I

HAVE been requested to read at the present meeting an architectural notice of the parish church of Shiffnal, or, as it was formerly called, Idsall; the spot on which the church stands being separated from the town by a small brook, which formed a boundary between two contiguous districts having those respective names.2 As, however, the church is the only one belonging to the inhabitants of Shiffnal, and as the majority of the parishioners reside on the Shiffnal side of the said brook, we may be content to call it by the name under which it is usually known, namely, Shiffnal church, notwithstanding its detached position as regards the town. This detached position affords us unusual facilities of obtaining a good view of the edifice from every quarter; in fact, I know of no church which the sketcher can command from a greater variety of points. The sketches and photographs I now lay before you will, I trust, give a tolerably

Congress held at Shrewsbury, August 1860.

This is Mr. Eyton's suggestion, in his Antiquities of Shropshire, and he also observes that he first notices the name of Shiffnal to occur in a deed bearing date 1320, vol. ii, p. 265.

3 Some of these have been, by the kindness and liberality of Mr. Petit, employed to illustrate his paper.