Part 94

is a parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, comprising 4,400 acres of land, and is divided for highway purposes into the townships of Clee Downton, Clee Stanton, and Stoke, and the chapelry of Heath. At the census of 1841 there were 110 houses and 553 inhabitants exclusive of the chapelry of Heath, which contained ten houses and a population of sixty-three souls. Rateable value, £4,454. 8s. The village of Stoke is delightfully situated in a romantic district, near the southern side of the Brown Clee Hill, six miles and a half N.N.E. from Ludlow. From the summit of the Brown Clee Hill, which is chiefly situated in this parish, a most beautiful panoramic view is seen of the country, which for extent and diversity is not surpassed in England. To the north and south are seen the fruitful plains of Shropshire, pleasingly varied with woody hills, and lovely vales dotted with the humble cottage of the labourer and the mansion of the opulent, whilst the Cambrian hills, which rear their lofty heights in wild grandeur towards the west, give an additional charm to the enchanting scene. According to the description given of the manor of Stoke St. Milborough at the Doomsday survey, it would seem then to have consisted of seven hides of land, and a large wood. Earl Roger gave it to the chaplains of the church of St. Milborough. The principal landowners are the Hon. Sidney Herbert; Dr. Cavendish Wall; E. H. Owen, Esq.; and Mr. John Patrick; there are also several other proprietors. The Hon. Sidney Herbert, lord of the manor, regularly pays a fee farm rent of £29. 10s. 3d. to the Duke of Cleveland, as the representative of the grantee of it from the crown; and the Hon. S. Herbert collects from various freeholders of the manor several rents amounting in the aggregate to the said sum. THE CHURCH is a venerable structure, dedicated to the saint from whom the name of the parish is derived. The interior is commodious, and contains an antique font, and several ancient monuments to the Lee family. It has a handsome tower and four bells. The living is a vicarage, with the curacy of Heath annexed, returned at £474, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. George Morgan, M.A. THE VICARAGE is a good residence, and pleasantly situated. THE METHODISTS and PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have each a small chapel here; and there is a NATIONAL SCHOOL. “In the afternoon of Monday, July 25, 1768, there happened an extraordinary gust of wind, a few miles to the north-west of Cleobury, in Shropshire. Its effects were most remarkable in the parish of Stoke St. Milborough, where it unroofed the dwelling house, barns, stables, and every other building belonging to a farmer of the name of Bishop; one of which buildings was entirely levelled with the ground. In his orchard it destroyed upwards of sixty apple and pear trees, which were either broken off in the butt, or forced up by the roots. Several large elms and poplar trees were likewise blown down. He computed the damage he had sustained at £300. His son, a youth sixteen years of age, being in the fold, was lifted four or five yards above the surface of the ground, and carried to the distance of eighty yards, part of the space being over a fish-pond, a hedge, and a stone wall; but at last, falling gradually in a field of hay, he received but little hurt.” A donation of £400 has been invested by the present incumbent in the three per cent. consols, in the names of certain trustees, the dividends of which are laid out in bread, and distributed among such poor as are most regular in their attendance at church.

DIRECTORY.—Richard Andrews, shoemaker; James Blakemore, farmer; John T. Bright, farmer and corn miller, Court house; Thomas Colton, vict., Red Lion; John Humphries, shopkeeper; Thomas Humphries, wheelwright; John Jones, blacksmith; Samuel Jones, shoemaker; E. H. Owen, Esq., St. Milborough lodge; John Patrick, farmer; Henry Speak, farmer; John Wall, farmer.

CLEE DOWNTON, a small scattered village in the parish of Stoke St. Milborough, consists of a few scattered houses about a mile from the church. E. H. Owen, Esq., is the landowner. The chief residents are Edward Powell, farmer; Edward Poyner, farmer; Richard Sambrook, farmer; William Summers, farmer; and Richard and Thomas Whiteman, farmers.

CLEE STANTON is a village with a few straggling houses, at the foot of Titterstone Hill, two miles east from Stoke St. Milborough. Sir William R. Boughton, and Robert Head, Esq., are the landowners. The principal residents are Henry Ainsworth, farmer; Edward Millichamp, farmer; John Poter, farmer.

