Part 51

is a township and scattered village, pleasantly situated one mile south from Moreton Say, which in 1841 had 16 houses and 101 inhabitants. Rateable value, £684. 16s. The acres and tithes are included in the returns given of the parish. The Earl of Powis and George Corser, Esq., are the landowners. The soil is mostly a cold clay, but has been much improved by draining and by freely using bone-dust as a fertilizer.

The principal residents are Thomas Baker, farmer; Mrs. Cartwright, farmer; William Humphreys, farmer; and Samuel Sharratt, farmer, Oldfields.

LONGFORD,

a township and village, delightfully situated on elevated ground, two miles S.E. by E. from Moreton Say, in 1841 contained 53 houses and 262 inhabitants. The land produces good crops of wheat and barley, and there is some fine grazing land; the soil is chiefly strong. The Market Drayton, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, and Newport turnpike roads intersect the township. The scenery around is beautifully varied and picturesque. Gross estimated rental, £1,537. 14s. John Tayleur, Esq., is lord of the manor and a landowner; besides whom the Rev. Thomas Henshaw Jones, Mr. Charles Warren, Mr. Samuel Hudson, Richard Corbet, Esq., John Hazledine, Esq., and others are also proprietors.

DIRECTORY.—George Harding, Esq., estate agent and steward to Richard Corbet, Esq., Tern Hill House; Joseph Harris, farmer; Samuel Harris, farmer; John Hazledine, Esq., Tern Hill; John Hill Stephenson, farmer; Samuel Hudson, farmer; Joseph Johnson, blacksmith and victualler, the Lion; Joseph Sillitoe, farmer, Tern Hill; James Wood, beerhouse-keeper.

STYCHE AND WOODLANDS,

a township and village on the northern verge of the county, bordering on Cheshire, at the census of 1841 contained 24 houses and 145 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,148. 7s. The soil is mostly a strong clay; there is some good meadow land in the township. The Earl of Powis and Lord Kilmorey are the landowners. STYCHE HALL is an elegant mansion of brick, with stone quoins and stuccoed, which produces a light and handsome appearance. It is situated on a gentle elevation, and being lofty and spacious, and approached by a fine portico, gives it an imposing aspect. The front of the mansion opens into a fine extent of park-like grounds. The offices and stables are behind the hall, and form a spacious quadrangle. Styche is now the seat of Henry B. Clive, Esq., M.P., for the borough of Ludlow. The celebrated Lord Clive, the founder of the present noble family of Powis, was born at Styche. He was the son of Richard Clive, Esq., and received his education first at the free-school in Drayton, and afterwards at Dr. Stirling’s school, Hempsted. He subsequently became a celebrated commander in the East India Company’s service, and contributed to the prosperity of the company in a most unexampled manner. He represented the town of Shrewsbury in parliament from 1760 to 1774, but rarely spoke in the house, though upon special occasions he displayed great powers of elocution. By his will he bequeathed £70,000 to the invalids in the Company’s service.

DIRECTORY.—Henry B. Clive, Esq., Styche Hall; Thomas Akers, farmer, Shavington Park; Samuel Beeston, farmer, Nobridge; Thomas Betterley, farmer, Shavington; Richard Caldicot, farmer. New-street Lane; Charles Gregory, farmer, Barnetts; John Horton, beerhouse-keeper; Abraham Price, farmer; Thomas Sharratt, farmer, New-street Lane.

BEARSTON

is a township and small village, pleasantly situated four miles and a half N.E. from Market Drayton, in the parish of Muckleston, which is mostly comprised within the bounds of the Pirehill Hundred, in the county of Stafford. THE CHURCH is also in Staffordshire, and situate about a mile to the north of Blore Heath. It is an ancient structure, with a lofty tower, from the top of which Queen Margaret witnessed the slaughter at the battle of Blore Heath. The townships comprised in this county are Bearston, Dorrington, Gravenhanger, and Woore. The township of Bearston contains 1,084A. 1R. 6P., of land. The soil for the most part is a strong loam, in other parts it is of a light sandy nature, particularly near the banks of the river Tern. In 1841 there were 17 houses and 101 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,196. 4s. 5d. Gross estimated rental, £1,319. 9s. 8d. The land is the property of Thomas Kinnersley, Esq., except one farm, the property of the Rev. Hugh Ker Cokburne. The river Tern here divides the county from that of Stafford, on the banks of which is the Bearston Corn Mill, occupied by Mr. Bruckshaw, whose residence is just within the bounds of this county.

