Part 75

is a parish and small rural village in a retired part of the county, six miles W. from Wellington; which comprises 1,135A. 0R. 13P. of land, the principal owners of which are Andrew William Corbet, Esq., R. D. Edwards, Esq., Rev. Thomas Husband, and Mr. Bernard Hiles. At the census in 1801 the parish had a population of 170 souls; 1831, 193, and in 1841 there were 44 houses and 219 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,694. 12s. THE CHURCH is a plain structure, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, consisting of nave and chancel, with a tower in which are two bells. The chancel, which is the most ancient part of the building, is of stone, and the body of the church of brick. The interior has a neglected appearance. Upon a stone in the nave, there is a brass plate, with the figure of a person in priestly habiliments, with the following inscription in old English characters:—“Here lieth buried Mr. Adam Graffton, the most worshipful priest living in his days, sometime chaplain to the famous princes, King Edward V. and Prince Arthur; Archdeacon of Stafford, Warden of the Battlefield, Dean of St. Mary’s College, in Salop, and parson of this church: deceased the 20th of June, A.D. one thousand five hundred and thirty, whose soul God keep.” Another brass plate, with the figure of a man and a woman and seven children, remembers John de Onley and family, and is dated 1500. There are neat marble tablets to the memory of Peter Blakeway, who died in 1808; to Elizabeth Browne, who died in 1788; and to the Rev. Corbet Browne, rector of this parish and Upton Magna, who died in the year 1807, aged 80 years. The living is a perpetual curacy, subordinate to the rectory of Upton Magna. The Rev. Corbet Browne is the incumbent: Rev. Thomas Honeyman, curate. This township is intersected by the Shrewsbury Canal. A sum of £16 mentioned in the charity returns of 1786, as given by Andrew Peplow in 1728, appears to have been lost many years ago, by the insolvency of the person in whose hands it was placed.

Browne Rev. Corbet, rector, The Rectory

Browne Corbet, jun., farmer

Edwards Rann Dolphin, Esq.

Evans Richard, tailor and shopkeeper

Hiles Bernard, farmer

Honeyman Rev. Thomas, curate

James Edward Topham, farmer

Milward Frederick, saddler

Moore Helen, dressmaker

Pain Thomas, farmer

Richards Edward, wheelwright

Shingler George, wheelwright

Smith William, vict., Hare and Hounds

Topham Benjamin, farmer

Williams John, blacksmith and beerhouse

Williams Robert, shoemaker

Woolstein John Edward Israel, tailor

WOMBRIDGE,

a parish and small village two miles east from Wellington, containing most of the populous district of Oakengates within its bounds. The parish contains 790 acres, and in 1801 had 1835 inhabitants, 1831, 1855, and in 1841 there were 406 houses and a population of 2057 souls. Rateable value £2,395. The village is situated at the junction of the Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and Marquis of Stafford’s Canals, and intersected by the Watling street and the various railways connected with the extensive coal and iron works in the immediate vicinity. There are some slight remains in the garden of Mr. Shepherd of a PRIORY that was founded here by William Fitz-Alan, for canons of the order of St. Austin. It was endowed by Henry II. with the church of St. Sutton; Hugh, Bishop of Coventry, confirmed the grant of Sutton, together with the grant of the chapel at Uppington, the gift of Roger de Mussun, on condition that the canons should present their chaplains to the bishop and his successors to receive at his and their hands, institution and induction for that church and chapel. The canons were to allow their chaplains a competent maintenance, and the residue of the profits was to be employed in charitable uses. There were various other benefactors to this priory, among whom were the lords of Cherrington, who gave the revenues of certain lands in that township to it. The various possessions of those canons with divers liberties granted by their several benefactors, were confirmed by King Edward II. The revenues at the general dissolution of religious houses were valued at £65. 7s. 4d. The CHURCH is a brick structure, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Leonard, and consists of nave and transepts, with a short tower. It was enlarged and galleries added in 1823, when upwards of 300 sittings were thereby obtained, of which 295 were declared free and unappropriated, and are in addition to 100 free sittings formerly provided. There is a small organ at the west end. This church stands on the site of a former structure, which was blown down by a storm which happened in the spring of the year 1756. The living is a perpetual curacy, returned at £86. The Rev. John Dawson is the officiating minister.