HEATH, a chapelry in the parish of Stoke St. Milborough, contains 386 acres of land, and is situated two miles north by west from the church. Gross estimated rental, £492. 10s. The landowners are the Earl of Craven; Edward Turner, Esq.; and Thomas and Edward Millichamp. At the census of 1841 there were ten houses and sixty-eight inhabitants. The tithes are commuted for £28, and there are 28 acres of glebe land. THE CHAPEL is a small but interesting structure, the interior of which is admired for its beautiful carved oak. Its architecture displays traces of the Norman style. Service is performed only once during the month.

The principal residents at Heath are Benjamin Cocks, farmer; Edward Millichamp, farmer, New house; Edward Powis, bailiff to E. Turner, Esq.; Mr. Edward Price, Heath cottage.

STOKESAY

is a parish and village in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, containing 3,609 acres of land, and comprising the townships of Aldon, Stoke and Newton, Wettleton, and parts of Broom and Rowton; the latter however is chiefly in the Hopesay parish, where it will be found noticed. At the census of 1801, there were 512 inhabitants: 1831, 529: 1841, 556; at the latter period there were 108 inhabited houses. Rateable value, £3,939 15s. The township of Stoke and Newton contains 1,222 acres of land, and in 1841 had 38 houses and 188 inhabitants. The Craven Arms is a handsome and commodious hotel, not surpassed by any in the county: in the front of which is a conical column, on which is inscribed the distance of this place from all the principal towns in England, Scotland, and Wales. At the Doomsday survey, Roger de Lacy held Stoches of the King, at which period there were eight plough lands, twenty villains, belonging to the manor, and a mill. The Lacy family continued in possession of it till the year 1207, when it was carried by an heiress to John de Vernon. Soon after 1240 the manor was sold to William de Ludlowe, whose son Lawrence de Ludlowe lived at the castle. In 1497 it passed to Thomas Vernon, and afterwards to Sir George Mainwaring, and he sold it about the year 1620 to Lord Craven, whose representative the Earl of Craven is the principal landowner and lord of the manor. STOKE CASTLE, formerly the seat of the Baldwin family, is a curious specimen of the castellated mansion of former days. A gate house constructed of wooden framework, with curious carvings, leads to a quadrangular court, on one side of which are the remains of the rampart, and on the other sides the house, offices, and tower. The hall and tower is opposite the gate house, in the latter is a winding staircase. The hall is very spacious, but there is no vestige of a fire-place, the ancient mode of warming apartments of this description being by a reredoss, or brazier, filled with burning charcoal, and placed in the centre; at one end is the gallery for the minstrelsy on days of festivity; the wainscot is of oak, and the chimney piece is elaborately carved. The tower which is lofty and in the form of an irregular polygon, rises from the south-west corner of the court, and is crowned with an embattled parapet; the ground floor is a gloomy apartment lighted by four small pointed windows, and the upper stories are divided into very small rooms. This stately mansion has suffered a degradation not uncommon to places of ancient note, part of it having been used as an out-house to an adjoining farm, and the rest suffered to fall to decay.

THE CHURCH is a venerable structure situated near the castle, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and consists of nave and chancel, with a tower in which are six bells. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £4. 13s. 4d., now returned at £340.; incumbent, Rev. William Williams. The Parochial school was formerly held in the church belfry, it is now taught in a private house, but a new school is expected shortly to be built. _Roger Powell_ who died in 1616, left to this parish £10. a year, and directed one shilling a week to be distributed to the poor, and the residue towards the maintenance of a schoolmaster. Of this annuity, which is paid out of a farm in Church Stoke and Lydham, £2. 12s; is given away with the sacrament money on St. Thomas’s day, and the remainder is paid to the schoolmaster. _Mary Pearce_, in 1769, bequeathed £5 to the poor of this parish, and it was then agreed that the said sum should be laid out in the purchase of a bier cloth, the cost of which was £4. 5s. 7½d., and the rest in books for the poor children of the parish; it was further agreed that in lieu of the interest of the said £5, a bible should be given yearly on Easter Monday to such poor child as the parishioners should appoint.

DIRECTORY.—Richard Coston, farmer, Newton; William Jones, wheelwright, Newton; Enoch Morris, farmer, Stoke Castle; Richard Owen, vict., Craven Arms Hotel; Francis Owen, vict., Red Lion, Newton; Joseph Speakes, schoolmaster; Rev. William Williams, vicar, Stokesay.

