the townships of Holdgate, Bouldon, and Brookhampton, and contains 1,623
acres of land. Population in 1801, 197; in 1831, 188; 1841, 224. At the
latter period there were forty houses. The village of Holdgate seems
once to have been a place of some note, and stands on rising ground,
eleven miles north from Ludlow. The township comprises 649 acres of
land, the rateable value of which is £854. At the census of 1841 there
were 12 houses and 79 inhabitants. The principal landowners are Mrs.
Thursby, Rev. Joseph Corbett, and George Phillips, Esq. The former is
lady of the manor. There was anciently a castle here. Thomas Maudit
being in arms with the rebellious barons, his castle was seized by the
king and given to Hugh de Mortimer, but returning to his allegiance he
had restitution of his castle at Holgot. In the 7th of Henry III., he
obtained the charter for a market there every week upon a Thursday.
After him William Maudit had a confirmation of the grant of the market.
In the 19th of Edward I. Robert Burnel, bishop of Bath and Wells,
procured a charter for changing the market day to Tuesday, and to keep a
fair on the eve, the day, and on the day after the feast of the Holy
Trinity. In the 15th of Richard II., Hugh Burnel, Knt., held the castle
and manor of Holdgate at the yearly rent of £2. 13s. 3¼d., which was
assessed upon several tenants at Clee St. Margaret. The service for the
manor was to find two horsemen at Montgomery for forty days. The heiress
of Burnel married Lord Lovell in the time of Edward II., in which family
the inheritance rested till Jasper, of Hatfield, Earl of Pembroke,
obtained a grant hereof in special trial, who, after the battle of
Bosworth, was created duke of Bedford; but dying without issue, in the
24th of Henry VIII. the king gave the manor to Thomas, duke of Norfolk,
and his heirs, to be held by the fourth part of a knight’s fee. THE
CHURCH, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is evidently of Norman
architecture, having the massive and lofty embattled tower peculiar to
that style, adorned with rude figures, which may go far to prove the
antiquity of the edifice. The principal entrance is through a fine stone
doorway, with a cluster of slender pillars on each side, supporting a
beautifully carved arch, the effect of which is considerably lessened by
several coats of whitewash. The font is of primitive simplicity and
curiously sculptured, seems coeval with the building itself, but is seen
under similar disadvantage. The back of a large pew is ornamented with
the coat of arms, handsomely carved in wood, of the family of Minton, who
formerly resided at the Coates, in this parish. Near to the church-yard
is an artificial mound called “The Mount.” It was probably thrown up to
its present height for the purpose of erecting a watch-tower, or post,
during the civil wars, or in the unsettled times when the warlike barons
of the feudal system were perpetually invading each other’s territories.
The situation is admirably adapted for this purpose, commanding, as it
does, an extensive and important tract of country. The living of the
church is a rectory with that of Tugford annexed, valued in the king’s
book at £13. 9s. 9½d., now returned at £500, in the patronage of the
Bishop of Hereford; incumbent, Rev. Joseph Corbett. In the 12th of King
John it appears that the abbot of Salop had the third part of the
advowson of the church at Castle Holdgate. Thomas Maudit released to him
the right of patronage in two parts of the church; yet he reserved the
third part to himself, for which he presented to the bishop his clerk.
There is a daily school in the village. The poor of this parish enjoy a
rent charge of 10s. per annum, under the will of Robert Ellis, in 1652.
BOULDON is a small township, with a few scattered houses, in the parish
of Holdgate, which comprises 325 acres of land, the rateable value of
which is £274. 10s. At the census of 1841 there were 13 houses and 61
inhabitants. There is a quarry in this township where stone is got in
considerable quantities for building and other purposes.
BROOKHAMPTON is another township in Holdgate parish, with 549 acres of
land, and in 1841 had fifteen houses and eighty-five souls; rateable
value, £390. 15s. Mrs. Thursby and the Corporation of Ludlow are the
landowners; the former is lady of the manor.
