Part 57

is a chapelry and small village, four miles N.W. from Wem, which in 1841 contained 16 houses and 79 inhabitants. The township contains 639A. 0R. 26P. of land, of which 12A. 1R. 20P. are in roads and waste. Rateable value, £844. 15s. The Rector of Wem receives the tithes, which are commuted for £87. 14s. 6d. The chief landowners are Mrs. Maddocks, Henry John Barker, Esq., Thomas Dickin, Esq., and Arthur Dickin, Esq.; besides whom are several smaller proprietors. The Duke of Cleveland claims the manorial rights. The roads to Whixall, Northwood, Edstaston, and Wem, intersect the township. About two centuries ago, the inhabitants of Newtown, Wolverley, and Northwood, being at a great distance from the parish church, agreed to have a CHAPEL OF EASE, and for this purpose purchased a private house, which was fitted up for divine worship, and procured a minister, to whom the Rector of Wem gave a liberal stipend. The register of Wem mentions the baptism of a child in Newtown chapel, April 17th, 1659. In 1665 the owners of land consented to settle £10 per annum on a minister, and charged that sum on their lands for ever. The Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, in 1754, made a grant of £200 to this chapel, which was subsequently laid out in the purchase of freehold lands. It is remarkable, that Andrew Barton, who was the last person born here when it was a private house, was the first person that was buried here when it became a consecrated chapel. He died, November 10th, 1666. In the year 1836, the ancient structure was taken down, and a neat edifice of brick erected on the site, at a cost of £417. 12s. raised by subscriptions, which sum includes the expense of fittings. It consists of nave, transepts, and square tower, in which is one bell. The patronage is vested in the inhabitants of the above townships which form the chapelry. The living is returned at £50 per annum, and is enjoyed by the Rev. William Dixon, of Wem.

CHARITIES.—There is an estate at Newtown, charged with the payment of £2. 10s. yearly, to be given in bread to the poor attending divine service at the chapel there. The donor of this gift is unknown. _Arthur Harper_, in 1787, bequeathed £90, upon trust, to place the same out at interest, and apply the produce of £50 thereof in the relief of industrious housekeepers of the townships of Newtown, Wolverley, and Northwood; and the produce of £40, the residue thereof to be distributed by the churchwardens and overseers of the parish of Prees, in the township of Darliston, on St. Thomas’s day. This legacy had never been invested as directed by the testator, but was in the hands of William Matthews, the surviving executor, when the charity commissioners published their report. Mr. Matthews pays interest for it at the rate of 4½ per cent.

DIRECTORY.—Francis Burd, gentleman; _Farmers_: John Hales; Mrs. Matthews, The Hall; John Matthews; Thomas Parks; John Tagg; and Samuel Wollan.

NORTHWOOD

is a small rural village, on the borders of Flintshire, four miles N.W. from Wem, which takes its name from the large wood that was formerly here and its situation in respect of Lineal Wood, which was south of it. The township contains 1,409A. 1R. 16P. of land, and in 1841 had 47 houses and 233 inhabitants. There are 21A. 1R. 14P. of land in roads and waste. Rateable value, £1,824. The tithes are commuted for £181. 15s. The soil in some places is sandy, with a mixture of gravel; in other places a clay soil prevails, and there is a small portion of moss. In 1561 the township contained six small tenements and four cottages. The great wood was cut down during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, so that nothing remains of it now but the name. The principal landowners are Lord Kenyon, George Bowen, Esq., Mr. James Rodenhurst, Mrs. Wilkinson, Mr. Bickerton, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Groome, John Barker, Esq., the Devisees of the late Mr. Watson, the Trustees of Wem School, Mrs. Maddocks, Mrs. Hassel, Mr. Edward Dickin, Mr. Edward Phillips, Mr. Thomas Windsor, and Mr. Walter Hales; others are also proprietors. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor. This township lies contiguous to the Betchfield and Whixall mosses, where many of the labouring population are employed in cutting the moss and raising the submerged timber, which they carry to the surrounding towns for fuel; immense quantities of oak and fir trees are constantly got up. This and the neighbouring townships are noted for producing fine dairies of cheese, and the farms are occupied by practical and intelligent agriculturists. Considerable flocks of sheep are kept on the borders of Flintshire. The Redfellis brook has its rise on the fens of Whixall moss, passes through Northwood, and enters Newtown with a considerable stream, which, after heavy rains, overflows its banks, and covers the adjacent meadows. The Blackford brook divides Northwood from Flintshire. NORTHWOOD LAWNS, the residence of Mrs. Wilkinson, is a pleasantly situated house, surrounded with tasteful pleasure grounds. THE HALL is occupied as a farm residence.

