THE SOUTH BRADFORD HUNDRED.

The South Bradford Hundred is bounded on the north by North Bradford Hundred, on the east by the county of Stafford, on the south by the Brimstree and Condover Hundreds and the Wenlock Franchise, and on the west by Albrighton Division and the Shrewsbury Liberty. The hundred is divided into the Newport and Wellington Divisions. The Newport Division, in 1841, contained 2,111 inhabited houses, 61 uninhabited, and five building. At the same period there were 10,929 inhabitants; of whom 5,446 were males and 5,483 females. The Wellington Division at the same period contained 5,959 inhabited houses, 211 uninhabited, and 43 building; and 30,938 inhabitants; of whom 15,856 were males and 15,082 females. The hundred of Bradford at the Domesday survey was divided into the hundreds of Odenet and Recordin, and are now distinguished by North and South Bradford. These names in early times had a certain meaning, and were given either by reason of the importance or situation of a place, or in respect of some remarkable circumstance—as the name before us, Bradan Forde (that is, Broad Ford), is said to have its name from a ville named Bradford, situate on the river Tern, near Ercall, and long since destroyed.

The South Division contains the several parishes of Bolas Magna, Chetwynd, Edgmond, Kinnersley, Lilleshall, Longford, Newport, Preston-upon-the-Wild-Moors, and Woodcote Chapelry.

The Wellington Division contains the parishes of Atcham, Buildwas, Dawley Magna, Eaton Constantine, Ercall Magna, Eyton-upon-the-Wild-Moors, Leighton, Longdon-upon-Tern, Roddington, Stirchley, Uppington, Upton Magna, Upton Parva, Wellington, Withington, Wombridge, Wrockwardine, and Wroxeter.

ATCHAM, OR ATTINGHAM,

is a parish in the Wellington Division of the South Bradford Hundred, comprising 3,491 acres of land, mostly a fertile undulating district, richly timbered, and watered by the rivers Severn and the Tern. The soil in some parts is a strong fertile loam, producing good wheat and barley; in other parts it is of a lighter nature, and the meadow lands are very fertile. Rateable value, £6,126. In 1801 there were 430 inhabitants; 1831, 463; and in 1841, 95 houses and a population of 513 souls. The parish comprises the townships (for highway purposes) of Chilton, Cronkhill, and Emstrey, on the south-west bank of the Severn, and of Berwick, Atcham, and Uckington, on the north-east side of that river. The village and township of Atcham is delightfully situated in a salubrious district richly adorned with sylvan beauty, and contains Attingham Hall, the princely seat of the Right Honourable Richard Noel Hill (Lord Berwick), and several handsome villa residences. The Hotel is a noble pile of buildings, and affords every accommodation to the numerous visitors who resort here in the summer season to enjoy the fishing as well as the beautiful views of this interesting locality. The river Severn is crossed near to the hotel by a magnificent stone bridge of seven arches, and is about one hundred and thirty-four yards long. The river Tern has a bridge across it of beautiful workmanship, which is forty-four yards across. It is ornamented with an open balustrade of fine chiselling, upon which is engraved, “This bridge was erected at the expense of the county, in 1780, and decorated at the expense of Noel Hill, Esq.” The great Holyhead and London turnpike road which intersects the township is in an admirable state of repair. The village is three miles and six furlongs south-east from Shrewsbury. The Right Hon. Lord Berwick is lord of the manor and the principal landowner. Robert Burton, Esq. and others are also proprietors. A branch of the Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Chester, and Shropshire Union Canal passes through Atcham parish, where there is a tunnel of about a mile in length.

The Church, dedicated to St. Hyatia, and situated in a sequestered spot near the banks of the Severn, is built of free stone, and consists of nave and chancel, with a square tower. It was built in 1665, and has recently undergone a complete reparation. The sittings are of oak, and the pews of Lord Berwick and those of the Burton family are elaborately adorned with carved work. The interior has a very chaste appearance, which is much heightened by the subdued light admitted through the richly stained glass windows. The altar is of the most elaborate workmanship. The central window on the south side is a stained glass memorial of superb workmanship, in memory of Blanch, daughter of Henry Milnes Parry, Esq., who held the appointment of “chief gentlewoman of Queen Elizabeth’s privy chamber,” whom she served from the birth of her majesty, and died at court on the 18th of February, 1589, aged 82. There are also two beautiful windows of stained glass, embodying the arms of the Burton family. On an altar tomb, with two full length figures in memory of deceased members of this family, is a brass plate, on which is engraven—“This monument was removed from a pew belonging to the estate of Longnor, in the parish church of St. Chad, Shrewsbury, on the fall of that church, July, 9th, 1788.” There are also several beautiful mural tablets in memory of the Burtons and others. The living is a vicarage valued in the king’s book at £11. 6s. 8d., now returned at £300 in the patronage of Robert Burton, Esq. Incumbent, Rev. Henry Burton, M.A. The vicarage is situated near to the church.

The manor, vicarage, and lands in Attingham, otherwise Atcham, together with other property of great extent, were given to the monastery of the blessed Virgin Mary, of Lilleshall, by persons of the name of Blemies, in honour of God and the Virgin Mary. This was subsequently confirmed by King John. In the reign of Henry III., the abbot of Lilleshall was questioned as to his right in taking toll at the bridge of the Severn of passengers that travelled that way. In the 53rd of the same reign the abbot had a grant of a fair to be kept at Attingham on St. Giles’s day, and two days after. In the 4th of Edward I. the said abbot had a grant of another fair in the month of May, to be held on the feast of St. Augustine, and the two following days. On the dissolution of religious houses the manor and tithes of Attingham were granted by the crown to Thomas Palmer, Knight, but Sir Thomas subsequently became convicted of treason, and his lordship and estate was forfeited to the crown, and was soon after granted to Sir John Gage, Knight. In 1693 it was possessed by the Gowers, and the lordship is described as containing twenty messuages, three water mills, twenty gardens, 200 acres of land, forty acres of meadow, 200 acres of pasture, ten acres of wood, twenty acres of furze, and the fishery of the Severn. In the 1st year of Queen Anne, William Gower obtained an act for the sale of the manor, when it was conveyed to Rowland Hill, Esq., for the sum of £3,413. His descendant, the Hon. Richard Hill, in consideration of his affection and regard for his sister, Margaret Harwood, wife of Thomas Harwood, Esq., conveyed the manor of Attingham to the use of his sister Margaret for her life, with remainder to Thomas Harwood, the younger, who afterwards took the name of Hill, on whose decease this property descended to his son, Noel Hill, who was created a baron by the title of Baron Berwick, of Attingham, in the year 1784, on whose decease it came to his eldest son, Thomas Noel Lord Berwick, who dying in 1833 without issue the manor and domain of Attingham descended to his brother, William Noel Hill Lord Berwick, and is now held by the Right Hon. Richard Noel Hill Lord Berwick, whose princely seat is Attingham Hall, one of the most extensive and elegant mansions in the county. It was built from a design by Stewart, and consists of a centre adorned with a magnificent portico of the composite order, supported by four circular pillars upwards of forty feet in height, and two wings connected with the main building by corridors. The situation of the mansion is peculiarly fine, and the extensive park by which it is surrounded is beautifully enriched with wooded scenery; the waters of the majestic Severn and the river Tern adding much to the picturesque beauty of the whole. The interior of the mansion is magnificently furnished, and contains a fine gallery of pictures, chiefly by the early Italian masters, also a fine collection of Etruscan vases and other antiquities from Herculaneum. In the picture gallery is a curious model of Mount Vesuvius, upon a large scale, made of the materials of the mountain by the late traveller Dr. Clarke. The park is stocked with deer. Attingham hall has not been occupied for several years, the present noble lord having chiefly resided at Cronkhill, on the opposite side of the Severn.

Berwick Mavaston is a lordship within the parish of Atcham, and was bestowed on Malvesyn, “one of those two hundred and sixty knights famous in the conqueror’s army,” who fought in his cause at Hastings, and by whose means he won the crown of England. Malvesyn having braved all the dangers, and therefore having a right to share the spoils of victory, would be eager to fix his residence on some of the conquered lands. His valour was rewarded by the grant of the lordship of Rideware, which was probably held by this Norman knight, under the Earls of Shrewsbury by the knightly tenure of bearing arms against the Welsh. He got possession of other lands about the same period, among which was the lordship of Berwicke Juxta Attingham, which he held under the same barony, by military service; and as the leading branch of this family gave their name to the seigniory of Manvesin Rosny, in France, so we find the younger branch communicated the same name to the respective lordships of Manvesin Ridware, and Manvesin Berwick, in England, where this family flourished in the days of our Henrys and Edwards—a knightly race in an age of gallantry; foremost like their Norman kindred in deeds of arms and works of piety. The situation, however, not being very distant from the borders of Wales, and holding the domain by the tenure of border service, his descendants found it no easy task to defend what their common ancestor had won by the sword. In the reign of Henry IV. John Malvesyn being slain at a hunting match, with men of Shropshire, at the Wrekin, and dying without issue, his niece Editha carried the Berwick estate into the family of Wydcomb, from whom it passed in like manner to the Hambrooks, and was purchased from them by the ancestor of the present proprietor, Lord Berwick.

Chilton, Cronkhill, and Emstrey are three small townships for highway purposes, in the parish of Atcham on the western side of the river Severn, near the Holyhead and Shrewsbury turnpike road. The land in Chilton is chiefly the property of Robert Burton, Esq. Cronkhill is the property and seat of the Right Hon. Richard Noel Hill Lord Berwick, whose principal seat is Attingham hall. The house at Cronkhill is a plain stuccoed structure. Emstrey is situated about two miles and a half from Shrewsbury, and has upwards of 500 acres of land, which is the property of Lady Tyrwhitt. Uckington township is situated on the eastern side of the Severn; the land is the property of the Duke of Cleveland, who is also the impropriator.