DIRECTORY.—Jeremiah Cox, farmer and maltster, Holdgate; William Wall,
farmer, Holdgate; Edward Esq., farmer, Stanton Holdgate; William Cox,
vict., Tally-Ho Inn, Bouldon; William Page, farmer, Bouldon; William
Penn, corn miller, Bouldon; Richard Turner, farmer, Bouldon; Thomas
Clark, farmer, Brookhampton; Thomas Edwards, farmer, Brookhampton; Ann
Harper, shopkeeper, Brookhampton
HOPE BOWDLER
is a parish in the upper division of the Munslow hundred, which comprises
the townships of Hope Bowdler, Chelmick, and Ragdon, and contains 1,385
acres of land. In 1801 the parish had a population of 130 souls; 1831,
202; 1841, 184; at the latter period there were thirty-four houses. The
village of Hope Bowdler is pleasantly situated two and a half miles
south-west from Church Stretton, and at the census of 1841 had 19 houses
and 112 inhabitants: the township contains 741 acres of land, the
rateable value of which is £672. 3s. 6d. Moses George Benson, Esq., is
the principal landowner and lord of the manor. In the 1st of King Edward
I., George de Cantilupe held Hope Bowdler by knight’s service under the
barony of Montgomery. Philip Burnel, at the assizes in the 20th of King
Edward I., upon a _quo warranto_ against him, was adjudged to have free
warren in this manor, with the liberty of a fair and market both granted
by the king. The manor was afterwards carried in marriage by an heiress
of the Burnels to John, Lord Lovel, in whose family it continued till the
attainder of Francis Lord Viscount Lovel, who was slain on the 16th of
June, 3rd of Henry VII., at the battle of Stoke, near Newark-upon-Trent.
THE CHURCH consists of nave and chancel, with a tower in which are three
bells. In the 40th of Henry III. the parson of Hope Bullers impleaded
the prior of Wenlock for estovers in the prior’s wood of Sutley and
Eastwood, and for the common of pasture in the said woods lying in Eaton,
as appendant to the church of Hope Bullers. The Prior pleaded that
Stephen de Hope, patron of the church about twenty-five years past,
dissiezed the prior of the said woods, and a verdict was accordingly
granted to the prior. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book
at £6. 13s. 4d., now £228, in the patronage of certain trustees:
incumbent, Rev. George W. Marsh.
CHARITIES.—The charity commissioners state, “We are informed by the Rev.
George Walkin Marsh, the rector of Hope Bowdler, that for about four
years after he came to the benefice he received from his predecessor 12s.
yearly, to be distributed in bread, 6s. to be given in money on St.
Thomas’s day; that, upon the death of his predecessor about twenty-four
years ago, he applied to his representatives for the principal, and
ultimately received from them £18. This sum Mr. Marsh states he now has
in his hands, that he has added thereto £4, so as to make up £22, and has
signed a memorandum to that effect in one of the parish books. He pays
22s. yearly as the interest thereof, and with the churchwardens
distributes to the poor of the parish 12s. yearly in bread and 10s. in
money on St. Thomas’s day.”
CHELMICK is a township and village in the parish of Hope Bowdler, in a
romantic district near the Ragdon and Hope Bowdler hills, about a mile
south from the parish church. The township contains 305 acres of land,
and in 1841 had thirteen houses and fifty nine souls. Rateable value,
£281. 13s. 7d. The Corporation of Ludlow are the landowners.
RAGDON township in Hope Bowdler parish has 339 acres of land, two houses,
and thirteen inhabitants. Rateable value, £309. 5s. 6d. The landowners
are J. Stanier, Esq., and Thomas Dunn, Esq.
DIRECTORY.—_Hope Bowdler_: William Adams, farmer, The Hall; Richard
Cartwright, farmer; John Craxton, farmer and blacksmith, Francis George,
farmer, The Coombs; John Griffiths, shopkeeper; George Hills, farmer, The
Coombs; John Jones, wheelwright; Rev. George W. Marsh, rector.
_Chelmick_: John Rodgers, farmer. _Ragdon_: Martha Heynes, farmer; and
Thomas, Wilding, farmer.
HOPTON-IN-THE-HOLE, OR HOPTON CANGEFORD,
is a small parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, four
miles N.E. from Ludlow, containing 320 acres of land. At the census in
1801 there were 35 inhabitants, and in 1841 six houses and a population
of thirty souls. The church is a small unpretending structure of brick,
and the living a perpetual curacy returned in the king’s book at £5. 13s.