OAKENGATES

is a populous district, partly in Wombridge and partly in Ketley, three miles east from Wellington, and four miles north-west from Shiffnal. The inhabitants of this populous locality find employment in the extensive collieries and iron works with which the neighbourhood abounds. The town consists of one long street which contains many good shops and several respectable inns. A market was established here in 1826, which is held on Saturdays, and the after part of the day has a very animated and business-like appearance. Fairs are also held in March, June, September, and December, but the specific days have not been finally settled. The fairs are toll free. To the west of Market street is Ketley or Coalpit Bank, a scattered district with a considerable population, partly in Wombridge parish, but chiefly in Wellington parish. The inhabitants have the advantage of railway communication by the Shropshire Union Railway, which passes through the town, and has a station within a hundred yards of Market street. The extensive iron works of the Lilleshall company will be transferred from Oakengates to Prior’s Lee before the expiration of the present year, in consequence of that place being nearer the iron-stone mines, but the extensive collieries will be carried on as heretofore by that company. The coal got here is of a very superior quality, and immense quantities are conveyed to distant parts by the railway and canals in the vicinity. The extensive iron works of Messrs. S. Horton, Simms and Bull, at Oakengates, are just within the bounds of the parish of Shiffnal. THE INDEPENDENTS have a commodious chapel at Oakengates; the congregation is under the pastoral care of the Rev. H. Ollerenshaw. THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have a spacious chapel built in 1847. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL was chiefly built at the expense of James Oliver, Esq., of Wellington, aided by a grant from the National Society. Mr. Oliver also purchased the site for the school. It is a neat structure of brick, erected in 1846, comprising two commodious rooms and a residence for the teacher. The average number of scholars at the present time is fifty girls and eighty boys.

POST OFFICE at _Mr. Henry Shepherd’s_, the Lion Inn. Letters arrive at 7 A.M., and are despatched at 6 P.M.

OAKENGATES AND WOMBRIDGE DIRECTORIES.

_Those with * affixed are at Wombridge_, _and the rest at Oakengates_, _or where specified_.

Bell Frederick, butcher

Bennett and Co., colliery proprietors

Cludde Moses, brazier

Davies George and Thos., colliery proprietors

* Dawson Rev. John, the parsonage

Eardley Mr. Robert, Hollins Wood

* Groom Thomas, farmer and maltster

Hanes John, tailor

Harper George, seedsman

Hill Enoch, builder

Horton, Simms and Bull, iron masters

Houlston John, auctioneer, and Wellington

Jones Arthur, accountant, Snedshill

Jones Alfred Charles, furnace manager to Lilleshall Company

Jones Charles Crawford, agent, Snedshill

Knox John, station master

Lilleshall Company, colliery proprietors and iron masters

Littlehales Thomas, schoolmaster (national)

Mansell William, currier

Ollerenshaw Rev. H., independent, Ketley Bank

Peplow Andrew, brick maker, Hollingswood

Robinson James, ironmonger

* Shepherd John Pike, farmer and maltster

Snead John, brickmaker, Snedshill

Turner Thomas, solicitor

Beerhouses.

Arkinstall George

Baugh Joseph

Bell Frederick

Brown John

Clarke William

Corbett Thomas

Peplow Andrew

Perry George

Scarrot Emanuel

Boot & Shoe Makers.

Cooper William

Jones Samuel

Grey Thomas

Light Francis

Hair Dressers.

Capsey Samuel

Hill James

Grocers & Provision Dealers.

Arkinstall George

Blackband Gerrard

Chapman Joseph

Corbett Thomas

Cotterill Joseph

Day Sarah

Hayes Henry

Jones Richard, and chemist and druggist

Matthews Thomas

Parkes John

Picker Mary

Pugh William

Robinson Alexander

Wright Sarah

Inns & Taverns.

Bull’s Head, Henry Onions

Black Horse, Rd. Holmes

Caledonian, Benj. Marrion

Charlton Arms, John Bourne

Compasses, William Pugh

Duke of York, Henry Hayes

Fighting Cocks, Wm. Light

Grey Hound, Thos. Marrison

Hand & Hammer, Sampson Pitchford

Leopard, Rebecca Rigby

Lion, Henry Shepherd

Red Lion, George Ellis, and watch maker

Talbot, William Hooper

Linen & Woollen Drapers & Hatters.