Charities.—Joseph Jones, by will, 1729, directed that six o’clock prayers in St. Alkmund’s church, Shrewsbury, should be continued for ever, for which purpose he gave a yearly rent charge of £7. 10s., issuing out of his tenement and lands in Astley, £6 thereof yearly to be paid to the vicar or curate of the parish of St. Alkmund, or St. Mary, or on their neglect to such other minister of the church of England as should read prayers in either of the said churches about the hour of six o’clock in the evening, and 20s. to the clerk, and 10s. to the sexton for officiating on such occasions; and in case of neglect or refusal, he gave the said legacy to the poor of the parish of Atcham, to be applied in the education of poor children, or in the maintenance of decayed housekeepers; and he further directed that the payment of 20s. yearly, for the instruction of two poor boys or girls in the charity school of Shrewsbury, should be continued for ever, if his wife should think fit. And as to the residue of the rents of the lands in Astley, he bequeathed the same to his wife, with liberty for her to sell a parcel of land called the Wood Meadow; and after her decease, without issue, he decided that she, by her will or otherwise, should dispose of the remainder of the rents reserved upon the lease to such charitable uses as she should think fit; but for want of such appointment after his wife’s decease, he directed that as there was divine service in the chapel of Astley only every third Sunday in the month, 10s. monthly should be paid to a minister to read prayers and preach in the said chapel every first and last Sunday in the month; but in case of neglect or refusal, he gave the rent charge to the poor of Atcham and Astley, or for educational purposes, at the discretion of the trustees. As executor to Thomas Cox, Mr. Jones had in his hands a legacy of £5, given for the poor of Atcham, and a sum of £30 entrusted to him by the Bromley, to buy coals for the poor of Shrawardine; for securing the payments of 5s. and 30s. as interest of the above, Mr. Jones charged his lands in Astley and Coleham with the payment thereof. Elizabeth Jones directed the six o’clock prayers should he continued in the parish of St. Alkmund as mentioned in her husband’s will; and the yearly sums of £6. 20s., and 10s. paid as by him directed; and she appointed 40s. to be paid to the said minister to provide candles during the winter, in case the parish should refuse, and £5 yearly to be paid to the organist of St. Mary’s. The estate at Astley contains 58a. 2r. 6p., and when the charity commissioners published their report, produced a yearly rental of £60, out of which £6 is paid to the minister of Astley, £5 to the organist of St. Mary’s, and £1. 10s. to the poor of Shrawardine. Though the last-mentioned payment, and the interest of £5 as Cock’s legacy, were charged upon the testators’ estates in Shrewsbury and Coleham, as well as that in Astley, the Shrewsbury and Coleham estates have been sold or passed to different hands as being exonerated from the charge. Nothing has been paid for many years for maintaining prayers in the church of St. Alkmund, or St. Mary’s, Shrewsbury, the duty required not having been performed. The interest of Cock’s legacy is to be considered as included in the portion of the residue paid to the parish. After the payment of the several sums above mentioned, and any incidental expenses that may be incurred, the residue is divided between the parish of Atcham and the township of Astley, £40 generally to the former, and £10 to the latter. The Atcham portion is disposed of with the produce of other charities, in money or clothing, on St. Thomas’s day, chiefly among such of the poor as do not receive parochial relief.

Thomas Burton, Esq., of Longnor, in 1730, bequeathed £10 per annum for the use of the poorest inhabitants of this parish, and charged an estate in Berwick with the payment of the same. The amount is given away with the produce of Jones’s charity.

The Countess of Harborough, in 1765, left to the poor of this parish the sum of £200, the interest to be annually distributed by the patron and minister of Atcham. This sum was laid out, in the year 1792, in the purchase of £193. 11s. 6d. stock, four per cent. annuities, and in the year 1803 the sum of £44. 2s. 10d., which was raised by suffering the dividends to accumulate, was laid out in the purchase of additional stock to make up the sum of £250. The dividends, amounting to £8. 15. per annum, together with £1. 5s. added by the vicar to make up the deficiency occasioned by the reduction of the dividends, is also disposed of with the produce of Jones’s charity.

Margaret Thompson, in 1751, gave £6, the yearly interest to purchase bibles and prayer books for poor children. This sum is in the hands of the vicar, and he applies the interest according to the donor’s intentions.

Thomas Hill, in 1779, bequeathed £100 to the vicar, churchwardens, and overseers of Atcham, on trust, to apply the interest in relieving the necessities of the poor not receiving parochial relief. This gift is in the hands of Lord Berwick, who distributes annually a quantity of meat and provisions, exceeding the amount of the interest.

In 1666 John Cox left £20 to the poor of the parish. Joan Blakeway, in 1684, left a yearly sum of 6s. to be distributed among the poor. John Calcott, in 1698, charged a tenement in Worthen with the payment of 12s. and 7s. a year, to be distributed among poor housekeepers of Atcham. He also charged the same premises with the legacy of Joan Blakeley, of 6s. yearly. It is supposed that something was paid in respect of these charities by Scarlet Lloyd, Esq., who died about fifty years ago. Nothing, however, has been paid since that period; and though some pains have been taken to discover the tenement in Worthen subject to the payment of the charities, no satisfactory information has been obtained.

Richard Cox gave £5, and directed the interest to be expended in bread and given to the poor on Easter day. The sum of 5s. was paid in respect of this charity for several years, by Robert Burton, Esq., of Longnor, supposing it to be charged on property taken by him from one of the Calcott family, in exchange for other lands. On examining the title deeds at a subsequent period, no such charge is mentioned, and he therefore declined paying in any longer.

Dorothy Whitcome left £10 for the benefit of the poor. In 1742, this gift, by some means which we are unable to account for, was reduced to £4. 7s. 8½d., and at a parish meeting held in that year, it was agreed to distribute the principal among the poor.

Atcham, Berwick, Chilton, Cronkhill, Emstrey, and Uckington Directories.

The Right Hon. Richard Noel Hill, Lord Berwick, Attingham Hall and Cronkhill

Adams John, farm bailiff, Cronkhill

Burgwin Thomas, blacksmith, Atcham

Burton Rev. Henry, the Vicarage, Atcham

Casewell Thomas, shoemaker, Atcham

Clayton John, farmer, Berwick

Cotterill Edwin, farmer, the Grange, Atcham

Ditcher Joseph, farmer, Uckington

Hand Ann, vict., Berwick’s Arms, commercial and boarding house

Higgins John, farmer, Berwick

Hughes Hannah, vict., Horse Shoe, Uckington

Leigh Edward, coal agent, to Shropshire Coal Company, Atcham

Linell Henry, farmer, Emstrey

Lowe James, farmer, Uckington

Mancell Ann, shopkeeper, Atcham

Mason Robert, wheelwright, Atcham

Miller William, farmer, Uckington

Nunnerley William, coal agent to Hazledine and Co., Atcham

Peach Miss, boarding school, Chilton

Peach William, maltster & saddler, Atcham

Price John, farm bailiff, Berwick

Price William, farmer, Chilton

Rose John, farmer, Emstrey

Vaughan John, Esq., Chilton grove

Weatherby Robert, registrar, Atcham

BOLAS MAGNA, OR GREAT BOLAS,

is a parish and small rural village, in a retired part of the country, seven miles W. by N. from Wellington. The houses are in general scattered, but pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Tern, which divides this parish from Little Bolas. The parish contains 1,784 acres of land; mostly a bold undulating district, the soil of which is a mixture of sand and loam. The meadow lands are highly fertile. In 1801, there were 207 inhabitants; 1831, 255; and in 1841, 55 houses and a population of 228 souls. Rateable value, £2,682. The principal landowners are John Taylor, Esq., Thomas Taylor, Esq., Joseph Ogle, Esq., and Mrs. Pooler, besides whom there are several smaller proprietors. The Newport, Preston Brockhurst, and Wellington turnpike roads cross the township. The Church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a brick structure, except the chancel which is of stone, situated on a gentle eminence near the banks of the river Tern. It has a square tower, which contains two bells. The interior has a neat appearance; it is pewed with oak sittings, and has a small gallery. In the chancel is a neat tablet in memory of John Ogle, Esq., and his wife, dated 1840. Another mural tablet remembers Thomas Griffith, and several members of that family, and is dated 1745. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £7. 9s. 4½d. Gross income, £368. 14s, in the patronage of Viscount Hill, incumbent, Rev. John Hill, M.A., who resides at The Rectory, a pleasantly situated house, on elevated ground, near the banks of the river Tern. The rectory was built a few years ago by the present incumbent, in aid of which a grant was obtained from the governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty. There are 46 acres of glebe land. A small organ was purchased for the church in 1843; the cost of it, £63, was raised by subscriptions, chiefly given by the family of Hill. There is a School in the village, where 20 children are educated free; other children are admitted on the payment of a small sum weekly. Bolas House, the residence of John Taylor, Esq., is a spacious brick structure, surrounded with neat pleasure grounds and park-like enclosures. Burleigh Villa, a good house, with projecting gables, is approached by an avenue of trees, and delightfully situated, is the property and residence of Thomas Taylor, Esq. Bolas is celebrated as the place where the late Marquis of Exeter domiciled for a time under the assumed name of Mr. Jones, courted, and married Miss Sarah Hoggins, and finally raised her to the rank of a British peeress. At the time Mr. Cecil visited Great Bolas, Mr. Hoggins had a farm and kept a small shop. One evening, just as the day had closed, a stranger presented himself at the door, and stated that he was benighted in a strange part of the country, and would be grateful for the accommodation of a bed, or, in case that would be inconvenient, to rest on a chair or otherwise. Mrs. Hoggins, however, very abruptly gave a refusal, but Mr. Hoggins expressed it as his opinion that it was their christian duty to befriend the stranger; to which Mrs. Hoggins eventually assented. In the morning, the stranger arose, and went to survey the farm premises and stock; but the principal object that attracted his attention was the farmer’s daughter, Sarah, feeding the poultry. She was a handsome girl, with a lively and cheerful countenance, bespeaking sensibility and happiness. The heart of the stranger was no longer his own, but he determined not to be too premature, and therefore made an agreement to become an inmate of the farmer’s dwelling. He employed his leisure hours in assisting Mr. Hoggins in the rural affairs of his farm, and in domestic matters as occasion occurred, frequently visiting Wellington in the market cart. Mr. Jones eventually began to manifest a degree of partiality for Miss Hoggins, and placed her at a school at Wellington. This circumstance did not escape the notice of the neighbours, and the mysterious stranger was the talk of the surrounding district. Most people could discover that he was no ordinary person, and various were the suppositions as to his real character; but generally the idea prevailed among the gossips of the neighbourhood that he was captain of a gang of robbers, and this opinion was strengthened by the occasional visit of strangers and the absence of Mr. Jones every now and then for a few days, after which he had always plenty of money. He finally made proposals of marriage to Miss Hoggins, whose heart had from the first felt a kindred flame, and he was accordingly accepted. He then pressed his suit with the parents, but the cautious mother sternly refused, and thought there might be some truth in the supposition of her neighbours as to the real character of her guest; but the father had observed their mutual attachment, and the conclusiveness of his reasoning, “Has he not plenty of money to keep her?” eventually prevailed with the good old dame. After his marriage with Sarah, he engaged masters in every branch of polite education to accomplish his bride. In the course of time the lovely bride had a daughter, which died, and was buried at Bolas. Her second child, Brownlow, became the Marquis of Exeter. On the demise of his uncle, in December, 1793, he became entitled to the honours and estates of the Earldom of Exeter; he, therefore, found it necessary to repair to London. He accordingly set out, as on a journey of pleasure, taking his wife with him, and on the route called at several noblemen’s houses, where, to the astonishment of his wife, he was welcomed in the most friendly manner. At length they arrived at the beautiful patrimonial seat of his lordship (Burleigh, in Northamptonshire), and on approaching the house he asked his wife, with an air of unconcern, whether she would like it to be her home; which she immediately assenting to, he then said, “My dear Sarah, it is yours!” and on making his appearance in front of the house, he was instantly recognised, and received with acclamations of joy by the family and domestics.

