hundred, seven miles S.S.W. from Much Wenlock, and ten west from
Bridgnorth. At the census of 1801 there was a population of 206 souls;
1831, 278; and in 1841, fifty-three houses and 327 inhabitants. Acres,
1,710A. 1R. 10P. Rateable value, £2,636. 4s. 6d. The parish extends
about four miles in length and one in breadth, and is adjacent to the
parishes of Holdgate, Shipton, Monk Hopton, and Ditton Priors. The soil
on the north side of the river Corve is well adapted for the growth of
turnips and barley; on the south side it is of a stiffer nature, and
better suited for wheat. The principal landowners are the Duke of
Cleveland; Rev. R. H. G. More; J. Deighton, Esq.; and J. Corser, Esq.;
there are also several other proprietors. Mrs. Thursby is lady of the
manor. BROCKTON and PATTON are two small townships for highway purposes
in this parish, the former containing 376 acres, and the latter 697
acres. THE CHURCH, situated at the south-western extremity of the
parish, is a neat edifice dedicated to St. Michael; the interior,
however, contains little of interest, except a handsomely-carved oak
pulpit, and there are some fine Gothic windows. The living is a
vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £7, in the patronage of the Dean
and Chapter of Hereford. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £95. 6s.
10d.; and there is a good vicarage house and 66A. 3R. 3P. of glebe land
attached, commanding a pleasing prospect of the Corve Dale. The rectoral
tithes are commuted for £133. 17s. 5d., of which £7. 12s. 7d. is paid to
the rector of Holdgate. The Rev. Thomas P. Williams is the curate.
There is a National School at Brockton, capable of containing 120
children. The interest of a sum of £20, left by an unknown donor, is
expended in bread and given to the poor.
The principal residents are Charles Acton, farmer, Brockton; Thomas
Bywater, farmer, Brockton; Thomas Chatham, farmer, Stanton Long; Edward
Corks, farmer and maltster, Stanton Long; William Crudington, shoemaker,
Brockton; Isaac Day, blacksmith, Stanton Long; Evan Davies, farmer,
Patton; Thomas Downes, farmer, Patton; James Edwards, wheelwright,
Stanton Long; Edward Esp, farmer, Stanton Long; Edward Instone, farmer,
Brockton house; Thomas Mancell, blacksmith, Brockton; Edward Philpot,
vict., Feathers; John Pope, carpenter, Stanton Long; Rev. Thomas P.
Williams, curate.
STOKE ST. MILBOROUGH
is a parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, comprising
4,400 acres of land, and is divided for highway purposes into the
townships of Clee Downton, Clee Stanton, and Stoke, and the chapelry of
Heath. At the census of 1841 there were 110 houses and 553 inhabitants
exclusive of the chapelry of Heath, which contained ten houses and a
population of sixty-three souls. Rateable value, £4,454. 8s. The
village of Stoke is delightfully situated in a romantic district, near
the southern side of the Brown Clee Hill, six miles and a half N.N.E.
from Ludlow. From the summit of the Brown Clee Hill, which is chiefly
situated in this parish, a most beautiful panoramic view is seen of the
country, which for extent and diversity is not surpassed in England. To
the north and south are seen the fruitful plains of Shropshire,
pleasingly varied with woody hills, and lovely vales dotted with the
humble cottage of the labourer and the mansion of the opulent, whilst the
Cambrian hills, which rear their lofty heights in wild grandeur towards
the west, give an additional charm to the enchanting scene. According to
the description given of the manor of Stoke St. Milborough at the
Doomsday survey, it would seem then to have consisted of seven hides of
land, and a large wood. Earl Roger gave it to the chaplains of the
church of St. Milborough. The principal landowners are the Hon. Sidney
Herbert; Dr. Cavendish Wall; E. H. Owen, Esq.; and Mr. John Patrick;
there are also several other proprietors. The Hon. Sidney Herbert, lord
of the manor, regularly pays a fee farm rent of £29. 10s. 3d. to the Duke
of Cleveland, as the representative of the grantee of it from the crown;
and the Hon. S. Herbert collects from various freeholders of the manor
several rents amounting in the aggregate to the said sum. THE CHURCH is
a venerable structure, dedicated to the saint from whom the name of the
parish is derived. The interior is commodious, and contains an antique
font, and several ancient monuments to the Lee family. It has a handsome
tower and four bells. The living is a vicarage, with the curacy of Heath
annexed, returned at £474, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev.
