Part 97

is a parish and small rural village, styled in ancient records “Wenlock under the Wrekin,” and is situated three miles south from Wellington, thee miles north-west from Ironbridge, five miles N.N.E. from Much Wenlock, and eleven miles south-east from Shrewsbury. The village is pleasantly situated on a bold acclivity, near the eastern side of the Wrekin, commanding some fine views over a picturesque and delightful district. The Wrekin stands partly in this parish, and also extends into the parishes of Wellington, Wroxeter, and Uppington. The Willow Moor or Wrekin farm is situated in a sequestered vale near to the Wrekin. This valley is supposed to have been the scene of a battle at some remote period. As a labourer was cutting a drain in the year 1835, about a hundred yards from the turnpike from Little Wenlock to Wellington, he suddenly came upon a heap of broken spears, which had been thrown together, and which it is stated numbered between two and three hundred. In the immediate vicinity are five barrows, which were opened about sixteen years ago, but nothing was discovered in them. The parish comprises 2,460 acres of land, the soil of which is a mixture of clay and gravel, producing tolerable crops of wheat, barley, and turnips. The minerals are ironstone, coal, and limestone, but none of these valuable minerals are got except on the northern verge of the parish, probably in consequence of their abundance in the adjacent parishes, where extensive iron works and collieries have long been established. Lord Forester is the owner of the land, and lord of the manor. At the census in 1801 the parish contained a population of 980 souls; 1831, 1,057; and in 1841 there were 202 houses, and 1,091 inhabitants, of whom 578 were males, and 513 females; in 1851 there were 1,034 inhabitants, and 199 houses. Gross estimated rental of the parish, £3,760. 10s. Rateable value, £4,351. 8s.

THE CHURCH is a very ancient structure, dedicated to St. Lawrence. The body of the church appears of older date than the tower, which was built in 1667. The fabric was enlarged in 1822 by adding a south transept of brick; the rest of the structure is of free stone. The tower contains five bells. The pulpit is of carved oak, very ancient. There is accommodation for upwards of 600 persons: 520 of the seats are free and unappropriated. A neat marble font is placed at the west end. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £11. 13s. 4d., in the patronage of Lord Forester: incumbent, Rev. George Edmonds, M.A. The tithes have been commuted for £584. 3s. 4d., and there are nine acres of glebe land. The parish register dates from the year 1689. In the church-yard are several venerable yew trees. THE RECTORY is a commodious brick residence, a short distance from the church, from which are seen some pleasing and picturesque views of the country. The house stands 600 feet above the level of the Severn, whose silvery waters flow in the vale beneath. WENLOCK HALL is now divided into cottage tenements. HUNTINGTON is a hamlet about a mile north from the church. COALMOOR a hamlet a mile south from the church.

CHARITIES.—_Maurice Haywood_, who died in 1760, bequeathed the sum of £10, the interest thereof to be distributed in bread to the poor of the parish on St. Thomas’s day, yearly. This legacy was paid to the churchwarden, and the parish has ever since made a distribution of bread to the amount of the interest at five per cent. _Mrs. Alice Green_ gave an annuity of 11s. 6d. to the poor of this parish, payable out of an estate called the Dairy House Farm, at Brierley, in the parish of Sedgley, in Staffordshire, of which 10s. was to be given to the poor, and 1s. 6d. to the person who fetched it for his trouble. The estate on which this annuity is charged is the property of Mrs. Foley. Much irregularity has taken place in the payment of this little annuity, in consequence apparently of the distance from which it was to be procured.

_Mrs. Mary Tipton_, in the year 1844, bequeathed £50, and directed so much of the interest as should be necessary to be applied in painting and keeping in repair her monument in the church-yard, and the residue to be annually distributed among the poor. _Mrs. Hannah Shepherd_ bequeathed the sum of £100, the interest to be applied in the purchase of suitable clothing for the benefit of the poor.

_Marked_ 1 _are at Coalmoor_, 2 _Huntingdon_, _and the rest in Little Wenlock or where specified_.