His lordship shortly afterwards returned to Bolas, discovered his rank to his wife’s father and mother, put them in a house he had built there, and settled on them an income of £700 per annum. He also amply provided for the brothers and sisters of his countess; and generously pensioned all the servants and workpeople of the villa. The countess, from her pleasing and unassuming manners, was received with the greatest cordiality in the high circle of her noble husband, and was introduced to her majesty, the late Queen Charlotte. She, however, lived but a short period to enjoy her exalted station, dying in child-bed January 8th, 1797.

Messon is a small township, in Great Bolas parish, about half a mile S.E. from the church, the acres of which are returned with the parish. The landowners are the Duke of Cleveland, Joseph Ogle, Esq., Mr. Collier, Mr. Samuel Miner, Mr. William Flemming, Mr. William Wild, and Mr. Thomas Wild. At the census in 1841 the township contained 17 houses and 85 inhabitants. Messon Hall is now occupied by Mr. Joseph Ogle, as a farm residence.

Charities.—Elizabeth Walker, in 1723, bequeathed £20 to the poor of this parish, the interest to be expended in bread, and given every Lord’s day among the poor. John Whitfield, who had lived 55 years a servant in the family of Sir Rowland Hill, and who died in 1747, left £10 for a distribution of bread on St. John’s day.

Bolas Directory.—William Oxon, farmer; John Betley, farmer; John Blanton, farmer; Samuel Brasenell, shopkeeper and victualler; Fox and Hounds; Samuel Buckley, farmer and corn miller; Richard Cherrington, shoemaker; Richard Fox, farmer; Rev. Matthew Kinsey, curate, The Rectory; Benjamin Phillips, wheelwright; John Taylor, Esq., Bolas House; Thomas Taylor, Esq., Burleigh Villa.

Meeson Directory.—Thomas Bellingham, farmer, Shrey-hill; Thomas Blanton, farmer; William Flemming, tailor; Samuel Miner, farmer; Joseph Ogle, farmer, Meeson Hall; Thomas Wild, shoemaker; William Wild, farmer.

BUILDWAS

is a parish township and small rural village delightfully situated near the banks of the Severn, four and a half miles N.E. from Much Wenlock. The parish contains 2,152 acres of land, of which 350 acres are in woods and plantations, the remainder is about equally divided in arable and pasture or meadow lands; the soil is mostly heavy, and produces good wheat and barley. In 1801 there was a population of 258 souls; 1831, 240, and in 1841 there were 59 houses and 273 inhabitants. A beautiful iron bridge of one arch 130 feet span was erected by the Coalbrook-dale Company over the Severn at this place in 1796, at an expense of £6,034. The rise of the bridge is 24 feet, and as the road-way could not be carried to a greater height, advantage was taken of the Schaffhausen principal by making the ribs rise to the top of the railings, and connecting them to the lower ribs by means of dove-tailed king posts. The old bridge, which had narrow arches that impeded the navigation of the river, was carried away by a flood in 1795. Walter Moseley, Esq., (a minor), is landowner, lord of the manor, and impropriator of the tithes, which are commuted for £350. The incumbent of the parish has a payment of £16. 2s. 6d. issuing out of certain lands contiguous to the abbey. The Church is a small structure of free stone, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and consists of nave and chancel, with a wooden turret; it was rebuilt in 1720. It contains several neat marble tablets, one of which on the north wall remembers Margaret Smitheman, who died 1818; another on the south side remembers John Smitheman, and is dated 1809; Humphrey Wheeler and his four sons are also remembered on a neat mural tablet dated 1739, besides which there are several others. The living is a donative in the patronage of W. Moseley, Esq. Incumbent, Rev. John Bartlett, M.A., who resides at Marn Wood, a pleasantly situated residence just within the bounds of Madeley parish. The poor of this parish enjoy the benefit of a rent charge of £5 per annum, the benefaction of Miss Ann Lacon. The annuity is received by the churchwardens, who distribute in equal moieties at Michaelmas and Lady-day among four poor widows in shares of 12s. 6d. each. Near to the bridge there is a respectable inn, conducted by Mr. William Jones.

Buildwas Abbey.—The magnificent ruins of Buildwas abbey are situated in a picturesque vale, near the banks of the river Severn, whose silvery waters are here crossed by a noble cast iron bridge, having a span of 130 feet. The massive walls of the abbey, with the grey pillars and arches, present a fine contrast to the rich verdure which surrounds them, and being environed with high grounds crowned with timber, it presents one of the most lovely spots for conventual retirement that can well be imagined. The outer walls of the abbey church are almost entire. The structure was cruciform with a massive tower in the middle, which rested on four pointed arches. On each side of the nave are seven pillars, with indented capitals, from whence spring arches with obtuse points. Above is a clerestory with small round headed windows. The side aisles, the transept, and the chapel of the choir are entirely in ruins. Under the north wing of the transept is the crypt, the whole of which has evidently been groined with stone, and was supported by circular and diagonal pillars. Over the chapter house and other apartments forming the east side of the cloister are the remains of a second story, which was probably the dormitory. A little eastward of the cloister are probably the remains of the refectory. The view of this venerable structure from the west end is peculiarly striking: the huge pillars with their bold arches and projecting capitals, the lofty arches which supported the tower, and the windows of the gloomy choir, contrasted with the rich verdure, and the luxuriant ivy mantling the walls, altogether form a solemn spectacle of fallen grandeur. The abbey was founded by Roger de Clinton, in 1135, for monks of the order of Savigny, who were afterwards united to the Cistercians. The house was dedicated to St. Mary and St. Chad, and the foundation was confirmed by King Stephen, in the year 1139. Leland in his itinerary says, “Matilda de Bohun, wife of Sir Robert Burnell, was founder of Buildwas abbey,” but among the charters of the monasticon there is no mention of this Matilda, and the foundation is in two or three places ascribed to Roger de Clinton, Bishop of Chester. Rustandus, the pope’s legate, with the assistance of the bishop of Hereford, extorted large sums of money from the clergy; the legate summoned the abbots of the Cistercian order to meet at Reading, when he demanded supplies for the use of the pope and the king, which amounted to the value of their wool. The abbots made answer that the tax was very grievous, and therefore could come to no resolution without the consent of their convents. Rustandus incensed at that answer acquainted the king that the Cistercians refused to grant him supplies. The king swore that those who refused to submit to his demands should feel the effects of his power. There was then at court the abbot of Buildwas, whom the king reprimanded after this manner, “What is the meaning, abbot, that you refuse to supply my necessities; am I not your patron?” To whom the abbot replied, “I would to God, sir, you were our patron, our father, and defender; but it does not become your majesty to extort money from those who can only assist you with their prayers; let the exemplary piety of the king of France be a precedent to your majesty in this respect.” The king replied, “I demand both your money and your prayers.” “How is that consistent,” said the abbot, “for one of them you must be without.” At the suppression here were twelve monks who, according to Dugdale, were endowed with £110. 19s. 3d. per annum, but Speed estimates the value at £129. 6s. 10d. The site, with all the land in Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire, were granted to Edward Lord Powis in the 29th of Henry VIII.

An extraordinary phenomena occurred on the 27th of May, 1775, at a place called the Birches, situated between Buildwas and Ironbridge, which will be found noticed with the latter place.

Moseley Mrs. Elizabeth, Buildwas Park

Moseley Walter, Esq., Buildwas Park

Bartlett Rev. John, M.A., Marnwood

Birkin Charles, farmer

Eveson Thomas, farmer and gardener

Francis Thomas, farmer

Hewlett John, farmer, Lawleys Cross

Intone Thomas, blacksmith

Jones William, maltster, farmer, and vict. Bridge Inn, Buildwas

Lewis William, farmer, Abbey farm

Nickless Enoch, farmer & builder; residence, Iron bridge

Nunn Rev. John, B.A., curate, Wire Hill Cottage

Pothan William, farmer

Ridley Edward and Samuel, farmer and corn millers

CHETWYND

is a parish which includes the townships of Chetwynd and Howle, part of Pickstock and part of Sambrook; the latter will be found noticed in Cheswardine parish, and Pickstock is given with Edgmond in which parish it is chiefly situated. The hamlet of Pixley noticed with Hinstock contains 89a. 1r. 28p. of land in this parish. The parish of Chetwynd contains 3,803a. 0r. 30p. of land, and in 1801 had 594 inhabitants, 1831, 766, and in 1841, 760. The village of Chetwynd forms the northern suburb to the town of Newport, on the line of road leading from that town to Market Drayton, but the church, the hall, and the rectory are situated on the same line of road nearly two miles north from Newport. The township contains 1,727a. 2r. 5p. of land, and in 1841 had 109 houses and 543 inhabitants. John Charles Burton Borough, Esq., is the principal land owner and lord of the manor; Robert Fisher, Esq., Thomas Collier, Esq., the Rev. William Dalton, are also land owners. The Church, a plain brick structure dedicated to St. Michael, has been built about one hundred years; it consists of nave and bay, and has a square tower in which are six bells; there is a gallery at the west end built in the year 1841 by voluntary subscriptions. The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £10. 16s. 3d., now returned at £775. in the patronage of J. C. B. Borough, Esq.; incumbent, Rev. Rev. Thomas Whateley, M.A., who resides at the rectory, a good residence near the church. The tithes are commuted for £742. 4s. 11½d. The Hall is an ancient structure near the east end of the church, which appears to have been built at different periods; in the low grounds in front of the hall, the river Meese, an inconsiderable stream takes its course. The park comprises about 300 acres of land, and is situated on the west side of the turnpike road leading from Newport to Market Drayton; it has a bold undulating surface, well timbered and stocked with about two hundred head of deer; a fine sheet of water covers about thirty acres. The National School is situated about midway between Newport and Chetwynd church; there is a residence for the teacher, and the number of scholars that attend average about seventy.

Charities.—In 1717 a house and croft situated in High street, Newport, was conveyed in trust for the benefit of the poor of Chetwynd, in consideration of £80 paid to James and Thomas Liversage, whereof £50 was money given by Honor Dryden and others for charitable uses. This house has been unfortunately long lost to the charity, and there is no evidence to show that the poorhouse ever derived any benefit from it. Of the croft in Chetwynd a small part, about a rood, was taken upwards of fifty years ago for the site of a house of industry, for which no compensation had been made when the charity commissioners published their report. The remainder of the land produces about £3 per annum.

