Part 101

BURTON, or BORTON, and CALLOUGHTON are two townships in the parish of Much Wenlock, containing together 3,163A. 2R. 39P. of land. Gross estimated rental, £3,501. 7s. 1d. Rateable value, £3,160. 8s. Burton is situated two and a half miles S.W. from Much Wenlock, and at the census in 1841 is returned as having 33 houses and 181 inhabitants; Calloughton at the same period had 23 houses and 149 inhabitants. Lord Wenlock, the principal landowner, occasionally resides at Burton Cottage—an elegant and ornamental structure of only one story in height, the interior of which is very beautifully furnished. The farm houses have most of them been rebuilt by the late proprietor, Sir Francis Lawley, Bart. They are good residences, with commodious and convenient out premises. The church is a small but interesting structure in the gothic style of architecture, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisle, the latter added at the expense of Lady Lawley; it has a tower containing four bells. The living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the vicar of Much Wenlock, and enjoyed by the Rev. Samuel Minton. The income of the living is derived from a farm in Radnorshire of the annual value of £50, and a sum of £200 given by Sir Robert Lawley to augment the living. The village of Calloughton is situated about a mile and a half south from Much Wenlock, and is chiefly composed of cottage residences. The farms are scattered and mostly modern erections; there is also a corn mill which can either be worked by steam or water power, in the occupancy of Mr. W. B. Childs. The tithes of Burton and Calloughton are commuted for £74. 18s.

DIRECTORY.—Those marked 1 are at Burton, and 2 are at Calloughton. 2 Benjamin Ainsworth, farmer, Beggarley Brook; 2 Samuel Ainsworth, farmer, Spoonbill; 1 Thomas Blunt, agent to John Onions, Esq.; 1 John Brooks, farmer; 2 William Baldwin Childs, corn miller; Francis Dickinson, farmer; 1 Joel Evason, shopkeeper; 2 Thomas Instone, farmer; 1 Thomas Instone, farmer; 1 Edward Kinsey, gentleman; 1 Thomas Lewis, blacksmith; John Massie, farmer, Bradeley; 2 Thomas Trow, farmer, Spoonhill; 1 John Woof, painter and vict., Talbot.

FARLEY WYKE AND BRADLEY, a township in the parish of Much Wenlock, situated three miles N.E. from the parish church, comprises 960A. 0R. 8P. of land. Gross estimated rental, £1,948. 5s. 3d. Rateable value, £1,787. 8s. The principal landowners are Sir W. W. Wynn, Abraham Darby, Esq., and Lord Forester. At the census in 1841 this township had 34 houses and 166 inhabitants. Farley is situated in a romantic dale, watered by a small brook. In the dingle there is a corn mill in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Harper and Son, which is worked both by steam and water power. The tithes are commuted for £18. 19s. 5d.

The principal residents in this township are Ann Cadwallader, beerhouse keeper; Thomas Chidley, wheelwright and beerhouse keeper; Thomas Harper, corn miller; Caleb Harper, corn miller; Edward Hill, wheelwright; William W. Hull, Esq., Tickwood; John Perry, farmer, Wyke; Joseph Lloyd, farmer and stone dealer.

HARLEY-WIGWIG AND HOMER, a small township in the parish of Much Wenlock, containing 552A. 1R. 20P. of land, at the census of 1841 had 47 scattered houses and a population of 218 souls. Gross estimated rental, £861. 11s. 6d.; rateable value, £765. 6s. The principle landowners are the Duke of Cleveland, Lord Forester, Samuel Meire, Esq., Sir George Harnage, and the Rev. Samuel Minton. The land is chiefly farmed by the owners except at Harley. The residents in this township are chiefly cottagers, and the houses are for the most part scattered. The tithes are commuted for £48. 15s.

