29th of the reign of King Edward:—“Know all men present and to come, that
I, Hugh, the son of Robert Lord Mortimer, lord of Richards Castle, I have
given, granted, and by this my present writing conferred, to all my
burgesses of Richards Castle, and to all my tenants of the townships of
Moor Batchcott and Whitbrook, and to all my tenants of the township of
Overton, for their good services done to me in the time of the Welsh war,
and for twenty pounds sterling to me in hand paid common of pasture for
all manner of their cattle and beasts in my fields at Bury Hynton, at all
times after the grain is carried thence, and in all my meadow called
Shule Meadow, after the feast of St. John the Baptist, and also common of
pasture for all their beasts in all my woods within the said lordship of
Richards Castle, as well within the county of Hereford as within the
county of Salop, at all times in the year (except my park called Morbeck,
and my Heys, lying between the ditch called Farthings Lawnde, and one
hedge called the Royard, which are inclosed, and parted in at all times
of the year). I have also given and granted to my said burgesses and
tenants sufficient house-boot, hay-boot, and fire-boot, with all other
necessaries that belong to husbandries, to be yearly taken at all times
of necessaries in the said woods, by the order and delivery of my bailiff
or constable there for the time being; to have and to hold all the
aforesaid common of meadow, pasture, and wood ground as aforesaid, to my
said burgesses and tenants of the aforesaid village of Richards Castle,
Moor Batchcott, Whitbrook, and Overton, of me and my heirs, the sum of
twelve shillings at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, viz., the
burgesses of Richards Castle four shillings, the tenants of Moor
Batchcott and Whitbrook four shillings, and the tenants of the township
of Overton four shillings, for all manner of service, exaction, and
demand; and if it shall happen that this my grant gains aid, withheld, or
retained by me, my heirs, or by any person claiming under us at any time
for the future, then I will and grant that all my said burgesses and
tenants thereby, their own proper wills shall take and hold the aforesaid
common in all the said meadows, pasture, and wood grounds aforegranted,
and in all places thereby strength and virtue of the said deed: and I,
the aforesaid Hugh, and my heirs, all the aforesaid common, together with
house-boot, hay-boot, and fireboot, as aforesaid, (except as before
excepted,) to the aforesaid burgesses of Richard Castle, and my tenants
of Moor Batchcott, Whitbrook, and Overton, their heirs and assigns, for
the consideration and rent aforesaid, against all nations whatsoever,
will warrant and for ever defend; and that this my grant may be for ever
ratified and established, I have hereunto set my seal.”
THE CHURCH is a fine structure, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, and stands
contiguous to the castle; the tower stands a few feet from the body of
the church, and had formerly a spire, which was burnt down. The windows
contain some beautiful stained glass. The living is a rectory valued in
the king’s book at £15. 1s. 3d. Patron, the Bishop of Worcester;
incumbent, Rev. George Landon. The tithes have been commuted for £650,
and there are 110 acres of glebe land of the annual value of £270. There
are 2,324 acres of land in the township of Richards Castle, the rateable
value of which is £1,652. 8s. Gross estimated rental, £1,862. 8s. 6d.
The principal landowners are the representatives of J. Salway, Esq.,
Walter Stubbs, Esq., and William Moreton, Esq.
MOORE AND BATCHCOTT is a township and pleasantly situated village two and
a half miles from Ludlow, embracing 928 acres of land, the principal
proprietors of which are Richard Betton, Esq., and the trustees of the
Rev. J. Salway. Rateable value, £1,244. 12s. At the census in 4841
there were 37 houses and 206 inhabitants.
OVERTON AND WOOFFERTON is a delightfully situated township and village in
the parish of Richard’s Castle, about two miles south from Ludlow, on the
borders of Herefordshire. The township contains 1,260 acres of land, the
chief owners of which are Francis L. Charlton, Esq., Richard Betton,
Esq., and the representatives of the late E. Salwey, Esq. Rateable
value, £1,677. 8s. At the census of 1841 Overton contained 18 houses and
Woofferton nine houses, and together had a population of 137 souls.
