Part 65
DIRECTORY.—John Bagley, tailor; John Barnet, victualler, Barnet’s Grove; Job Basnett, farmer; Rev. Frederick Burd, curate; John Drury, farmer; John Evans, corn-miller; Daniel Everall, farmer; Thomas Everall, farmer; James Farmer, corn-miller; Robert Gardner, Esq., Leighton Hall; Thomas Gervis, farmer, Garmston; Sir George Harnage, Bart.; Harry C. Jeffries, farmer, Garmston; John Machin, farmer, Eye Farm; Thomas Richards, farmer; Isaac Shepherd, farmer, Longwood; Thomas Tart, tailor.
LILLESHALL
is a parish in the Newport division of the South Bradford hundred, which comprises the townships of Lilleshall, Donington, and Muxton, and embraces 6,111A. 3R. 9P. of land. In 1801 the parish had a population of 2,060 souls; 1831, 3,596; and in 1841 there were 708 houses and 3,851 inhabitants. Rateable value, £12,034. 1s. 8d. The Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor, and owner of the whole parish, except about half a dozen acres, the property of Mr. John Bradborn, in the township of Muxton. The village of Lilleshall is pleasantly situated on the acclivity of a hill, three miles south-west from Newport. The township in 1841 contained 155 houses and 795 inhabitants; the houses are scattered, and the population find employment in the extensive collieries and iron works with which the vicinity abounds. THE CHURCH is a venerable structure mantled with ivy, and dedicated to St. Mary; in the tower is a peal of six bells. On the north side of the chancel is an altar tomb, with two full length figures, in memory of dame Catherine Leveson and Sir Richard Leveson: the former died March 31st, 1674, and the latter June 2nd, 1661. The old font, about twenty years ago, was used as a cistern to a pump at Lilleshall old hall; it was removed by the late vicar, and now stands at the west end of the church. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £6. 17s. 11d.; now returned at £338; in the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland; incumbent, Rev. Henry George Bunsen; curate, Rev. Thomas Bucknall Lloyd. On Lilleshall Hill, in this parish, a monument was erected in 1839, to the memory of the first Duke of Sutherland; on June 20th, 1839, it was struck with lightning, and sustained considerable damage; but it was shortly after put in a state of complete reparation. On the north side is the following inscription.—
To the memory of George Granville Leveson Gower, K G First Duke of Sutherland, The most just and generous of landlords. This monument is erected by the occupiers of his Grace’s Shropshire farms, as a public testimony that he went down to the grave with the blessings of his tenants on his head, and left behind him upon his estates the best inheritance which a gentleman of England can bequeath to his son: men ready to stand by his house heart and hand.
On the south side of the monument is the inscription, “Let all the ends thou aimest at be thy country’s, thy God’s, and truth’s.” It is related that at the trial of Queen Caroline, the Lord Chancellor Eldon, in his charge to the peers, told them to “Be just and fear not,” when the Duke of Sutherland immediately rose from his place in the house and declared that he echoed the sentiments of his noble and learned friend on the wool sack, and would copy the immortal bard still farther by saying, “Let all the ends thou aimest at be thy country’s, thy God’s, and truth’s.” This was the occasion of the inscription being placed on the monument. The obelisk was designed by Sir Francis Chantrey.
His Grace, in March, 1803, succeeded to the trust estates and canal of his maternal uncle, the late Duke of Bridgewater, and in October in the same year, by the death of his father, he became Marquis of Stafford, and entered into possession of the paternal estates of the Leveson branch of the family, in Staffordshire and Shropshire, and to the ancient patrimony of the Gowers of Yorkshire. For some time he filled the office of postmaster general, and was ambassador to the court of France at the commencement of the revolution in that country. His titles were George Grenville, Duke of Sutherland, Marquis of the County of Stafford, Earl Gower, Viscount Trentham, Baron Gower of Sittenham, and a baronet. His Grace was also a Knight of the Garter, and a Privy Councillor. Among the near relations of the Duke of Sutherland may be enumerated the distinguished families of Bedford, Rutland, Lansdowne, Marlborough, Dorset, Kingston, Waldegrave, Jersey, Thanet, and Warwick. The Shropshire estates of the Duke of Sutherland are upwards of 20,000 acres.
