Part 64

a populous parish busily engaged in the extensive iron works and collieries with which the vicinity abounds, is situated four miles S.E. from Wellington. The parish comprises the townships of Dawley Magna, Dawley Parva, and Malinslee. In 1801 there was a population of 3,869 souls; 1831, 6,877, and in 1841 there were 1,716 houses and 8,641 inhabitants, of whom 4,490 were males, and 4,151 females. The township of Dawley Magna contains 997A. 1R. 21P. of land, and in 1841 had 904 houses and 4,485 inhabitants. R. A. Slaney, Esq., is lord of the manor and a considerable landowner; Beriah Botfield, Esq., the Coalbrook Dale Company, Robert Burton, Esq., and the Langley Field Company, are also proprietors. The collieries vary from 150 yards to 200 yards in depth, and the seams of coal from two feet to four feet in thickness; the coal is of a very superior quality, and got in immense quantities. The Coalbrook Dale Company give employment to upwards of 3,500 hands, and the quantity of coal raised by this firm in the parish of Dawley alone amounts to 8,500 tons per month, or 102,000 tons per annum, of ironstone 42,000 tons a year. The same company also make 17,880 tons of pig iron, at the Horse Hay Works in this parish, besides 14,200 tons of finished merchant iron yearly. A very ingenious contrivance is adopted at the Horse Hay Works, by means of which 100 tons of coal per month are saved. Attached to the furnace chimnies where the iron is made are pipes by which the gas is brought down under the immense steam engines which are necessary for raising the coal and ironstone from the mines contiguous to the works. On the gas uniting with the atmospheric air under the engines it immediately ignites, and thus an immense saving and power is acquired which is generally neglected in other establishments. At the time we saw the works there was a surplus supply of gas thrown off, which would have put in motion an engine of 100 horse power. The Horse Hay Works took their name from the circumstance of this place, in former days being the depository for hay, when the minerals were carried on pack horses from Ketley-bank to Coalbrook dale—this was a half-way house where the horses were fed, and hence the name Horse Hay Works. Each of the adult workmen employed at this extensive establishment pays 1s. per month, which forms a fund for educational purposes and funeral expenses.

THE CHURCH, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a handsome structure of free stone, erected in 1845, at a cost of about £3,000, raised by subscriptions and grants from the church building societies. The stone was got from a neighbouring quarry. It consists of nave, chancel and side aisles, with a tower at the west end, in which are six bells. The interior has a chaste appearance: the nave is separated from the side aisles by four lofty arches; on the north side of the chancel is a neat stone pulpit, and there is a gallery at the west end, upon which there is a superior organ erected in 1851 at a cost of £200. The pews are uniform in character, and there are 831 sittings, of which 664 are free and unappropriated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the Messrs. Phillips. Incumbent, Rev. William Richards, M.A. The parsonage is about half a mile N.W. from the church. The rectoral tithes are commuted for £82. 10s. Messrs. Phillips are the impropriators. The incumbent receives £1. The parish register dates from the year 1666. The old church stood a little S.E. of the present edifice; it was a small structure of primitive simplicity, and had a short tower at the west end. On the east side of the church yard stands the old parsonage, an antique fabric of wood and plaster with a thatched roof; it is much dilapidated by time, and is expected shortly to be taken down. The WESLEYAN CHAPEL, Dawley Green, is a plain octagonal structure, which will hold about 400 hearers. The Wesleyans have also a spacious chapel at Dawley Bank, built in 1846. The WESLEYAN NEW CONNECTION CHAPEL is a spacious structure at Dawley Green, which will hold about 1,000 persons. The PARTICULAR BAPTIST CHAPEL is a small structure situated at Dawley Bank. The PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL is a spacious structure capable of holding about 1,000 persons, situated in Dawley Green-lane. DAWLEY GREEN is a most densely populated part of the parish, and is about half a mile from the church; in High street are many good houses and shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. POOL HILL SCHOOL is a noble pile of buildings, erected at a cost of upwards of £3,500, defrayed by the munificence of different members of the Darby family. The interior is spacious and lofty, and the roof is of groined timber stained in imitation of oak. There is a good library containing upwards of 400 volumes. The school has been built for the education of the children of workmen belonging to the Coalbrook Dale Company, and is partly supported from a fund into which each workman pays 1s. per month for educational purposes and funeral expenses of deceased members; the residue necessary for the support of the school is paid by the Coalbrook Dale Company. The NATIONAL SCHOOL is a plain structure, erected in 1841, and situated near the parsonage house. About 100 children attend. It is supported by subscriptions and the pence of the children. FINGER LANE is a scattered district to the east of the church.