DIRECTORIES.—_Richard’s Castle_.—Edmund S. Davenport, Esq.; Samuel
Davies, shoemaker; Miss Ann Child, Westbrook Cottage; John Hammond,
vict., The Salwey Arms; Charles Mapp, farmer, Church House; Richard
Mason, farmer, The Green; George Mason, farmer, The Rock; Henry Oseland,
farmer and horse trainer, The Wood House; Richard Parker, farmer;
Benjamin Ridley, farmer; Mary Taylor, vict., The Castle Inn; Mrs. Martha
Taylor; Thomas Wheeler, farmer, The Merefield.
_Moore and Batchott_.—William B. Cooke, farmer; Thomas Froggat, farmer,
The Leys; Rev. George Landon, rector of Richard’s Castle; William Parker,
farmer; John Salwey, Esq., Moor Park; Thomas Summers, farmer; John
Williams, blacksmith; William Wood, boot and shoemaker; Richard
Woodhouse, wheelwright
_Overton and Woofferton_.—Richard Betton, Esq., Overton House; Thomas C.
Bridges, Esq., The Lodge; John Burnett, farmer, Overton; Thomas Bywater,
farmer; William B. Cooke, farmer; Richard Green, corn miller, Barratt’s
Mill; John Lancet, farmer; Thomas Lowe, farmer, Hucks Barn; Richard
Hardman, vict., Salwey Arms; William Heywood, farmer; Thomas Nottingham,
farmer; Edward Stubbs, farmer.
RUSHBURY
is a considerable parish in the upper division of the Munslow hundred,
comprising the townships of Rushbury, Stone Acton, Wall-under-Haywood,
and Wilderhope and Stanway, and part of the townships of East Wall and
Getton. The parish comprises upwards of 5,600 acres of land, and at the
census of 1801 had 356 inhabitants; 1831, 507, and in 1841 had 109 houses
and a population of 502 souls. The village of Rushbury is situated about
nine miles S.W. from Much Wenlock, and the township contained 26 houses
and 115 inhabitants. The principal landowners are Mrs. Lutwyche, Barnard
Dickinson, Esq., and Mrs. Thursby; the latter is also lady of the manor.
Some authors conjecture this place to be the Roman station Bravinium,
between Magnum and Uriconum; the distance agreeing better with the Roman
itinerary than Bridgnorth. At the Doomsday survey Roger de Lacy held of
Earl Roger Riseberie, and Odo of him, at which time there was an eyrie of
hawks. In the 11th of Edward I. Hugh Burnel had a charter for a market
on a Thursday, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the day after the
feast of St. Margaret the virgin, which upon a _quo warranto_ brought
against Sir Philip Burnel in the 20th of Edward I. was ratified and
confirmed by the king’s council. In the time of Edward I. Richard de
Harley had free warren here. John de Handelo levied a fine on the manor
of Rushbury in the 14th of Edward III. Among the fees of Roger Earl of
March, Nicholas Burnel held one knight’s fee. In the 3rd of Edward VI.
the king gave Rushbury in exchange to Nicholas Bishop of Worcester and
his successors for lands in Warwickshire. THE CHURCH is a small
structure, dedicated to St. Peter, consisting of nave and chancel, with a
tower in which are five bells. The living is a rectory valued in the
king’s book at £19. 7s. 8½d., now returned at £449 in the gift of the
Bishop of Worcester. Incumbent, Rev. Matthew Y. Starkey. The endowed
school, where twelve children are educated, and the almshouses, will be
further noticed with the various gifts to charitable uses. The tithes
are commuted for £384.