George Morgan, M.A. THE VICARAGE is a good residence, and pleasantly
situated. THE METHODISTS and PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have each a small
chapel here; and there is a NATIONAL SCHOOL. “In the afternoon of
Monday, July 25, 1768, there happened an extraordinary gust of wind, a
few miles to the north-west of Cleobury, in Shropshire. Its effects were
most remarkable in the parish of Stoke St. Milborough, where it unroofed
the dwelling house, barns, stables, and every other building belonging to
a farmer of the name of Bishop; one of which buildings was entirely
levelled with the ground. In his orchard it destroyed upwards of sixty
apple and pear trees, which were either broken off in the butt, or forced
up by the roots. Several large elms and poplar trees were likewise blown
down. He computed the damage he had sustained at £300. His son, a youth
sixteen years of age, being in the fold, was lifted four or five yards
above the surface of the ground, and carried to the distance of eighty
yards, part of the space being over a fish-pond, a hedge, and a stone
wall; but at last, falling gradually in a field of hay, he received but
little hurt.” A donation of £400 has been invested by the present
incumbent in the three per cent. consols, in the names of certain
trustees, the dividends of which are laid out in bread, and distributed
among such poor as are most regular in their attendance at church.
DIRECTORY.—Richard Andrews, shoemaker; James Blakemore, farmer; John T.
Bright, farmer and corn miller, Court house; Thomas Colton, vict., Red
Lion; John Humphries, shopkeeper; Thomas Humphries, wheelwright; John
Jones, blacksmith; Samuel Jones, shoemaker; E. H. Owen, Esq., St.
Milborough lodge; John Patrick, farmer; Henry Speak, farmer; John Wall,
farmer.
CLEE DOWNTON, a small scattered village in the parish of Stoke St.
Milborough, consists of a few scattered houses about a mile from the
church. E. H. Owen, Esq., is the landowner. The chief residents are
Edward Powell, farmer; Edward Poyner, farmer; Richard Sambrook, farmer;
William Summers, farmer; and Richard and Thomas Whiteman, farmers.
CLEE STANTON is a village with a few straggling houses, at the foot of
Titterstone Hill, two miles east from Stoke St. Milborough. Sir William
R. Boughton, and Robert Head, Esq., are the landowners. The principal
residents are Henry Ainsworth, farmer; Edward Millichamp, farmer; John
Poter, farmer.
HEATH, a chapelry in the parish of Stoke St. Milborough, contains 386
acres of land, and is situated two miles north by west from the church.
Gross estimated rental, £492. 10s. The landowners are the Earl of
Craven; Edward Turner, Esq.; and Thomas and Edward Millichamp. At the
census of 1841 there were ten houses and sixty-eight inhabitants. The
tithes are commuted for £28, and there are 28 acres of glebe land. THE
CHAPEL is a small but interesting structure, the interior of which is
admired for its beautiful carved oak. Its architecture displays traces
of the Norman style. Service is performed only once during the month.
The principal residents at Heath are Benjamin Cocks, farmer; Edward
Millichamp, farmer, New house; Edward Powis, bailiff to E. Turner, Esq.;
Mr. Edward Price, Heath cottage.
STOKESAY
is a parish and village in the lower division of the Munslow hundred,
containing 3,609 acres of land, and comprising the townships of Aldon,
Stoke and Newton, Wettleton, and parts of Broom and Rowton; the latter
however is chiefly in the Hopesay parish, where it will be found noticed.
At the census of 1801, there were 512 inhabitants: 1831, 529: 1841, 556;
at the latter period there were 108 inhabited houses. Rateable value,
£3,939 15s. The township of Stoke and Newton contains 1,222 acres of
land, and in 1841 had 38 houses and 188 inhabitants. The Craven Arms is
a handsome and commodious hotel, not surpassed by any in the county: in
the front of which is a conical column, on which is inscribed the
distance of this place from all the principal towns in England, Scotland,
and Wales. At the Doomsday survey, Roger de Lacy held Stoches of the
King, at which period there were eight plough lands, twenty villains,
belonging to the manor, and a mill. The Lacy family continued in
possession of it till the year 1207, when it was carried by an heiress to
John de Vernon. Soon after 1240 the manor was sold to William de
Ludlowe, whose son Lawrence de Ludlowe lived at the castle. In 1497 it
passed to Thomas Vernon, and afterwards to Sir George Mainwaring, and he
sold it about the year 1620 to Lord Craven, whose representative the Earl
of Craven is the principal landowner and lord of the manor. STOKE
CASTLE, formerly the seat of the Baldwin family, is a curious specimen of
the castellated mansion of former days. A gate house constructed of
wooden framework, with curious carvings, leads to a quadrangular court,
on one side of which are the remains of the rampart, and on the other
sides the house, offices, and tower. The hall and tower is opposite the
gate house, in the latter is a winding staircase. The hall is very
spacious, but there is no vestige of a fire-place, the ancient mode of
warming apartments of this description being by a reredoss, or brazier,
filled with burning charcoal, and placed in the centre; at one end is the
gallery for the minstrelsy on days of festivity; the wainscot is of oak,
and the chimney piece is elaborately carved. The tower which is lofty
and in the form of an irregular polygon, rises from the south-west corner
of the court, and is crowned with an embattled parapet; the ground floor
is a gloomy apartment lighted by four small pointed windows, and the
upper stories are divided into very small rooms. This stately mansion
has suffered a degradation not uncommon to places of ancient note, part
of it having been used as an out-house to an adjoining farm, and the rest
suffered to fall to decay.
