Part 90

_Edward Phillips_, by indenture bearing date 19th May, 1735, left land to the amount of 2A. 3R. 10P. called the Street Meadow, in trust to apply the annual rent of the same for the benefit of the poor. This land was let in 1830 at a rent of £7, which forms part of the general distribution on St. Thomas’s day and Easter.

_Edward Lloyd_, who died in 1790, bequeathed £100, to be placed out at interest, half the produce to be paid to the schoolmaster, as an augmentation to his salary, and the other half to be applied towards raising a sum to apprentice two boys of the age of 14 scholars of the said school. He also gave £21, on trust, to place out the same to pay the interest to sixteen poor parishioners of Church Stretton, on St. Thomas’s day, to be nominated by the minister and churchwardens. The testator also charged his estate, called The Bank, in Church Stretton, with the payment of £3. 3s. yearly to the trustees of Church Stretton school, for the aid and support of a Sunday school there. The sum of £100 is placed out on a bond, given out under the provisions of an act of parliament, passed for rebuilding St. Chad’s church, Shrewsbury, bearing interest at 4½ per cent. One moiety is paid to the trustees of the school, as before stated; and the other is carried to a separate account, called the apprentice fund, from which children are placed out as apprentices, with a premium of £4 each.

_John Bridgman_, by will, dated 5th October, 1796, bequeathed £100, in trust, to the minister and churchwardens of Church Stretton, to be by them placed out at interest, on such security as they should think proper, and distributed by them on the 28th of March to poor housekeepers.

_Edward Phillips_, _jun._, by will, dated 22nd of September, 1781, gave to the parish of Church Stretton the sum of £30, to be laid out in land, and the produce thereof to be given in bread to poor housekeepers. The yearly sum of £1. 10s. has been considered as a charge upon land in Church Stretton, belonging to the Rev. Robert Norgrave Pemberton, which was formerly the property of the family of Phillips.

_The Rev. John Mainwaring_, by will, dated 12th of May, 1800, and by a codicil, dated 5th October, 1805, directed that the sum of £100 should be invested in the purchase of stock in the public funds, the interest whereof to be applied to the relief of poor industrious persons residing in the parish as should be thought most deserving; and also £100, the interest whereof to be paid to the master of the Church Stretton school, in augmentation of his salary; and he also directed that £21 should he laid out in the purchase of stock, the interest to be paid to such person as should have the keeping of the churchyard in order, on condition that the parishioners of Church Stretton should continue the yearly payment of 8s. or 10s. hitherto allowed for that purpose. Interest is paid on these sums at 4½ per cent.

The preceding charities, amounting to £27. 1s., are carried to one general fund, of which £4 are disposed of in bread—20s. worth every St. Thomas’s day, the like sum every Easter Tuesday, and 40s. towards a distribution of eighteen pennyworth of bread three Sundays in every month, the residue being paid from the parish rates. The remainder, £23. 1s., with the money collected at the sacrament, and some voluntary additions thereto, are distributed to the poor at Easter and on St. Thomas’s day, in nearly equal proportions.

_William Minton_, in 1701, left £6, the interest to be distributed in bread every Christmas day. The amount of 6s. is given away in twopenny and threepenny loaves before evening service on the aforesaid day. It is stated, on the table of benefactions, that _Thomas Harrison_, in 1794, left £10, the interest to be given to the poor on St. Thomas’s day. _Widow Owen_ left £1 yearly, payable from certain houses in Mardol, in Shrewsbury, to repair the west window of Stretton church. At the time the Charity Commissioners published their report, there was a surplus of upwards of £9 ready to be applied to the repair of the aforesaid window.

Andrews Thomas, saddler & harness maker

Beetlestone George, victualler, Crown Inn

Bridgman Mr. John

Bellingham Robert, hair dresser

Broome Mrs. Margaret, Post Office

Corfield The Misses, ladies’ seminary

Childe Thomas, tin plate worker and brazier

Davies Eliza, milliner and dressmaker

Duppa, Banks, & Co., woollen manufacturers

Firm—Duppa Duppa, Esq., and William Banks, Esq., Kington

Evans David, victualler, The Raven

Everall Richard, beerseller

Faulkner John, butcher

Faulkner John, wheelwright

Glover Edward, saddler and harness maker

George William, victualler, The Talbot

Groves Thomas, farmer, Ashbrook

Gwilliam Edward, shoemaker

Howells Mr., farmer

Heighway James, grocer & provision dealer, and agent to the Shropshire and North Wales Fire Office