There is a piece of land containing about three acres known by the name of Lady meadow, the rent of which was received by the parish officers as early as the year 1625, but there is no trace of the source from which the land was derived. The sum of £1 0s. 4d. was the rent paid from the above year down to 1820, although the premises were then worth about £8 per annum. There are certain premises in the parish of Edgmond now consisting of three cottages with gardens and about nine acres of land, which were purchased in 1728 with certain benefactions left by Ann Pigott and Robert Pigott for the benefit of the poor of Chetwynd; the rents from these premises amount to £28 per annum.

There is reason to believe from entries in the parish books, that the land at Hinstock consisting of about ten acres, was purchased for the use of the poor of Chetwynd about the beginning of the 18th century, but there is no evidence to show what was the amount of purchase money, or from what particular source it was derived. It first appears in the parish books in the year 1700 at a rent of £2. 10s., which continued without increase until 1760. In 1783 it was let for £4. 15s. and the amount has since been raised to £14. 14s.

William Unite’s charity of five penny loaves weekly, and several sums of money amounting to £30 left by several benefactors, have been applied to the use of the parish, and the parish officers now pay £2. 11s. 8d. as the interest thereof.

The gross income of the several charities above mentioned amounts to £49. 6s. per annum, and at the time the charity commissioners visited Chetwynd, was expended in the following manner: £1. 14s. applied in aid of the church rates, £5. 6s. 8d. in distributions of bread, £4 in the purchase of coal, and £38. 10s. was carried to the poor’s rates. The latter, we conceive, is an objectionable mode of applying money left for charitable uses, and totally at variance with the donors’ intentions. It was intended, however, by the parishioners, to have a fresh application of the charitable funds, and to apply a portion towards the support of a school.

Robert Pigott, who died in 1746, left the sum of £50, the interest to be distributed among poor housekeepers. Certain benefactions, recorded on tables in the church, left by twelve several donors, amounting to £68, in the absence of any account of their disposal, may be presumed to have formed the purchase money of the lands, of which there are no documents to trace their origin.

The inhabitants of Chetwynd End are entitled to participate in the benefits of the Grammar School and other charities at Newport.

Those names with * affixed are at Chetwynd End.

Boroughs John Charles Burton, Esq., Chetwynd hall

* Allen Harry, spirit merchant

Allmen George, blacksmith, Pilson

* Bailey Robert, maltster and farmer

* Brittain Thos., corn miller

* Cobb John, builder and architect

* Cockayne Miss Sarah

* Cockerill Thomas, Esq.

Collier Thos. Esq., Beech hill

* Derrington Thomas, Chetwynd villa

Emberey Mrs. Ann, Summerhill house

Fisher Robert, Esq. Chetwynd lodge

Ford William, woolstapler

* Franklin John, vict., King’s Arms

* Geates Joseph, gardener

* Hector Miss Elizabeth

Holt David, gamekeeper

* Icke Mrs. Mary

Ingram George, land agent

* Jellicore Mrs. Mary

* Matthews Charles veterinary surgeon

* Morris Thomas, seedsman

Myatt Richard, farmer

* Palin Mrs. Jemima

* Pickworth Mrs. Elizabeth

Podmore Thomas, farmer

* Pritchard Mary Ann, boarding school

* Randal John, architect

Rowley Andrew, schoolmaster and parish clerk

* Rylands Mrs. Jane

* Stevens Mary Ann, schoolmistress

Thompson Mark, woolstapler

Veitch John, farmer

* Washbourne William, Esq., solicitor, Chetwynd house

* Watkin Watkin, timber merchant

* Weate William, farmer and butcher

Webb Joseph, farmer, New house

* West Samuel, shopkeeper

Whately Rev. Thomas, M.A., the Rectory

HOWLE

is a small township with a scattered population, five miles north-west from Newport, and three miles north-west from Chetwynd. The township contains 765a. 1r. 28p. of land; and at the census in 1841 there were 18 houses and 102 inhabitants. The land here has an undulating surface, and is highly fertile. Arthur Mountford, Esq., is the principal landowner, and farms most of the land. The Wesleyan Methodists have a small chapel in the township.

The chief residents are Arthur Mountford, Esq.; and Messrs. Dawes and Whitfield, corn millers.

DAWLEY MAGNA,

a populous parish busily engaged in the extensive iron works and collieries with which the vicinity abounds, is situated four miles S.E. from Wellington. The parish comprises the townships of Dawley Magna, Dawley Parva, and Malinslee. In 1801 there was a population of 3,869 souls; 1831, 6,877, and in 1841 there were 1,716 houses and 8,641 inhabitants, of whom 4,490 were males, and 4,151 females. The township of Dawley Magna contains 997a. 1r. 21p. of land, and in 1841 had 904 houses and 4,485 inhabitants. R. A. Slaney, Esq., is lord of the manor and a considerable landowner; Beriah Botfield, Esq., the Coalbrook Dale Company, Robert Burton, Esq., and the Langley Field Company, are also proprietors. The collieries vary from 150 yards to 200 yards in depth, and the seams of coal from two feet to four feet in thickness; the coal is of a very superior quality, and got in immense quantities. The Coalbrook Dale Company give employment to upwards of 3,500 hands, and the quantity of coal raised by this firm in the parish of Dawley alone amounts to 8,500 tons per month, or 102,000 tons per annum, of ironstone 42,000 tons a year. The same company also make 17,880 tons of pig iron, at the Horse Hay Works in this parish, besides 14,200 tons of finished merchant iron yearly. A very ingenious contrivance is adopted at the Horse Hay Works, by means of which 100 tons of coal per month are saved. Attached to the furnace chimnies where the iron is made are pipes by which the gas is brought down under the immense steam engines which are necessary for raising the coal and ironstone from the mines contiguous to the works. On the gas uniting with the atmospheric air under the engines it immediately ignites, and thus an immense saving and power is acquired which is generally neglected in other establishments. At the time we saw the works there was a surplus supply of gas thrown off, which would have put in motion an engine of 100 horse power. The Horse Hay Works took their name from the circumstance of this place, in former days being the depository for hay, when the minerals were carried on pack horses from Ketley-bank to Coalbrook dale—this was a half-way house where the horses were fed, and hence the name Horse Hay Works. Each of the adult workmen employed at this extensive establishment pays 1s. per month, which forms a fund for educational purposes and funeral expenses.

The Church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a handsome structure of free stone, erected in 1845, at a cost of about £3,000, raised by subscriptions and grants from the church building societies. The stone was got from a neighbouring quarry. It consists of nave, chancel and side aisles, with a tower at the west end, in which are six bells. The interior has a chaste appearance: the nave is separated from the side aisles by four lofty arches; on the north side of the chancel is a neat stone pulpit, and there is a gallery at the west end, upon which there is a superior organ erected in 1851 at a cost of £200. The pews are uniform in character, and there are 831 sittings, of which 664 are free and unappropriated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the Messrs. Phillips. Incumbent, Rev. William Richards, M.A. The parsonage is about half a mile N.W. from the church. The rectoral tithes are commuted for £82. 10s. Messrs. Phillips are the impropriators. The incumbent receives £1. The parish register dates from the year 1666. The old church stood a little S.E. of the present edifice; it was a small structure of primitive simplicity, and had a short tower at the west end. On the east side of the church yard stands the old parsonage, an antique fabric of wood and plaster with a thatched roof; it is much dilapidated by time, and is expected shortly to be taken down. The Wesleyan Chapel, Dawley Green, is a plain octagonal structure, which will hold about 400 hearers. The Wesleyans have also a spacious chapel at Dawley Bank, built in 1846. The Wesleyan New Connection Chapel is a spacious structure at Dawley Green, which will hold about 1,000 persons. The Particular Baptist Chapel is a small structure situated at Dawley Bank. The Primitive Methodist Chapel is a spacious structure capable of holding about 1,000 persons, situated in Dawley Green-lane. Dawley Green is a most densely populated part of the parish, and is about half a mile from the church; in High street are many good houses and shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. Pool Hill School is a noble pile of buildings, erected at a cost of upwards of £3,500, defrayed by the munificence of different members of the Darby family. The interior is spacious and lofty, and the roof is of groined timber stained in imitation of oak. There is a good library containing upwards of 400 volumes. The school has been built for the education of the children of workmen belonging to the Coalbrook Dale Company, and is partly supported from a fund into which each workman pays 1s. per month for educational purposes and funeral expenses of deceased members; the residue necessary for the support of the school is paid by the Coalbrook Dale Company. The National School is a plain structure, erected in 1841, and situated near the parsonage house. About 100 children attend. It is supported by subscriptions and the pence of the children. Finger Lane is a scattered district to the east of the church.

DAWLEY PARVA,

a township situated near a mile W. of Dawley Magna, comprises 900a. 1r. 38p. of land, and in 1841 had 270 houses and 1,435 inhabitants. The canal and roads occupy 30a. 1r. 8p. The tithes of Dawley Parva have been commuted, and £146 apportioned to Messrs. Phillips, the impropriators, and £6 to the incumbent. The Church is a neat structure, dedicated to St. Luke, and consists of nave and bay, with a belfry at the west end, built of hewn stone of very beautiful workmanship. The roof is of groined timber, and there is a gallery at the west end. The cost of the fabric was about £1,300, which was raised partly by grants from the church building societies and partly by subscriptions. There are 507 sittings, which are all free and unappropriated. The church was built under Sir Robert Peel’s act, and is endowed with £150 per annum. The patronage is vested in the crown and the bishop of Lichfield alternately. The Rev. James Morris is the incumbent. The vestry is used as a Sunday school for girls, and the boys are taught in the church. The parsonage is a neat residence situated near the church. The Wesleyan Methodists have a spacious chapel, built in 1837. Holywell Lane is a populous district, chiefly of cottage residences, which take their name from a well here called Holy Well. At Hinkhay are a number of scattered cottages.

MALINSLEE

is a township in the parish of Dawley, situated about a mile N. from the parish church, which comprises 736a. 1r. 9p. of land, and in 1841 there were 510 houses and 2,721 inhabitants, Robert H. Cheney, Esq., is the principal landowner; Beriah Botfield, Esq., is also a proprietor. The Shropshire union canal occupies 34a. 1r. 31p., and there is 1a. 2r. 20p. of glebe in the township. Malinslee forms a part of the great Shropshire coal field; ironstone is found in large quantities, and the iron and coal works of Beriah Botfield, Esq., are of considerable extent. The Old Park coal works are celebrated for superior coal. The Church is an octagonal structure, erected in the early part of the present century; it is built of free stone, and will accommodate about 800 persons. The expenses of the erection were defrayed with money left by J. H. Browne, Esq., of Burton-upon-Trent. The patronage is vested in the incumbent of Dawley Magna; the living is a perpetual curacy enjoyed by the Rev. William Harris. Malinslee House is a good brick residence, built about sixty years ago by the late William Botfield, Esq. It is now occupied as offices by the clerks of B. Botfield, Esq. About 150 yards from the house are the ruins of a small religious house called Malinslee Abbey. This may have been subordinate to some of the larger abbeys in the vicinity, but of which we find no record. The ruins consist of a small oblong square with walls at each end about twenty feet high, and on each side from six to nine feet in height, having traces of the Saxon style of architecture.