THE CHURCH is a venerable structure situated near the castle, dedicated
to St. John the Baptist, and consists of nave and chancel, with a tower
in which are six bells. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s
book at £4. 13s. 4d., now returned at £340.; incumbent, Rev. William
Williams. The Parochial school was formerly held in the church belfry,
it is now taught in a private house, but a new school is expected shortly
to be built. _Roger Powell_ who died in 1616, left to this parish £10. a
year, and directed one shilling a week to be distributed to the poor, and
the residue towards the maintenance of a schoolmaster. Of this annuity,
which is paid out of a farm in Church Stoke and Lydham, £2. 12s; is given
away with the sacrament money on St. Thomas’s day, and the remainder is
paid to the schoolmaster. _Mary Pearce_, in 1769, bequeathed £5 to the
poor of this parish, and it was then agreed that the said sum should be
laid out in the purchase of a bier cloth, the cost of which was £4. 5s.
7½d., and the rest in books for the poor children of the parish; it was
further agreed that in lieu of the interest of the said £5, a bible
should be given yearly on Easter Monday to such poor child as the
parishioners should appoint.
DIRECTORY.—Richard Coston, farmer, Newton; William Jones, wheelwright,
Newton; Enoch Morris, farmer, Stoke Castle; Richard Owen, vict., Craven
Arms Hotel; Francis Owen, vict., Red Lion, Newton; Joseph Speakes,
schoolmaster; Rev. William Williams, vicar, Stokesay.
ALDON, a township and village in the parish of Stokesay, in 1841
contained 45 houses and 236 inhabitants. The chief landowners are Henry
Lester, Esq., Hon. R. H. Clive, and Mr. William Hotchkiss, there are also
a few small proprietors. Limestone is found in abundance in this
township; in getting the stone, bones have frequently been found of
animals that are now extinct,—not long ago some very large antlers of the
deer were found. The principal residents are John Bishop, farmer;
William Hotchkiss, farmer and lime burner; Edward Medlicott, farmer,
Aldon Court; Benjamin Pugh, farmer, Steperside; Lady Mary Ann Syer, Stone
House.
BROOM AND ROWTON is a township partly in the Munslow hundred and partly
in the Purslow hundred, situated about a mile and a half east from
Clungunford. At the census of 1841 two houses and eighteen inhabitants
were returned as in Stokesay parish, and two houses and fifteen
inhabitants as in the parish of Clungunford. The principal residents are
Francis Bach, farmer, Rowton; George Beddows, farmer, Rowton; Timothy
Bishop, farmer, Rowton; John and Richard Marston, farmers, The Weo.
WETTLETON, a township and small village, is situated about half a mile
N.E. from Stoke, and in 1841 had 25 houses and 114 inhabitants. The land
is the property of the Earl of Craven, and the resident farmers are
Jeremiah Sheppard and William Sheppard.
TUGFORD
is a parish in the upper division of the Munslow hundred, nine miles
N.N.E. from Ludlow, which contains 1,990 acres of land, the rateable
value of which is £1,609. 5s. The soil is well adapted for the growth of
turnips and barley. Population in 1801, 165; 1831, 188; 1841, 145; at
the latter period there were 31 houses. The village of Tugford is on a
good road leading to Ludlow, the situation is low, but dry, pleasant, and
warm, being sheltered from the east by a tall plantation rising at the
back of it. A small stream called Tugford Brook turns a corn mill in the
village, and shortly after has its confluence with the river Corfe. In
the time of Henry III. the abbot and convent of Shrewsbury held the ville
of Tugford, which was computed to consist of two hides and a half of
land. At the assizes, in the 20th of Edward I., the abbot of Salop
claimed the liberty of free warren here, of which his successors had a
confirmation in the time of Richard II. The principal landowners are the
Earl of Craven and C. O. Childe Pemberton, Esq. The parish church,
dedicated to St. Catherine, is a small but handsome structure, probably
erected about the middle of the 16th century. The living is a rectory
annexed to that of Holdgate, in the patronage of the Bishop of Hereford.