POST OFFICE—_At Mr. Joseph Davies’s_. Letters arrive from Ellesmere by gig mail at 7.30 A.M., and are despatched at 6.45 P.M.

Bowen George, farmer, The Pinfold

Brown Mr. John

Clay George, farmer

Darlington Thomas, farmer

Davies Elizabeth, grocer and shopkeeper

Davies John, farmer

Davies Joseph, victualler, Horse and Jockey Inn, and postmaster

Davies J. and Son, boot and shoemakers

Davies Thomas, blacksmith

Dobel John, cheesefactor and farmer

Dobel Thomas, cheesefactor

Ebrey John, farmer

Groom Edward, shopkeeper

Haycocks Richard, gamekeeper

Heighway John, farmer

Kynaston Arthur, butcher

Law Robert, The Border Farm

Madeley Wm., butcher and farmer

Madeley Wm., sen., farmer

Phillips Edward, Esq., agent to Lord Kenyon

Stocks James, farmer

Stocks John, wheelwright

Windsor Edwd., shopkeeper

Wilkinson Mrs., Northwood lawn

Wilkinson Mr. John

Wilkinson Rchd., gentleman

Williams John, Pinfold house

SLEAP,

a small township, two miles and a half S.W. from Wem, contains 407A. 3R. 32P. of land, of which 6A. 1R. are in roads. In 1841 there were seven houses and 57 inhabitants. Rateable value, £580. 10s. Of the above, one house and eleven persons were returned at the census of 1841 as in the parish of Middle and in the Pimhill hundred. The tithes have been commuted for £72. 4s. 10d., and apportioned to the rector of Wem. The trustees of the late Duke of Bridgewater are lords of the manor. The principal landowners are William Groom, Esq., Henry John Barker, Esq., Mrs. Thomas Betton, and the representatives of Miss Lloyd. The soil is for the most part sandy or peaty earth on a gravelly sub-soil. In the reign of Henry II. Richard de Sleap had a grant of all the village at a fee-farm rent of 16s. per annum. The vassals of the said Richard de Sleap and his heirs were obliged to grind their corn at the lord of the manor’s mill at Wem, to assist at drawing the mill stones, and cleansing the pond, and to help Hugo Pantulph, then the lord, to make his castle. The reserved rent of 16s. is still paid; but homage ceased with the forest, the repair of the castle at its demolition, working at the mill upon its alienation, and the serving the king in his wars, upon the change of all tenures by knights’ service into common socage. In 1738, Sleap was laid in ashes by a sudden fire, which spread with such rapidity, that three houses and all the outbuildings were consumed. A brief was obtained for the unfortunate sufferers.

The resident farmers are Benjamin Adams, John Chidlow, Thomas Kent, John Phillips, and Robert Whall.

SOULTON,

a small township two miles north-east from Wem, contains 672A. 0R. 15P. of land, and at the census of 1841 had 3 houses and 34 inhabitants. Rateable value, £796. The soil in some parts is of a sandy nature; in other places a clayey soil prevails. There are five and a half acres in roads and waste. The tithes have been commuted for £96. 9s. 5d., and apportioned to the rector of Wem. Viscount Hill is lord of the manor, and sole proprietor. There are several thriving plantations here, covering upwards of thirty acres of land. The Wem and Market Drayton turnpike road intersects the township. SOULTON HALL is a brick structure of considerable extent, exhibiting a fine specimen of antique architecture; the exterior has an imposing aspect, and the summit is surrounded by a parapet. It was formerly a seat of the Corbets, whose arms are carved over the entrance: it is now occupied as a farm residence, and near it are extensive farm premises, chiefly of modern erection, and on the granary is the date 1783.