DAWLEY PARVA,

a township situated near a mile W. of Dawley Magna, comprises 900A. 1R. 38P. of land, and in 1841 had 270 houses and 1,435 inhabitants. The canal and roads occupy 30A. 1R. 8P. The tithes of Dawley Parva have been commuted, and £146 apportioned to Messrs. Phillips, the impropriators, and £6 to the incumbent. THE CHURCH is a neat structure, dedicated to St. Luke, and consists of nave and bay, with a belfry at the west end, built of hewn stone of very beautiful workmanship. The roof is of groined timber, and there is a gallery at the west end. The cost of the fabric was about £1,300, which was raised partly by grants from the church building societies and partly by subscriptions. There are 507 sittings, which are all free and unappropriated. The church was built under Sir Robert Peel’s act, and is endowed with £150 per annum. The patronage is vested in the crown and the bishop of Lichfield alternately. The Rev. James Morris is the incumbent. The vestry is used as a Sunday school for girls, and the boys are taught in the church. The parsonage is a neat residence situated near the church. THE WESLEYAN METHODISTS have a spacious chapel, built in 1837. HOLYWELL LANE is a populous district, chiefly of cottage residences, which take their name from a well here called Holy Well. At HINKHAY are a number of scattered cottages.

MALINSLEE

is a township in the parish of Dawley, situated about a mile N. from the parish church, which comprises 736A. 1R. 9P. of land, and in 1841 there were 510 houses and 2,721 inhabitants, Robert H. Cheney, Esq., is the principal landowner; Beriah Botfield, Esq., is also a proprietor. The Shropshire union canal occupies 34A. 1R. 31P., and there is 1A. 2R. 20P. of glebe in the township. Malinslee forms a part of the great Shropshire coal field; ironstone is found in large quantities, and the iron and coal works of Beriah Botfield, Esq., are of considerable extent. The Old Park coal works are celebrated for superior coal. THE CHURCH is an octagonal structure, erected in the early part of the present century; it is built of free stone, and will accommodate about 800 persons. The expenses of the erection were defrayed with money left by J. H. Browne, Esq., of Burton-upon-Trent. The patronage is vested in the incumbent of Dawley Magna; the living is a perpetual curacy enjoyed by the Rev. William Harris. MALINSLEE HOUSE is a good brick residence, built about sixty years ago by the late William Botfield, Esq. It is now occupied as offices by the clerks of B. Botfield, Esq. About 150 yards from the house are the ruins of a small religious house called Malinslee Abbey. This may have been subordinate to some of the larger abbeys in the vicinity, but of which we find no record. The ruins consist of a small oblong square with walls at each end about twenty feet high, and on each side from six to nine feet in height, having traces of the Saxon style of architecture.

CHARITIES.—_Richard Hodden_, by will, dated 19th June, 1684, devised his land of inheritance, situated in Dogpole-street, Shrewsbury, and also his lands lying in Middleton-on-the-Hill, in the county of Hereford, to Richard Hodden and his heirs, on condition that he should (among other things) pay an annuity of £7 to the poor of Dawley Magna. The premises in Dogpole-street, Shrewsbury, mentioned in Hodden’s will, cannot now be identified, but the annuity is paid by Mr. Bird, the occupier, and part owner of the premises of Middleton, which consists of a farm and buildings, and about seventy acres of land. The amount is divided among poor widows, who are relieved according to their necessities.

_Rebecca Walthall_, who died in 1756, bequeathed to the churchwardens of Dawley £40, and directed the interest to be distributed yearly to the poor of Malinslee. This money was in the hands of the late William Botfield, Esq., who distributed 40s. as the interest thereof among poor widows. When the charity commissioners published their report Mr. Botfield had also a further sum of £50 in his hands, left as he believed by Rebecca Walthall, for which he paid interest to the incumbent of Dawley.