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL, a plain brick structure a little south from the church, has an attendance of about eighty boys and sixty girls. It is supported by the Duke of Sutherland and a small charge from each scholar. There are about three roods of garden ground attached to the school, which is divided into twenty allotments, and cultivated by twenty of the senior scholars for their own benefit.
LILLESHALL ABBEY.—In a solitary and retired situation, about a mile south from the church, may be seen the ruins of Lilleshall Abbey. At the great western entrance is a fine Norman arch, richly recessed with ribs and running foliage. The pillars and arches of the church have been entirely destroyed, but the doors and windows still remain. The south door, by which a communication was formed with the cloister, is doubtless one of the most highly ornamented arches in the kingdom. A semi-circular arch, overspread with ornaments peculiar to the Saxon and early Norman buildings, is supported by clusters of slender shafts, some of which are spiral, and others covered with lozenge work, having the intermediate spaces embellished with mouldings. The east window of the choir has a beautiful pointed arch of the fourteenth century, and the north and south windows are narrow plain, and round headed. The walls of the refectory have been converted into a residence. The church was cruciform, and had probably two towers: one in the centre and the other at the west end; the breadth of the nave is thirty-six feet, and the length two hundred and twenty-eight feet. The boundary wall of the abbey encompassed several acres, and in some parts is still entire. The ruins of the abbey are scattered over a large space, and the walls, which in some parts are mantled with ivy, are of considerable height, and the fragments of superb workmanship still to be seen show it to have been a place of great magnificence and architectural grandeur. The stalls of the choir at the dissolution were removed to the collegiate church of Wolverhampton, where they now remain. Richard de Belmeis, says Bishop Tanner, the last dean of the collegiate church of St. Alkmund, in Shrewsbury, about the year 1145, with the consent of pope Eugenius and King Stephen, surrendered up that church with all the lands and churches belonging to the same to the use of some regular canons of the order of St. Augustine, who came from Dorsetshire and began to build an abbey to the honour of the blessed virgin, upon one of the prebendal estates, here in the wood of Lilleshall, to which his kinsman, Philip de Belmeis was an early and great benefactor. Other authorities state that in the time of the Saxon dynasty a religious house was dedicated here to the use of secular canons or prebendaries, and afterwards became a nunnery, which was reduced to a state of desolation by the predatory incursions of the Welsh tribes, and it so continued until about the year 1145. Among the principal benefactors to this abbey were Alanta Zouche John le Strange, who gave the church of Hulme; and Hillaria de Trussebut, the wife of Robert de Bulders, who gave certain lands, and directed her body to be buried within the precincts of the abbey. In the 34th Henry III. the abbot had leave to grub up twenty-three acres in the woods of Lilleshall, and in the 7th of Edward to make an assart of the wood near Watling street, in the forest of Wombridge. In the 11th of Edward I. the abbot had leave to make a park. The abbey was endowed at subsequent periods by different pious individuals, and the annual income at the general dissolution of religious houses was valued at £229. 3s. per annum. On account of the situation of this monastery, near the Chester road, the abbots were sometimes known to complain that their income was too scanty to entertain the continual influx of visitors that travelled that road.
CHARITIES.—_Sir Richard Leveson_, by will, dated 5th of November, 1660, gave to the poor people inhabiting the parish of Lilleshall a rent charge of £5 per annum, issuing out of certain lands called Kainton Meadow. The Marquis of Stafford pays this gift yearly, which is distributed on St. Thomas’s-day by the minister and churchwardens. There is a piece of land still called Kainton Meadow, which is no doubt the land charged by the testator.