8d., now returned at £51 in the patronage of Sir W. R. Broughton. There
is no resident clergyman in the parish. The resident farmers are Thomas
Green and William Roberts.
LUDFORD
is a parish and village situated about a mile from Ludlow, and separated
from that town by the river Teme, which is here crossed by a stone
bridge. This parish is partly in the county of Hereford and partly in
Salop. The entire parish at the census of 1801 had 34 inhabitants; 1831,
528, and in 1841 there were 46 houses and 294 inhabitants within the
bounds of this county. Acres, 2,920. Rateable value, £3,290. 10s.
LUDFORD HOUSE, the seat and property of Francis Lechmere Charlton, Esq.,
is a fine old mansion, situated on a gentle eminence contiguous to the
village. Though greatly modernized, its interior quadrangle and the
massive style of masonry, are indications of great antiquity. The
proprietor has in his possession a deed in which mention is made of a
house here as early as the eleventh century. This manor in the time of
William the Conqueror was possessed by Osborne, Lord of Richards Castle.
It was afterwards enjoyed by the Jordens, from whom it passed by an
heiress to Howel Vaughan. The hospital of St. John being seized by the
crown at the time of the dissolution of religious houses, this manor, as
appertaining to that foundation, was also conveyed to King Henry VIII.
In the time of Edward VI. it was granted to John Earl of Warwick, from
whom it passed by sale to William Foxe, and in the year 1607 came into
the possession of the Charlton family. This family enjoyed extensive
possessions in this county, and were seated at Apleby Castle, near
Wellington. To the south of the house are tasteful gardens and pleasure
grounds, and on the western side is the park, well stocked with deer, and
remarkable for its fine sylvan beauty and luxuriant woody scenery.
Leland, who visited Ludford between the years 1500 and 1550, observes,
“The suburbs over Teme bridge by south is called Ludford, and in it is a
little parish church. There be three fayre arches in this bridge over
Teme, and a pretty chapel upon it of St. Catherine. It is about 100
years since this stone bridge was erected. Men passed along by a ford a
little below the bridge.” THE CHURCH, an ancient structure, is situated
in the county of Hereford, contiguous to Ludford house, and consists of
nave and chancel, with a square tower. The altar and basons for holy
water indicate that Catholicism had not declined at the time of its
erection. The chancel is evidently a modern appendage to the church, and
was built by William Foxe, who formerly resided at Ludford house. It is
the place of sepulchre for several members of the Foxe family, and also
of the Charltons. In a recess is the figure of Sir Job Charlton,
reclining in his magisterial habiliments. The living is a perpetual
curacy, returned at £105 in the patronage of F. L. Charlton, Esq.
LUDFORD HOSPITAL was founded by Sir Job Charlton in the year 1672 for six
poor and impotent persons, one of whom was to be warden; the
incorporation to be denominated, “The warden and poor of the hospital of
Ludford,” The said warden and poor in their corporate capacity to have
power to purchase and hold lands, and to sue and be sued, and to have a
common seal. The name and distinction of warden as head of the
corporation has long ceased to exist. The latest instance of the use of
the common seal is on a lease of Saunder’s meadow in 1618. The
subsequent lease bears the seal of Sir Francis Charlton. The income is
about £63 per annum. The “pretty chapel of St. Catherine,” noticed by
Leland, has long been forgotten. The celebrated well, however, of St.
Julian, under the garden wall of the hospital, is still remembered by the
inhabitants of the village; but the wonderful cures believed to have been
miraculously performed ceased with the superstition of the times.
DIRECTORY.—Francis Lechmere Charlton, Esq., Ludford House; Thomas Lowe,
farmer, Hucks Barn; George Penny, machine maker and brass founder; John
Wade, paper manufacturer, Ludlow Paper Mills; Margaret Worley, vict.,
Ludford Arms.
SHEET, a township and village situated about a mile from the parish
church, in 1841 contained seven houses and 29 inhabitants. The principal
landowners are the Hon. R. H. Clive, F. L. Charlton, Esq., and the
corporation of Ludlow. The chief residents are Thomas Callon, farmer,
Saltmoor; Mary Lawrence, farmer, Saltmoor; Mary and Betsy Longmore,
farmers, Steventon; James Wild, farmer, Steventon; Frederick Wood, Esq.,
The Sheet.