The residents are George Bell, farmer, the Brook; Henry Dakin, farmer, the Hall; and Thomas Williams, farmer, Dairy House.

TILLEY AND TRENCH

is a considerable village and township, situated one mile south-west from Wem, which contains 1,636A. 3R. 36P. of land; and in 1841 had 80 houses and 352 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,418. 5s. The rent charge payable to the rector of Wem amounts to £263. 15s. 1d. The roads and waste in this township occupy 25A. 2R. The soil is various: the Trench farms are generally of a cold, reddish clay; in other parts a loam and gravelly soil predominates. Marl of a superior quality is found here in great abundance. This place no doubt took its name from Sire Tillie, who is mentioned in the list of great men who came into this country with William the Conqueror. In the Trench farm there is a close called the Castle Stead, that is, the place of the castle, whence it appears a castle had been built there, which must have been in Saxon times, for Pantulph the Norman fixed on Wem for the site of his castle, and no other was built in this parish by his ancestors. On an eminence a little above Tilley Green are the remains of a Roman camp: it is an oblong square, and contains about two acres of ground; the rampart and trench on every side may still be traced. This was probably the site of the manor house, for the Saxon lords frequently built their castles on Roman camps, on account of the strength of such places and the fortifications already raised. No doubt the Roman vallum occasioned this to be called the Trench farm. The river Roden bounds the township, and is crossed by a substantial bridge at Wem Mills. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are William E. Jeffreys, Esq.; Sir Andrew Corbet, Bart.; C. Howard, Esq.; Mr. John Boughey; Colonel Wynn; A. D. Watkiss, Esq.; William Groom, Esq.; Mr. George Kynaston; Charles Oldham, Esq.; Mr. Samuel Heatley; Mr. William Kilvert; Mr. Bowers; Mr. Thomas Davies; Mr. Thomas Wood; Mr. William Evans; Mrs. Richards; the executors of S. Wycherley; and William Brooks, Esq. There is a noted mineral spring in this township, which is reckoned good for sore eyes and all cutaneous eruptions. William Price, a mason, is said to have flagged the well in consideration of having been cured of rheumatism by bathing in it. The old park, Roowood, the property of Lord Hill, and Palm’s Hill, are in this township. The poor of this township have 28s. yearly, from the bequest of _Sarah Higginson_, in 1727, who left £28, which was laid out in the purchase of a rent charge of 28s. per annum: the amount is now paid from land the property of Major Dickin.

Abbot Alfred, farmer

Barnet Thomas, farmer

Burgess Ed., farmer, Trench

Davies William, farmer, Park

Dowler Richard, farmer

Ebrey Thos., farmer, Trench

Evans William, farmer, Palm’s hill

Heatley Samuel, farmer

Jones Thomas, farmer

Kilvert Richard, farmer, Palm’s hill house

Kynaston William, farmer, Woodhouse

Leeke Wm., farmer, Roowood

Lewis Robert, farmer

Lloyd Miss Ann, Trench

Lloyd Wm., farmer, Trench

Menlove Mrs. Mary

Morris Rd., vict., New Inn

Oldham Charles, Esq., Tilley house

Owen James, farmer

Simons Stephen, Wain house farm

Wood Charles, gentleman

WOLVERLEY,

anciently written WOLFORDELEY, took its name from the proprietor of it in Saxon times. It is a pleasantly situated village and township on the road from Wem to Ellesmere, three miles north-east from the former place. The township contains 716A. 0R. 20P. of land, of which 8A. 1R. 9P. are in roads and waste. Rateable value, £1,050. 5s. The tithes are commuted for £104. 10s. 2d. The river Roden intersects the township, on the banks of which is some fine meadow land, enriched by that river occasionally overflowing its banks. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are Thomas Dickin, Esq.; Mrs. Maddocks; Mr. Edward Windsor; and Edward Dickin, Esq. WOLVERLEY HALL, in the year 1404, was the residence of William de Wolferdeley. In 1561 it was the seat of Thomas Sturry, Esq., and it subsequently came into the possession of the Corbets and Menloves. There was anciently a small domestic chapel attached to the hall. WOODLANDS HOUSE, the residence of Mrs. Maddocks, is a square brick structure, pleasantly situated, and beautified with pleasure grounds and shrubberies, tastefully laid out, and ornamented with choice flowers.