Heighway Richard, maltster and farmer, Lower Wood

Heighway Thomas, farmer, Pensylvania

Home Richard, grocer and seedsman, and registrar of births and deaths for Church Stretton district

Hopwood Mr. Robert, The Priory

Jones Miss Sarah, Lower Wood

Langford William, farmer, Lower Wood

Lewis John, painter and maltster

Lewis John, blacksmith and victualler, The Queen’s Head Inn

Lewis William, plumber and glazier

Lloyd John, shoemaker

Lloyd Charles, victualler, The Buck’s Head

Lucas John, tailor

Lucas Mary, shopkeeper

Mills Jonathan, victualler, The Red Lion

Mills Thomas, farmer

Mott Charles, surgeon

Morris John, leather dealer

M’Cartney Mr., travelling tea dealer

Meredith Lewis & Co., grocers and drapers

Marston William, tailor

Nunn, Rev. Preston, curate

Pearson George, tailor

Phillips Mrs. Maria, Ashbrook

Phipps George, victualler, The Plough

Painter Thomas, farmer, Lower Wood

Robinson John, ironmonger

Robinson James H., draper

Robinson John, shoemaker

Rogers Thomas, butcher

Steadman John S., farmer and maltster

Teague William, victualler, King’s Arms

Wilding Richard, surgeon

Wilson Rev. Hugh Owen, rector

ALL STRETTON

is a township and village in the parish of Church Stretton, situated about a mile north from the church, which contains 2,192 acres of land, and at the census of 1841 had 88 houses and 454 inhabitants. Gross estimated rental, £2,268. 15s. Rateable value, £1,825. 5s. The principal landowners are the trustees of the late Samuel Wilding, Esq., A. B. Markham, Esq., Panton Corbett, Esq., Edward Medlicott, Esq., Duppa Duppa, Esq. The village is in a romantic situation, near the mountainous range of the Longmynd, and not far from the Caradoc and Lawley hills. The occasion of the prefix, “All,” to this Stretton is accounted for by the following tradition:—When James II. was on his journey from Ludlow to Shrewsbury, approaching the first, or Little Stretton, he inquired its name: “Stretton, Sire,” was answered. Arriving at Church Stretton, he made the same inquiry: “Stretton, Sire,” was again the reply. Coming to the third, he renewed the question, and received the same answer. “Upon my word,” said the king, “they are _all_ Strettons in this country.”

LITTLE STRETTON

is a township, about a mile and a half south from Church Stretton, which contains 816 acres, the gross estimated rental of which is £1,054. 15s., and the rateable value £841. 5s. The landowners are, Thomas Bolton, Esq., Mrs. Davies, John Robinson, Esq., Edward Gibbon, Esq., John Mansell, Esq., and Mrs. Coleman. The latter is lady of the manor. The village is pleasant, and the country around is beautifully picturesque. In 1841 there were 41 houses and 165 inhabitants.

MINTON

township has 803 acres of land, and the village is situated in the wild and romantic district of the Longmynd range of hills, three miles south-west from Church Stretton. At the census of 1841 there were 30 houses and 125 inhabitants. Gross estimated rental, £936. 3s. Rateable value, £752. 10s. The chief landowners are W. M. Beddows, Esq., Mr. Richard Minton, C. O. C. Pemberton, Esq. The former is lord of the manor.

ALL STRETTON DIRECTORY.

Belton Mr. John, Innwood

Dolphin Edward, farmer

Donelly Michael, shopkeeper

Edwards Rchd., vict., New Inn

Galliers Rowland, beerseller

Griffiths William, beerseller

Haverkum Mrs. Mary, All Stretton Hall

Heighway Richard, farmer and maltster, Lower Wood

Heighway Thomas, farmer

Hide John, cattle dealer

Hide Wm., vict., Yew Tree

Hince Mr. Cs, Dudgley house

Jones Miss Sarah, Lower Wood

Jones Mr. William

Langford William, farmer, Lower Wood

Lewis John, blacksmith

Lewis William, plumber and glazier

Painter Thos., farmer, Lower Wood

Rawlins Mary, shopkeeper

Smith Timothy, farmer, Dudgley

Taylor Mary, farmer, Hodghurst

Williams Samuel, shoemaker

LITTLE STRETTON DIRECTORY.