CHARITIES.—_Benjamin Wainwright_, _M.D._, by his will, bearing date 1st
December, 1817, directed certain trustees to raise out of his personal
estate the sum of £1,200, and appropriate £400 in building a school-room
and a small dwelling house for a schoolmaster, and also two almshouses,
all to be erected in the little church-yard near the Pound, in Rushbury,
if the rector would allow it. And he directed that the following words
should be cut upon the stone in the front part of the dwelling
house:—“This school and almshouse were built and endowed by Benjamin, the
seventh son of the late Richard and Mary Wainwright, of Stanway.” The
residue of the said sum of £1,200 he directed to be invested in the
funds, and 50s. of the yearly dividends thereof to be given to each of
the poor widows resident in the said almshouses; the trustees to provide
coals for the almshouses, and also to pay £5 yearly to a schoolmaster for
teaching poor children of Rushbury, Eaton, and the adjacent parishes
every Sunday; £5 to be laid out in warm clothing on the 1st of December
for the poor of Rushbury; £5 per annum to be paid to a schoolmistress for
teaching children to knit and sew, and to pay the remainder of the
dividends to a schoolmaster to instruct nine poor children of Rushbury
and three of Eaton in reading, writing, and common arithmetic. The sum
of £400 above mentioned was reduced by the payment of the legacy duty to
£360, and a school was erected at a cost of upwards of £500, part of the
surplus having been advanced by such of the trustees as were of the
testator’s family. The remainder of the sum of £1,200 was invested in
the purchase of stock, and there is now standing £737 new four per cent.
stock, producing dividends amounting to £429. 10s. per annum, of which
£20 is paid to a schoolmaster for teaching a Sunday as well as a week day
school. Two poor women are appointed by the trustees to reside in the
almshouses, each of whom receives £2 annually, including an allowance of
coals.
There is a parcel of land in the parish called the Poor’s Land,
containing about six acres, and four small tenements with gardens, and
also an allotment set out in respect of the above mentioned premises
containing about an acre and three quarters, altogether producing a
rental of £12 per annum. The four tenements were long used for the
reception of paupers. A portion of the poor’s land was given to the
rector in exchange for a part of the glebe near the church-yard, on which
the school was built. The sum of £2. 2s. is paid to the rector as his
portion of the rent, and the residue is chiefly expended in coals and
distributed to the poor.
_Edward Lutwyche_, in 1601, granted a rent charge of 40s. per annum out
of his lands in Wall-under-Haywood and East Wall, and directed six penny
worth of bread to be distributed every Sunday to six poor parishioners,
each of the said poor people to receive 2s. 4d. in money every Good
Friday. And he directed that every poor person appointed should receive
the charity for life. The yearly sum of 30s. is payable out of Day-house
farm in the township of Holt Preen, as the bequest of _Anne Tipton_. The
amount is distributed in bread to six poor men and six poor women,
alternately, according to the intentions of the donor. _Martha Baker_,
who died about fifty years ago, is stated to have left £20 to the poor of
Rushbury, the interest to be given in bread. This money was applied soon
after the death of the testatrix in repairing a house on the poor’s land
used as a poor house, and in respect thereof £1 is paid annually from the
poor’s rates, which is expended in bread for the poor.
EAST WALL is a township and village seven miles S.W. from Much Wenlock,
partly in the parish of Rushbury and partly in that of Eaton, and is
usually called Longville, Lushcott, and East Wall township. The portion
in Rushbury parish at the census of 1841 contained five houses and 27
inhabitants. Thomas Gibbon, Esq., and Mrs. Lutwyche are the principal
landowners.
GRETTON township is partly in Rushbury and partly in Cardington, and is
situated about a mile N.E. from the latter place. In 1841 thirteen
houses and 73 inhabitants were returned as in Rushbury, and one house and
eleven persons in Cardington parish. Lady Tyrwhitt is the principal
landowner.
STONE ACTON, a township in Rushbury parish about a mile S.W. from the
church, at the census of 1841 had four houses and 24 inhabitants. The
land is the property of Mr. William Jones and Mr. Daniel Mytton. Mr.
William Jones is the resident farmer.
WILDERHOPE AND STANWAY, a township in Rushbury parish, is situated about
five miles S.W. from Much Wenlock, and at the census of 1841 had thirteen
houses and 76 inhabitants. Moses George Benson, Esq., and Richard
Wainwright, Esq., are the landowners.
WALL-UNDER-HAYWOOD, a township and village in the parish of Rushbury,
with 43 houses and 166 inhabitants, is situated about a mile west of
Rushbury. The principal landowners are Mrs. Cleeton and John Baker, Esq.