DIRECTORY.—John Benbow, farmer; Thomas Bennion, farmer; George Bruckshaw, farmer, maltster, and corn miller, Bearston Mill; Robert Tilsley, farmer.

DORRINGTON,

a small village and township, in the parish of Muckleston, five miles and a quarter N.N.E. from Market Drayton, in 1831 contained 35 houses and 188 inhabitants. The township contains 965A. 0R. 35P. of land. Gross estimated rental, £1,296. 3s. 6d. Rateable value, £1,181. 2s. 1d. Sir J. W. L. Chetwode, Bart., is the principal landowner. Miss Birchall is also a proprietor. PIPEGATE is a hamlet, a little to the east of Dorrington. IRELANDS CROSS, a hamlet on the turnpike road to the north of Dorrington. Here is the old Workhouse; a plain brick structure, now unoccupied. Adjoining the workhouse are four small tenements, called THE ALMSHOUSES, which are stated to have been built at the expense of the parish. The inmates have no income, and they have been so long in undisturbed possession, that they now claim them as their own.

DIRECTORY.—Thomas Ball, victualler, Fox and Hounds; Sarah Benbow, farmer; Elizabeth Birchall, farmer; Mary Goodall, farmer; Henry Hopwood, farmer; Jane Latham, beerhouse-keeper; Mary Lindop, farmer; Henry Taylor, manager to Miss Birchall; Robert Timmis, farmer; Matthew and William Wildig, joiners, builders, and brick-makers, Irelands Cross.

GRAVENHANGER,

a township six miles N.N.E. from Market Drayton, contains 1,144A. 2R. 9P. of land. Gross estimated rental, £1,745. 9s. 7d. The principal landowners are William Barber, Esq., Thomas Eld, Esq., Messrs. Wilkinson, Mr. Samuel Sherrard, Miss Elizabeth Birchall, George Kendrick, Esq., Executors of the late Mr. Latham. THE HALL is an ancient residence, occupied by Mr. John Beeston. Gravenhanger Moss is a tract of land of about twenty acres unenclosed.

The principal residents are John Beeston, farmer, The Hall; Ralph Bennet, farmer; Henry Buckley, beerhouse-keeper; Samuel Foxley, victualler, Crow Inn; Robert Huntback, farmer; Jane Latham, farmer; Thomas Latham, farmer; John Lea, farmer; Charlotte Morrey, farmer; James Sandbach, farmer, Brooklands; Samuel Wilkinson, farmer.

WOORE

is a chapelry and considerable village, pleasantly situated at the north-east extremity of the county, seven miles N.N.E. from Market Drayton. The village contains many good houses, a neat church, and a respectable hotel, and stands on a salubrious acclivity, which commands extensive views of the surrounding country. The township contains 1,000A. 2R. 26P. of land, and in 1841 there were 98 houses and 372 persons. Gross estimated rental, £1,810. 15s. 2d. Rateable value, £1,632. 17s. 9d. The principal landowner is George Kendrick, Esq. Mr. Smith, Mr. Richard Clough, and the Devisees of the late Mr. Latham, are also proprietors.

THE CHURCH is a neat structure, dedicated to St. Leonard, and has been built about twenty years. The cost of the fabric was £1,300. The living is a perpetual curacy, returned at £100, in the patronage of the Kendrick and Kinnersley families alternately; incumbent, Rev. John Hawksworth, M.A., who resides at the Parsonage, a neat residence a short distance from the church. The old church was taken down on the erection of the present structure, and stood near the site of the parsonage house. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL was built by voluntary subscriptions and a grant from the national society in 1832. At the present time, forty boys and sixty girls and infants attend. The master has £15 per annum paid him, for which fifteen children are educated free; the children of cottagers pay one penny per week, and an additional charge is made for farmers’ children. THE MANOR HOUSE, a handsome residence embosomed in foliage, was unoccupied when our agent visited Woore. THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have a small chapel here. FAIRS are held on the last Thursday in April and November.

POST OFFICE.—_At John Hitchen’s_. Letters arrive from Market Drayton at 9 A.M., and are despatched at 4.30 P.M.