_Lady Catherine Leveson_, by her will, in 1670, devised to trustees her manor of Foxley, in Northamptonshire, and directed the yearly proceeds to be put to charitable uses; among others to the payment of £120 a year to the maintenance of twelve poor widows, three of whom were to be inhabitants of the parish of Lilleshall, and she directed that there should be provided by the minister and parish officers, out of the £10 respectively allowed for their maintenance, a gown of grey cloth, upon the breast of which gown the letters of K. L. in blue cloth should be set, which gown should be constantly wore by the widows, and if any one should refuse to wear them she should lose the benefit of the charity. The testator gave a further sum of £100 yearly to be applied in putting forth ten poor boys apprentices, two of whom should be children of the inhabitants of Lilleshall. In respect of this charity £50 a year is received by the churchwardens of Lilleshall, out of which £10 a year are paid to three poor widows, appointed by the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor, a preference being given to such as have fallen into poverty from better circumstances, and have not received parochial relief. The gowns have not been provided for them for many years. Two boys are usually apprenticed every year with premiums of £10 each. Upon inspection of the parish books which commence in 1634, it appears that various small benefactions have been given to the poor, which were placed in the hands of different persons, who paid interest for them. These sums appear to have passed in various proportions to other persons, and the interest thereon to have fluctuated so as to afford no certain information as to the amount or donation of the benefactions. In the year 1718 the poor’s stock appears to have amounted to £40. In 1734 the sum of £56 was put by the churchwardens into the parish chest for the use of the poor. No further entry occurs till 1757, when a sum of £20 appears to have been in the hands of Charles Lawrence, and £15 in the hands of Henry Barber. The £20 subsequently passed into the hands of Robert Garmeson, who in 1786 gave his note of hand for the money, and shortly after died insolvent. The entries of receipt of interest of the £15 cease in 1800, for several years previous to which it appears to have been paid by Mr. James Barber, about which time he died in bad circumstances, so that this sum may also be considered as lost.
LILLESHALL HOUSE, the magnificent seat of the Marquis of Stafford, is situated on a commanding eminence, from which extensive and beautiful prospects of the surrounding country are seen. The mansion is about a mile from the ruins of Lilleshall Abbey, within the bounds of the parish of Sheriff Hales, and was erected by the late Duke of Sutherland; it is built of beautiful white free stone, and exhibits a fine specimen of the Tudor style of architecture, from designs by Sir John Wyattville. The garden and pleasure grounds are laid out with admirable taste, and cover between forty and fifty acres. The flower garden from its extent and the beautiful order in which it is kept is surpassed by few in the kingdom; the manner of planting the flowers of one particular colour so as to form the greatest contrast with the beds contiguous to it has a most brilliant and dazzling effect. An avenue in the garden, which stretches 300 yards in length, has a very pleasing appearance; the frame work is of wood, to which are trained roses, japonicas, the various sorts of clamitas, and fruit trees, and in the delightful season when the clustering fruits hang in profusion, enriched with the autumnal tints, among the beautiful blossoms of the japonica and rose—the whole has a most enchanting appearance. The terrace commands a fine view of the park, the woody scenery in the vicinity, and a large tract of the country extending over North Shropshire into Staffordshire, Cheshire, and the mountainous district of Wales.
The village and parish of Sheriff Hales is mostly situated in Staffordshire. The residents of a few scattered farms, and at the mansion of Lilleshall House, are included in the following directory.
_Those with * affixed are in the parish of Sheriff Hales_, _and the rest in Lilleshall parish_.
* Stafford The Marquis of, Lilleshall House
Adams John, assistant overseer & constable
Adams Thomas, nursery and seedsman
Bates William, parish clerk and bricklayer
Birch Thomas, surveyor
Bunsen Rev. Henry George, vicar, Lilleshall Old Hall
Diggens Emma, schoolmistres
Diggens William, schoolmaster
Duncalfe Rd., farmer, Honnington Grange
Edwards Thomas, vict., Red House
* Elliot Wm., gardener, Lilleshall House
Higgins Mr., farmer, Lubstree Park
Howle Jane and Mary, shopkeepers
Hughes George, cashier
Hunt John, farm bailiff
James Mary, farmer, Cheswall Grange
Jones John, farmer
* Johnson Thomas, farmer, Red Hill
* Leman Tubal Cain, butler, Lilleshall House
Lloyd Rev. Thos. Bucknall, curate, Vicarage
Maddings Thomas, corn miller & maltster
* Pearce John, farmer, Hinks
* Pearce Mary, farmer
Phillips John B., farmer, Brockton Leasows
* Phillips Joseph Taylor, farmer, Manor House
* Smith William, Esq., land agent to the Duke of Sutherland, Little Hales
Spearman Elizabeth, farmer
Timmis John, farmer, Abbey farm
West Francis, farmer, Lilleshall Grange
Wilde Edward, farmer, Lilleshall Hill
DONINGTON, OR DONINGTON WOOD,
is a considerable township with a scattered population, situated about a mile W. from Lilleshall, and four miles S.W. from Newport. At the census in 1811 there were 498 houses and 2,757 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in the extensive iron works, collieries, and ironstone mines, with which this neighbourhood abounds. The collieries vary from 100 to 300 yards in depth, and there are twelve seams from which coal is got; the mines from which the ironstone is procured are also of very great depths; the country extending south and south west for several miles present one vast field of collieries and iron works, and has a teeming population, all busily employed in these and their subordinate manufactures and employments.