DIRECTORIES.—_Rushbury_.—Edward Cleeton, farmer; Thomas Corfield, farmer;
Richard Cox, saddler and harness maker; Mary Fewtrell, schoolmistress;
Julian Fewtrell, registrar of births, deaths, and marriages; William
Fewtrell, farmer; Rev. Matthew Y. Starkey, rector.
_East Wall_.—Richard Butcher, farmer, Longville; Thomas Gippins, farmer;
Thomas Haynes, blacksmith and shopkeeper; Charlotte Hotchkiss, farmer;
Thomas Hughson, bailiff; Morris Jones, bailiff, Lushcott; Sarah Makin,
farmer; Edward Onslow, farmer; Thomas Preen, stone mason; Thomas Roberts,
farmer.
_Gretton_.—Edward Esp, farmer; Richard Haynes, bailiff; Timothy Smout,
blacksmith; Edward Humphrey, farmer.—_Stone Acton_.—William Jones,
farmer.
_Wall-under-Haywood_.—Mrs. Margaret Cleeton; Richard Cleeton, farmer;
Thomas Corfield, farmer; Richard Cox, saddler; William Downes, farmer and
maltster; John Evason, shoemaker; William Gough, farmer, Cotes; Thomas
Hammond, blacksmith; John Moore, vict., Lutwyche Arms; George Morgan,
vict., The Plough; John Pritchard, farmer; Thomas Smout, wheelwright;
Richard Smout, wheelwright; Mrs. Mary Woof.
_Wilderhope and Stanway_.—John Norris, farmer, Upper Stanway; John
Webster, farmer, Lower Stanway; Mary Webster, farmer, Wilderhope.
SHIPTON
is a parish and village in the upper division of the Munslow hundred,
pleasantly situated on the road from Much Wenlock to Ludlow, six and a
quarter miles S.W. from the former and fifteen miles N.W. from the
latter. The parish contains 1,570 acres of land. Rateable value,
£2,220. Population in 1801, 119; 1831, 154; 1841, 153, at the latter
period there were 24 inhabited houses. The principal landowners are
Thomas Mytton, Esq., Rev. Robert H. G. More, Moses G. Benson, Esq., and
John Corser, Esq.; the former is lord of the manor. THE CHURCH is an
ancient structure, dedicated to St. James, and consists of nave and
chancel, with a square tower. The interior contains several handsome
memorials, chiefly to the Mytton family. From a brass plate we learn
that the chancel was re-edified from the foundation and glazed, at the
charge of John Lutwyche, of Lutwyche, in the 31st of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, 1589. The living is a donative curacy in the patronage of
Thomas Mytton Esq. Incumbent, Rev. Robert H. G. More. SHIPTON HALL, a
handsome mansion, the residence and property of Thomas Mytton, Esq.,
exhibits a beautiful specimen of the Elizabethan style of architecture.
Thomas Mytton, Esq., is in possession of the original letter, of which
the following is a copy, addressed by a needy monarch to the ancestor of
Mr. Mytton, then resident at Shipton Hall, and dated February 14th,
1643:—
“TRUSTY AND WELL-BELOVED, we greet you well. Whereas, all our
subjects of the kingdom of England and dominion of Wales, are both by
their allegiance and the act of pacification bound to resist and
suppresse such of our subjects of Scotland as have in a hostile
manner already entered, or shall hereafter enter into this kingdome.