Davies John

Hayes Henry

Hopkins George, & clothier

Parkes John

Tarbett John

Maltsters.

Davies Thomas

Parkes John

WOODCOTE

is a township and chapelry in the parish of Sheriff Hales, three miles south-east by south from Newport, which in 1801 contained 130 inhabitants; 1831, 195; and in 1841 there were 29 houses and a population of 140 souls. The township contains upwards of 1,000 acres of land; rateable value, £1,003. 10s. WOODCOTE HALL is a spacious and handsome mansion, of free stone, delightfully situated on a gentle acclivity, and surrounded with park-like grounds finely timbered and richly diversified with sylvan beauty. A little west from the hall are extensive gardens. THE HALL is the seat of John Cotes, Esq., who is owner of the whole township. THE CHAPEL, situated near to the hall, is a plain structure of free-stone of considerable antiquity. On the south side is a door which exhibits the Saxon style of architecture. It contains several neat tablets in memory of the Cotes family, the last of which is in memory of John Cotes, Esq., M.P. for the county of Shropshire, who died in 1821, aged 72 years, leaving two sons and six daughters. A large marble slab, reared up against the pews near the altar rails, appears to have been the top of an altar tomb. It is curiously ornamented with two full length figures, and has a mutilated inscription round the edge. We did not observe any date upon it, but it is very ancient and worthy of inspection. A little west from the hall is an eminence called Heath Hill, which commands an extended view over this and the adjacent county of Stafford, and also of the towering heights of the Welsh mountains. On the eastern side of the township a small stream called Moreton Brook divides this county from that of Staffordshire; on the banks of which is a dilapidated corn-mill. The rest of the parish of Sheriff Hales, except Lilleshall House and a few scattered farms, are within the bounds of the county of Stafford, and may at a future period be included in a similar volume for that county. The village of Sheriff Hales is pleasantly situated three miles north from Shiffnal and five miles south from Newport. The parish contains 5,317A. 2A. 37P. of land, and at the census of 1841 there were 32 houses and 191 inhabitants returned as in the county of Shropshire, the names of the principal residents of which have been given in the Lilleshall directory.

The following are the principal residents in Woodcote township, viz.:—John Cotes, Esq., Woodcote Hall; George Alsop, farmer, Lynn; John Bedford, farm bailiff; John Downes, gamekeeper; James Lockley, farmer, Pave lane; Richard Lascombe, butler, The Hall; John Morris, farmer, Lynn; Cornelius Whitehouse, gardener, The Hall.

WROCKWARDINE

is a considerable parish in the Wellington division of the South Bradford hundred, which comprises the several townships (for highway purposes) of Admaston, Allscott, Bratton, Burcott, Charlton, Clotley, Long Lane, Wrockwardine, and Wrockwardine Wood. The parish contains 4,630A. 3R. 12P. of land, of which 469A. 0R. 28P. are woods, plantations, roads, and waste. The soil is various, the arable lands produce good crops of grain, and the grazing lands an abundance of grass. Gross estimated rental, £11,727, 7s. 4d.; rateable value, £10,554. 15s. In 1801 there were 1,913 inhabitants; 1831, 2,528, and in 1841, 541 houses and 2,741 inhabitants. A court leet and baron is held for the manor. Mrs. Mary Cludde, of Orleton, is lady of the manor, but Miss Anne Maria Cludde, daughter of the late Mr. Cludde, took the estate as heiress on September 9th, 1851. Wrockwardine township is pleasantly situated in a rich country pleasingly diversified with undulations, and contains 1,094A. 1R. 20P. of land, and in 1841 had 258 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,464. 14s. The village stands on elevated ground, and commands some fine views of open landscape scenery, of the hilly country in the Condover hundred, and of the Wrekin. THE CHURCH is an ancient structure of red sand stone, dedicated to St. Peter, with a tower rising from the centre, in which are six musical bells; the tower is supported by four pointed arches rising from fluted pillars. It is neatly pewed, and the pulpit and reading desk are of beautiful carved oak. The organ was erected in 1846, at a cost of about £200 raised by subscriptions. The east window is beautified with stained glass, and contains a representation of our Saviour, very chastely executed. In the chancel are several handsome monumental tablets, one of which remembers Edward Pemberton and his wife, dated 1800, and is very beautifully executed in the Grinshill free stone. Another of the same stone has been erected to the memory of Edward Cludde, Esq., and is dated 1785. There are also very beautiful tablets to other members of this family, and to the Cockburns, Phillips, Roe, and others. The living is a vicarage valued in the king’s book at £7. 8s. 6d., now returned at £427 in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor, and incumbency of the Rev. George L. Yate, M.A. The vicarage is a good residence a short distance from the church. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £353. 19s., and the rectoral for £225. It appears from the parish register that the Houlston family have held the office of parish clerk for a period of 257 years, and is still held by the same family.

