by Earl Brownlow P. C.

Ellesmere Charities: —Mrs. Higginson, of Whitchurch, left £6, payable once in five years, to the necessitous poor; James Phillips, of London, left £57 10s. to provide the poor with coats annually, and for a sermon to be preacrhed every Thursday; Edward Jeffreys, of Moreton, left £2 6s. 8d. to the distribution amongst the poor at Christmas and Good Friday; Jerome Hanmer, of Kenwick, left £10, the interest of which was to apprentice poor children; John Lyth, of Lyth, left £50, the interest of which was for the poor of the parish; Hugh Dod, of Burrows, left £6, the interest to be distributed in bread to the poor of the townships of Perthy and Hardwick, every Sunday in Lent; William Thorowgood, of Ellesmere, left £20, the interest to be employed in sending poor children to school, which are nominated by the vicar and churchwardens; John Davies, of Kenwickwood, left £10, the interest to be distributed in bread to the poor on the Lord’s day by the vicar; John Powell, of Ellesmere, left £20, the interest of which was to be given to the poor on Good Friday and St. Thomas’s Day, and after the death of his wife, £20, to be applied in the same way; Wm. Pierce, of Northwood, left £10, the interest to be distributed on the 18th December to the poor of Northwood; John Higginson, jun. of Ellesmere, left £10, the interest to be given to the poor of the town; Charles Mason, of Prees, left £5, the interest to be given to the poor by the vicar and churchwardens; Ruth Davies left the interest of £10 to be given in bread to the poor of the parish every Sunday in Lent; Madam Catherine Pennant, of Bagilt, left £50, the interest to provide twelve blue coats for six poor men and six poor women, to be given at the Feast of All Saints, by the vicar and churchwardens; Margaret Eddowes left £10, the interest to be given to the poor of Trench, Northwood and Welsh Hampton; John Higginson, of Ellesmere, left £20, for the poor; William Wenlock, of Colemere, left £3 per annum for the poor of the parish, and his wife, Catherine Wenlock, left the interest of £20 for same end; Thomas Pitchford left £10, the interest to be given to the poor of Trench and Northwood; John Higginson left the interest of £5 to be given in bread to the poor of the parish; Edward Teggin, of Hardwick, left £5, the interest to be distributed in bread on Christmas day; William Pearce, of Tetchill, left £7 the interest to be given to the poor of the parish; Richard Oulton, of Ellesmere, left £100, the interest of which was to be given in coals to poor, decayed housekeepers; John Whettall, of East Greenwich, left £200, at 5 per cent the interest to be given to ten poor housekeepers on the 24th December yearly; Mrs. Penelope Vaughan, of Oteley, left £100 for the benefit of the National schools; Richard Wynn, of Crickett, left £100, the interest to be distributed amongst the poor; John Hinksman left £50, the interest to be given in bread; and Wm. Hawkins, of Ellesmere, left £200 in 1834, the interest for the benefit of the poor; Elizabeth Gough, of Ellesmere, bequeathed three pew sittings, their value to go towards the maintenance of the schools; Mary Hatchett in 1837 left £200, the interest to go towards educating twenty-one poor children; Rev. Edward Edwards, of Ellesmere, in 1840 left £300 in Consols, the interest to be distributed amongst twelve decayed persons of Ellesmere and Ridge on St. Thomas’ Day; Countess of Bridgwater in 1849 left £200 for the benefit of the National schools; Elizabeth Maria Fowler in 1850 left £200, the interest to be given in bread to the poor; Mrs. Anne Ferrall in 1873 left £500, the interest for the poor of the parish; Miss Charlotte Reay in 1877 left £100 for coals for the poor.

The ancient castle of Ellesmere, of which not a vestige remains, stood on the hill by the church; it was a frontier fortress during the unsettled period which preceded the final subjugation of Wales, and probably fell out of repair soon after the Wars of the Roses, and was then demolished; the mound is now used as a bowling-green and is kept in good order; from this spot a fine view of the Shropshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Welsh hills is obtained, including portions of seven counties; near it lies the mere, from which the town derives its affix.

Ellesmere is much frequented during the summer months, its lakes and scenery making it a favourite spot for picnics, excursions and fishing parties. Excellent pike and other fish abound in the meres, which are six in number and form a peculiar and attractive feature in the neighbourhood, and present a good field for the botanist; as many as fifteen or sixteen different species of ferns are to be met with here, and in one of the meres (that at Colemere, 2 ½ miles distant) moss balls (“con-fervae”) are also found.

Ellesmere House is the residence of Brownlow Richard Christopher Tower esq.