Baddiley Gregory, grocer

Bradbury William P., farmer and victualler, Swan Hotel

Brooke George, farmer

Buckley Thomas, grocer

Burslem Thomas, tailor

Collier George, cabinet and chair maker

Clough Richard, farmer

Clough Wm., schoolmaster

Dunkley Rev. John, curate

Goodall William, farmer, Woore Hall

Hayward Mr. John

Hawksworth, Rev. John, M.A. The Parsonage

Hitchens John, Post Office

Hough David, farmer

Hulse Mr., farmer

Jackson George, blacksmith

Latham Mr. Thomas

Lander George, butcher

Lewis Abraham, tallow chandler

Lewis John, shoemaker

Lindop John, victualler, The Falcon Inn

Minor Henry Robert, farmer

Morrey Richard, cooper and victualler, Coopers’ Arms

Morrey Thomas, shopkeeper

Mullington Mary, school-mistress

Nickson William, saddler

Rowley William, tailor

Salt John, surgeon

Taylor James, farmer

Vickers Richard, farmer

Watmough Charles, surgeon

Wayte Henry, shopkeeper

NORTON IN HALES,

a parish and village situated three and a half miles N.E. by N. from Market Drayton, at the census of 1841 contained 64 houses and 312 inhabitants. In 1801 there was a population of 269 souls, and in 1831, 311. The parish contains 1,845 acres, the gross estimated rental of which is £2,732, 16s. 8d. Rateable value, £2,475 1s. 8d. The tithes are commuted for £305. P. Sillitoe, Esq., is the principal land owner, the other chief owners are William Church Norcop, Esq., Mrs. Heath, and Rev. Hugh Ker Cokburne, the latter of whom is lord of the manor. At the Domesday survey Nortone in Odenet hundred was Held by one Helgot. THE CHURCH is an ancient structure dedicated to St. Chad, consisting of nave and chancel, with a handsome square tower at the west end, embattled and ornamented with pinnacles; the chancel is of much older date than the rest of the church. There is a magnificent monument of Derbyshire alabaster, with full length figures, of Sir Rowland Cotton and his lady, in a recumbent posture; it is dated 1686; the Cottons had a seat at Etwall in Derbyshire, and Bellaport in this county. Over the tomb is an ancient helmet. There is also a neat tablet in memory of the Cotton family in the chancel. The church will accommodate about 100 hearers, and there is a gallery at the west end which holds about fifty children. The old antique font of rude construction is now disused and stands under the tower; a small new font has recently been added and placed in the chancel. The pews belonging to the rector and the lord of the manor are handsomely carved. The curfew bell tolls at eight o’clock from Michaelmas-day to Lady-day, a practice still continued in many of the rural villages of this county. The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £5. 9s. 4d., now returned at £330, in the patronage of W. Silver, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. Frederick Silver, M.A., who resides at the RECTORY, a good stuccoed house pleasantly situated near the north-east side of the churchyard. There are eleven acres of glebe land. THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have a small chapel in the village. BELLAPORT HOUSE, the occasional residence of the lord of the manor, the Rev. Hugh Ker Cokburne, is delightfully situated on high grounds, and commands views of great extent and beauty. BRAND HALL, a good brick mansion, the property of P. Sillitoe, Esq., was unoccupied when our agent visited Norton.

CHARITIES.—The National School is a small structure, where about fifty children are educated. In 1751 Margaret Higginson left £50 towards founding a school at Norton; Sir Rowland Cotton gave a house of two bays and a barn for the use of the schoolmaster, and Ralph Pilsbury left £6 towards teaching one child. It is supposed that the money given by Mrs. Higginson was laid out in the purchase of land, though no deeds can be found relating thereto. The property belonging the school consists of the school, with a yard and garden, containing 1R. 9P., and an allotment of 21P. added at the inclosure. The schoolhouse with a garden containing 19P., and two closes containing 5A. 0R. 20P., producing together a yearly rental of £12. There is also a yearly sum of 4s. 9d. paid by the churchwardens as the interest of £6 left by Ralph Pilsbury, the principal having been applied to the use of the church previously to the year 1746, from which period this payment has been made. In respect of this income the master instructs seven children.

_William Shore_, in 1675, gave a rent charge of 26s. 8d. per annum, issuing out of a meadow in Dorrington, for the use of the poor, and afterwards in consideration of a sum of £40 conveyed the said land in trust, that all the rents and profits should be disposed of for the benefit of the poor. The said £40 having been given by various donors for the good of the poor of this parish.