Boore Edward, maltster

Boore George, grocer

Boore John, farmer

1 Boycott Richard, charter master

1 Boycott William, draper, grocer and farmer

Chant Thomas, shoemaker

Davis Richard, farmer

Davis Thomas, farmer and maltster

2 Dawes Benjamin, maltster

Edmonds Rev. George, A.M. rector, The Rectory

Edmonds William, Esq.

1 Garbitt Wm., vict., Peacock

Harper Daniel, farmer, Wrekin farm

Harris Edwin, vict., Spread Eagle

Hulse John, beerhouse keeper

2 Jervis Francis, farmer, maltster, and collector of taxes

Jones Martha, beerhouse keeper

1 Milner William, farmer and maltster

1 Maun James, vict., Labour in Vain

Poole Mrs. Charlotte

Poole Henry, blacksmith and shopkeeper

1 Ralphs John, sawyer and beerhouse

1 Shepherd, Richard, farmer

Steele William, farmer and vict., Five Bells

Walker Edward, farmer, Willow Moor

Wellings, Walter, farmer

Williams Mrs. Emma

Wilson John, farmer

2 Yates Catherine, farmer

MADELEY

is a considerable parish and market town in the Wenlock Franchise, four and a half miles S.W. from Shiffnal, nine miles N.N. by W. from Bridgnorth, and fifteen miles S.E. from Shrewsbury. This parish is celebrated for its valuable mines of coal and ironstone, its extensive and flourishing ironworks, the Coalport china manufactory, and the manufacture of superior bricks. The parish comprises 2,810 acres of land; at the census of 1801 there were 4,758 inhabitants; 1831, 5,822; 1841, 7367; and in 1851, 8,524; of whom 4,163 were males and 4,361 females; at the latter period there were 1,711 inhabited houses, 47 uninhabited, and four houses building. Rateable value, £19,900. The principal landowners are Joseph Reynolds, Esq., James Foster, Esq., Abraham Darby, Esq., Rev. John Bartlet, Francis and John Yates, Esqrs., and the representatives of the late Francis Darby, Esq. Joseph Reynolds, Esq., is lord of the manor. The town of Madeley so far as regards that portion in the vicinity of the church is irregularly built, and consists chiefly of detached ranges of cottages rather than streets; in the immediate vicinity are a number of handsome villa residences and neat cottages. The Prior and convent of Wenlock in the 53rd of Henry III. had the grant of a market on Tuesday, to be held at Madeley, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the morrow of St. Matthew the apostle and evangelist. This market subsequently became obsolete, but was revived in 1763, when a new market house was built in the Dale at IRONBRIDGE; here a flourishing market is held on Friday, and fairs are held on January 26th, May 29th. and October 12th. The extensive establishment of Abraham Darby and Company, ironmasters, and the porcelain manufactory of Messrs. Rose and Co., give employment to a great number of the labouring population. The Madeley Wood Company’s iron works employ about eight hundred operatives, and in the establishment of James Foster and Company are employed upwards of five hundred hands, chiefly in making pig iron. A house and barn not far from the church at Madeley, afforded shelter to the unfortunate Charles II., after his defeat at the battle of Worcester. Madeley Court House, an antique old mansion in the Elizabethan style of architecture, was formerly the residence of Sir Basil Brooke, fourth in descent from Sir Basil Brooke, a zealous royalist in the time of Charles I. It is now the residence of Mr. George Jones; in the grounds is a curious old sun-dial. The MADELEY COUNTY COURT, for the recovery of debts, embraces the following parishes and places, viz.: Albrighton, Badger, Barrow, Beckbury, Benthall, Blymhill, Bonninghall, Broseley, Buildwas, Dawley, Donnington, Kemberton, Linley, Little Wenlock, Madeley, Much Wenlock, Patshull, Posenhall, Ryton, Sheriff Hales, Shiffnal, Stirchley, Stockton, Sutton Maddock, Tong, Weston-under-Lizard, and Willey. _Judge_, Uvedule Corbet, Esq.: _Clerk_, George Potts, Esq.: _Assistant Clerk_, Mr. William Bailey: _High Bailiff_, Mr. Richard Thursfield.

