WHITCHURCH, (Salop) on the b. of Cheshire, 20 m. N. of Shrewsbury, 126 cm. 150 mm. from London, is a pleasant, large, populous T. in whose Ch. are several monuments of the Talbots, particularly of Sir John, the first Earl of Shrewsbury of that name, so valiant a man, that he was stiled the English Achilles in France, where no man durft encounter him single- handed. In the neighbourhood are many gentry, of whom some are Roman catholicks. When Cha. I. removed his standard from Nottingham to Shrewsbury, this T. is said to have raised a whole regiment for his service. In 1712 a brief was granted for rebuilding its p.-Ch. which amounted to above 5500 l. Here is a Mt. on Fr. Fair Oct. 28. The manor anciently bel. to a family of the same name, then to the Stranges; one of whom obtained a charter of Edw. III. for its Fair. It afterwards passed by marriage to the Talbots; in whose family it remained till the death of the last D. of Shrewsbury. The manor- house stands on a large meer, from the colour of its water called Blackmere.