WROCKWARDINE HALL is a commodious mansion of brick stuccoed, beautified with pleasure grounds and shrubberries, and is the seat of Miss Anne Maria Cludde. ORLETON HALL, a delightfully situated mansion, the seat of the ancient and highly respected family of Cludde, is now the residence of Mrs. Cludde; the hall is stuccoed, and the gardens and pleasure grounds are very extensive, and kept in the most admirable order. It commands a fine view of the Wrekin, and is surrounded by a park of 160 acres, beautifully wooded. THE BOYS’ SCHOOL, a substantial brick building, was built at the cost of Mrs. Cludde, who is also a munificent contributor towards its support; 75 children attend. THE GIRLS’ SCHOOL has an attendance of sixty children, and is supported by Miss Cludde. TWO ALMSHOUSES were erected in 1841, “and endowed for the maintenance of two poor women in their declining years; they are dedicated to the memory of Edward Cludde, Esq., late of Orleton, in this parish, by his tenants and neighbours, in testimony of their respect for a man who was an eminent example of pure and undefiled religion, visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and keeping himself unspotted from the world.”

CHARITIES.—_Edward Pemberton_, in 1680, devised a rent charge of £3 per annum for putting forth an apprentice every other year, fatherless or motherless children to be always preferred. The amount is charged upon an estate now the property of Mrs. Cludde. A yearly sum of 10s. is paid as charged upon the Burcot estate, and a like sum as charged upon the Leaton property; in respect of 10s. payable by Mrs. Cludde, two bushels of wheat flour are given away by her agent to the poor. The other sum is laid out in the purchase of bread. It is supposed these charities were left by one of the Langley family.

Several sums of money given for charitable uses, amounting in the whole to £60, were laid out in the purchase of a piece of land called Tidicross Furlong, which was improved in 1670 by Edward Pemberton, who built a house and barn thereon. About the year 1801 a parish workhouse was built on these premises, and the old house and barn was pulled down. Up to the year 1829 the sum of £4. 10s. per annum (which was the amount of the rent when the workhouse was built) was paid out of the poor’s rate, and given away on Good Friday. In consequence of a suggestion of the charity commissioners that the rent ought to be raised, it was resolved at a vestry meeting of the parish, held 5th May, 1830, that the sum of £8 should in future be paid by the parish annually for the lands above mentioned.

_Thomas Ore_, in 1798, gave a yearly sum of 40s., payable out of his freehold estate in the township of Walcott, in the parish of Wellington, the same to be given among the poor every St. Thomas’s-day, in his seat of the south aisle of the church, at Wrockwardine, after morning prayer. _The Rev. Joshua Gilpin_, who died in 1828, bequeathed £50 to the vicar of Wrockwardine, in trust, to divide the interest in equal portions among eight of the poorest families residing in Wrockwardine, on the day before Christmas day.