MUNSLOW
is a parish and small village in the lower division of the Munslow
hundred, which was of sufficient importance in early times to give name
to the division of the county in which it is locally situated. The
parish contains 4,110 acres of land, and embraces the townships of Aston,
Bach, or Beach Mill, Broadstone, Holloway, part of Hungerford,
Millichope, Munslow, Poston, Lower Thonglands, and Topley-vill:
population in 1801, 610; 1818, 770. Rateable value, £3,779. 12s. 9d.
The village of Munslow is pleasantly situated in a romantic district nine
miles north from Ludlow: this township at the census of 1841 had 29
houses and 160 inhabitants. C. O. C. Pemberton, Esq., is the chief
landowner. Sir Edward Littleton, son and heir of Sir Edward Littleton,
of Henley, in the county of Salop, was made Lord Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas, in the 15th Charles I.; and the year following Lord Keeper
of the Great Seal, and Lord Littleton, Baron Munslow.
THE CHURCH is a fine old structure dedicated to St. Michael, and consists
of nave, chancel, and north aisle, the latter divided from the nave by
pointed arches, and a broad obtuse arch; the chancel is divided from the
body of the church by a handsome oak screen. The ceiling is carved,
resting on strong oak brackets. The font is very ancient, and there are
various monuments. Several of the windows are adorned with stained glass
of antique workmanship, one of which was added at the expense of Richard
Sheppard and Joanna his wife, in the time of Henry VII.; the beautiful
decorations of the east window are of more modern date. The living is a
rectory with the curacy of Broadstone annexed valued in the king’s book
at £21. 15s. 2½d., now returned at £730, in the patronage and incumbency
of the Rev. T. C. Powell. In the church-yard there is a singular
building the uses of which are unknown. It consists of a roof supported
by four oak pillars and arches of the same material; as it now stands it
is raised little more three feet from the ground. There is a NATIONAL
SCHOOL in the village which is supported by subscriptions and a small
charge from each scholar.
CHARITIES.—In the year 1795, the sum of £300, five per cent stock, was
purchased with a legacy of £100 left to the poor of the parish of Munslow
in 1762, by _Major John More_, and a legacy of £200 left by his sister
_Catharine More_ in 1792, the interest of which sum it was directed
should be distributed annually to poor housekeepers within the said
parish, at the discretion of the minister and churchwardens. When this
stock was paid off, £328 stock was purchased in the new four per cents,
which is now standing in the name of the rector. The dividends amounting
to £13. 2s. 6d. per annum, are distributed to poor housekeepers in the
parish by the rector.
DIRECTORY.—Arthur Bach, saddler and harness maker; William Bowley,
butcher and shopkeeper; Thomas R. C. Downes, surgeon; Edward Edwards,
farmer; Edward Evans, tailor; Edward Hughes, farmer; Edwin Keysell,
maltster, corn dealer, and seedsman; Charles Pothecary, surgeon; William
Power, surgeon; Rev. Thomas C. Powel, rector; David Pugh, builder;
Obadiah Newnham, schoolmaster; John Roberts, farmer.
ASTON, a small township in the parish of Munslow, at the census in 1841
had 31 houses and 164 inhabitants: the acres and rateable value of the
several townships in this parish are returned with the parish of Munslow.
John Francis Wright, Esq., is the principal landowner. The principal
residents in the township of Aston are John Downes, Esq., Aston Hall;
John Hince, plumber and glazier; Edward Mullard, blacksmith; Miss Ann
Pearce, The White House; Samuel Preece, farmer; William Shirley, farmer;
Benjamin Wall, wheelwright; William Wigmore, vict., The Hundred House.
BACH or BEACH MILL, a hamlet in the parish of Munslow, at the census in
1841 had twelve houses and a population of forty eight souls. The
landowner in the township is Herbert Cornewall, Esq. The principal
residents are James Dyer, carpenter; Samuel Handcocks, blacksmith; Joseph
Sankey, tailor and shopkeeper; Richard Sankey, tailor, and post office;
John Stubbs, shopkeeper.