Several sums of money given by the Cotton family about the year 1694, amounting in the whole to £80, were laid out in the purchase of land and premises at Wem; the property consists of a house and about six acres of land, which are let for about £15. 12s. per annum. The income derived from the above estates forms one fund, which is distributed among poor parishioners on Good Friday and Christmas-day.

_Richard Grosvenor_ left 20s. per annum to the poor. In the churchwarden’s accounts about the year 1756, there is an entry of £30 paid by Robert Davison for the purpose of exonerating the estate which then belonged to him from the rent charge, and the amount is carried to the general account of the church rate. No payment has been made in respect of this charity from the church rate, but we conceive that interest on the purchase money ought to be paid from this account, for the benefit of the poor.

Beech William, tailor, Norton Forge

Benton Thomas, farmer, Norton Wood

Blackhurst James, blacksmith and grocer

Bloore Thomas, wheelwright

Brookshaw George, blacksmith

Butters Snow, tailor

Churton Thomas, shoemaker, Forge

Clorley Thomas, parish clerk

Cokburne Rev. Hugh Ker, Bellaport House

Duckers Thomas, vict., The Crescent and Anchor

Eardly Richard, farmer, Bellaport Lodge

Eley William, butcher

Fox Henry, bailiff to Rev. H. K. Cokburne

Green Thomas, wheelwright, Norton Forge

Jones George, farmer

Jones Richard, farmer

Keay John, farmer and shoemaker

Leighton Daniel, farmer and maltster

Mate William, farmer, Norton Wood

Matthews John, farmer, Brand Common

Minshall William, shoemaker

Morris Richard, wheelwright and beerhouse

Randles William, grocer

Ratcliff Thomas, gardener, The Hall

Rowe Isaac, painter and glazier

Silver Rev. Frederick, M.A., The Rectory

Simcock Joseph, tailor

Snow Sarah, farmer

Spragg Samuel, gamekeeper

Walley Elizabeth, farmer

Wickstead John, master of National School

PREES

is an extensive parish and considerable village, situated on a gentle acclivity, four miles north-east from Wem, and fourteen miles north-east from Shrewsbury. The parish contains the townships of Calverhall or Corra, Darliston, Fauls, Mickley, Millen Heath, Prees, Sandford, Steele, Willaston, and the chapelry of Whixall, which together contain 14,160 acres of land, of which 2,657A. 1R. 10P. are in mosses, woods, covers, and heath land. In 1801 the parish had a population of 2,653 souls; 1831, 3,355; and in 1841 there were 638 inhabited houses 24 uninhabited, and 3,270 inhabitants. Rateable value, £17,466. 2s. 8d. The rectoral tithes are commuted for £1,041. 1s., and the vicarial tithes for £636. Some part of the land is mossy, others of a peaty nature, and in some instances gravelly; there is also a portion of clay soils, of a reddish colour. The township of Prees contains 3,854A. 3R. 11P. of land, and is intersected by the Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Newport, Shrewsbury, and Market Drayton turnpike roads. Rateable value, £5,474, 8s. 8d. In 1841 here were 302 houses and 1,473 inhabitants. The land has a bold undulating surface, and commands interesting views of the surrounding country. Prees is celebrated as the birth place of the Salopian hero General Lord Hill, and has acquired importance from its contiguity to Hawkston, the magnificent seat of Viscount Hill. In the 43rd of Henry III. the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield had a grant of a market here on a Tuesday, and of a fair on the eve, the day, and the morrow of St. Chad the Bishop, with the liberty of free warren. In the 35th of Edward I. the market was changed to Wednesday, but the markets were never of much consideration, and subsequently were discontinued. Two fairs are, however, still held, on the second Monday in April and the second Monday in October, for the sale of sheep and cattle, which are well attended by the farmers and graziers of the surrounding country. Viscount Hill is lord of the manor, and the principal landowner. Sir R. C. Hill, Bart.; George Harper, Esq.; John Dickin, Esq.; and a few others are also proprietors.