PRESTHOPE is a township with a few scattered houses in the parish of Much Wenlock, situated on the Wenlock Edge, upwards of three miles from the parish church; at the census of 1841 there were fourteen houses and 71 inhabitants in the township, which comprises 742A. 2R. 8P. of land, the principal owners of which are Lord Bradford, and M. G. Benson, Esq. Gross estimated rental, £807. 6s. 8d.; rateable value, £727. 6s. WENLOCK EDGE is a precipitous ridge running about eleven miles in a south-westerly direction. King Henry I. after the capture of Bridgnorth commanded his army to pass through Hunel Hege and lay siege to Shrewsbury. “Hunel hedge is the English name for a passage through a wood; in Latin it may be called _malus callis_ or _vicus_; for it was a hollow way of a mile in length, full of great sharp stones, and so narrow as scarcely to admit two horsemen abreast. It was overshadowed on each side by a dark wood wherein were stationed archers in ambuscade who greatly annoyed the army with arrows and other missile weapons; but as the king had more than 60,000 men in his army he detached large parties to cut down the wood and make a wide road which should endure for the use of posterity.” From this period we may probably date the existence of a road over this steep ridge which has since been rendered more commodious. Many of the passes however down this rugged steep retain much of their wild and romantic character. The tithes are commuted for £80. 6s.

The chief residents at Presthope are Richard Child Milner, farmer; Rev. Robert H. G. More, and John Shirley, farmer.

PRIORS DITTON,

or DITTON PRIORS is a parish and village pleasantly situated on the northern verge of the Brown Clee Hill, eight miles south-west from Bridgnorth. The parish contains the townships of Priors Ditton, Ashfield and Ruthall, and Middleton Priors, and has 5,284 acres of land, mostly of an inferior quality, the rateable value of which is £3,451. 4s. 8d. At the census of 1801 the parish had a population of 620 souls; 1831, 620; and in 1841 there were 137 houses and 660 inhabitants. The township of Priors Ditton contains 2,154A. 0R. 34P. of land, and in 1841 had 81 houses and 359 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,597. 1s. 8d. The principal landowners in this township are Philip Henry Howard, Esq., William Millward, Esq., and Mrs. Ann Howells; the former is lord of the manor, and impropriator. THE CHURCH dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is an ancient structure consisting of nave, chancel, and south aisle, with a short tower upon which was erected a spire in the year 1831, at a cost of £231; the roof is of groined timber finely wrought, which gives the interior a very beautiful appearance. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £5. 15s. 8d., now returned at £147, in the patronage of Philip Henry Howard, Esq.; incumbent, Rev. Edward Ridsdale. This church was formerly an appendage to the abbey of Wenlock. In the reign of Henry VIII., Humphrey Pakington, citizen and mercer of London, purchased of the king the farm of the manor of Dutton, alias Dytton, in Shropshire, with the rectory there, late the property of the Priory of Wenlock, The METHODISTS have small chapel built in 1816.

CHARITIES.—_Mrs. Catherine Barker_, by her will dated the 24th of January, 1699, devised to trustees certain freehold estates in Priors Ditton, on trust, (after certain other purposes specified by her) that they should out of the residue assure to the use of the poor of the said parish the yearly sum of £5, to continue for ever, and to be paid to the parson and churchwardens at the feast of Christmas and St. John the Baptist in equal portions. This annuity is paid by Francis Canning, Esq., of Foxcote, in the county of Warwick, who is the proprietor of the premises charged. The amount is distributed in small sums among the poor. _Mrs. Dorothy Holland_, by her will dated November 15th, 1723, bequeathed to the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of the parish, the sum of £20 in trust, to be invested in lands, and the rents of such lands she directed to be laid out in bread and distributed by the minister and churchwardens among twelve poor people of the parish, one half on Easter-day and the other half on Christmas-day. We do not find any account of the disposal of the money prior to the 2nd June, 1783, when it appears to have been placed in the hands of Francis Canning, Esq., at five per cent interest, upon the security of his bond. The interest is distributed by the churchwardens in the same manner as Barker’s charity, a course of distribution which is somewhat at variance with the directions of the donor.

ASHFIELD AND RUTHALL is a small township in the parish of Priors Ditton, on the north-west side of the parish, and within the bounds of the Munslow hundred, the rest of the parish being in the Wenlock Franchise. The township contains 697A. 3R. of land, and at the census of 1841 had nine scattered houses and fifty-five inhabitants. Rateable value, £373. 6s. Lady Boyne is the proprietor of the land at Ashfield. The landowners in Ruthall are Thomas Roberts, Esq., Richard Onslow, Esq., and John Adney, Esq.; the former is lord of the manor. The lord of the manor claims a heriot (usually the best beast) on the death of every owner in his lordship.