THE CHURCH is a neat modern structure, situate at Donington Wood, built about the year 1844, at a cost of £2,000. The seats are all free and unappropriated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the vicar of Lilleshall; incumbent, Rev. Thomas O’Regan. THE BAPTISTS have a chapel here, which was built about twenty years ago. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL was built at the expense of the Duke of Sutherland, who is also a munificent contributor towards the support of the institution; Thomas Townsend is the teacher. THE DONINGTON WOOD MECHANICS’ INSTITUTION was established in February, 1851, for the object of providing useful and intellectual entertainment for the numerous artisans and other inhabitants of Donington; for this object a library and reading room has been established, which is furnished with the leading London and provincial journals and magazines. Toward the library the Duke of Sutherland has kindly presented a large and valuable collection of books. It is intended to employ lecturers on popular subjects, to which members are admissable. The Lilleshall Company holds the collieries in this locality in lease of the Duke of Sutherland.
POST OFFICE.—_At Mr. Samuel Hollis’s_. Letters despatched at 7 P.M. to Newport.
Adams John, railway station master
Anslow James, shopkeeper
Bennett James, shoemaker
Bott John, shopkeeper
Bott Sarah, schoolmistress
Boycott William, farmer and corn miller
Bradbury Isaac, blacksmith
Bulger William, ground bailiff
Hollis Samuel, agent to Lilleshall Company and post master
Horton Charles, ground bailiff
Jarrett John, schoolmaster
Jones Edward, mining engineer and manager to Lilleshall Company
Morton William, agricultural implement manufacturer, &c.
O’Regan Rev. Thomas, incumbent
Roystone Thomas, painter, plumber, and glazier
Tipton Thomas, bookkeeper
Townsend Thomas, schoolmaster
Ward Joseph, spade tree maker
Wheeler James, engineer
Wheeler James Henry, engineer
MUXTON
is a township in the parish of Lilleshall, situate near a mile W. from the church, and three and a half miles S.W. from Newport, the acres and value of which are included with the parish. The land is the property of the Duke of Sutherland, with the exception of about six acres, the property of Mr. John Bradborn. At the census in 1841 there were 55 houses and 299 inhabitants. Mrs. Rebecca Walthall by will 1740 bequeathed £10 to the churchwardens of Lilleshall, and directed the interest thereof to be distributed to the poor of Muxton on St. Thomas’s-day. It does not appear that this legacy were paid to the churchwardens of Lilleshall. An annual sum of 5s. was paid to them by the late Isaac H. Browne, Esq., and is still paid by the agent of his widow, which is supposed to be on account of the above benefaction, and to have been charged on an estate derived from Mrs. Walthall by Mr. Browne, which he sold some time ago in various lots. It is more probable however that the money had been left at interest in the hands of the residuary legatees, and that this 5s. was Mr. Browne’s share of such interest. A similar sum was formerly paid by Mr. Walthall, the other residuary legatee and administrator, who resided at Wistaston, in Cheshire, but this payment has been discontinued many years. The 5s. paid by Mrs. Browne is distributed among the poor of this township.