Incumbent, Rev. Joseph Corbett. The rectory house is a good residence
adjoining the church-yard. _Thomas Clinton_, in 1815, gave £100, the
interest to be given among ten poor widows of this parish. In 1652,
_Robert Ellis_ bequeathed 10s. each to the several parishes of Tugford,
Abdow, Holdgate, Tregnon, and Llanwithilaw. The tithes were commuted in
1839; aggregate amount, £178. 18s. 10d.
The principal residents in Tugford are the Rev. Joseph Corbett, The
Rectory; John Blakeway, shopkeeper; John Blockley, farmer; Edward Downes,
farmer; John Page, farmer and corn miller; Edward Parsons, farmer;
Richard Shirley, farmer; Fanny Wall, blacksmith.
THE WENLOCK FRANCHISE.
The Wenlock Franchise is bounded on the east by the Brimstree Hundred, on
the south by the Stottesden Hundred, on the west by the Condover and
Munslow Hundreds, and on the north by that of South Bradford. The
borough and franchise of Wenlock were formerly co-extensive with the
Hundred of Patintern, mentioned in Doomsday Book, which comprised the
following parishes, viz.:—Much Wenlock, Little Wenlock, Broseley,
Madeley, Benthall, Barrow, Tinley, Badger, Beckbury, Priors Ditton, Stoke
St. Milborough, Eaton-under-Heywood, Hughley, Shipton, Monk Hopton,
Willey, Deuxhill, and the Extra Parochial Liberty of Posenhall. By an
order of quarter sessions, held at Shrewsbury, April 4th, 1836, the
parishes of Badger, Deuxhill, and Beckbury, were added to the Brimstree
Hundred; and the parishes of Eaton, Shipton, and Stoke St. Milborough,
should thenceforward be considered as part of the Munslow Hundred.
Ironstone, coal, limestone, and a superior clay, are found in this
division of the county, which is celebrated for extensive iron-works, the
manufacture of porcelain earthenware, tobacco pipes, bricks, tiles, and
draining pipes. The manufacturing district is chiefly confined to the
north and north-east verge of the franchise. It is intersected by the
river Severn at the northern extremity, and the river afterwards forms
the boundary of the franchise for some distance. At the census of 1841
this division of the county contained 3,703 inhabited houses, 155
uninhabited, and 29 building; and a population of 18,016 souls; of whom
8,936 were males and 9,080 females. Of the total population 16,518
persons were born in the county, and 1,498 elsewhere.
BARROW
is a small but pleasantly situated village and parish, in the Wenlock
Franchise, two miles east from Much Wenlock, and two miles south-west
from Broseley. The parish contains 2,989A. 0R. 39P. of land, the
rateable value of which is £3,086. 6s. 1d. At the census in 1801 there
were 479 inhabitants; 1831, 351; and in 1841 there were 85 houses and a
population of 383 souls. Lord Forester and Sir Richard Acton, Bart., are
the landowners. WILLEY HALL, a handsome mansion, is the occasional seat
of Lord Forester. The lands in this parish abound with game, which is
rigidly preserved. THE CHURCH is a venerable structure, dedicated to St.
Giles, and consists of nave and chancel, with a turret, in which are two
bells. The walls display many tabular monuments, and there is an antique
font, with a capacious basin. On the south side of the church-yard is
buried Tom Moody, the celebrated whipper-in to George Forester, Esq. The
grave-stone is simply inscribed “Tom Moody, died 19th November, 1796.”
The church was formerly an appendage to the Priory of Wenlock. The
living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory of Willey. The Rev.
Henry Bridgeman is the incumbent.
THE SCHOOL AND ALMSHOUSE.—_John Slaney_, merchant tailor of London,
having, in his life-time, built in the parish of Barrow an almshouse for
six poor aged men or women that had been ancient dwellers thereabout, and
appointed six acres of ground to be laid out for their better relief and
to the support of a school. He also directed an allowance of 1s. 4d.