THE MADELEY POOR LAW UNION comprehends twelve parishes, embracing an area of forty-three square miles, with a population returned at the census of 1831 of 22,164 souls: in 1841 the inhabitants had increased to 26,172, and at the last census in 1851 there were 27,626 inhabitants, of whom 13,668 were males and 13,958 females. The Union House is a plain brick structure which will accommodate 140 inmates; the average number of paupers is about 70. The parishes embraced within the Union are Madeley, Little Wenlock, Buildwas, Dawley, Stirchley, Broseley, Benthall, Posenhall, Barrow, Linley, Willey, and Much Wenlock. _Clerk to Guardians_, William Reynolds Anstice, Esq.: _Superintendent Registrar_; Mr. Edwin R. Evans: _Chaplain_, Rev. James H. Gwyther: _Governor_, William Wildblood.

THE CHURCH is a handsome and spacious octagonal structure, with a finely-proportioned square tower in which is a peal of bells. This fabric was built in 1795, and subsequently enlarged; it is partly fitted up and provided with commodious galleries, having accommodation for upwards of a thousand worshippers; the organ is a handsome fine-toned instrument. The old church which was taken down on the erection of the present building exhibited the Norman style of architecture; a chantry was erected in the ancient structure and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in the 11th of Richard II. Several of the ancient monuments were removed from the old church when it was taken down and are now placed in the new one. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £4. 17s. 10d., now returned at £305; incumbent, Rev. James H. Gwyther, who is also chaplain to the Madeley Union, and the Right Hon. Lord Milford. The tithes have been commuted, and £226 apportioned to the vicar, and £115. 10s. to Sir Joseph Hawley, Bart., the impropriator. The vicarage, situated near the church, is a good residence mantled with ivy, and is an object of attraction to strangers, as being the residence of the celebrated pious Fletcher, formerly vicar of Madeley, a short account of whose life will be found on the following page. THE CATHOLIC CHAPEL, a neat structure, was built about the year 1760, and will hold 300 persons. The interior has a chaste appearance, and the altar is beautified with some fine workmanship. The Rev. William Molloy, the priest, resides in a house adjoining the chapel. THE WESLEYAN METHODISTS have a neat chapel built in 1841, capable of holding about 600 hearers. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL is a handsome structure of brick with stone finishings, built in the year 1845, exhibiting the Elizabethan style of architecture. The cost of the building was £859. 1s. 4d., towards which the sum of £629. 1s. 4d. was raised by local subscriptions, and a grant of £230 was obtained from the Committee of Council on Education. One hundred and thirty boys and one hundred and twenty-five girls attend the school; it is conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and three pupil teachers.

IRONBRIDGE, a populous and interesting portion of the parish of Madeley, takes its name from an iron bridge which has been erected across the Severn at this place. Here are many handsome residences, good inns, and shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. A flourishing market is held on Friday. A market hall has been built, gas introduced, and the whole has a thriving and prosperous appearance, and may be considered the focus of commercial pursuits in the parish. The iron bridge which spans the Severn is a magnificent structure, and was cast at the Coalbrook Dale Works, in 1799. The span of the arch is one hundred feet six inches, height forty feet, and the road way twenty four feet broad. It was the first iron bridge erected in England. The total weight of the iron in the bridge is three hundred and seventy-eight tons, and the whole was erected in the space of three months. The abutments of the bridge are of stone, covered with plates of iron, with mortices, in which stand two upright pillars of the same. Against the foot of the inner pillar, the bottom of the main rib bears on the base plate. This rib consists of two pieces connected by a dove-tail point, in an iron key, and secured by screws. The cross stays, braces circle in the spandrils, and the brackets connect the larger pieces, so as to keep the bridge perfectly steady; while a diagonal and cross stays, and top plates, connect the pillars and ribs together in opposite directions. The bridge is covered with iron top plates, projecting over the ribs on each side, and on this projection stands the balustrade of cast iron. The bridge being private property a small charge is made to pass over. Large quantities of iron, all kinds of castings, coal, and lime are shipped at the wharf to distant parts of the country. Near to the Lodge Farm are several beds of fine sand, which is much used by the Coalbrook Dale Company in their beautiful castings.