ALDON, a township and village in the parish of Stokesay, in 1841 contained 45 houses and 236 inhabitants. The chief landowners are Henry Lester, Esq., Hon. R. H. Clive, and Mr. William Hotchkiss, there are also a few small proprietors. Limestone is found in abundance in this township; in getting the stone, bones have frequently been found of animals that are now extinct,—not long ago some very large antlers of the deer were found. The principal residents are John Bishop, farmer; William Hotchkiss, farmer and lime burner; Edward Medlicott, farmer, Aldon Court; Benjamin Pugh, farmer, Steperside; Lady Mary Ann Syer, Stone House.

BROOM AND ROWTON is a township partly in the Munslow hundred and partly in the Purslow hundred, situated about a mile and a half east from Clungunford. At the census of 1841 two houses and eighteen inhabitants were returned as in Stokesay parish, and two houses and fifteen inhabitants as in the parish of Clungunford. The principal residents are Francis Bach, farmer, Rowton; George Beddows, farmer, Rowton; Timothy Bishop, farmer, Rowton; John and Richard Marston, farmers, The Weo.

WETTLETON, a township and small village, is situated about half a mile N.E. from Stoke, and in 1841 had 25 houses and 114 inhabitants. The land is the property of the Earl of Craven, and the resident farmers are Jeremiah Sheppard and William Sheppard.

TUGFORD

is a parish in the upper division of the Munslow hundred, nine miles N.N.E. from Ludlow, which contains 1,990 acres of land, the rateable value of which is £1,609. 5s. The soil is well adapted for the growth of turnips and barley. Population in 1801, 165; 1831, 188; 1841, 145; at the latter period there were 31 houses. The village of Tugford is on a good road leading to Ludlow, the situation is low, but dry, pleasant, and warm, being sheltered from the east by a tall plantation rising at the back of it. A small stream called Tugford Brook turns a corn mill in the village, and shortly after has its confluence with the river Corfe. In the time of Henry III. the abbot and convent of Shrewsbury held the ville of Tugford, which was computed to consist of two hides and a half of land. At the assizes, in the 20th of Edward I., the abbot of Salop claimed the liberty of free warren here, of which his successors had a confirmation in the time of Richard II. The principal landowners are the Earl of Craven and C. O. Childe Pemberton, Esq. The parish church, dedicated to St. Catherine, is a small but handsome structure, probably erected about the middle of the 16th century. The living is a rectory annexed to that of Holdgate, in the patronage of the Bishop of Hereford. Incumbent, Rev. Joseph Corbett. The rectory house is a good residence adjoining the church-yard. _Thomas Clinton_, in 1815, gave £100, the interest to be given among ten poor widows of this parish. In 1652, _Robert Ellis_ bequeathed 10s. each to the several parishes of Tugford, Abdow, Holdgate, Tregnon, and Llanwithilaw. The tithes were commuted in 1839; aggregate amount, £178. 18s. 10d.

The principal residents in Tugford are the Rev. Joseph Corbett, The Rectory; John Blakeway, shopkeeper; John Blockley, farmer; Edward Downes, farmer; John Page, farmer and corn miller; Edward Parsons, farmer; Richard Shirley, farmer; Fanny Wall, blacksmith.

THE WENLOCK FRANCHISE.

The Wenlock Franchise is bounded on the east by the Brimstree Hundred, on the south by the Stottesden Hundred, on the west by the Condover and Munslow Hundreds, and on the north by that of South Bradford. The borough and franchise of Wenlock were formerly co-extensive with the Hundred of Patintern, mentioned in Doomsday Book, which comprised the following parishes, viz.:—Much Wenlock, Little Wenlock, Broseley, Madeley, Benthall, Barrow, Tinley, Badger, Beckbury, Priors Ditton, Stoke St. Milborough, Eaton-under-Heywood, Hughley, Shipton, Monk Hopton, Willey, Deuxhill, and the Extra Parochial Liberty of Posenhall. By an order of quarter sessions, held at Shrewsbury, April 4th, 1836, the parishes of Badger, Deuxhill, and Beckbury, were added to the Brimstree Hundred; and the parishes of Eaton, Shipton, and Stoke St. Milborough, should thenceforward be considered as part of the Munslow Hundred. Ironstone, coal, limestone, and a superior clay, are found in this division of the county, which is celebrated for extensive iron-works, the manufacture of porcelain earthenware, tobacco pipes, bricks, tiles, and draining pipes. The manufacturing district is chiefly confined to the north and north-east verge of the franchise. It is intersected by the river Severn at the northern extremity, and the river afterwards forms the boundary of the franchise for some distance. At the census of 1841 this division of the county contained 3,703 inhabited houses, 155 uninhabited, and 29 building; and a population of 18,016 souls; of whom 8,936 were males and 9,080 females. Of the total population 16,518 persons were born in the county, and 1,498 elsewhere.