Acton Mrs. Mary

Bridgman Francis, farmer

Childe Elizabeth, blacksmith

Corfield William, farmer, The Hall

Davies Mrs., Eleanor The Cottages

Davies George, farmer

Davies John, shopkeeper

Gwynn James, shoemaker

Hammond Thomas, wheelwright

Hammond Richard, wheelwright

Longmore William, farmer

Mansell John, farmer

Miles Thomas, shoemaker

Preen Samuel, butcher

Preen Thomas, tailor

Pritchard John, victualler, Green Dragon

Ray Edward, farmer

Robinson John, maltster

Speake John, farmer

Speake John, victualler, Sun Inn

Simpson William, tanner

Taylor Thomas, tailor

Turner Margaret, victualler, Crown Inn

MINTON DIRECTORY.

Beddows Mrs. Jane, Well House

Beddows William Minton, Esq., Well House

Briscoe Thomas, victualler, New Inn, Marsh Brook

Edwards Francis, miller, Queen Batch Mill

Downes John, farmer, New House

Hotchkiss Thomas, farmer

Jones Pryce, machine maker

Minton Richard, farmer, Manor House

Rogers Edward, farmer

CLEE ST. MARGARET, OR CLEE TOWN,

is a township, parish, and large village in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, seven and a half miles N.N.E. from Ludlow, containing 988A. 2R. 36P. of land. Gross estimated rental, £1,323. 10s. Rateable value, £889. 4s. The village is salubriously situated, a little to the west of the Brown Clee hill, and the inhabitants are celebrated for their longevity. At the census in 1841 there were 71 houses, including the hamlet of Coxheadford, and 269 inhabitants; population in 1801, 294; 1831, 294. The principal landowners are Mrs. Thursby, Richard Turner, Esq., Thomas Millichap, Esq., Mr. Thomas Turner, Mr. William Heighway, the Earl of Craven, Sir Sidney Herbert, and Mr. Samuel Jones. Mrs. Thursby is lady of the manor. The church is a small structure of unpretending appearance, consisting of nave and chancel, with a square tower. The living is a perpetual curacy, formerly of very little value, but has been increased by royal bounty, parliamentary grant, and private benefactions, to £179 per annum. The patronage is vested in the lady of the manor. Incumbent, Rev. J. Corbett. COXHEADFORD is a hamlet in the parish of Clee St. Margaret, situated in a sequestered and romantic dingle formed by two lofty elevations of the Brown Clee hills. Upon that portion of the Clee hill called Norley Bank are traces of an encampment. There is a small place of worship belonging to the Joanna Southcotts.

The principal residents in Clee St. Margaret are Edward Burton, vict., Shoulder of Mutton; Thomas Hall, farmer, Burnt House; John Hanson, farmer, New House; Samuel Heighway, farmer, The Marsh; Isaac Howell, vict., The Boot Inn; Rev. Morgan Jones, The Marsh; Richard Lawrence, corn miller; Thomas Millichap, farmer; Thomas Wall, farmer, Church House; Thomas Wheelwright, farmer, Brook House; Thomas Turner, farmer and cider dealer, Coxheadford; Samuel Hall, weaver and shopkeeper, Coxheadford.

SCIRMAGE, an _Extra Parochial Liberty_ situated about a mile from Clee Town, where the three parishes of Stoke St. Milborough, Cold Weston, and Stoke St. Margaret converge, contains about half an acre of land, and one small house, which is the property of Mr. Thomas Wheelwright, and occupied by Elizabeth Burton.

COLD WESTON

is a small township and parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, seven and a half miles N.N. by E. from Ludlow, which contains 415 acres of land, three cottages, and a farm house. At the census in 1841 there were 27 inhabitants, and in 1841 31. Gross estimated rental, £362. 10s. Rateable value, £258. Mrs. Cornewall is the proprietor of the whole township. The church is a very humble structure, the living of which is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £2. 8s. 4d., now returned at £100 in the patronage of Mrs. Cornewall. Incumbent, Rev. Henry Cowdell; the Rev. Lancelot Dixon is the curate. There was formerly a woollen mill in this parish. The land in this locality has mostly a poor soil. Thomas Keysell is the only resident farmer.