MIDDLETON PRIORS is a township in the parish of Priors Ditton which comprises 2,450A. 0R. 34P. of land, mostly an inferior soil. The land as chiefly the property of Philip Henry Howard, Esq., who is also lord of the manor. At the census in 1841 there were 47 houses and 109 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,479. 19s. 6d. MIDDLETON HALL is a spacious modern house which stands on a considerable elevation and is a conspicuous object many miles around. It was formerly the residence of the Howard family, when the top story of the hall was converted into a private oratory; it is adorned with some fine paintings, and over the altar is a beautifully executed representation of the crucifixion; adjoining is a room for robing and unrobing the priests, and another room is used as the confessional. A commodious and airy school room has been built by the lord of the manor, who also pays for the gratuitous education of the children; about sixty attend. A dwelling house for the teacher has also been built.

PRIORS DITTON, ASHFIELD AND RUTHALL, AND MIDDLETON PRIORS DIRECTORIES.

Adney John, farmer, Ruthall

Amies John, wheelwright, Priors Ditton

Andrew William, vict., Plough, Priors Ditton

Barnbrooke, Timothy, farmer, Middleton

Bradley Thomas, farmer, Priors Ditton

Chidley Edward, farmer, Priors Ditton

Cubby William, schoolmaster, Middleton

Davis Edward, surgeon, Priors Ditton

Darrell Thomas, farmer, Middleton

Downes John, farmer, Manor house, Ruthall

Easthope Thomas, farmer, Middleton

Evans John, farmer, Priors Ditton

Evans William, wheelwright, Priors Ditton

Goode Thomas, farmer, Priors Ditton

Green Henry, farmer, Priors Ditton

Green Mary, farmer & corn miller, Middleton

Hicks William, blacksmith, Priors Ditton

Jones George, farmer, Priors Ditton

Jones Thomas, farmer, Middleton

Millward William, farmer, Priors Ditton

Power Michael, maltster, miller, and steward to P. H. Howard, Esq., Middleton

Prentice Mrs. Martha, Priors Ditton

Reynolds Francis, farmer, Priors Ditton

Reynolds Richard, farmer, Middleton

Reynolds Richard, farmer, Priors Ditton

Ridsdale Rev. Edward, vicar, Priors Ditton

Smallman Richard, blacksmith, Priors Ditton

Southern Henry, vict., Cannings Arms, Priors Ditton

Thomas Edward, farmer, Middleton

Thomas John, cattle dealer, Priors Ditton

Wainwright Mary, farmer, Ashfield

WILLEY

is a small parish comprising 1353A. 2R. 6P. of land, situated in a pleasant part of the county, four miles east from Much Wenlock, and four and a half miles north-west from Bridgnorth. At the census in 1801 there were 163 inhabitants; 1831, 159; and in 1851, 144; of whom 75 were males, and 69 females. Inhabited houses, 30. Rateable value, £1,888. 8s. 5d. Lord Forester is the principal landowner, and lord of the manor. Henry Cartwright, Esq., is also a proprietor. WILLEY PARK, the magnificent seat of Lord Forester, is a spacious and elegant mansion of freestone, delightfully situated in an extensive and richly wooded park. The principal front, with the offices, extends upwards of three hundred feet, and is approached by a portico of the Corinthian order, greatly admired for superb workmanship and architectural effect. The interior of the mansion is splendidly furnished, and contains many fine paintings, many of which are the exquisite productions of some of the most celebrated masters. The library is extensive, and contains a valuable and choice collection of standard works. The gardens and pleasure grounds are laid out with great taste, and the park is beautifully adorned with sylvan beauty, a fine lake adding much to the interest of the scene. The family of Weld had anciently a seat at Willey. “William Weld was sheriff of London in 1352: his descendant, Sir John Weld, purchased Willey from Sir Thomas Lacon, of Kinlet, between 1612 and 1623. His descendant in the fourth degree, Elizabeth Weld, married Brooke Forester, of Dothill Park, near Wellington; whose son George, dying unmarried, bequeathed Willey and his other great estates, with an injunction to adopt the name of Weld, to his cousin, Cecil Weld Forester, created Lord Forester, of Willey Park, in 1821.” Mr. Moule, author of a work on Heraldry, says, “Lord Forester is lineally descended from John Forester, Esq., of Watling street, who held a singularly curious grant from King Henry VIII. to wear his hat in the royal presence; which identical document is preserved in the family.”