GENERAL LORD HILL, whose brilliant military services have acquired such general renown, was born at Prees, August 11, 1772. His lordship entered the army in the sixteenth year of his age, and commenced his military duty at Edinburgh. His friends being anxious for his early promotion, obtained permission for him to raise an independent company, which gave him the rank of captain in the army, in the year 1792. In the interval of his being attached to any particular corps, he accompanied Frances Drake, Esq., on a diplomatic mission to Genoa, from whence Captain Hill proceeded to Toulon, and was employed as aide-de-camp to Lord Mulgrave, General O’Hara, and Sir David Dundas, successive generals there. He was deputed by Sir David Dundas to be the bearer of the despatches to England relating to the evacuation of Toulon by the British. He was shortly after promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 90th regiment, and went through a great deal of arduous duty at Gibraltar, and had his full share in the memorable Egyptian campaign. In the action of the 13th of March Colonel Hill commanded the advanced guard, and received a wound in the right temple from a musket ball, the force of which was providentially averted by a strong brass binding in front of his helmet; the blow, however, was severe, and he was removed from the field of battle in a state of insensibility. After the return of the troops from Egypt, the 90th was ordered to proceed to Ireland, where Lord Hill continued to perform his regimental duty till he was appointed brigadier-general. Early in the summer of 1808 he joined the army in England, destined to act in the Peninsula. In the battles of Roleia and Vimiera he was fully employed, and gained the thanks and approbation of his comrades; and during the whole of Sir John Moore’s advance and retreat Lord Hill continued indefatigible in his exertions. His humanity and attention to the troops on their landing at Plymouth earned him the admiration of the inhabitants, and he was voted the freedom of the borough. About this time he became possessed of the seat and estate of Hardwick Grange, left him by his uncle, Sir Richard Hill, Bart. At the battle of Talavera Lord Hill was slightly wounded on the head, but his firmness and courage in repelling the successive attacks of the French, greatly contributed to the success of the day. The generalship and activity of Lord Hill in surprising and capturing a French corps under General Girard, in Spanish Estremadura, is deserving of commemoration. The force that Girard had with him consisted of 2,500 infantry and 600 cavalry, the whole of which were totally dispersed or captured. Among the latter were General Brune, the Prince d’Aremberg, several colonels, thirty captains and subalterns, and upwards of 1,000 soldiers, with the whole of their baggage, artillery, and commissariat. The enemy’s loss in killed was very severe, whilst from the activity and skilful manœuvres of Lord Hill, it was very trifling on the side of the British. Lieutenant-general Hill, during his detached command in Spain, was principally opposed to Soult, perhaps the most able general whom Napoleon employed in that country; and the acuteness of General Hill in foreseeing the intentions of that officer very materially contributed to the happy results of the action at Buzaco. In the memorable battle of Vittoria the centre of the allied army was commanded by the Duke of Wellington, and the right by Lord Hill. Here the enemy were completely routed, and the booty which was captured was immense. Besides the baggage horses, and other articles taken on the field, the value of the specie, plate, and jewels, was estimated at six millions of dollars. Of this sum only 100,000 dollars came to the military chest; the rest was divided by the troops on the spot. When Lord Hill occupied the valley of Bastan with an army of 3,000 men, he was attacked by a force of 14,000 men; but notwithstanding the superiority of the numbers, the enemy acquired but little advantage over these brave troops, during the seven hours they were engaged. At the conclusion of another brilliant achievement shortly after, the noble Wellington rode up to Lord Hill, and in the spirit of a great and candid mind said, “Hill, this is all your own.” The various other engagements in which Lord Hill took a prominent position, our limits will not allow us to notice. On his return to his native country, every token of honour was manifested by his grateful countrymen, and on his first visit to Shrewsbury thousands went out to meet him, and his lordship was presented with the freedom of the borough in a gold box. But the most splendid and durable token of gratitude and esteem is the column erected in Shrewsbury to his honour, which is the largest Doric column in the world. On the unexpected return of Napoleon from Elba, the allied sovereigns immediately flew to arms, on which occasion Lord Hill again obeyed the voice of his sovereign, and in the memorable battle of Waterloo, on the 18th June, 1815, his lordship gave fresh proofs of his skill, bravery, and intrepidity. In this conflict Lord Hill’s favourite charger was shot under him; and whilst he was on foot, completely exposed to the enemy, he was discovered by an officer of Lord Wellington’s staff, who procured him the horse of a French dragoon. For a full hour the officers of his lordship’s staff were in a state of the greatest consternation, and twice met under the apprehension that their beloved general had fallen. On the Duke of Wellington accepting office as prime minister, in 1828, Lord Hill was appointed commander-in-chief. The following are the titles and dignities which he bore:—Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, Knight of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword, Knight of the Grand Cross of the Guelphic Order, Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa, Knight of the Russian Order of St. George, Knight of the Belgian Order of Wilhelm, Baron Hill of Almarez, Hawkstone, and Hardwick Grange.