DIRECTORY.—Joseph Cooke, farmer, Wolverley Hall; Lewis Cook, farmer, the Leys; Joseph Harper, farmer; Mrs. Mary Maddocks, Woodlands House; John Pitchford, farmer; William Williams, farmer.

WHITCHURCH

is a parish and respectable market town salubriously situated in a picturesque country, twenty miles N.N. by E. from Shrewsbury, and 161 miles N.W. from London. The town is well built, and stands on a gentle eminence, embracing many fine points of view in the vicinity; there are many good inns and shops and respectable private residences, but some of the cottages have a mean appearance. The principal traffic is in grain and malt, and commercial intercourse is facilitated by the Ellesmere and Chester canal, and its contiguity to the Chester and Crewe railway. The fairs and markets are well attended by the agriculturists of the surrounding neighbourhood, both of Shropshire and Cheshire. The populous township of Dodington, of which a separate directory is given, may be considered a suburb to Whitchurch. From the ancient name of this place, which was _Album Monasterium_, or _Blancminster_, it is supposed that a monastery formerly existed here. Of this no account has been handed down, and no traces of the building have ever been discovered. Bishop Tanner says, “Here was an hospital of several poor brethren, to which John le Strange in the reign of Henry III., gave the town of Winelecote, which, together with the hospital, was afterwards annexed to the abbey of Haughmon.” Whether this refers to a hospital at this place or at Oswestry (since the Fitzallans, lords of Oswestry, were founders of the abbey of Haughmon) is submitted to the reader’s determination. In the 7th of Edward III., John le Strange had the liberty of free warren here, and in the 36th of the same reign a fair was granted to John, son of John le Strange de Whitchurch, on the vigil, the feast, and the morrow of the apostles St. Simon and St. Jude.

The parish of Whitchurch comprehends the townships of Alkington, Ash Magna, Ash Parva, Black Park, Brougnall, Chinnel, Dodington, Edgeley, Hinton, Hollyhurst, Tilstock, Whitchurch, Woodhouses New, and Woodhouses Old, which together in 1801 contained a population of 4,618 souls; 1831, 5,902, and in 1841 there were 1,243 houses and 6,373 inhabitants. Acres, 14,237. The parish is divided into four quarters or divisions, viz., Whitchurch quarter, which contains 2,033 acres; rateable value, £6,196. Dodington quarter, 3,186 acres; rateable value, £5,281. Tilstock quarter, 5,558 acres; rateable value, £5,809, Broughall quarter, 3,497 acres; rateable value, £3,089. The tithes of Whitchurch are commuted for £1,351, and of Marbury, Norbury, and Wirswell an appendage to the rectory of Whitchurch for £398, making a total of £1,749. The township of Wirswell, although in the county of Cheshire, is in the parish of Whitchurch. The town has a high steward, and inferior officers; the former is appointed by the lord of the manor, and holds a court leet and court baron. The land in general has a gentle undulating surface, and there is a considerable extent of pasture land in this locality of a superior quality, which produces fine dairies of cheese, and is generally considered as good as the celebrated Cheshire cheese of the neighbouring county. The soil is various, on the low grounds it is of a peaty nature, in some places a sand and gravelly soil prevails, and in other parts a strong clay predominates; marl is found in some places, which is used for improving the surface soil. The township of Whitchurch contains 2,867 acres of land, and in 1841 had 668 houses and 3,403 inhabitants. Rateable value, £5,698. 10s. The tithes of this township are commuted for £247. 16s. The principal landowners are the trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater; Thomas Boycott, Esq.; George Harper, Esq.; R. Parry Jones, Esq.; Thomas Jebb, Esq.; William Halstead Poole, Esq.; Archibald Worthington, Esq., besides whom there are upwards of two hundred small freeholders. The trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater are lords of the manor. The market is held on Friday, when the town is well supplied with butchers’ meat, butter, poultry, and other provisions, of excellent quality and abundant in quantity. The corn market is very numerously and respectably attended by the farmers of North Shropshire, Cheshire, and the county of Flint, the town lying on the verge of Shropshire is central for an extensive and fine agricultural district in the three counties. Fairs are held the second Friday in April, Whit-Monday, Friday after the 2nd of August, February 23rd, and December 1st.