In the year 1738, by deed, dated 14th of April, Richard Styche, in consideration of £20 paid to him by Edward Forsbrook, with the consent of the parishioners, for placing the said money at interest for the benefit of the poor of the parish, assigned a cottage at Madeley Wood, which had been granted to him in 1732, by George Yorke, for securing the repayment of £30 advanced by him to Yorke, and of which £10 had been since paid off. And by a memorandum at the back of the deed the parties agreed that interest at four per cent. should be paid for the £20. On the 7th March, 1857, the said George Yorke, by endorsement on this deed, acknowledged to have borrowed of the parish officers of Dawley the sum of £13, which sum, with interest at the rate of 10s. a year, he agreed should be payable from the said premises, making the whole principal sum £33. We could not ascertain with certainty the origin of this poor’s money, but find that Enoch Cooper, in 1721, left a sum of £20 to the use of the poor of Great Dawley, and this sum probably formed the first amount advanced on this mortgage. In the returns of the commissioners under the act of the 26th of George III., there is mention of a benefaction by another person of the name of Cooper of £13, which agrees with the further sum advanced on the mortgage in 1757, but we have not found any other trace of this donation.

POST OFFICE.—_At Mr. Samuel Deakin’s_, _High street_. Letters arrive at 8 A.M., and are despatched at 5 30 P.M. Money orders are granted at this office.

_Those names with_ 1 _affixed are in High street_; 2 _Chapel lane_; 3 _Dawley Green lane_; 4 _Dawley Bank_, 5 _Horse Hay_; 6 _Finger lane_; 7 _The Wickets_. _Those marked * are Dawley Magna_; _and_ † _in Malinslee_.

4 Bailey Edward, farmer

1 Bailey George, grocer, seedsman, and ironmonger

1 Bailey Henry, butcher

2 Bailey John, relieving officer

1 Bailey Michael, shopkeeper

5 Bailey Robert, cashier

2 Bailey William Henry, surveyor of highways, accountant, assistant overseer, and agent to Birmingham District Fire Office

1 Barclay John Brown, shopkeeper

* Barker John, cabinet-maker, registrar of births, deaths, and marriages, and vict., Crown Inn