Charities.—Richard Hodden, by will, dated 19th June, 1684, devised his land of inheritance, situated in Dogpole-street, Shrewsbury, and also his lands lying in Middleton-on-the-Hill, in the county of Hereford, to Richard Hodden and his heirs, on condition that he should (among other things) pay an annuity of £7 to the poor of Dawley Magna. The premises in Dogpole-street, Shrewsbury, mentioned in Hodden’s will, cannot now be identified, but the annuity is paid by Mr. Bird, the occupier, and part owner of the premises of Middleton, which consists of a farm and buildings, and about seventy acres of land. The amount is divided among poor widows, who are relieved according to their necessities.

Rebecca Walthall, who died in 1756, bequeathed to the churchwardens of Dawley £40, and directed the interest to be distributed yearly to the poor of Malinslee. This money was in the hands of the late William Botfield, Esq., who distributed 40s. as the interest thereof among poor widows. When the charity commissioners published their report Mr. Botfield had also a further sum of £50 in his hands, left as he believed by Rebecca Walthall, for which he paid interest to the incumbent of Dawley.

In the year 1738, by deed, dated 14th of April, Richard Styche, in consideration of £20 paid to him by Edward Forsbrook, with the consent of the parishioners, for placing the said money at interest for the benefit of the poor of the parish, assigned a cottage at Madeley Wood, which had been granted to him in 1732, by George Yorke, for securing the repayment of £30 advanced by him to Yorke, and of which £10 had been since paid off. And by a memorandum at the back of the deed the parties agreed that interest at four per cent. should be paid for the £20. On the 7th March, 1857, the said George Yorke, by endorsement on this deed, acknowledged to have borrowed of the parish officers of Dawley the sum of £13, which sum, with interest at the rate of 10s. a year, he agreed should be payable from the said premises, making the whole principal sum £33. We could not ascertain with certainty the origin of this poor’s money, but find that Enoch Cooper, in 1721, left a sum of £20 to the use of the poor of Great Dawley, and this sum probably formed the first amount advanced on this mortgage. In the returns of the commissioners under the act of the 26th of George III., there is mention of a benefaction by another person of the name of Cooper of £13, which agrees with the further sum advanced on the mortgage in 1757, but we have not found any other trace of this donation.

Post Office.—At Mr. Samuel Deakin’s, High street. Letters arrive at 8 A.M., and are despatched at 5 30 P.M. Money orders are granted at this office.

Those names with 1 affixed are in High street; 2 Chapel lane; 3 Dawley Green lane; 4 Dawley Bank, 5 Horse Hay; 6 Finger lane; 7 The Wickets. Those marked * are Dawley Magna; and † in Malinslee.

4 Bailey Edward, farmer

1 Bailey George, grocer, seedsman, and ironmonger

1 Bailey Henry, butcher

2 Bailey John, relieving officer

1 Bailey Michael, shopkeeper

5 Bailey Robert, cashier

2 Bailey William Henry, surveyor of highways, accountant, assistant overseer, and agent to Birmingham District Fire Office

1 Barclay John Brown, shopkeeper

* Barker John, cabinet-maker, registrar of births, deaths, and marriages, and vict., Crown Inn

3 Barnes Richard, inland revenue officer

1 Bason Edward, grocer and tea dealer

1 Baugh John, saddler

1 Belshaw Robert, draper and hatter

† Blakemore Thomas, victualler, Stag Inn

† Bishton William, victualler, Plough Inn

† Bishton Geo., accountant, Malinslee House

† Botfield Beriah, Esq., ironmaster

1 Bradbury Thomas, chemist and druggist, & agent to the Royal Farmers & Medical, Legal, and General Insurance Office

5 Bratton John, accountant

6 Bray and Garbett, timber dealers

6 Bray Moses, shoemaker

6 Bray Thomas, victualler, Queen’s Arms

4 Brown Richard, butcher

4 Broom William, shoemaker

1 Brown William, butcher

1 Burroughs James, watch and clockmaker

1 Carver James, joiner and builder

1 Chilton Joseph, beerhouse

1 Chirm Jane, shopkeeper

3 Clarke John, tailor

4 Clarke William, wheelwright

3 Clemson William, maltster and victualler, King’s Arms

1 Cooke Henry, grocer, maltster, corn-miller, and seedsman

4 Cox Rev. Alfred (Baptist)

5 Dobbs James, boot and shoemaker

1 Davies George, surgeon

Darby and Co. (Colebrook Dale Company), ironmasters, Horse Hay

3 Deakin Catherine, beerhouse

1 Deakin Samuel, plumber, glazier, painter, and postmaster

* Deakin Thomas, grocer and draper

1 Deakin Wm., painter, glazier, & beerhouse

* Dixon Thomas, farmer

4 Done James, grocer and draper

1 Egerton Joseph, butcher, and beerhouse

1 Egerton Samuel, victualler, Angel Inn

1 Evans Thomas, victualler, Crown Inn

2 Faulkner Richard, beerhouse

Finley Jane, schoolmistress, Pool-hill school

* Fletcher George, farmer

3 Franklin Francis, shoemaker

3 Garbett and Bray, timber dealers

1 Garbett John, draper

2 Garbett Matthew and Benjamin, charter masters

* Garbett Michael, clerk of St. Luke’s

5 Garbett William, victualler, Peacock

1 Gill Robert, brazier

3 Green Charles H., surgeon, The Terrace

* Greenhalgh Robert, grocer

1 Greenhalgh William, grocer, draper, and hop and corn dealer

3 Gregory Mary, bonnet maker

1 Gun Robert, shoemaker

4 Guy Mary, grocer and victualler, Queen’s Head

1 Guy Thomas, pork butcher

6 Harris James, blacksmith and chainmaker

† Harris Rev. William, curate, Parsonage

3 Hayward George, shoemaker & beerhouse

1 Heaford Jonathan, tailor and draper

3 Hewlett Jane, shopkeeper and beerhouse

† Hudson William, accountant, Dark-lane House

1 Hudson William, timber dealer & builder

Hughes Andrew, butcher, and victualler, Red Lion

James Joseph, police constable

1 Jones Benjamin, ironmonger

4 Jones George, blacksmith

3 Jones John, charter master

3 Jones Phillip, beerhouse

1 Jones Thomas, confectioner

2 Jones William, charter master

1 Kirby Samuel, tailor

Langley Field Coal Company

1 Lane Rosannah, beerhouse

* Leigh Randle, beerhouse

1 Lewis George, butcher

3 Lewis James, butcher and grocer

2 Lord Mrs. Mary Ann

1 Lloyd Robert, shoemaker

* Mancell Thomas, shoemaker

3 Mason Thomas, shoemaker

† Mason William, tailor, Church lane

5 Maun James, victualler, Labour in Vain

6 Merrington Charles, blacksmith, iron-fence and chain maker

1 Millington John, beerhouse

1 Millman Richard, wheelwright

1 Mogg William, earthenware dealer

7 Morgan Thomas, blacksmith

3 Morgan Jeremiah, grocer and victualler, The Lamb

* Morris Rev. James, The Parsonage

3 Onions Enoch, shopkeeper and beerhouse

5 Owen Mary, victualler, Craven Arms

* Nightingale Saml., farmer & vic., Unicorn Inn

3 Parish Joseph, spade maker

7 Parsons John, vict., Wickets Inn

1 Pearce Richard Reynolds, leather dealer

3 Pickin James, hair dresser

4 Pierson John, hair dresser

† Poole James, boiler, chain, and nail maker, and vict., New Wickets Inn

1 Poole and Son, hair dressers

† Poole Robert, ground bailiff

1 Poole Sarah, dress maker

3 Poole William, tailor

4 Poole William, charter master

* Powell Matthew, farmer

4 Powis George, shoemaker

3 Pritchard Charles, shoemaker

6 Pritchard George, vict., Peter’s Finger

4 Pursell Lancelot, butcher

Richards Rev. William, M.A., Parsonage

5 Roden Benjamin, rolling mill manager

1 Roum Alice, beerhouse

1 Roum Maria Louisa, bonnet maker

1 Russell Joseph, draper and hatter

6 Sandlands John, saddler

Sides John James, schoolmaster (National)

1 Simms John, tailor

6 Smallman William, beerhouse and grocer

1 Slater Joseph, stationer, and at Ironbridge

5 Stanley William, grocer and draper

Stewart Elizabeth, beerhouse

Smart Rev. John, Wesleyan

Summers Thomas, maltster, farmer, and vict., Hinkshey

Taylor John Joseph, maltster and vict., Dun Cow

1 Taylor Richard, grocer, maltster, and draper

* Taylor William, farmer

4 Teece James, tailor and draper

4 Tipton Henry, charter master and vict., Red Lion

† Tipton Mark, manager to B. Botfield, Esq.; residence, Mossy Green

1 Tranter Sarah, maltster & vict., Elephant and Castle

1 Tranter William, vict., Lord Hill

* Trigger Elizabeth, farmer

3 Vaughan Thomas, charter master

3 Walford John, tailor

3 Walford Mary, dressmaker

3 Walkis Miles, joiner

1 Webb Mathew, surgeon

5 Wilkes Thomas, mine agent

5 Wilkes Mark, furnace and forge manager

5 William Edward, vict., Pudlers’ Arms

* Wright Peter, farmer

EATON CONSTANTINE,

is a parish and delightfully situated village, near the Wrekin Hill, seven miles S.E. from Shrewsbury, and five miles S.W. from Wellington. The parish comprises 874a. 0r. 10p. of land, the principal owners of which are the Duke of Cleveland and Mrs. Maun, besides whom Mrs. Langley, Mr. Samuel Dalloe, Mr. George Davies, and Mr. William Langley, are also proprietors. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor. In 1801 Eaton parish contained 204 inhabitants; 1831, 244, and in 1841 59 houses and 294 souls. The Church, a neat stone edifice dedicated to St. Mary, exhibits the gothic style of architecture, and was almost wholly rebuilt during the years 1847–8, at a cost of £775. Of this sum £490 was raised by subscriptions, £125 was granted by the Diocesan Society, £60 by the Incorporated Society for Enlarging and Building Churches, and £100 was raised by a parish rate on the parishioners. It is considered a free chapel or rectory, in the patronage of the Duke of Cleveland; incumbent, Rev. Henry Beckwith. The tithes are commuted for £176, of which £46 is paid to the vicar of Leighton, and the residue is paid to the incumbent of Eaton Constantine. There are 25 acres of glebe land. The National School is a modern structure erected at the cost of £190, and situated near the church. The Privy Council on Education granted £40 towards the erection, the Diocesan Society £20, the National Society £15, and the residue was raised by public subscriptions. The average attendance of children is about sixty.