weekly to be made to each inmate, and every alternate year a good frieze
gown to be given to each person, worth 13s. 4d., and hose and shoes to
the value of 6s. 8d. Mr. Slaney also erected a school for the free
teaching of twenty children, and ordained that a great part of the six
acres of land above mentioned should be for the maintenance of the
school; and he gave towards the maintenance of the schoolmaster £10
a-year for ever. For the performance of the said allowance he gave a
rent charge of £30 per annum issuing out of his manor of Willey. And for
the residue of his gift to make up the pensions of the said schoolhouse
and almshouse, he charged his cousin, John Slaney, that he and his heirs
and assignees should for ever pay the same as a rent charge out of his
lands called the Hem, which lands he gave to his said cousin on his
continuing the charities according to the conditions of his will. In
this will Mr. Slaney is directed to keep the school and almshouse in
continual repair, and to provide fuel. The premises thus conditionally
devised became the property of John Stephens, Esq., who, in 1816,
exchanged the lands with Cecil Weld Forester, Esq., lord of the manor of
Willey, for lands situated near Barrow church. The almshouse having
become much dilapidated, the said Cecil W. Forester, Esq., agreed to be
at the expense of taking down and rebuilding the school and almshouse (at
his own expense), and keeping the same in repair during the term of his
natural life, and to find garments and coals, pursuant to the will of the
founder. In pursuance of this arrangement, the almshouse was taken down,
and a new one and a schoolhouse built on the lands which he had given in
exchange. The yearly expenditure when the Charity Commissioners
published their report was £33. 16s., of which the rent charge on the
manor of Willey provides for £30; so that there remained for the annual
charge upon the lands of Mr. Stephens £3. 16s., but which was then paid
by Mr. Forester, besides the cost of twelve tons of coals. With respect
to the terms of this exchange, it cannot escape observation that the £3.
16s. and the twelve tons of coals which are furnished by Mr. Forester, in
pursuance of his agreement, and the expense that he may be at in repairs,
are a part of the consideration that he was to give for the old
schoolhouse and almshouse, and the land belonging to them; and not the
annual supply which Mr. Stephens’s estates were charged by the will of
Mr. Slaney to furnish. When the charity has received Mr. Forester’s
supply, it has received nothing more than the stipulated equivalent for
the old schoolhouse and almshouse premises. But before the exchange it
was entitled to something more, namely, to the supply charged on Mr.
Stephens’s estates. It must, therefore, continue still entitled to that
supply since the exchange; unless the effect of the exchange has been to
exonerate the estates of Mr. Stephens during the life of Mr. Forester at
the expense of the charity. We think that such has not been the effect,
but that Mr. Stephens’s estates are liable to make good to the charity
the annual supply of £3. 16s. and twelve tons of coals yearly, and to
continue that supply in future. The school teacher, in addition to the
£10 prescribed by the will of Mr. Slaney, has the use of a schoolhouse,
and about five acres of land attached to it, with the privilege of taking
private scholars.
It appears from the parish books, that a sum of £9 poors’ stock, which
had for many years been in the hands of successive parish officers, was
applied in the year 1788 to the repairs of the church, as interest of
which the sum of 10s. is distributed by the churchwardens at Christmas in
fourpenny loaves among the poor of the parish.
DIRECTORY.—John Michael Howell, farmer, The Marsh; Thomas Instone,
farmer, Swinney; Augusta Jones, schoolmistress; Robert Peake, farmer;
William Thursfield, Esq., farmer and land agent to Lord Forester.
BENTHALL
is a small parish with a scattered population, three miles and a half
from Much Wenlock, which comprises 1,195A. 3R. 1P. of land, the whole of
which is the property of Lord Forester, who is also lord of the manor.
The land has a bold swelling surface, and abounds in limestone. There
are lime works in this parish, which give employment to a number of the
inhabitants. There is also a tobacco pipe manufactory, and an
establishment for the manufacture of earthenware, carried on by Mr.
Edward Bathurst. At the census of 1801, the parish contained 636
inhabitants; 1831, 525; and in 1841 there were 131 inhabited houses, and
587 souls. THE CHURCH, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, consists of nave
and chancel, and has a small turret, in which is one bell: it was rebuilt
in 1667, and stands on a gentle eminence: it is neatly pewed with oak
sittings, and has a gallery at the west end. On the north wall of the
chancel there is a tablet to the memory of Ralph Brown, Esq. and
Catherine, his wife; the former died in 1707: he was lord of the manor of
Benthall. On the south wall is a neat memorial to Edward Brown,
gentleman, of Broseley, who died January 29th, 1849, aged 74 years. In
the nave of the church is buried Philip Benthall, Esq., who died July
26th, 1713, aged 81 years. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to
the vicarage of Much Wenlock; incumbent, Rev. W. H. Wayne; curate, Rev.
Thomas H. Edwards. BENTHALL HALL is a stone mansion situated near the
church, some portions of which were erected in the year 1535. It is the
property of Lord Forester, but is now unoccupied. In the time of the
civil wars it was garrisoned by the royalists, at which period tradition
states the old church was destroyed.