3 Barnes Richard, inland revenue officer

1 Bason Edward, grocer and tea dealer

1 Baugh John, saddler

1 Belshaw Robert, draper and hatter

† Blakemore Thomas, victualler, Stag Inn

† Bishton William, victualler, Plough Inn

† Bishton Geo., accountant, Malinslee House

† Botfield Beriah, Esq., ironmaster

1 Bradbury Thomas, chemist and druggist, & agent to the Royal Farmers & Medical, Legal, and General Insurance Office

5 Bratton John, accountant

6 Bray and Garbett, timber dealers

6 Bray Moses, shoemaker

6 Bray Thomas, victualler, Queen’s Arms

4 Brown Richard, butcher

4 Broom William, shoemaker

1 Brown William, butcher

1 Burroughs James, watch and clockmaker

1 Carver James, joiner and builder

1 Chilton Joseph, beerhouse

1 Chirm Jane, shopkeeper

3 Clarke John, tailor

4 Clarke William, wheelwright

3 Clemson William, maltster and victualler, King’s Arms

1 Cooke Henry, grocer, maltster, corn-miller, and seedsman

4 Cox Rev. Alfred (Baptist)

5 Dobbs James, boot and shoemaker

1 Davies George, surgeon

Darby and Co. (Colebrook Dale Company), ironmasters, Horse Hay

3 Deakin Catherine, beerhouse

1 Deakin Samuel, plumber, glazier, painter, and postmaster

* Deakin Thomas, grocer and draper

1 Deakin Wm., painter, glazier, & beerhouse

* Dixon Thomas, farmer

4 Done James, grocer and draper

1 Egerton Joseph, butcher, and beerhouse

1 Egerton Samuel, victualler, Angel Inn

1 Evans Thomas, victualler, Crown Inn

2 Faulkner Richard, beerhouse

Finley Jane, schoolmistress, Pool-hill school

* Fletcher George, farmer

3 Franklin Francis, shoemaker

3 Garbett and Bray, timber dealers

1 Garbett John, draper

2 Garbett Matthew and Benjamin, charter masters

* Garbett Michael, clerk of St. Luke’s

5 Garbett William, victualler, Peacock

1 Gill Robert, brazier

3 Green Charles H., surgeon, The Terrace

* Greenhalgh Robert, grocer

1 Greenhalgh William, grocer, draper, and hop and corn dealer

3 Gregory Mary, bonnet maker

1 Gun Robert, shoemaker

4 Guy Mary, grocer and victualler, Queen’s Head

1 Guy Thomas, pork butcher

6 Harris James, blacksmith and chainmaker

† Harris Rev. William, curate, Parsonage

3 Hayward George, shoemaker & beerhouse

1 Heaford Jonathan, tailor and draper

3 Hewlett Jane, shopkeeper and beerhouse

† Hudson William, accountant, Dark-lane House

1 Hudson William, timber dealer & builder

Hughes Andrew, butcher, and victualler, Red Lion

James Joseph, police constable

1 Jones Benjamin, ironmonger

4 Jones George, blacksmith

3 Jones John, charter master

3 Jones Phillip, beerhouse

1 Jones Thomas, confectioner

2 Jones William, charter master

1 Kirby Samuel, tailor

Langley Field Coal Company

1 Lane Rosannah, beerhouse

* Leigh Randle, beerhouse

1 Lewis George, butcher

3 Lewis James, butcher and grocer

2 Lord Mrs. Mary Ann

1 Lloyd Robert, shoemaker

* Mancell Thomas, shoemaker

3 Mason Thomas, shoemaker

† Mason William, tailor, Church lane

5 Maun James, victualler, Labour in Vain

6 Merrington Charles, blacksmith, iron-fence and chain maker

1 Millington John, beerhouse

1 Millman Richard, wheelwright

1 Mogg William, earthenware dealer

7 Morgan Thomas, blacksmith

3 Morgan Jeremiah, grocer and victualler, The Lamb

* Morris Rev. James, The Parsonage

3 Onions Enoch, shopkeeper and beerhouse

5 Owen Mary, victualler, Craven Arms

* Nightingale Saml., farmer & vic., Unicorn Inn

3 Parish Joseph, spade maker

7 Parsons John, vict., Wickets Inn

1 Pearce Richard Reynolds, leather dealer

3 Pickin James, hair dresser

4 Pierson John, hair dresser

† Poole James, boiler, chain, and nail maker, and vict., New Wickets Inn

1 Poole and Son, hair dressers

† Poole Robert, ground bailiff

1 Poole Sarah, dress maker

3 Poole William, tailor

4 Poole William, charter master

* Powell Matthew, farmer

4 Powis George, shoemaker

3 Pritchard Charles, shoemaker

6 Pritchard George, vict., Peter’s Finger

4 Pursell Lancelot, butcher

Richards Rev. William, M.A., Parsonage

5 Roden Benjamin, rolling mill manager

1 Roum Alice, beerhouse

1 Roum Maria Louisa, bonnet maker

1 Russell Joseph, draper and hatter

6 Sandlands John, saddler

Sides John James, schoolmaster (National)

1 Simms John, tailor

6 Smallman William, beerhouse and grocer

1 Slater Joseph, stationer, and at Ironbridge

5 Stanley William, grocer and draper

Stewart Elizabeth, beerhouse

Smart Rev. John, Wesleyan

Summers Thomas, maltster, farmer, and vict., Hinkshey

Taylor John Joseph, maltster and vict., Dun Cow

1 Taylor Richard, grocer, maltster, and draper

* Taylor William, farmer

4 Teece James, tailor and draper

4 Tipton Henry, charter master and vict., Red Lion

† Tipton Mark, manager to B. Botfield, Esq.; residence, Mossy Green

1 Tranter Sarah, maltster & vict., Elephant and Castle

1 Tranter William, vict., Lord Hill

* Trigger Elizabeth, farmer

3 Vaughan Thomas, charter master

3 Walford John, tailor

3 Walford Mary, dressmaker

3 Walkis Miles, joiner

1 Webb Mathew, surgeon

5 Wilkes Thomas, mine agent

5 Wilkes Mark, furnace and forge manager

5 William Edward, vict., Pudlers’ Arms

* Wright Peter, farmer

EATON CONSTANTINE,

is a parish and delightfully situated village, near the Wrekin Hill, seven miles S.E. from Shrewsbury, and five miles S.W. from Wellington. The parish comprises 874A. 0R. 10P. of land, the principal owners of which are the Duke of Cleveland and Mrs. Maun, besides whom Mrs. Langley, Mr. Samuel Dalloe, Mr. George Davies, and Mr. William Langley, are also proprietors. The Duke of Cleveland is lord of the manor. In 1801 Eaton parish contained 204 inhabitants; 1831, 244, and in 1841 59 houses and 294 souls. THE CHURCH, a neat stone edifice dedicated to St. Mary, exhibits the gothic style of architecture, and was almost wholly rebuilt during the years 1847–8, at a cost of £775. Of this sum £490 was raised by subscriptions, £125 was granted by the Diocesan Society, £60 by the Incorporated Society for Enlarging and Building Churches, and £100 was raised by a parish rate on the parishioners. It is considered a free chapel or rectory, in the patronage of the Duke of Cleveland; incumbent, Rev. Henry Beckwith. The tithes are commuted for £176, of which £46 is paid to the vicar of Leighton, and the residue is paid to the incumbent of Eaton Constantine. There are 25 acres of glebe land. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL is a modern structure erected at the cost of £190, and situated near the church. The Privy Council on Education granted £40 towards the erection, the Diocesan Society £20, the National Society £15, and the residue was raised by public subscriptions. The average attendance of children is about sixty.