THE CHURCH, a handsome structure of brick, dedicated to St. Luke, is situated on elevated ground, and approached by a flight of steps one hundred and nineteen in number. It was built in the year 1836, and consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower, in which is one bell. The east window is richly beautified with stained glass, and has full length figures of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John, executed by the celebrated Evans, of Shrewsbury. The church is provided with galleries, and has a small organ. There are a thousand and sixty-two sittings, of which six hundred and sixty-two are free and unappropriated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the vicar of Madeley. Incumbent, Rev. John Andrew Jetter. THE WESLEYAN METHODISTS have a chapel at Madeley Wood, built in the year 1837, which will hold about seven hundred persons. They have also a place of worship near to the wharf, and a spacious Sunday school at Madeley Wood, where four hundred children are instructed. THE WESLEYAN NEW CONNECTION have a chapel situated at Foxholes. THE DISPENSARY and SAVINGS’ BANK are at Mrs. Rogers’s, Bridge-street; Mr. William Smith is the secretary of the latter. THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, situate on the Madeley road, is numerously attended, and there is a RAGGED SCHOOL situated in Milner’s-lane. THE MECHANICS’ INSTITUTION was established in the year 1840. The objects of the institution are to afford to mechanics and others opportunities of acquiring at their leisure hours the principles of science and the arts, and for the cultivation of literature. THE GAS WORKS, situated near the Madeley Wood brick works, were established in 1839, and the streets in Ironbridge were first lighted with gas on November 5th, 1839; Mr. Charles W. Smith is the manager and secretary. An extraordinary phenomenon occurred at the Birches not far from the iron bridge in 1775, a particular account of which has been given with Broseley.

COALBROOK DALE, a winding glen two miles from Madeley, hemmed in by lofty hills and hanging woods, is celebrated for the most considerable iron works in England; the forges, mills, and steam engines, with all their vast machinery,—the flaming furnaces, and smoking chimneys, with handsome residences nestling under the cliffs of the hills, have altogether a most romantic and singular appearance, and perhaps in no part of the globe are features of so diversified and wonderful a character brought together within so limited a compass,—here art has triumphed over nature, and the barren wilderness has been converted into one of the most animating abodes of commerce, and being studded with residences of taste and elegance, it gives the whole a very interesting appearance. Coalbrook Dale is chiefly the property of the Darby family, who carry on the extensive iron works here and in the adjoining parish of Dawley, where they have been already noticed. The Coalbrook Dale Company is one of the largest establishments in England, justly celebrated for the superiority of their castings, and for the manufacture of every description of iron goods. THE FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE, a neat brick structure, was built in 1789, and has a small burial ground attached. It stands near the site of a former meeting house. THE WESLEYAN CHAPEL, a plain brick structure, was occasionally the scene of the labours of the eminent Fletcher, the vicar of Madeley. A spacious school room has been built at the expense of the Coalbrook Dale Company, where about eighty boys are instructed. It is chiefly supported by the liberality of the same company. The room above the school is used as an episcopal place of worship, and here the curate of Madeley usually officiates twice on the Sabbath. A commodious school for girls has been built near the works, which is supported by Mrs. Abraham Darby; here about one hundred girls and an equal number of infants are now receiving instruction. Sunny-side House, a good brick residence on the heights above the dale, was unoccupied when our agent visited Coalbrook Dale. The residences of Abraham Darby, Esq., Richard Darby, Esq., and the Mrs. Darby, are handsome mansions, situated near the works in the dale. East Field is a good residence at the bottom of the dale, the seat of Barnard Dickinson, Esq., near to which is Severn House, the residence of Henry Dickinson, Esq., besides which there are several other handsome residences.

COALPORT, celebrated for its rich and extensive china works, is situated about two miles from Ironbridge. The eminent firm of Rose and Company has been established here upwards of half a century; and the articles produced at this manufactory, for superior taste and elegant workmanship, are nowhere excelled. The establishment is known as the Coalbrook Dale China Manufactory, and is the most extensive in the kingdom. The firm employs 537 operatives.