And by law your personal service, attended in a warlike manner for
the resistance of, may be required by us, which we desire to spare,
chusing rather to invite your assistance for the maintenance of our
army in a free and voluntary expression of your affections to our
service, and the safety of this kingdom. And whereas the members of
both houses of parliament assembled at Oxford, have taken into their
consideration the necessity of supporting our army for the defence of
us and our people against this invasion, and for the preservation of
the religious lawes and liberties of this kingdome, and thereupon
have agreed upon the speedy raising of the summe of one hundred
thousand pounds by loane from particular persons, towards the which
themselves have advanced a very considerable portion, and by their
example hope that our well affected subjects throughout the kingdome
will in a short time make up the remainder, whereby we shall not only
be enabled to pay and recruite our army, but likewise be enabled to
put our armies in such a condition as our subjects shall not suffer
by free quarter or the unruliness of our soldiers, which is now in
present agitation, and will (we doubt not, by the advice of the
members of both houses assembled) be spedily effected. We doe
towards so good a work, by the approbation and advice of the members
of both houses assembled, desire you forthwith to lend us the sum of
thirty pounds, or the value thereof in plate, toucht plate at five
shillings, and untoucht plate at four shillings per ounce, and to pay
or deliver the same within seven daies after the receipt thereof to
the hands of our high sheriffe of that our own county, or to such
whome he shall appoint to receive the same, upon his acquittances for
the receipt thereof to the hands of our high sherriffe of that our
county, who is forthwith to returne and pay the same at Corpus Cristi
Colledge in Oxford, to the hands of the Earle of Bath, the Lord
Seymour, Mr. John Ashburnham, and Mr. John Fettiplace, or any of them
who appointed treasurers for the receiving and issuing thereof by the
said members, (by whose order only the said money is to be disposed),
and to give receipts for the same, the which we promise to repay as
soon as God shall enable us. This sum to be advanced with speed. We
are necessitated to apply ourselves to such persons as yourself, of
whose ability and affection we have confidence, giving you this
assurance—that in such further charges that the necessity of our just
defence shall inforce us to require of our good subjects, your
forwardnesse and disbursements shall be considered to your best
advantage. And so presuming you will not fail to expresse your
affection herein, we bid you farewell. Given at our court at Oxford,
the 14th day of February, in the nineteenth yeare of our raigne,
1643.”
DIRECTORY.—Timothy Bluck, farmer, Newhouse; John Corser, farmer, More
House; Mrs. Frances Danzey, Larden Hall; Richard Esp, farmer, Larden
Grange; John Fortune, wheelwright; Richard Jones, farmer; Thomas Mytton,
Esq., Shipton Hall; William Partridge, vict., Bull’s Head; John Price,
blacksmith.
STANTON LACY
is a considerable parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred,
comprising the townships of Downton, Hayton Lower, Hayton Upper, part of
Henley, part of Hopton, Rock, Stanton Lacy, and Wooton, and the hamlets
of East and West. In 1801 there were 905 inhabitants; 1831, 1,467; 1841,
1,540. Acres, 7,765; rateable value, £11,008. 5s. The township of
Stanton Lacy has 2,393 acres of land; at the census of 1841 it contained
141 houses and 724 inhabitants, of which 146 persons are returned as in
the Ludlow Union Workhouse. The village is pleasantly situated three and
a half miles N.N.W. from Ludlow, near the eastern bank of the Corve. The
Earl of Craven is the principal landowner and lord of the manor. In the
20th of Edward I., a _quo warranto_ was brought against the Prior of
Lantone Prune, in Wales, for claiming pleas of the crown and wayffe, and
for holding a fair and a market in the manor of Stanton Lacy, and in
Rokele. The Prior pleads that he is not lord of the manor, but is only
patron of the church, and holds Rokele that lies in the parish. Hugh de
Lowther replies that the bishop cannot prove any of his predecessors to
have come in with the Conqueror, and to have acquired those privileges by
conquest, because being men in holy orders they come to their freeholds
by the grants of others, and therefore he ought to produce some special
grant from the crown to support his claim. This place was part of the
royal demesnes when the house of York recovered their right to the crown.
In the time of Henry VIII., Sir William Thomas, Knt., held the manor of
Stanton Lacy and a pasture known by the name of Stanton Fryth, for the
term of twenty-one years, at the rent of £7. 10s. THE CHURCH is a fine
old structure, some portions of which are unquestionably of great
antiquity; it has recently been beautified, and the interior has
undergone a complete renovation at a cost of about £1000. The chancel is
very beautiful; the altar exhibits some very elaborate workmanship, and
the floor is covered with tesselated pavement. The living is a vicarage,
rated in the king’s book at £16, now returned at £518, in the patronage
of the Earl of Craven; incumbent, Rev. Joseph Bowles, D.D. There is a
national school in the village, towards the support of which the Earl of
Craven is a liberal contributor. _Richard Nash_, in the year 1814,
bequeathed £100 for the benefit of the poor of this parish.