BARROW

is a small but pleasantly situated village and parish, in the Wenlock Franchise, two miles east from Much Wenlock, and two miles south-west from Broseley. The parish contains 2,989A. 0R. 39P. of land, the rateable value of which is £3,086. 6s. 1d. At the census in 1801 there were 479 inhabitants; 1831, 351; and in 1841 there were 85 houses and a population of 383 souls. Lord Forester and Sir Richard Acton, Bart., are the landowners. WILLEY HALL, a handsome mansion, is the occasional seat of Lord Forester. The lands in this parish abound with game, which is rigidly preserved. THE CHURCH is a venerable structure, dedicated to St. Giles, and consists of nave and chancel, with a turret, in which are two bells. The walls display many tabular monuments, and there is an antique font, with a capacious basin. On the south side of the church-yard is buried Tom Moody, the celebrated whipper-in to George Forester, Esq. The grave-stone is simply inscribed “Tom Moody, died 19th November, 1796.” The church was formerly an appendage to the Priory of Wenlock. The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory of Willey. The Rev. Henry Bridgeman is the incumbent.

THE SCHOOL AND ALMSHOUSE.—_John Slaney_, merchant tailor of London, having, in his life-time, built in the parish of Barrow an almshouse for six poor aged men or women that had been ancient dwellers thereabout, and appointed six acres of ground to be laid out for their better relief and to the support of a school. He also directed an allowance of 1s. 4d. weekly to be made to each inmate, and every alternate year a good frieze gown to be given to each person, worth 13s. 4d., and hose and shoes to the value of 6s. 8d. Mr. Slaney also erected a school for the free teaching of twenty children, and ordained that a great part of the six acres of land above mentioned should be for the maintenance of the school; and he gave towards the maintenance of the schoolmaster £10 a-year for ever. For the performance of the said allowance he gave a rent charge of £30 per annum issuing out of his manor of Willey. And for the residue of his gift to make up the pensions of the said schoolhouse and almshouse, he charged his cousin, John Slaney, that he and his heirs and assignees should for ever pay the same as a rent charge out of his lands called the Hem, which lands he gave to his said cousin on his continuing the charities according to the conditions of his will. In this will Mr. Slaney is directed to keep the school and almshouse in continual repair, and to provide fuel. The premises thus conditionally devised became the property of John Stephens, Esq., who, in 1816, exchanged the lands with Cecil Weld Forester, Esq., lord of the manor of Willey, for lands situated near Barrow church. The almshouse having become much dilapidated, the said Cecil W. Forester, Esq., agreed to be at the expense of taking down and rebuilding the school and almshouse (at his own expense), and keeping the same in repair during the term of his natural life, and to find garments and coals, pursuant to the will of the founder. In pursuance of this arrangement, the almshouse was taken down, and a new one and a schoolhouse built on the lands which he had given in exchange. The yearly expenditure when the Charity Commissioners published their report was £33. 16s., of which the rent charge on the manor of Willey provides for £30; so that there remained for the annual charge upon the lands of Mr. Stephens £3. 16s., but which was then paid by Mr. Forester, besides the cost of twelve tons of coals. With respect to the terms of this exchange, it cannot escape observation that the £3. 16s. and the twelve tons of coals which are furnished by Mr. Forester, in pursuance of his agreement, and the expense that he may be at in repairs, are a part of the consideration that he was to give for the old schoolhouse and almshouse, and the land belonging to them; and not the annual supply which Mr. Stephens’s estates were charged by the will of Mr. Slaney to furnish. When the charity has received Mr. Forester’s supply, it has received nothing more than the stipulated equivalent for the old schoolhouse and almshouse premises. But before the exchange it was entitled to something more, namely, to the supply charged on Mr. Stephens’s estates. It must, therefore, continue still entitled to that supply since the exchange; unless the effect of the exchange has been to exonerate the estates of Mr. Stephens during the life of Mr. Forester at the expense of the charity. We think that such has not been the effect, but that Mr. Stephens’s estates are liable to make good to the charity the annual supply of £3. 16s. and twelve tons of coals yearly, and to continue that supply in future. The school teacher, in addition to the £10 prescribed by the will of Mr. Slaney, has the use of a schoolhouse, and about five acres of land attached to it, with the privilege of taking private scholars.