CULMINGTON

is a considerable parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, comprising the townships of Bache and Norton, Burley, Culmington, and Siefton, and embracing 3,460A. 3R. 0P. of land. Gross estimated rental, £4,874. 10s. 6d. Rateable value, £3,249. The principal landowners are the Earl of Craven, George Wood, Esq., and James Beddows, Esq. In 1801 there was a population of 419 souls; 1831, 515, and in 1841 there were 109 houses and 541 inhabitants. At the Doomsday survey Earl Roger held Comintine, which Edric held before the conquest. It was for some time held by the same lord, and included in the same tenure as the castle of Corfham. King Henry II. gave Culmington to Walter de Clifford, and it was afterwards carried in marriage to William Longspe, who, being overthrown in a tournament, is stated to have died of grief in the flower of his age. His widow married Sir John Giffard, who procured a charter of free warren for his lands here, and died possessed of them in the 27th of Edward I. It afterwards passed to the L’Estranges, and then to the Talbots, Earls of Shrewsbury. The village of Culmington is delightfully situated in the beautiful and fertile vale of the Corve dale, five miles N.W. from Culmington. The church is dedicated to All Saints, and consists of nave and chancel, with an octagonal tower surmounted by a spire; the tower contains three bells. The interior is neat, and contains several tablets, chiefly to the family of the present rector. The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £18. 9s. 2d., in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. William Johnstone. The tithes have been commuted for £762. 10s., and the glebe land is of the annual value of £79. 10s. A tower has been built on a plot of land where the estates of the four principal landowners of this locality converge; the owners are the Earl of Craven, Hon. Robert Henry Clive, Francis Marston, Esq., and George Wood, Esq. The monument is built on a lofty eminence, and commands a prospect of great extent and diversity.

The principal residents are Alexander Anslow, beerhouse keeper; Samuel Anslow, blacksmith; Thomas James, wheelwright; John Morris, farmer; Richard Pearce, shoemaker; Edward Taylor, farmer; James Williams, farmer.

BACH AND NORTON, a township and small rural village six miles N.W. from Ludlow, in 1841 had 19 houses and 87 inhabitants. The land in this locality is highly fertile. The chief owners in the township are the Earl of Craven, the Marquis of Crosemere, and George Wood, Esq.; the latter is lord of the manor. The principal residents are Richard Bach, farmer, Norton; Edward Bassett, farmer, Bach; William Bromley, farmer, Norton; William Tarte, farmer, Bach.

BURLEY is a small township situated about a mile N.W. from Culmington, returned in 1841 as containing 28 houses and 140 inhabitants. The Earl of Craven is the landowner. John Onions is the principal farmer.

SIEFTON, a small village and township in the parish of Culmington, situated about a mile from the parish church, in 1841 had 41 houses and 223 inhabitants. There is a national school in the village, which is supported by the lord of the manor; upwards of seventy scholars attend. The rectory of Culmington, a handsome residence, is situated in this township. The Earl of Craven and George Wood, Esq., are the landowners. The principal residents are Rev. William Johnstone, rector; William Bach, farmer, New House; Richard Bach, farmer, Madeley Park; Henry Instone, farmer; Thomas Lucas, schoolmaster.

DIDDLEBURY

is an extensive parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, which comprises the townships of Corfton, Diddlebury, Earnstrey Park, Lawton and Little Sutton, Lower Parks and Broncroft, Middlehope Paston, Peaton, Sutton Great and Westhope, together containing 9,043 acres of land: population in 1801, 837; 1831, 920; 1841, 896; at the latter period there were 190 houses. The village of Diddlebury is pleasantly situated seven miles and a half north from Ludlow, and in 1841 had 25 houses and 132 inhabitants. The township contains 1,149 acres of Land; rateable value, £1,191. 16s. 8d. The principal landowners are the Cornewall family, James Davies, Esq., Mr. E. Lodge, William A. Roberts, Esq., and George Wood, Esq. There was formerly an alien priory at Diddlebury, which was subordinate to the convent of Seez, in Normandy, and was afterwards appropriated to the abbey of Shrewsbury. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, consists of nave and chancel, and has a square tower, in which are five bells: there are several memorials, chiefly to the family of Cornewall. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £12. 1s. 3d.; now returned at £384; in the patronage of the dean and chapter of Hereford; incumbent, Rev. Thomas Underwood. There is a National school in the village, attended by about forty scholars. The tithes of this township have been commuted, and £35 apportioned to the vicar, and £45. 10s. to the dean and chapter of Hereford. DELBURY HALL, in this township, the property of Herbert Cornewall, Esq., and residence of Henry Wood, Esq., is said to have formerly belonged to the monks of Wenlock Abbey, from whom it passed to the family of Baldwin, whose monuments are in the chancel of Diddlebury church. It was purchased by Captain Cornewall, father of the late bishop of Worcester, and grandfather of the present proprietor. There has existed a school at Diddlebury every since the year 1595. Lord Herbert, of Chirbury, was partly educated at this school in his youth.