There is belonging to the poor of this parish the sum of £20, the origin of which is not known. It is secured on the Atcham House of Industry, and the interest, amounting to 18s. per annum, is distributed among four of the poorest parishioners. William Warham, in 1806, bequeathed after the decease of his wife the interest of £100, and directed the same to be distributed among five of the poorest parishioners of the parish. The testator’s widow died in 1826, and £90 (£10 having been deducted for the legacy duty), was laid out in the purchase of £114. 2s. 1d. three per cent. consols. The dividends, amounting to £3. 8s. 4d. per annum, are divided on Candlemas-day among five poor men residing in the parish.

Directory.—The Rev. Henry Beckwith, The Parsonage; John Bullock, carpenter; Samuel Dalloe, carpenter; John James, carpenter, Longwood; Maria Langley, beerhouse keeper; John Morris, blacksmith; Henry Smith, grocer; Zechariah Smith, farmer; Robert Thomas, farmer; Thomas Ward, carpenter.

EDGMOND

is a considerable parish, comprising the townships of Adeney, Butterey, Calvington, Caynton, Cherrington, Chetwynd Aston, Church Aston, Stanford, Tibberton, and part of Pickstock. The parish contains 5,026a. 0r. 31p. of land; gross estimated rental, £9,227. 16s. 1½d.; rateable value, £7,854. 8s. 11½d. Population in 1801, 1,699; 1831, 2,300, and in 1841, 2,471. The village of Edgmond is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, about a mile W. from Newport; it contains several good residences, and commands some pleasing prospects of the surrounding country. The township contains 1,933a. 2r. 27p. of land, and in 1841 there were 174 houses and 792 inhabitants. Rateable value, £3,741. 4s. 9¼d. The lands are intersected by the Shropshire union canal, which covers 20a. 0r. 32p. of land. The principal landowners are Thomas Bayley, Esq., Mr. John Cooke Hill, Rev. John D. Pigott, Rev. William Dalton, Mr. John Moore, Mr. John Alcock, Mr. Thomas Harper Adams, and Mrs. Dewson; J. C. H. Borough, Esq., is lord of the manor.

The Church is a fine old castellated structure, dedicated to St. Peter, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a square tower in which are six bells; four pointed arches rising from octagonal pillars divide the nave from the side aisles. The chancel is spacious and covered with tesselated pavement. Above the altar is a beautiful stained glass window, added a few years ago at the expense of the present rector; it contains figures, chastely executed, representative of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John, the other compartments being richly ornamented with gothic tracery. The west window has also been beautified with stained glass by the liberality of the parishioners. In the centre aisle is a brass with two full length figures, the armorial bearings of the family, and figures of thirteen children, in memory of the Young’s, a family of consequence in this locality in former days. A neat tablet in the south aisle remembers William Briscoe, Esq., of Caynton, who died in 1828; near to it is another tablet to the memory of John Bayley, Esq., who died in 1833. The font has been re-hewn, but the original characters have been preserved. An alabaster slab, recently removed from the chancel to the west end of the church, remembers Nicholas Peckell, supposed to have been the last Roman Catholic rector of this place. The church was anciently appropriated to the abbey of Shrewsbury. In the 10th of Henry VII., the advowson was given to the Carthusian priory at Shortly, near Coventry. The patronage is now vested in the Rev. John Dryden Pigott, B.A., who is also the incumbent. The tithes have been commuted for £2,400, and there are 62a. 2r. 25p. of glebe land. The rectory is a very ancient building on the south side of the church yard; it was no doubt built for the reception of some of the religious orders in Catholic times. A low doorway and some other small fragments are all that remain of the ancient fabric. Edgmond Hall, a handsome brick residence pleasantly situated a little south from the church, is the property of Mr. John C. Hill, but unoccupied when our agent visited Edgmond. The National School, situated a little west from the church, has an attendance of 54 boys and 46 girls. The Primitive Methodists have a small chapel built in 1835.

Charities.—In 1699 certain lands were purchased with the sum of £70, which is supposed to have been derived from some of the numerous benefactions which are recorded on a tablet in the church, and for the greater number of which, amounting to £211, no permanent mode of application is there designed. In the purchase deeds it is directed that six penny loaves should be distributed in the parish every Sunday, from which it is inferred that John Moreton’s gift of £26 formed part of the purchase money, the interest of which at five per cent. would exactly suffice for the weekly distribution of six penny loaves. These lands, with an allotment of about three-fourths of an acre made in respect of them some years ago, contain in the whole 13a. 0r. 22p., and now produces a yearly rental of £12. There are also about twelve acres of land situate in the parish of Edgmond, and belonging to the poor of the parish, which are supposed to have been purchased with other of the benefactions recorded upon the tablet in the church, but there are no deeds or documents now extant indicating the source from which the property was derived, or the trusts on which it is held. There are four pieces of land which together are let for £26. 12s. per annum; from this fund, and £4. 10s. added from the rents of the Hinstock estate, 7s. worth of bread is distributed every week among the poor of Edgmond, and 14s. worth is sent every Easter to Tibberton. £1. 19s. is distributed among the poor of Edgmond on St. David’s-day in sums of 6d. each, as the gift of David Oliver. The residue of the fund amounting to £10. 5s. is expended in warm clothing for the poor during the winter season.

The Rev. Dryden Pigott, in 1734, bequeathed £200, and directed the interest thereof to be employed in clothing and schooling, and for books for such poor boys inhabiting the village of Edgmond as his executor and the rector of Edgmond, their heirs and successors, should judge to be a sufficient number for the purpose; the said boys to be clothed and kept at school so long as the said trustees should think fit. This legacy in 1806 was invested in the purchase of £258. 8s. 3d. four per cent. stock, and the dividends, which amount to £10. 4s. 8d., are employed in the clothing and education of seven or eight boys.

John Smith left £100, the interest to be given upon St. John’s-day to the poor of Edgmond. Robert Pigott, in 1746, left £50, the interest to be given to the poor of Edgmond and Adeney. An annual sum of £7. 10s. is paid by the Rev. John D. Pigott as the interest of these two benefactions. The amount is given away in half-crowns to the poor of Adeney and Edgmond on St. John’s-day.

Adams Thomas Harper, farmer, Anceller House

Alcock John, gentleman

Bayley Thomas, gentleman

Blakemore John, farmer

Bolas Benjamin, shoemaker

Bolas John, shoemaker

Bratton Thomas, tailor

Buckley Thomas, tailor

Casewell William, farmer

Davies William, wheelwright

Dewson Mrs. Catherine, Hill House

Evans Edward, shoemaker

Harper John, tailor and vict., Lion Inn

Hill Capt. Clement, Summer Hill

Hill John Cooke, farmer

Hollins Mr. John

Icke Mrs. Elizabeth Glover, Edgmond Grove

James John, shopkeeper

Large John, shopkeeper and carpenter

Lewin George, schoolmaster

Littleton Ben., blacksmith

Mansell Thomas, blacksmith

Moore John, farmer

Morris William, tailor

Patrick James, shoemaker

Phillips John, wheelwright

Pigott David, shoemaker

Pigott Rev. John Dryden, B.A., The Rectory

Pigott William, wheelwright

Pinson William, shoemaker

Pooler Richard, butcher

Sillitoe John, farmer

Sillitoe Thomas, farmer

Tomlins Rev. Richard, M.A.

Vigers Peter, carpenter

Wainwright Abrm., road surv.

Wiggin Thomas, farmer and vict., Old Lamb

Williams John, farmer

Yeomans John, maltster, butcher, and vict., New Inn

ADENEY, OR ADNEY,

is a small township in the parish of Edgmond, situated about a mile W. from the parish church; the township contains 618a. 2r. 22p. of land, the soil of which in some places is light and sandy, and in other parts a strong fertile loam. The Shropshire union canal intersects the township, and occupies 15a. 0r. 2p. of land; Lady Tyrwhitt is the owner of the land, the gross rental of which is £1,175. 13s. 3d. Rateable value, £982. 2s. 7½d. At the census in 1841 there were ten houses and a population of 71 souls.

The principal residents are Richard Asterley, farmer; George Hammond, farmer and surveyor; and John Pooler, farmer, and brick, tile, and draining pipe manufacturer.

BUTTEREY

is a township with only one house, partly situated in the parish of Edgmond and partly in that of Lilleshall; in the former are 239a. 3r. 38p. of land, and in the latter about 30 acres. The rateable value of the land in Edgmond is £354. 16s. 5d. The Shropshire union railway crosses the township and occupies 5a. 2r. 6p. There is a considerable extent of low marsh land, which is used for grazing purposes. The Duke of Sutherland is the proprietor. Mrs. Sarah Masefield, farmer, occupies the land, and resides at a good residence near the banks of the canal, about two miles S.W. from Edgmond.

CAYNTON,

a township two miles N.W. from Edgmond, has 670a. 0r. 17p. of land, which is the property of George Briscoe, Esq. Rateable value, £995. 12s. 6d. At the census of 1841 there were 14 houses and 51 inhabitants. Caynton House is a handsome brick residence pleasantly situated, in the occupancy of Mr. Thomas Paddock, farmer. There is a corn mill here situated on a small stream, which has its confluence with the river Tern in the parish of Ercall Magna. Calvington, returned as in the township of Caynton at the census of 1841, is held as a separate township by the parish officers. It contains 339a. 2r. 18p. of land, which is the property of Mr. Charles Morris. Rateable value, £464. 0s. 1½d. Stanford, a good farm two miles N. from Edgmond, has 221a. 0r. 23p. of land, which is the property of the Rev. William Dalton. Rateable value, £228. 17s. 1d.

Directory.—Thomas and William Paddock, farmers, maltsters, and corn millers, Caynton; Thomas Paddock, farmer, Caynton House; Sarah Pooler, farmer, Calvington; Edward Banton, farmer, Stanford Hall.

CHERRINGTON

is a township in the parish of Edgmond, three miles and a quarter from the parish church, comprising 1,035a. 1r. 12p. of land, mostly a light fertile loam, about equal portions arable and in pasture lands. The Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor and owner of the whole township, except 29a. 1r. 20p. of land, which is the property of Mr. Joseph Ogle. In 1801 there were 173 inhabitants; 1831, 192; and in 1841, 39 houses and 189 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,522. 12s. 4d. The farms here are of considerable extent, and the land has been much improved by superior cultivation.