The principal landowners are Earl Brownlow P. C. who is lord of the manor, Charles Francis Kynaston Mainwaring esq. of Oteley Park, and the Rev. W. C. E. Kynaston M. A. of Hardwick Hall.

In 1891 the township of Ellesmere contained a population of 1,870, and the parish 5,507, including 70 officers and inmates in the workhouse; the, area of the parish is 26,457 acres in Shropshire; rateable value, £43,754.

Oteley, Newton and Spunhill form a joint township, extending from half a mile to one mile and a half southeast from Ellesmere; Oteley park is the residence of C. F. Kynaston Mainwaring esq. J. P.; the mansion is a building in the Gothic style, very pleasantly situated on the east side of Ellesmere mere, in a finely wooded park of more than 130 acres, with pleasure grounds' of 20 acres; there are two entrances, and the park is well stocked with deer; an ancient hall, which stood on the site, was pulled down and rebuilt in the early part of the present century; The township area is 1,221 acres.

Wall Letter Box, Newton, cleared at 6. 35 p.m.; no Sunday collection.

National School (mixed), built in 1873, for about 80 children; average attendance, 40:

Pentreceod is a tything, 4 miles north-west from Ellesmere, on the Flintshire border, and will be found under Criftins and Duddleston parishes.

New Marton and Ridge townships in Ellesmere civil parish form part of the parish of Frankton.

Petty Sessions are held at the Town hall, Ellesmere, on the first Monday in every month at 11 a.m.; & at Boreatton Arms hotel, Baschurch, every third Friday. except September & March, when the sittings are held on the fourth Friday, at 10. 30 a.m. The following places are included in the petty sessional division:-Adcott, Alderton, Bagley, Baschurch, Birch, Birch & Lyth, Boreatton, Cockshutt, Cotton. Crosemere, Crickett, Eardiston, Eastwick, Ellesmere, Elson & Greenhill, Ensdon, Eyton, Felton Butler, Fennemere, Forton, Great Ness, Hampton Wood, Hardwick, Harmer Hill, Hopton, Hordley, Kenwick, Stockett & Whettall, Kenwick’s Park, Kenwick's Wood, Kinton, Lee, Little Ness, Marton, Merehouse, Merrington, Middle, Milford, Montford, New Marton Newnes, Newtown, Newton-on-the-Hill, Northwood, Nesscliffe, Oteley, Newton & Spunhill, Petton, Prescott, Preston Gobalds, Ridge, Ruyton-of-the-Eleven Towns, Shelvock, Shotatton, Shrawardine, Stanwardine-in-the-Fields, Stanwardine-in-the-Wood, Stocks & Coptiviney, Tetchill, Trench, Walford, Welsh Hampton, Weston, Lullingfield, Wilcot, Wyke & Yeaton.

Ellesmere Union

There are seventeen parishes in the union, eight of which are in the county of Flint, viz: —Baschurch, Bettisfield (Flint), Bronington (Flint), Ellesmere, Great Ness, Hadnall, Halghton (Flint), Hanmer (Flint), Hordley, Little Ness, Middle, Overton (Flint), Penley (Flint), Petton, Tybroughton (Flint), Welsh Hampton & Willington (Flint). The population of the union in 1891 was 13,824; area 73,830 acres; rateable value in 1895 £120,879.

Schools

Ellesmere College, standing about half a mile from the town, & the foundation stone of which was laid in 1879 by the Countess of Brownlow, was opened in 1884: it is a fine building of red brick, with stone facings, in the Perpendicular style, from designs by Messrs. Carpenter & Ingleow, architects, of London, & cost with site over £30,000: the dining hall, already completed, will seat 500, & the plans include a school room as large as the dining hall, with class rooms adjoining, & a chapel to seat 600; together with a laboratory, museum & two libraries; at present (1895) there is room for 185 boys only: the school is intended for the sons of persons of small means, & sons of the clergy & farmers; it is under the direction of the Provost & Fellows of Denstone College, Uttoxeter, & is the counterpart of Ardingley College, Haywards Heath, Sussex. Head master, the Rev. R. Beviss Thompson M. A. of Worcester College, Oxford; there are 12 assistant masters: chaplain, the Rev. Thomas E. Stevens A. S. N. C.

National (boys), Wharf road, with master’s residence, for 150 children; average attendance, 100.

National (girls), St. John’s hill, with teacher’s house; for 130 children; average attendance, 110.

National (infants), St. John’s hill, for 100 children; average attendance, 75.

— Kelly's Directories, written: 1900