There is belonging to the poor of this parish the sum of £20, the origin of which is not known. It is secured on the Atcham House of Industry, and the interest, amounting to 18s. per annum, is distributed among four of the poorest parishioners. William Warham, in 1806, bequeathed after the decease of his wife the interest of £100, and directed the same to be distributed among five of the poorest parishioners of the parish. The testator’s widow died in 1826, and £90 (£10 having been deducted for the legacy duty), was laid out in the purchase of £114. 2s. 1d. three per cent. consols. The dividends, amounting to £3. 8s. 4d. per annum, are divided on Candlemas-day among five poor men residing in the parish.

DIRECTORY.—The Rev. Henry Beckwith, The Parsonage; John Bullock, carpenter; Samuel Dalloe, carpenter; John James, carpenter, Longwood; Maria Langley, beerhouse keeper; John Morris, blacksmith; Henry Smith, grocer; Zechariah Smith, farmer; Robert Thomas, farmer; Thomas Ward, carpenter.

EDGMOND

is a considerable parish, comprising the townships of Adeney, Butterey, Calvington, Caynton, Cherrington, Chetwynd Aston, Church Aston, Stanford, Tibberton, and part of Pickstock. The parish contains 5,026A. 0R. 31P. of land; gross estimated rental, £9,227. 16s. 1½d.; rateable value, £7,854. 8s. 11½d. Population in 1801, 1,699; 1831, 2,300, and in 1841, 2,471. The village of Edgmond is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, about a mile W. from Newport; it contains several good residences, and commands some pleasing prospects of the surrounding country. The township contains 1,933A. 2R. 27P. of land, and in 1841 there were 174 houses and 792 inhabitants. Rateable value, £3,741. 4s. 9¼d. The lands are intersected by the Shropshire union canal, which covers 20A. 0R. 32P. of land. The principal landowners are Thomas Bayley, Esq., Mr. John Cooke Hill, Rev. John D. Pigott, Rev. William Dalton, Mr. John Moore, Mr. John Alcock, Mr. Thomas Harper Adams, and Mrs. Dewson; J. C. H. Borough, Esq., is lord of the manor.

THE CHURCH is a fine old castellated structure, dedicated to St. Peter, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a square tower in which are six bells; four pointed arches rising from octagonal pillars divide the nave from the side aisles. The chancel is spacious and covered with tesselated pavement. Above the altar is a beautiful stained glass window, added a few years ago at the expense of the present rector; it contains figures, chastely executed, representative of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John, the other compartments being richly ornamented with gothic tracery. The west window has also been beautified with stained glass by the liberality of the parishioners. In the centre aisle is a brass with two full length figures, the armorial bearings of the family, and figures of thirteen children, in memory of the Young’s, a family of consequence in this locality in former days. A neat tablet in the south aisle remembers William Briscoe, Esq., of Caynton, who died in 1828; near to it is another tablet to the memory of John Bayley, Esq., who died in 1833. The font has been re-hewn, but the original characters have been preserved. An alabaster slab, recently removed from the chancel to the west end of the church, remembers Nicholas Peckell, supposed to have been the last Roman Catholic rector of this place. The church was anciently appropriated to the abbey of Shrewsbury. In the 10th of Henry VII., the advowson was given to the Carthusian priory at Shortly, near Coventry. The patronage is now vested in the Rev. John Dryden Pigott, B.A., who is also the incumbent. The tithes have been commuted for £2,400, and there are 62A. 2R. 25P. of glebe land. The rectory is a very ancient building on the south side of the church yard; it was no doubt built for the reception of some of the religious orders in Catholic times. A low doorway and some other small fragments are all that remain of the ancient fabric. EDGMOND HALL, a handsome brick residence pleasantly situated a little south from the church, is the property of Mr. John C. Hill, but unoccupied when our agent visited Edgmond. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL, situated a little west from the church, has an attendance of 54 boys and 46 girls. THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have a small chapel built in 1835.