THE CHURCH is a small venerable fabric, consisting of nave and chancel, with a short tower, which contains three bells. There are several memorials to the various members of the ancient family of Weld. The living is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Barrow annexed, valued in the king’s book at £5. 6s. 3d., now returned at £329, in the patronage of Lord Forester: incumbent, the Hon. and Rev. George O. Bridgeman. The tithes of Willey have been commuted for £233. 18s.

CHARITIES.—_Robert Evans_, of the Dean, bequeathed 10s. per annum to be expended in bread for the poor. The payment of this gift commenced in 1709, and the legacy is now considered to be secured by a bond in the possession of the parish, given by the late Mr. John Perry, of Willey, whose executors pay the money to the parish officers.

_The Rev. Francis Wheeler_, rector of Willey, bequeathed 10s. yearly, to be paid at Christmas by the ministers of the two churches in Bridgnorth; 5s. each to be given to the poor of Willey in money or bread. This gift is distributed at Christmas, together with the sacrament money and Evan’s gift.

The following benefactions, also given to the poor of Willey, are involved in much obscurity. _Elizabeth Weld_ in 1688 gave £10. _Dorothy Weld_ in 1674 gave £10, the interest to be distributed on St. Thomas’s day. _Mrs. Mary Saltalston_ £20, to be added to the poor’s stock, and the interest of £10 to be distributed to the poor yearly. _Mary Ogden_ gave 40s. to the poor in 1680. _Judith Corbett_ £5 in 1691. _Mary Evans_ £5 in 1729. _Mrs. Catherine Strange_ £20. From the parish books it appears that £10 of Mrs. Saltalston’s benefaction, and £10 of Mrs. Weld’s, were applied in 1712 towards building a new tower to the church. It further appears that at a vestry meeting held 7th October, 1777, it was agreed that £40, part of a stock of £60, left for the benefit of the poor of Willey, and then in the hands of Mr. Thomas Perry, of the Dean, should be laid out in the necessary repairs of the church, and that the parish should pay reasonable interest for the same, to be distributed one half on St. Thomas’s day, and the other half on Good Friday. Another agreement, not entered in the parish books, dated 15th August, 1802, and signed by Morgan Jones, minister, and two respectable farmers of the parish, stating that the interest of the £40 mentioned in the former agreement, which had never been paid, then amounted to £50, and agreeing to consolidate the principal and interest, making together £90, and to pay interest on the whole. From the entries in the parish books above stated, it clearly appears that £60 of these benefactions were applied to the repairs of the church, but what became of the rest we have in vain endeavoured to discover. No interest appears to have been paid by the parish, but there has been for many years an annual distribution of corn made by the farmers to the poor on St. Thomas’s day, to the value of £5 and upwards.

The principal residents in Willey are the Right Hon. Lord Forester, Willey Park; the Hon. and Rev. George O. Bridgeman; Henry Cartwright, Esq., The Dean; George Goodfellow, bailiff to George Pritchard, Esq.; Edmund Raby, farmer; and John Stobbs, farmer.

LUDLOW

is a borough and market town, on the southern border of the county, 143 miles N.W. by W. from London, and twenty-five south from Shrewsbury, situated on an eminence, at the junction of the Corve with the Teme, and surrounded by a country varied with delightful prospects in every direction. This ancient and populous town is upwards of a mile in length and half a mile in breadth, having a number of regular and wide well paved streets, lying in diverging and inclined directions from the highest and most central part of the town; a circumstance which greatly promotes its cleanliness and salubrity. The houses in general are neat, well built, and better arranged than those of most inland towns of the same antiquity. The town is skirted by the rivers Corve and Teme, and abundantly supplied with water by pipes from springs in the vicinity to the public pumps, as well as from the river Corve by machinery and pipes to the different houses. The glove trade formerly employed upwards of one thousand hands here, but owing, it is thought, to the introduction of French gloves, and the establishment of marts for articles of a cheaper fabrication in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, the trade declined some years ago, and has now become almost extinct. Malt is made to a considerable extent, and there is a paper mill, and an establishment for the manufacture of blankets and a coarse kind of woollen cloth chiefly used for horse collars. The town has, however, been kept in a flourishing state by the numerous respectable residents which the extreme beauty of its situation has attracted to it. There is a market here on a Monday for grain, provisions, and poultry, which is usually well attended. Markets are also held on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, for provisions. Fairs for horned cattle, horses, pigs, and general merchandise, are held on the Monday before February 13th, Tuesday before Easter, May 1st (for hiring servants), Wednesday in Whitsun-week, August 21st, September 28th, and the first Mondays in November and December. Population in 1801, 3,897; 1831, 5,253. In 1841 the parish of St. Lawrence contained 1,086 houses and 5,064 inhabitants; of whom 3,041 were males and 3,157 females. Rateable value of the borough, £12,812. 4s. 9d. An act of parliament was obtained in 1794 for lighting and paving the town. The annual races are held in July, and continue for two days.