BROADSTONE, a township and tolerable village in Munslow parish, is
pleasantly situated near the turnpike road from Munslow to Much Wenlock.
There is a small Chapel of Ease at Broadstone, where divine service is
performed once a month. In 1841 this township contained 42 houses and a
population of 120 souls. The chief residents are William Bishop, cooper;
John Blockley, farmer and maltster; Joseph Childe, wheelwright; Thomas
Cocks, vict., Seven Stars; John Jones, shoemaker; Samuel Lewis, farmer;
Thomas Lewis, bricklayer. HOLLOWAY VILLE, situated in the parish of
Munslow, consists of only one farm house, which is occupied by Walter
Watkins.
MILLICHOPE, a township in the parish of Munslow, at the census of 1841
had fourteen houses and fifty-seven inhabitants. The land is chiefly the
property of Charles Orlando Childe Pemberton, Esq., of Millichope Park,
an elegant mansion in the Grecian style of architecture, beautified with
tasteful pleasure grounds and surrounded with woody scenery. The house
is a modern structure, built near the site of an antique mansion which
was chiefly composed of timber and plaster, bearing the characteristics
of the reign of Elizabeth, and was taken down about eight years ago. On
the top of a rock facing the hall, a beautiful Cenotaph has been built in
the Grecian style, in memory of two brothers of the name of More, one of
whom was an officer in the 79th regiment, and the other in the British
navy. It has been erected about seventy-five years. The small but very
ancient manor house of Upper Millichope formerly belonged to the Prior of
Wenlock; it consists of only one room on a floor. The walls are seven
feet in thickness, and lighted by narrow slips of windows; the entrance
is by an ornamented circular-headed doorway, to the right of which are
some steps of an old stone staircase carried up in the solid wall to the
upper chamber, the entrance to which is guarded by three doors, the
centre one being secured by a massive wooden bar which passed through the
wall of the room into the outer wall on the opposite side of the
staircase. The structure now forms part of a farm residence. It is
supposed by antiquaries that the lower compartment in the warlike times
of former ages was used for the purpose of securing the cattle in times
of danger, while the upper story formed the habitation of the family.
The principal residents in Millichope are Charles Orlando Childe
Pemberton, Esq., Millichope Park; Mr. William Cadwallader, Thomas
Clifton, mason; Thomas Wall, blacksmith.
THONGLANDS is a township and small village in the parish of Munslow,
which in 1841 contained fifteen houses and eighty-three inhabitants. C.
O. C. Pemberton, Esq., of Millichope Park, and the Rev. Frederick Lakin,
are the landowners. The chief residents are Joseph Edwards, beerhouse
keeper; William Lello, farmer; and Thomas Wall, farmer. TOPLEY VILLE,
comprising two houses and twelve persons, is in the parish of Munslow.
Mr. John Price is the only resident farmer.
POSTON LOWER is a township in the parish of Munslow, situated six miles
north from Ludlow, which comprises three houses and twenty-three
inhabitants at the census of 1841. The land is the property of
Archdeacon Corbet. John Kelly, blacksmith, and Richard Wellings, farmer,
are the residents.