Cludde Mrs., Orleton Hall

Cludde Miss Anne Maria, Wrockwardine Hall

Bullock Benjamin, carpenter

Burrell John, gamekeeper

Clayton John, farmer

Clayton Samuel, farmer, David’s bank

Cooper Thomas, farmer, Austins

Davies John, farmer, The bank

Edwards William, wood steward

Gilpin Mrs. Jane, The villa

Houlston Charles, blacksmith, and agricultural implement maker

Houlston John, shoemaker

Houlston Josiah, farmer

Houlston Joshua, assistant overseer and vestry clerk

Houlston Thomas, farmer, parish clerk, and assessed tax collector

Jones Sarah, maltster

Pickin Eliza, farmer, Sydney house

Poole William, butler and coachman

Speake Richard, shopkeeper

Taylor Henry William, vict., The Talbot, and posting house, Hay gate

Trumper William, farm bailiff

Turner Charles, nursery and seedsman

Vaughan, and Mary Ann, school teachers

Webb William, butler

ADMASTON

is a township and delightfully situated village in the parish of Wrockwardine, one and a half mile north-west by north from Wellington. The township contains 509A. 2R. 19P. of land, and in 1841 here were 188 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,164. 13s. The principal landowners are Mr. Jones; Mrs. Webb; Mr. William Taylor; James Oliver, Esq.; Mr. John Haynes; Mrs. Elizabeth Mansell; William Wyley, Esq.; Mrs. Austin; Mr. Waring; Mr. Richard Tew; Mr. John Burgiss; and Mrs. Mary Williams. The village of Admaston is pleasantly situated near the station on the line of the Shrewsbury and Wellington railway, and is crossed by beautiful drives and fine open roads, commanding most delightful views over a luxuriant country, finely timbered, and studded with beautiful residences. It is also within a few miles of the far-famed Salopian mountain, the Wrekin, which commands views of unparalleled extent and sublimity. THE ADMASTON SPA lies in a sheltered situation, near the verge of the village, the waters of which have long been celebrated for their medicinal purposes, and are highly recommended by eminent physicians. There are two wells, one of which is sulphurous, and the other chalybeate; the upper well contains a large portion of muriate of soda, or common salt, and a portion of muriate of lime, and is found exceedingly beneficial in giving a salutary stimulus to the stomach, correcting dyspepsia, and highly efficacious in scrofulous affections. The lower spring contains a large quantity of chloride sodium, and in its analysis approaches nearer to the Harrogate waters, so justly celebrated and efficacious in cutaneous disorders.

The solid contents of an imperial wine pint weigh seventy-seven grains of the chalybeate saline water, and the proportion in which the several ingredients exist may be stated as follows:—

Grains. Chloride sodium (common salt) 54.5 Chloride calcium (muriate lime) 14.3 Chloride magnesium 5.2 Carbonate iron and lime, and alumina and silica 1.5 Loss 1.5 Bromine, a trace 0.0 77.0

The solid contents of a wine pint from the sulphur spring weigh 79 grains, the component parts of which, according to an analysis by Messrs. Blunt, in 1847, may be thus stated:—

Grains. Chloride sodium 65.0 Chloride calcium 10.5 Chloride magnesium 2.0 Carbonate lime 1.0 Carbonate iron, slightest trace 0.0 Bicarbonate soda, a trace 0.0 78.5

The Hotel and Boarding House in connection with the baths is a handsome pile of buildings, greatly admired for its architectural beauty, erected at an expense of £6,000. The house is elegantly furnished, and replete with every convenience and comfort for the accommodation of the numerous parties who frequent the spa during the summer season. The baths are admirably arranged, and no expense has been spared to combine elegance, comfort, and utility. The walks and pleasure grounds are tastefully laid out, and are surrounded by a salubrious country, richly variegated and picturesque. Mr. John Purcell is the proprietor of the hotel.

ADMASTON HALL, a beautiful modern mansion, delightfully situated, is the residence of the Hon. Charles Nowell Hill. The pleasure grounds and shrubberies are very beautifully laid out. THE BOARDING SCHOOL, conducted by Mr. J. W. Smart, is a commodious building in a pleasant situation, where a limited number of young gentlemen receive the advantages of a classical and commercial education. This locality is noted for its annual steeple chase meetings, its field sports, and for fishing.

Beech John, superintendent of the Shropshire union railway

Bennett John, engineer

Buchannan Philip, Esq.

Bullock Elizabeth, dress maker

Bullock John, wheelwright

Bullock Richard, joiner, &c.

Burgiss John, surgeon

Burton Robert, farmer

Davies Thomas, beerhouse

Haynes John, farmer

Hicks Thos., station master

Hill the Honble. Charles Nowell, the Hall

Houlston William, farmer

John Johnson, horse breaker and steeple chase trainer

Mansell Elizabeth, gentlewoman

Marsh James, blacksmith

Newns John, butcher

Purcell John, hotel and boarding house, Admaston Spa

Proctor Dr., physician

Robinson Richard, farmer and maltster

Smart Joseph Wm., boarding school proprietor

Tew Richard, farmer, maltster, and vict., the Pheasants

Titley Joseph, farmer

Williams Mary, gentlewoman

Wyley William, Esq., land and estate agent, surveyor, and conveyancer

ALLSCOTT,