Bradborn John, maltster
Dawes Mary, farmer, Muxton bridge
Gaunt Edward, farmer
Greene John, surgeon
Hawkins Richard, butcher
Hitchin William, shoemaker
Johnson Jane, farmer, Woodhouse
Jones Richard, carpenter and joiner
Pearce George, maltster & vict., Holly Bush
Thursfield Richard, maltster
Tudor Samuel and William, farmers, Street Grange
Webb Richard, shoemaker
LONGDEN-UPON-TERN
is a parish and village in the Wellington Division of the South Bradford Hundred, three miles and a half N.W. by W. from Wellington. The villager is scattered, but pleasantly situated on elevated ground on the southern banks of the river, and commands many interesting views of rural beauty. In 1801 there were 102 inhabitants; 1831, 109; and in 1841, 15 houses and 99 inhabitants. The parish contains 796A. 1R. 32P. of land, and is intersected by the Shropshire Union Canal, and the turnpike road from Wellington to Shrewsbury. The river and its tributary streams are crossed by two bridges—one of metal, the other of stone,—and the canal by a brick structure. The canal is carried over the vale of the river by an aqueduct of sixty-two yards in length. There are 6A. 1R. of land in roads and waste. The soil is various: in some parts it is cold and wet. Gross estimated rental, £1,522. 9s. 2d. Rateable value, £1,358. 8s. The Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor, and the principal landowner, William Howard, Esq., is also a proprietor.
THE CHURCH, a small brick structure dedicated to St. Bartholomew, has a square turret, containing one bell. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland, and incumbency of the Rev. Edward Meredith, M.A. The tithes are commuted for £110. THE PARSONAGE is a neat brick residence, embosomed in foliage, and pleasantly situated a short distance from the church. The minister receives a limited number of young gentlemen as boarding scholars. THE HALL is a spacious structure, of considerable antiquity, with lofty chimneys; it is built of brick, with stone quoins and finishings, and is the property of William Howard, Esq., and residence of Mr. Henry Stormont. Extensive and conveniently arranged farm-buildings have recently been added to the farms occupied by Mr. Peter Brisbourne and Mr. George Belliss. THE SCHOOL is a brick structure, erected in 1849, at the expense of the Duke of Sutherland, who also gave the site. It is partly supported by subscription, but chiefly from the private resources of the minister, and a small payment from the children that attend for instruction. There are extensive corn mills on the banks of the river in this parish.
DIRECTORY.—George Belliss, farmer; Edward Brisbourne, farmer; Mrs. Brisbourne; Peter Brisbourne, farmer; Joseph Cooke, corn miller; Elizabeth Hatton, schoolmistress; John Jones, farmer; Rev. Edward Meredith, boarding-school, and incumbent of the church; Thomas Paddock, farmer and corn miller, Manor House; Henry Stormont, farmer, The Hall.
LONGFORD
is a parish, with a scattered population, situated about a mile and a half west from Newport, which comprises 1,907A. 2R. 13P., and in 1801 had 182 inhabitants; 1831, 206; and in 1841, 209; at the latter period there were 38 houses. The township of Longford contains 1,257A. 3R. 10P. of land, and in 1841 had 24 houses and a population of 125 souls. Gross rental, £2,774. 4s. 7d. Rateable value, £2,529. 14s. Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., is lord of the manor, and owner of the whole township. THE CHURCH is a small neat structure, dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of nave and chancel, with a tower at the west end, built about forty years ago. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £6. 2s. 8½d., now returned at £425, in the patronage of Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. John Kynaston Chorlton. The tithes have been commuted for £144. About twenty yards north from the church is a small structure, which was left standing when the old church was taken down. This was a private chapel, built as an appendage to the old edifice, and was the burial place of a branch of the Talbot family. The Talbots formerly owned the Longford estate, which was subsequently inherited by the Shrewsbury family, from whom it passed by sale; except the site of this small structure, which still remains the freehold property of the Earl of Shrewsbury. On the south side of this chapel is an elegant marble monument in memory of a Lady Talbot, which is richly ornamented with carved work and gilt embellishments. On the north side of the chapel is an alabaster slab, but without date. LONGFORD HALL, the residence and property of Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., is a spacious and handsome mansion of free-stone, with a noble portico supported by four massive pillars of the Doric order. The hall is delightfully situated on a gentle eminence, and opens into a finely-timbered park of about a hundred and fifty acres. Not far from the hall is a fine sheet of water, which covers about seven acres.
BROCKTON is a hamlet, a little more than a mile south from the church, which consists of two good farm residences and the rectory; near to which is a farm called the Brockton Leasowes, but the house is just within the bounds of Lilleshall parish. THE RECTORY is an ancient residence, mantled with ivy. The soil in this township is highly fertile, and well adapted for the growth of barley and turnips. A little north-west from the church is a corn mill, which was unoccupied when our agent visited Longford.