CHARITIES.—By an Indenture dated 29th May, 1706, we find that _Basil Brook_, by his will bequeathed to the poor of the parish of Madeley the sum of £40, which the churchwardens and parishioners desired might be laid out in the purchase of lands and tenements for the use of the poor of the parish. It was witnessed that Comerford Brook, in consideration of the said £40, and also of a further sum of £30 paid to him by Audley Bowdler and eight others, parties to the said indenture, granted to Audley Bowdler and others three cottages with gardens thereto, on trust, to employ the rents and profits thereof for the use of the poor. By another indenture, dated 26th December, 1713, William Johnson, in consideration of £30, conveyed a tenement in Madeley Wood to the trustees mentioned in the former deed, upon similar trusts. No further account can be obtained of the source from whence the two sums of £30 consideration money were derived. In course of time, the cottages having become out of repair, and there being no fund for repairing them, it was thought advisable to sell them for long terms at nominal rents, and apply the money received for the leases towards the building of a house of industry. Accordingly, on the 2nd January, 1797, the vicar, parish officers, and trustees granted six leases of the trust property for terms of 999 years, in consideration of a sum of £235. 15s. and a nominal rent of 4s. 6d. per annum. The sum thus received was added to a subscription raised in the parish to the further amount of £806. 13s. 6d., making together £1,042. 8s. 6d., and applied in the erection on a part of the charity land of a house of industry, the cost of which was £1,086. 14s. 7½d.; and a lease of that piece of land, with the house so erected upon it, containing 3R. 12P., was granted to certain trustees for the use of the parish for a term of 999 years, at the yearly rent of £18. The income of these premises, amounting to £18. 14s. 6d., together with 5s. a year derived from another fund, has been for many years applied in providing clothing for the poor.

The annuity of 5s. above mentioned was formerly paid out of premises belonging to Mr. Beddoes, but by whom given is not known. In the returns made under the Act of the 26th George III., it is attributed to a person of the name of Johnson, and there was formerly such a person who had property in this parish. A person of the name of Bowdler, who held the premises after Beddoes, became bankrupt, when the premises were sold, and there being no means of establishing a claim to this annuity against the purchase, it was agreed that the trustees of the other charity should receive from the assignees the sum of £5, in lieu and in discharge of this annuity. This sum, and 20s. for four years arrears, was accordingly paid to the trustees, and by them placed in the savings bank. _Mr. William Yate_, in 1810, bequeathed four kneelings in his pew in the gallery of the church for the benefit of the Sunday school.

The following biographical sketch of the Rev. John Fletcher, formerly vicar of Madeley, is taken from the account of that celebrated individual published by the Rev. Robert Cox, curate of St. Leonard’s, Bridgnorth, and other authorities:—“John Guillaume de la Flechere, or as he was generally designated in this his adopted country, John William Fletcher, was born in Switzerland, at Nijon, in the Pays de Vaud. His father, in the early part of his life, had been an officer in the French service, but on his marriage retired from the army, and afterwards became a colonel in the militia of his own country. Young Fletcher having passed the early part of his boyhood at Nion, was sent to the University of Geneva, where he was soon distinguished by the superiority of his talents, and the intensity of his application. About this period Fletcher met with a providential escape, which he never afterwards mentioned without the strongest expressions of gratitude. He lived for some time at a place very near the Rhine, where he frequently bathed, being careful to keep near the shore that the stream might not carry him away. Once, however, being less careful than usual, he was drawn into mid-channel, where the course of the water was very swift. He endeavoured to swim against it, but in vain, till he was hurried a distance of five miles from home. At last, despairing of life, he was cheered by the sight of a fine smooth creek, into which he was swiftly carried by a violent stream. A powder mill stood directly across it, and the last thing he could remember was the striking of his breast against one of the piles on which it stood. He then lost his senses, and knew nothing more till he rose on the other side of the mill, in a calm safe place, perfectly well. Many persons gladly welcomed him on shore; and one gentleman in particular said, ‘I looked when you went under the mill, and again when you rose on the other side. The time of your being immerged among the piles was exactly twenty minutes.’”