he
celebrated "Tar Tunnel," driven into the coal measures, from which
petroleum was formerly exported on a large scale, under the name of
Betton's British Oil.

Our view of the Valley of the Severn, with Ironbridge in the distance, is
from the hill overlooking the handsome mansion of John Anstice, Esq.

[Ironbridge: 27.jpg]

Coalport is in the parish of Madeley, the village of which is now looped
in by railways. Madeley is one of those names or word-pictures by which
our ancestors, with a touch alike of poetry and feeling, were wont to
convey their meaning. The place, however, has lost those sylvan features
that distinguished it when described in Domesday, as part of the
possessions of St. Milburgh; and the old Court House, surrounded by its
park, where the prior of that monastery received his perquisites, is
strangely changed in aspect. Although little beyond the foundations
exist to show where the hall stood from whence the house derives its
name--where festivals were held, suitors heard, or penalties
inflicted--the present edifice has many points of interest. The arms of
the Ferrers family, in a shield, over the principal doorway, may still be
seen, indicating the proprietorship at one time of some member of that
family. It was also the residence of Sir Basil Brooke, fourth in descent
from a noble knight of that name; a zealous royalist in the time of
Charles I. The substantial, roomy, and well-panelled apartments, and the
solid trees, one upon the other, forming a spiral staircase, are objects
of interest. Ascending these stairs, the visitor finds himself in the
chapel, the ceiling of which is of fine oak, richly carved, with the
_fleur-de-lis_ and other devices. In the garden, which formed an
enclosed court, upon an elegant basement approached by a circular flight
of steps--the outer one being seven feet in diameter and the inner one
about three--is a very curious planetarium, or horological instrument,
serving the purpose of a sun dial, and that of finding the position of
the moon in relation to the planets. In niches outside the parish church
are finely sculptured, full-length figures of some of the early
proprietors of the Court House; and in the register is an entry dated
April, 1645, stating that the edifice was at that time garrisoned by a
Parliamentary regiment, commanded by Captain Harrington. Six years later
than the event recorded, we have the story of King Charles' visit to the
village in di