Population, 3,123

Market day--Friday. Fairs--Friday in Easter week, June 18th, September
24th, and December 18th.

The town, which lies beneath the embankment of the railway, in the valley
of the river Salwarp, on the right, is on weekdays so enveloped in steam,
that little beyond its stacks, and the murky tower of St. Andrew's
Church, are seen. Its staple trade is salt, for the export of which the
canal, the Severn, and modern railways offer great facilities. From
early times, the subterranean river beneath the town has yielded an
uninterrupted supply of the richest brine in Europe; and it is curious to
observe how the vacuum created by the amount raised has caused the ground
to collapse and crack, as shown by the decrepit state of the buildings,
many of which are broken-backed, twisted, and contorted--although the
intermediate earth is about 200 feet in thickness. The place, therefore,
has a sort of downcast look, and the streets have a melancholy
appearance; whilst the sheds of the brine works, made to appear more
murky by contrast with heaps of white salt refuse, suggest the thought
that the town has gone into mourning. Exception must be taken to St.
Peter's Church, which stands outside the town, and is surrounded by green
fields, with no building near, except an exceedingly dilapidated half-
timbered mansion, the property of Lord Somers. Tradition says that this
church once adjoined the town, but that the latter shifted in the
direction of the springs; if so, the injunction over the doorway, to
"Remember Lot's wife," seems a strange rebuke, if intended for the
inhabitants. The building has many features of interest, the Norman, the
Transition, and subsequent styles of architectural decoration being
observable.