It appears from the parish books, that a sum of £9 poors’ stock, which had for many years been in the hands of successive parish officers, was applied in the year 1788 to the repairs of the church, as interest of which the sum of 10s. is distributed by the churchwardens at Christmas in fourpenny loaves among the poor of the parish.

DIRECTORY.—John Michael Howell, farmer, The Marsh; Thomas Instone, farmer, Swinney; Augusta Jones, schoolmistress; Robert Peake, farmer; William Thursfield, Esq., farmer and land agent to Lord Forester.

BENTHALL

is a small parish with a scattered population, three miles and a half from Much Wenlock, which comprises 1,195A. 3R. 1P. of land, the whole of which is the property of Lord Forester, who is also lord of the manor. The land has a bold swelling surface, and abounds in limestone. There are lime works in this parish, which give employment to a number of the inhabitants. There is also a tobacco pipe manufactory, and an establishment for the manufacture of earthenware, carried on by Mr. Edward Bathurst. At the census of 1801, the parish contained 636 inhabitants; 1831, 525; and in 1841 there were 131 inhabited houses, and 587 souls. THE CHURCH, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, consists of nave and chancel, and has a small turret, in which is one bell: it was rebuilt in 1667, and stands on a gentle eminence: it is neatly pewed with oak sittings, and has a gallery at the west end. On the north wall of the chancel there is a tablet to the memory of Ralph Brown, Esq. and Catherine, his wife; the former died in 1707: he was lord of the manor of Benthall. On the south wall is a neat memorial to Edward Brown, gentleman, of Broseley, who died January 29th, 1849, aged 74 years. In the nave of the church is buried Philip Benthall, Esq., who died July 26th, 1713, aged 81 years. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Much Wenlock; incumbent, Rev. W. H. Wayne; curate, Rev. Thomas H. Edwards. BENTHALL HALL is a stone mansion situated near the church, some portions of which were erected in the year 1535. It is the property of Lord Forester, but is now unoccupied. In the time of the civil wars it was garrisoned by the royalists, at which period tradition states the old church was destroyed.

_Mrs. Ann Brown_, by her will dated 30th May, 1764, directed that the dividends of £200 stock, consolidated three per cents, belonging to her, should be yearly, at Christmas, distributed by her brother, Francis Turner Blithe, and his heirs, and the minister of Benthall, as they should think fit. The dividends are received under the power of attorney, and are paid to the minister, who regularly distributes them about Christmas in small sums among the poor.

_Edward Brown_, _Esq._, of Broseley, bequeathed £200 to the minister and churchwardens for the time being of Bethnall in the county of Salop, on trust to invest the same in funds, or government or real securities, and to apply the interest in repairing and maintaining the vault and tombstone of his late brother in-law, Sir Humphrey Charlton, situated in the church yard at Benthall, and to apply the surplus to the relief of poor persons from time to time resident in the parish.

POSENHALL is an extra parochial liberty, contiguous to Benthall, which at the census of 1841 is returned as containing five houses and twenty-two inhabitants. There is only one farm here, which is in the occupancy of Mr. Thomas Pitt; there is also an earthenware manufactory: the names will be found included in the Benthall directory.

DIRECTORY.—Edwin Bathurst, earthenware manufacturer, Benthall Pottery; John and Edward Burton, farmers and brick makers; Joseph Currier, shopkeeper; John Duckett, timber merchant; Rev. Thomas H. Edwards, B.A., curate, Benthall House; Mary Gother, vict., Britannia Inn; John Gother, joiner; Hiram Hill, lime burner, residence, Broseley; Joshua Instone, blacksmith; John Jones, vict., Leopard Inn; Warren Taylor Jones, earthenware manufacturer, Posenhall Pottery; John Patten, lime burner and barge owner; Ann Pitt, farmer; Thomas Pitt, farmer, Posenhall; Edward Roden, farmer and corn miller; Mary Roden, farmer; Noah Roden, tobacco pipe manufacturer; James Shepard, maltster.

BROSELEY,