Ludlow was no doubt a town of note in the time of the Britons from the British name it bears (_Dinan_), though we have no historical record left of it. How it came to be called Dinan, a word of no affinity with Ludlow, we have not found. After the conquest, a noble knight assumed the name of Dinan in honour of the place. It may be observed that _Dinas_ and _Dinan_ are words of frequent occurrence in the account of British antiquities; and upon a careful investigation, it will generally appear that places so denominated have been formerly occupied by some chief or prince of the country. Ludlow seems to have been incorporated from time immemorial. The earliest charter extant is one of confirmation from Richard Duke of York, father of Edward IV. This charter, styling the corporation as “the bailiff’s, burgesses, and commonality, of the town and borough of Ludlow,” and conferring important privileges, has ever since, till the date of the recent municipal act, been deemed, in effect, the governing charter of the borough, though numerous charters were hereafter granted by succeeding sovereigns. The following corporate officers were appointed by charter, viz.:—Two bailiffs, two capital masters and justices, a recorder, twelve aldermen, twenty five common-council, a town clerk, coroner, three serjeants-at-mace, four beadles, and a town crier. No small display of civic pomp and splendour has been here exhibited in the annual election of the corporate officers. The high bailiff was appointed by charter to be elected by the aldermen, and the low bailiff from among the common councilmen; indeed the system of self-election was strictly established, and so were its usual consequences. The bailiffs, and recorder, or steward and capital masters, were all appointed to act as justices of the peace, ex-officio, within the liberties. General sessions of the peace were appointed by Charles I. to be held quarterly, in the same week as the county sessions. Capital convictions, it is said, with executions on the Gallows-hill, anciently took place. Prisoners on higher offences were latterly, however, sent to Shrewsbury gaol for trial at the assizes. The privilege of burgess-ship was inherited by the sons of burgesses; and those who marry their daughters were entitled also to be admitted into this body; for which purpose they were required to petition, according to a prescribed form given in a by-law made in the year 1663. A court of record was instituted by Edward IV. for the trial of debts of 1s. and upwards, and the trial of issues in all personal actions within the municipality. Ludlow first returned members to parliament in the 12th of Edward IV. The boundaries of the borough were little more than co-extensive with those of the old municipal borough; but they have been much extended. Previous to the passing of the Reform Act the borough returned two members, as it still does, and is one of the polling places for the southern division of the county.

Under the Municipal Reform Act, a commission of the peace has been granted anew, and the court of quarter sessions re-appointed. Petty sessions are held weekly, and a court leet annually for swearing in constables. The borough is now governed by four aldermen and twelve councillors, under the usual corporate style. The persons qualified to vote for the town council, after the passing of the act, amounted to 307 in the parish of St. Lawrence, and seven in the township of Ludford, of which latter district the boundary commissioners proposed the exclusion, it being practically beyond the corporate limits. In other respects, the boundaries laid down in their report are extended on the west and east; particularly the latter, which stretches into the parishes of Stanton Lacy, on building ground as far as the parliamentary borough. The following is a list of the members of parliament, borough magistrates, and corporate officers for the year 1851:—

_Members of Parliament_: Colonel Salwey and Henry B. Clive, Esq.

_Magistrates_: Francis Massey, Esq.; Humphrey Smith, Esq.; John Thomas, Esq.; Robert Thomas, Esq.; and Benjamin Urwick, Esq.