John White gave the sum of £20 to the poor of Cherrington, and directed the interest to be distributed by the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the parish, among the most deserving objects of charity. This gift is now in the savings’ bank, and the interest is usually distributed among old men or widows of Cherrington. There are traces of the distribution of this charity for more than a century back; and an entry in the churchwardens’ book for the year 1788, describes it as money left by the late Captain White.

The principal residents are Thomas Browne, farmer; Henry Green, farmer, Day House; Sarah Palin, farmer, Cherrington Manor; William Podmore, farmer; William Fletcher, joiner and builder; William Harper, shoemaker; Richard Hobson, shoemaker; Thomas Jones, shoemaker; Richard Middleton, rope maker; Benjamin Rea, corn miller; and John Williams, shopkeeper and vict., Four Crosses.

CHETWYND, OR FIELD ASTON,

is a township in the parish of Edgmond, situated near the eastern verge of the county, about a mile south from Newport. The township is intersected by the railway, and the Newport station is within the bounds of this township, situated about half a mile from the church. The township contains 1,244a. 0r. 8p. of land. Gross estimated rental, £3,051. 11s. 3d. Rateable value, £2,670. 7s. The principal landowners are the Duke of Sutherland; John Cotes, Esq.; John Tayleur, Esq.; Miss Elizabeth Slaney; Lilleshall Company; Mr. Phillips; and Mr. Stoneley. The population of this township in 1801 was 268; 1831, 246; and 1841, 385; at the latter period there were 82 houses, which are for the most part straggling, and form in part the southern suburb to the town of Newport, and stretch on the turnpike road as far as Pave Lane, upwards of a mile and a half.

Pave Lane is a hamlet on the turnpike road, where the Lilleshall company have a depôt for coal, which is brought by canal from the extensive collieries of the Duke of Sutherland, which are leased by the Lilleshall company. The town of Newport is almost wholly supplied by the coal brought hither, which is of very superior quality, and varies in price from 6s. 3d. to 10s. 10d. per ton.

Allman John, shoemaker and blacksmith

Baddeley Charles, farmer, Aston cottage

Baleson Rev. John, curate of Church Aston

Birks Thomas, beerhouse

Bridgwood Mr. William

Brittain Richard, farmer

Brittain Thomas, farmer and corn miller

Collier Joseph, commercial academy

Cheadle James, agent to Lilleshall company, Pave Lane

Goodwin Joseph, wheelwright

James John, farmer, Pave Lane

Hall John, station master

Humphreys Joseph, farmer and butcher

Lawley Thomas, shoemaker

Lilleshall Company, coal & lime merchants

Mancell Walter, maltster and vict., Fox and Duck, Pave lane

Mancell William, vict., Horse and Jockey, Pave Lane

Nevett John, toll-gate contractor

Paddock James, farmer

Slaney Miss Elizabeth, Holly grove

Slaney Elizabeth, farmer

Stoneley James, brick maker and farmer

Tomkinson Joseph, tailor

Treasure John, land agent, surveyor, and builder, Aston villa

CHURCH ASTON

is a chapelry and small village, with some genteel residences, pleasantly situated about a mile south from Newport, and a mile and a half east by south from Edgmond. The township contains 720a. 2r. 37p. of land. Ralph M. Leeke, Esq., is the principal landowner and lord of the manor. William Underhill, Esq.; John Treasure, Esq.; Miss Elizabeth Slaney; and Charles B. Brown, Esq., are also proprietors. Gross estimated rental, £2,769. 9s. 6d. Rateable value, £2,459. 11s. 1d. In 1801 there was a population of 451 souls; 1831, 451; and 1841, 512, at which period there were 110 houses. The Chapel is a neat brick structure, consisting of nave, bay, and transepts, with an octagonal tower surmounted by a vane. The chapel was enlarged in 1823, by which means 200 additional sittings have been obtained; and in consequence of a grant from the Society for Promoting the Enlargement and Building of Churches and Chapels, 150 of that number are free and unappropriated for ever, in addition to 50 sittings formerly added; it is provided with galleries, has a small organ, a neat font, and the east window is beautified with stained glass. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the rector of Edgmond; the Rev. John Baleson is the officiating minister. Aston Hall is a handsome stuccoed mansion, embosomed in foliage, and has been built about twenty years; it is the property of R. M. Leeke, Esq., and seat of Ralph Ormsby Gore, Esq. Mr. Underhill has recently built a neat villa residence on elevated ground a short distance from the village, which commands a pleasing view of the country. The township is crossed by the Newport and Wellington turnpike road, by the Shropshire Union railway, and the canal formed by the Lilleshall company, for the conveyance of coal and lime; of the latter large quantities are made in this township; it is extensively used for agricultural purposes. There is a large reservoir in this township of excellent water, which partly supplies the town of Newport. The National School is a brick structure, where about eighty children are educated.

Charities.—Mrs. Mary Broughton, by will, 1728, gave to Robert Pigott and Henry Jervis the sum of £650 in trust, and directed the rents or profits thereof to be applied to the following uses, viz., 20s. to be laid out in bread and distributed among the poor of the village on the 28th July; 20s. to be laid out yearly, and distributed in like manner on the day of the month on which she should happen to die, and the residue of the yearly profits to be applied by the trustees in educational purposes, and in apprenticing poor children of this township. By a decree of the Court of Chancery, made the 7th of May, 1752, in a cause in which the Attorney-general, at the relation of Adam Jervis and Richard Jervis plaintiffs, and Robert Pigott defendant, it was decreed that £650 should be laid out in the purchase of stock, which was accordingly invested in the purchase of £611. 15s. 4d south sea annuities. The costs of the suit were paid out of a sum of £136. 5s. 8d., which had accumulated as interest before the stock was purchased. The trusts of this charity had been very inefficiently carried out when the charity commissioners published their report. The amount expended up to the year 1819 was for bread, £103. 15s.; schooling and books, £115. 5s. 10d.; apprenticing, £120; extra charges on the charity estate, £59. 14s., making a total of £398. 14s. 10d., whilst the dividends to October 1820 amounted to £688. 2s. 4d.

A sum of £20, supposed to have been the gift of Francis and Elizabeth Watson, is placed in the Newport Savings’ Bank. The interest is distributed among the poor, with other sums collected for the same purpose from the parishioners, at Christmas. An annual sum of 5s. is expended in bread for the poor on Good Friday.

Brown Charles Baldwin, Esq.

Bullock Elizabeth, vict., The Last

Crump Mr. Thomas

Doody Mrs. Elizabeth, Aston grove

Felton Joseph, farmer

Gore Ralph Ormsby, Esq., Aston hall

Icke James Joseph, farmer, and corn and guano merchant, Vanx hall

Jackson William, farmer

Kittridge William Smith, schoolmaster

Lowe William, shopkeeper, winnowing and thrashing machine and general agricultural implement manufacturer

Norris Mrs. Martha

Underhill William, Esq.

Vaughton Thomas, Esq., Ashton villa

Ward George Joseph, timber merchant

Williams Mrs. Sarah

PICKSTOCK

is a township and small village in the parish of Edgmond, situated on an acclivity near the eastern verge of the county adjoining Staffordshire, about three miles north-east from the parish church. It is a detached part of the parish separated from the rest of Edgmond by the parish of Chetwynd intervening. The township contains 1003a. 0r. 14p. of land, the principal owners of which are Robert Gardener, Esq., William Justice, Esq., Rev. William Dalton, Mr. Pooler, and Mr. Joseph Smith. Gross estimated rental, £1,298. 13s. 0½d. Rateable value, £1,087. 15s. 5d. At the census in 1841 there were 29 houses and 157 inhabitants, of which three houses and fifteen persons were returned as in Chetwynd parish.

Directory.—William Bevan, farmer and corn miller: John Firmstone, farmer; Richard Hazledine, farmer; John Rudge, farmer; John Stokes, farmer and butcher; Mary Maria Stokes, farmer; Richard Wright farmer; Theodore Wright, farmer.

TIBBERTON

is a chapelry, township, and small village three miles W.W. by N. from Edgemond, which contains 1418a. 1a. 22p. of land, the soil of which is chiefly a cold clay, in some parts it is of a light loamy nature, and highly fertile, having been much improved by superior cultivation. The farms here are of considerable extent, the land held by fourteen different tenants within memory of man, is now held by three farmers; nearly the whole of the land is the property of the Duke of Sutherland, there are, however, three small freeholders, viz., the Rev. J. D. Pigott, Mr. J. Brittain, and Mr. J. Fletcher. Rateable value of the township, £2,410. 5s. 5d. At the census in 1801 there were 289 inhabitants; 1831, 351, and in 1841 72 houses and 329 souls. The Chapel is a small structure of free stone, and consists of nave and chancel, with a square tower. It stands near the site of a former edifice which had become dilapidated. The Rev. George Pigott is the officiating minister. There are several handsome monumental tombs in memory of members of some of the principal families in the neighbourhood in the cemetery which surrounds the chapel. A National School has been built in the village; about sixty scholars attend. The Primitive Methodists have a small chapel here, built in the year 1842. The paper mill of Mr. J. Brittain is situated near the church. The Spray Hill is an eminence planted with a clump of Scotch pine trees, which is a conspicuous object for many miles round. The poor of this township receive 14s. worth of bread out of the rents of the poor’s lands at Edgmond. In the returns of charitable donations made to parliament under the act 26th George III. there is mentioned a legacy of £40 by one Mr. Matthews, to poor housekeepers at Tibberton, which is stated to be then in the hands of William Fletcher, rendering an annual interest of £1. 12s. There is no evidence to show what become of the ultimate destination of this gift, but its benefits have long been lost to the poor.

Directory.—The farmers are Thomas Green, Day House; Thomas Jones and William Taylor, Tibberton Grange; the other principal residents are Robert Bates, wheelwright; John Booth, butcher; John Brittain, paper manufacturer; Henry Cotton, blacksmith; John Crawford, shoemaker; Theophilus Fletcher, shoemaker and beerhouse keeper; William Howle, tailor; William Lawley, schoolmaster; Mary Morgan, beerhouse keeper; Elizabeth Podmore, schoolmistress; Robert Simpson, wheelwright.