THE CHURCH is a noble structure of the Tuscan order, built in the reign of Queen Anne, at an expense of about £4,000, and will accommodate about 2,000 hearers. It is dedicated to St. Alkmund, and considered by the best judges to be almost a perfect model of what a church ought to be; it consists of nave, chancel, side aisles, and lofty square tower adorned with pinnacles, and is built of red free stone; the tower contains a peal of eight musical bells, and is ornamented with a clock and sun dial,—the whole has an imposing appearance, and for elaborate workmanship and chasteness of design, is seldom equalled. The side aisles are separated from the nave by arches rising from circular pillars. The chancel is lofty and supported by fluted columns, and paved with black and white marble. The communion table is of mottled alabaster, with an oak frame beautifully carved. The organ is a fine toned instrument, which was renovated and greatly improved in the year 1849 by public subscription. The sittings are neat and appropriate, and admirably arranged, so that almost every member of the congregation has a view of the officiating minister. The church stands on the site of a former edifice, which was in the gothic style of architecture, and which fell down from age and decay, on July 31st, 1711. The monuments of the Talbots were removed from the ruins of the old structure into the present edifice, which was completed in the year 1713. Among the most remarkable of these monuments is that to our _English Achilles_, _Sir John Talbot_, the first Earl of Shrewsbury of this family, who was so renowned in France that no man in that kingdom dared to encounter him single handed. The venerable old warrior is represented in a recumbent posture, clad in armour, partly covered by his mantle of the garter; his hands are closed and uplifted, as if in prayer; his feet rest on a tablet, while his head, encircled by a coronet, reposes on his brassart. Around the tomb is the following inscription in black letter:—

“Orate pro anima prænobilis viri, Domini Joanis Talbot quandam Comitis Salopæ; Domini Furnival, Domini Verdun, Domini Strange de Blackmere et Marechalli Franciæ; qui obiit in bello apud Berdews. 7 Julii, MCCCCLIII.”

The earl was buried on this spot by his own express desire, and tradition gives the following interesting story for the circumstance:—In one of his battles in France, he was struck by an arrow from one of the cross-bows, and fell severely wounded from his horse. As he was some distance from any considerable body of his troops, the French soldiers rushed furiously to seize as a prisoner their most formidable and most dreaded enemy; him alone whose name carried terror into every castle and cottage through the broad realm of France;—or, if foiled in that, to finish if possible the campaign and his career at one blow. His faithful body guard, however, which was composed of his own immediate followers, those who held lands of him in Shropshire by feudal service, seeing the danger of their beloved chief, flew like roused lions to the rescue. A terrific conflict ensued around, and even over the old warrior who was still lying on the field. The struggle was maintained with undiminished fury for a considerable period. The shout of “St. George for Merry Englande,” was fiercely answered back by the cry of “St. Denis for France.” Each party fought hand to hand; the casques of the combatants rang with the heavy blows of the battle-axe. Not only the fate of the present battle, but of the whole campaign, the war itself depended on the result of the isolated combat. Many a stalwart Shropshire yeoman shouted from his hoarse throat his leader’s war cry, “A Talbot, to the rescue!” threw aside his weapon, which in the thronged _melee_ he had not space to use, and springing furiously at his adversary, seized him with an iron grip, from which death alone could liberate him. The conflict ended at last in the entire defeat of the French; and the earl, to show his gratitude to his brave followers, many of whom had lost their lives in defending his, told the survivors that in memory of their courage and devotedness that day, his body should be buried in the porch of their church; that, as they had fought and strode over it while living, so should they and their children for ever pass over and guard it when dead. Sir John Talbot was created Earl of Shrewsbury by King Henry VI. He was twenty years in the king’s service abroad, and for his valour had many signal honours bestowed on him. At the siege of Chastillion his horse was shot under him, and he being dangerously wounded, died July 20th, 1453, and was buried at Roan in Normandy, but afterwards removed to Whitchurch.