CHARITIES.—The parish officers are in possession of a house which was purchased in 1720 for £150, of which, £128 was money belonging to the parishioners of Diddlebury; the residue £22 was borrowed of Philip Luttley. After paying of interest for the said £22, it was agreed to appropriate the rent in equal moieties to the support of a school, and to the benefit of the poor. At a meeting of the parishioners, held May 13th, 1830, it was resolved that the clear rents (then £8 per annum) should in future be applied to the support of a Sunday school. There was a sum of £21 in the hands of Mr. Beddoes when the charity commissioners published their report, for which he paid £4 a year as the interest; but it is not known from whose gift this charity was derived. This money has been improperly, as it seems to us, carried to the poor’s rate; but at the parish meeting above mentioned it has been determined to apply the interest also for the benefit of the school.

_Mary Valentine_, by her will, bearing date 23rd May, 1822, bequeathed to the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor of the parish of Diddlebury, £1,000 four per cent. consols, to be transferred into their names as trustees, the dividends to be laid out in bread, and distributed every Sunday to poor housekeepers of this parish not receiving parochial relief. The dividends, amounting to £35 per annum, are received through a bank at London. The income is applied in a weekly distribution of bread amongst all the poor belonging the parish, and not receiving parochial relief; some who are not resident in the parish being included. For the purpose of regulating the distribution, the parish is divided into three districts; and about twenty-six persons from each district in rotation receive a sixpenny loaf each every third Sunday.

The principal residents are John Child, farmer; Mrs. Mary Downes, Melford Lodge; Henry Wood, Esq., Delbury hall; John Morris, farmer; Frederick North, schoolmaster.

CORFTON

is a township and village in the parish of Diddlebury, containing 1,205 acres of land, and in 1841 had 48 houses and 232 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,453. 3s. 4d. The tithes of Corfton and Sparchford are commuted for £116. 17s. The church of Culmington, with the manors of Corfeham, Culmington, Erneston, and Les Clyves, were held by Walter de Clifford of King Henry II., by the service of one knight’s fee, paying £31 rent. “This Walter was the father of Fair Rosamond, the mistress of Henry II., and mother of the noted William, Earl of Salisbury, whom she bore to the king. Walter de Clifford, grandson of the first Walter, espousing the cause of Richard Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke, then in rebellion, was outlawed 17th of Henry III., and his castle and manor of Corfeham seized by the sheriff of Shropshire for the king’s use; but restored to him shortly after upon his submission. He married the daughter of Lewelin, Prince of Wales, relict of John de Braose, and left issue by her one daughter, first married to William Longspe, Earl of Sarum, who had with her in frank marriage Culmington, in the county of Salop, valued at £28. 8s. 2d. per annum, with this proviso, that in case it did not yield the sum aforesaid, the deficiency was to be made up out of the manor of Corfeham: the whole estate given to her in frank marriage being £200 per annum. After the decease of the Earl of Sarum, her second husband was John Giffard, of Brimsfield, Knt., of whom she complained to the king, that he had taken her by force out of her own castle and carried her to his at Brimsfield, where she was kept in duress. To this accusation Sir John Gifford made answer that he had the free consent of the countess, as the sequel would prove, and so tendered the king a fine of three hundred marks for marrying the lady without licence, which was accepted in satisfaction of the contempt, if the countess made no further application upon that score.” It would appear, therefore, that the ancient owners of the manor were the daughters of the Fair Rosamond.

The principal residents in Corfton are Richard Bowen, farmer, Hill house; Edward Bowen, farmer, Lower house; James Beddoes, farmer, Sparchford; Mary Dyer, vict., Sun Inn; Edward Pearce, farmer; William Hince, butcher; Rev. Thomas Underwood, vicar of Diddlebury.

EARNESTRY PARK is a township in the parish of Diddlebury, situated at the foot of the Brown Clee Hill, which contains 1,017A. 1R. 33P. of land, a great part of which is shaded from the sun a considerable portion of the day by that lofty eminence. The Misses Mytton, of Cleobury North, are the proprietors of the whole township. The summit of the Brown Clee Hill is 1,805 feet above the level of the sea, and commands a most extensive and magnificent prospect of the surrounding country. At the census in 1841 there were six houses and thirty-eight inhabitants. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £20, and the rectoral for £33. The chief residents are Thomas Bradley, farmer; John Evans, farmer; John Hanson, farmer; and Thomas Hanson, farmer.