Familar? How Shrewsbury looked in 1779
The distinctive church spires, the Quarry, the loop of the river . . . this is Shrewsbury, but not quite as modern Salopians know it.
For this "Perspective View of Shrewsbury in Shropshire" dates from 1779, the same year as the world-famous Iron Bridge was built.
And the original print is now available to buy for anyone with the urge to collect a rare view of Shrewsbury of yesteryear.
The antique copper engraving is taken from a book called The Modern Universal British Traveller, published in 1779 by J. Cooke.
"It was published in black and white and coloured in later," said Tim Kingswood, of Storey's antique print and map shop in Charing Cross Road, London, which is selling the print for £75. The image is 27cms by 17cms, which 18th century Salopians would understand better as 11ins by 7ins. With its mounting, it is 44cms by 33cms.
The ancient Welsh Bridge is shown with its stone tower and was soon to disappear, being replaced by a new bridge slightly downstream in 1795. The print shows that the riverbank seems to have been tiered in that area at the time.
As for the town itself, it is still entirely within the town walls, while Frankwell is a small settlement amid woodland or scrub.
The river is hardly bustling, with only boat depicted.
Most of Storey's stock comes from different auction houses, and that will be the likely source of this particular print.
Mr Kingswood is not familiar with Shropshire, but said the likely buyer would be somebody with an interest in history.
The print can be viewed at http://www.storeysltd.co.uk/Item/9132
Mr Kingswood has no idea where the particular book from which the print was taken would be now.