ONIBURY
is a parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, which embraces
the townships of Onibury and Walton, and contains 1,900 acres of land,
the principal owner of which is Earl Craven; the other part is the
property of the Hon. R. H. Clive. At the census in 1801 there were 359
inhabitants; 1831, 438; 1841, 368: at the latter period there were 73
houses. Rateable value £2,311. 17s. The village of Onibury is
pleasantly situated on the east bank of the river Oney, and on the
turnpike road leading from Shrewsbury to Ludlow: 24 miles S. from the
former, and five miles N.W. from the latter. The Shrewsbury and Hereford
line of railway, now in course of formation, will intersect the parish,
and cross the turnpike on a level with the road. A portion of the
village south east of the river is in the respective parishes of Stanton
Lacy and Stokesay. A saw mill has been erected by Lord Craven on the
river Oney. In the time of Edward the Confessor, Oniberie was in the
possession of the bishop of Hereford, and after the conquest Roger de
Lacy held it of him. The manor and patronage of the church was long
possessed by the Burnels, and eventually passed, in marriage, to the
Lovels, in whose family it remained till the attainder of Lord Lovel, in
the time of Henry VII. It was subsequently held by the Mainwarings and
Barkers, and about the year 1620 came into the hands of Lord Craven, the
ancestor of the present proprietor, by purchase. There was formerly a
park at Onibury, which is now divided into farms. Wootton, an ancient
mansion of considerable extent, in the Elizabethan style of architecture,
and moated, has recently been taken down. It was formerly the seat of
distinguished families, and the park above mentioned was in all
probability connected with this mansion. THE CHURCH is rather a plain
structure of the early English style, with a tower at the west end
containing four bells. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s
book at £8. 17s. 8½d.; in the patronage of Earl Craven, and enjoyed by
the Rev. J. J. Hodges. The tithes have been commuted for £330. There is
a good rectory house, and ninety acres of glebe land. THE PAROCHIAL
SCHOOL is a small structure built by subscriptions in the year 1836, and
situated at the south-east corner of the church-yard. The school is free
to the children of the parish, and those resident in the immediate
neighbourhood, and is supported by subscriptions and a rent-charge of £6.
13s. 4d., left for educational purposes by William Norton, in 1593. The
township and small village of WALTON, situated about a mile from Onibury,
in 1841 had fifteen houses and ninety-five inhabitants; it comprises 625
acres of land, which are the property of Earl Craven.
DIRECTORY.—Samuel Amies, farmer, the Park; Philip Bach, farmer; Herbert
Blakeway, farmer, Wootton; William Bright, schoolmaster; William Coston,
farmer; Ann Jones, vict., the Griffin; Rev. John J. Hodges, the Rectory;
Benjamin Pugh, farmer; Thomas Matthews, wheelwright; William Watkins,
blacksmith; Mr. Thomas Wells, Onibury cottage; Thomas Wells, agent to
Earl Craven. The residents at Walton are William Blakeway, farmer;
Samuel Botfield, shoemaker; Thomas Hotchkiss, farmer.
RICHARDS CASTLE,
a parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, comprises the
townships of Moore and Batchcott, Overton, and Woofferton, and is partly
in this county, and partly in Herefordshire. The parish contains 4,512
acres of land; and at the census of 1801, 509 inhabitants; 1831, 586;
1841, 656. The village of Richards Castle is delightfully situated about
three miles from Ludlow, in the county of Hereford. It was anciently
called Gayton, and was a place of considerable importance until the reign
of Henry III. “Richards Castle,” says Leland, “standeth upon the top of
a very rocky hill, well wooded, and at the west end of the parish then.
The keep, the walls, and towers of it stand, but going to ruin. There is
a poor house of timber in the castle garth for a farmer. It belongeth
now to the king; it belonged of late to the Lord Vaux; after to Pope.
There is a park impaled.” Robert de Mortimer, in the reign of King John,
had the grant of a fair and market at this place, both of which have long
been obsolete. The castle was built before the conquest. At the
doomsday survey it was held by Osborn Fitz-Richard, whose granddaughter
married Robert de Mortimer, from whose family it passed in like manner by
an heiress to the Talbots, who possessed it till the reign of Richard II.
King Edward VI. granted the manor to the Bishop of Worcester. In the
fifteenth century T. Bradshaw obtained it of the bishop on a long lease,
and his grandson sold the lease to Richard Salwey, Esq., in whose
representatives it is now vested. Some parts of the keep and walls of
the castle are still remaining, but are so embosomed in foliage as
scarcely to be discovered until they are nearly approached. Camden says,
“Beneath this castle nature, which nowhere disporteth itself more in
showing wonders than in waters, hath wrought forth a pretty well, which
is always full of little fish-bones, or, as some think, of small
frog-bones, although they be from time to time drawn quite out of it,
whence it is called Bone Well.” This curious phenomenon is still in
existence, and is the frequent resort of the curious, particularly in the
spring and autumn, when the bones are found in great abundance. On the
declivity of a hill near the castle, the Royalists, amounting to nearly
2,000, were defeated by an inferior number of Parliamentary troops, under
the command of Colonel Birch.