DOWNTON, a township in the parish of Stanton Lacy, situated four miles
from Ludlow, contains 765 acres of land, and in 1841 had 17 houses and 90
inhabitants. Sir W. E. R. Boughton, Bart., is the principal landowner
and lord of the manor, and resides at DOWNTON HALL, an elegant mansion of
modern erection commanding most beautiful and varied prospects over a
luxuriant country richly clothed with woody scenery. The pleasure
grounds are tastefully laid out and beautifully ornamented with choice
shrubs and flowers.
HAYTON LOWER, a small township and village four miles N.N.W. from Ludlow,
contains 535 acres of land, and at the census of 1841 had 24 houses and
104 inhabitants. The Earl of Craven is the principal proprietor of the
land.
HAYTON UPPER, a village and township in the parish of Stanton Lacy,
comprises 935 acres of land, and is situated four and a half miles N.N.W.
from Ludlow. At the census of 1841 there were 53 houses and 256
inhabitants. The Earl of Craven is the landowner and lord of the manor.
In this township is the hamlet of HAYTON’S BENT, where the Wesleyans and
Primitive Methodists have each a small chapel. A small rivulet which
flows from the hilly ground in this township becomes on its passage
through rocks strongly impregnated with carbonate of lime, and is found
to possess the property of forming petrifactions of such articles as are
placed in it. The township of _Henley_, partly in this parish and partly
in that of Bitterley, is noticed in the latter parish. The township of
_Hopton_ also partly in this parish, is noticed with Hopton parish.
ROCK, a small rural village and township in the parish of Stanton Lacy,
contains 735 acres of land, and runs into the borough of Ludlow. At the
census of 1841 there were 32 houses and 134 inhabitants.
WOOTTON, another small township in the parish of Stanton Lacy, contains
544 acres of land, and in 1841 had 9 houses and 65 inhabitants. Wootton
Hall, a fine specimen of the domestic architecture of by-gone days, has
been taken down during the present year and a farm house erected near the
site. The Earl of Craven is owner of the land in this township.
EAST HAMLET, in the parish of Stanton Lacy, contains 734 acres of land,
the principal owner of which is Frederick Nash, Esq.; William Pattrick is
the farmer. In 1841 there were four houses and twenty-four inhabitants.
WEST HAMLET contains 650 acres of land, and in 1841 had nine houses and
sixty-five inhabitants. The chief landowners are the Earl of Craven,
Hon. R. H. Clive, Mrs. Wakefield, and J. B. Cummings, Esq.
DIRECTORIES.—_Stanton Lacy_: Herbert Blakeway, farmer, Stanton Cottage;
Rev. Joseph Bowles, D.D.; John Davies, blacksmith; John S. Edwards,
farmer; Richard Edwards, farmer, Manor House; Henry Evans, vict., Craven
Arms; Richard Fletcher, butcher and shopkeeper; Edward Farmer, farmer and
shopkeeper; John Hotchkiss, farmer, Woodlands; Ann Oseley, Proprietary
School. _Downton_: Sir William Edward Rouse Boughton, Bart., Downton
Hall; Thomas Hotchkiss, farmer. _Hayton Lower_: Richard Coston, farmer;
Sarah Coston, farmer; Samuel Weaver, farmer; and Samuel Weaver, beerhouse
keeper. _Hayton Upper_: Edward M. Burgess, farmer; Rev. Lancelot Dixon;
William Price, farmer; and Thomas Smout, farmer. _Rock_: Mr. Wm.
Gardener; James Harding, vict., The Raven; James Hince, timber merchant;
John Price, manager at Gas Works; Elias Rollings, coach and jobbing
smith; William Russell, governor of Union House; William Thompson, vict.,
Greyhound; James Watkins, stone and marble mason. _Wootton_: William
Blakeway, farmer, The White House; Josiah Meredith, corn miller. _East
Hamlet_: William Patrick, farmer. _West Hamlet_: Thomas Lloyd, farmer,
Langley; John Mellings, farmer, The Pools; Deborah Sanders, farmer,
Ruckley; John Sanders, farmer; and William Small, farmer, Aintree.
STANTON LONG