ERCALL HIGH, OR ERCALL MAGNA,

is a considerable parish in the Wellington division of the South Bradford hundred, comprehending the townships of Cold Hatton, Cotwall and Mooretown, Cruddington, Ellerdine, Ercall Magna, Haughton, Isombridge, Osbaston, Poynton, Rowton, Sleap, Tern, and Walton, together containing 11,152 acres of land, of which 179a. 3r. 24p. are in woods, roads, and waste, and there are 39a. 1r. 11p. of glebe. The parish in 1801 contained 1,091 inhabitants; 1831, 2,048, and in 1841 there were 364 houses and a population of 1,999 souls. Rateable value, £14,140. 19s. 6½d. The houses are in general built of brick, and slated; the cottages are also of brick, and in many instances the occupants have a small allotment of ground. The ancient residences of the gentry are in most instances converted into farm dwellings; there are, however, many neat villa residences in the modern style of architecture, of a respectable character, surrounded with park like enclosures. The soil is chiefly a mixture of sand and loam, and the land is mostly used for arable purposes, in some instances large dairies of cheese are made, and the district is celebrated for a fine breed of sheep. The land is chiefly tithe free, the tithes on the rest of the parish were commuted in 1841 for £829. 15s. The village of High Ercall is pleasantly situated eight miles N.E. from Shrewsbury and five and a half miles N.N.W. from Wellington. Here are several good shops and respectable residences; the air is salubrious, and the country around beautifully diversified with picturesque scenery. The township contains 1,589a. 1r. 18p. of land, and in 1841 had 42 houses and 213 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,453. Few districts possess so good a soil; the farms are extensive, and in most cases the land has been greatly improved by superior cultivation, and removing the fences and throwing the land into large enclosures. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor and owner of the whole township. The turnpike roads to Newport, Shawbury, Wem, Whitchurch, Wellington, and Shrewsbury, intersect the township. In the 51st of Henry III., John de Ercalewe had a grant of a market here on a Monday, and a fair on the eve and the feast of the nativity of the Virgin Mary and the day after.

The Church, dedicated to St. Michael, an ancient structure, consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a massive square tower containing six bells, and a clock. The side aisles are separated from the nave by four pointed arches rising from circular pillars; the church is neatly pewed with oak sittings, and the pulpit and reading desk are of carved oak of the most elaborate workmanship. The chancel is lofty and contains several mural monuments, one of which remembers Sarah, the wife of Edward Steedman, and children, dated 1834; another remembers the Rev. Henry Wood, who died in 1795; there are also tablets to Cecil Frederick Juckes, the Rev. Lawrence Gardener, and a full length figure, which exhibits a fine specimen of chiselling, near the north end of the church. In the church yard are many monumental tombs of fine workmanship, to some of the principal families resident in the neighbourhood. The living is a vicarage valued in the king’s book at £17. 6s. 8d., now returned at £290 in the patronage of the Duke of Cleveland; incumbent, Rev. Robert Forester, M.A., who resides at the vicarage, a good brick building a short distance from the church. Near the west end of the church are the ruins of an ancient structure, which was formerly moated. Sir Richard Newport, of High Ercall, Knight, by letters patent, bearing date at Bridgenorth, 14th October, 18th Charles I., was advanced to the dignity of baron of this realm, by the title of Lord Newport, of High Ercall. That gentleman advanced six thousand pounds for the king’s use when at Shrewsbury, by which means the artillery was put in a position to march against the parliamentary forces, upon which followed the battle of Edge hill. The Hall, an ancient residence with projecting gables, was built by Sir Francis Newport, Knight. This house is said to have been garrisoned in the time of the civil wars. In levelling a mound near it, Mr. Steedman’s labourers discovered about a thousand silver coins, the greater part of the reign of Charles I., some of Elizabeth, and others of the reign of Philip and Mary. The hall is now in the occupancy of Edward Blakeway Steedman, Esq. Ercall Park is a handsome structure, the residence of William Holt Midgley, Esq.; it is built in the Elizabethan style of architecture, and beautified with shrubberies and pleasure grounds tastefully laid out; the house is surrounded by large enclosures containing some thriving plantations. Sherlowe, the residence of George Townsend Forester, is a modern structure built within the last three years, with farm premises on a scale of considerable magnitude. The Lodge, another good residence of modern construction, is in the occupancy of Mr. Thomas Jukes. The above houses have all very extensive out premises, and all the modern appliances, with steam engines for carrying out the operations of extensive farms in the most economical manner.

The Free School was founded by Thomas Leeke, one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer, in 1663. In January, 1816, the Attorney-General, at the relation of Ralph Leeke, filed an information against Rann Dolphin Edwards, and John Douglas, for the purpose of setting aside a lease which had been granted in 1772 for a term of 99 years, at the yearly rent of £30, and for obtaining the directions of the court as to the future application of the rents. The master by his report, made 18th February, 1828, and subsequently confirmed by the court, ordered that the school should be for teaching English, writing, and accounts free, and also Latin and Greek when required; the master to charge a guinea a quarter and a guinea entrance for the latter; that the schoolmaster’s salary should be £50 per annum, with liberty for the trustees to increase it at their discretion; that no boys should be admitted until they are capable of reading the New Testament; that any surplus which should arise from the accumulations of rent during a vacancy, or from the annual income not expended in the master’s salary, or repairs, should be expended in rewards to four or more of the scholars at the examination, or who should be reported by the master to the trustees as deserving thereof, or in providing a library of useful books for the school: that the trustees should have power to displace the master in case of incapacity, immorality, or neglect, and that the trustees should have power to make such orders as they should think necessary for the better government of the school. The master, in a report made June 3rd, 1828, found that the sum of £960 was due for rent up to Lady Day, 1828, out of which Mr. Edwards was entitled to retain costs, leaving £831. 1s. from which £428. 2s. 8d. was paid for the costs of the other parties, leaving £402. 18s. 4d., which was ordered to be divided proportionably between the representatives of the two schoolmasters who had officiated between November, 1815, and December, 1827. The charity estate is situated near Trefnanny, in the parishes of Guilsfield and Myford, in the county of Montgomery, and produces a yearly income of £93. Out of the income of the charity the master receives a salary of £50, and he also receives £6. 13s. 4d. per annum in respect of Stevinton’s gift. The school is conducted according to the scheme established by the Court of Chancery, except that the master makes a charge of 10s. 6d. for the entrance of such boys as are not classical scholars, which appears to be contrary to the directions of the court.

Richard Stevinton, by his will, in 1652, devised an annuity of £6. 13s. 4d., payable out of lands at Arleston, to be applied towards the maintenance of a schoolmaster of High Ercall, who should teach children resident in the said parish without any reward from the parents of the children.

The Hospital consists of seven dwellings, and each inmate has a room above and a room below, and a small garden annexed. The hospital was founded by the Newport family. The building is kept in repair at the expense of the Duke of Cleveland, from whose agent the inmates receive £3 per quarter, with an additional payment of 21s. at Christmas, and 5s. at Midsummer. The selection of these persons is not confined to the parishioners or inhabitants of High Ercall, but are selected from deserving objects residing in the neighbourhood, a preference being given to those who have seen better days, and have been reduced by misfortune to poverty.

Poors’ Land.—There are two closes in the township of Eaton, in the parish of Stoke-upon-Trent, which have for a long period been let from time to time by the churchwardens. The last lease was dated 29th August, 1795, and it was therein recited that the then churchwardens of High Ercall were lawfully seized of the premises, in trust to distribute the rents among the poor of the parish of High Ercall, two shillings every fortnight in bread, and the remainder in money on St. Thomas’s-day. There does not appear any documents in the parish to show from whom this land was devised, or on what trust it is held. The two closes contain together 3a. 3r. 4p. of land, and are let at a yearly rental of £8. The amount is given away on St. Thomas’s-day.

Several sums of money, amounting in the whole to £199, left by eight several donors, for the benefit of the poor of this parish, were for many years placed out at interest on private security, and previous to the year 1814 £40 of the above sum was lost. About that period the remainder was called in, and with £20 advanced from the poor’s rates, was laid out in the purchase of certain premises for a parish workhouse. Since 1814 the sum of £8 has been paid out of the poor’s rates as the interest of this money, and distributed among poor persons in small sums, seldom exceeding one shilling.

Thomas and Edward Thomas, each gave £100 in trust, to invest the same for the benefit of the poor of the parish of High Ercall. These donations were invested by the trustees in 1798 in the purchase of three per cent. consols, which were increased in 1816 by the accumulation of dividends to the sum of £500, when the stock was transferred to John Colley and Edward Steedman. Of the sum of £193. 8s. 2d. received in 1816 for the arrears of dividends, after payment of expenses of recovering the same, and the purchase of the additional stock, there remained in the hands of Mr. Colley the sum of £74. 6s. 1d., out of which he disposed of £38. 15s. to different charitable purposes, and in 1830 when the charity commissioners published their report he had still £35. 11s. 1d. in his hands. The principal part of the dividends is now applied in the purchase of bread, which is distributed among poor persons of the parish, a preference being given to widows, the remainder of the dividends is given among the necessitous poor in money.

Mr. Henry Harris is the registrar of births and deaths for the High Ercall district.

Post Office.—At Mr. Harris’s. Letters arrive daily from Wellington by a foot messenger at 9 45 A.M., and are despatched at 5. P.M.

Bates Richard, shoemaker and gardener

Blakeway William, farmer and victualler, Cleveland Arms.

Clarke Robert, farmer and maltster

Dingle Rev. John, schoolmaster and curate, of Upton

Forester George Townsend, Esq., Sherlowe

Forester Rev. Robert Townsend, M.A., The Vicarage

Harris Henry, grocer, druggist, seed, corn, hop, iron and steel merchant, ironmonger, guano and tillage dealer, cheese factor, and nail maker

Jebb William, thrashing machine man

Juckes Mr. Thomas, The Lodge

Large Thomas, joiner and wheelwright

Midgley Mrs., Park House

Midgley William Holt, Esq., Ercall Park

Pigott Mr. John

Powell Thomas, farmer and corn miller

Steedman Edward Blakeway, Esq., The Hall

Steedman Mary, gentlewoman

Taylor William, blacksmith

Vaughan Elizabeth, tailor

Wilding Ana, gentlewoman

COLD HATTON,

a township and pleasant village four miles N.N. by E. from High Ercall, is situated on a bold eminence, and commands extensive views over a luxuriant country. The township contains 787a. 3r. of land, and at the census of 1841 there were 51 houses and 253 inhabitants; the soil is for the most part a mixture of loam and sand, producing good crops of barley and turnips. There are 16a. 0r. 8p. in roads and waste. Rateable value, £907. 6s. 2d. The tithes are commuted for £90, of which £84 has been apportioned to the vicar of High Ercall, and £6 to the impropriator; the chief part of the large tithes have been purchased by the owners of the soil. The Duke of Sutherland and the Duke of Cleveland are the landowners.

The principal residents in this township are George Colley, tailor; Robert Hick, farmer; Richard Lewis, carpenter; William Morgan, pig dealer and shopkeeper; George Nicklin, boot and shoemaker; John Nicklin, wheelwright; William Pitchford, farmer; George Ridgeway, blacksmith; Joseph Shakes haft, farmer; William Shakeshaft, farmer; John Webb, vict., Seven Stars.