Part 89

DIRECTORY.—Francis Lechmere Charlton, Esq., Ludford House; Thomas Lowe, farmer, Hucks Barn; George Penny, machine maker and brass founder; John Wade, paper manufacturer, Ludlow Paper Mills; Margaret Worley, vict., Ludford Arms.

SHEET, a township and village situated about a mile from the parish church, in 1841 contained seven houses and 29 inhabitants. The principal landowners are the Hon. R. H. Clive, F. L. Charlton, Esq., and the corporation of Ludlow. The chief residents are Thomas Callon, farmer, Saltmoor; Mary Lawrence, farmer, Saltmoor; Mary and Betsy Longmore, farmers, Steventon; James Wild, farmer, Steventon; Frederick Wood, Esq., The Sheet.

MUNSLOW

is a parish and small village in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, which was of sufficient importance in early times to give name to the division of the county in which it is locally situated. The parish contains 4,110 acres of land, and embraces the townships of Aston, Bach, or Beach Mill, Broadstone, Holloway, part of Hungerford, Millichope, Munslow, Poston, Lower Thonglands, and Topley-vill: population in 1801, 610; 1818, 770. Rateable value, £3,779. 12s. 9d. The village of Munslow is pleasantly situated in a romantic district nine miles north from Ludlow: this township at the census of 1841 had 29 houses and 160 inhabitants. C. O. C. Pemberton, Esq., is the chief landowner. Sir Edward Littleton, son and heir of Sir Edward Littleton, of Henley, in the county of Salop, was made Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, in the 15th Charles I.; and the year following Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and Lord Littleton, Baron Munslow.

THE CHURCH is a fine old structure dedicated to St. Michael, and consists of nave, chancel, and north aisle, the latter divided from the nave by pointed arches, and a broad obtuse arch; the chancel is divided from the body of the church by a handsome oak screen. The ceiling is carved, resting on strong oak brackets. The font is very ancient, and there are various monuments. Several of the windows are adorned with stained glass of antique workmanship, one of which was added at the expense of Richard Sheppard and Joanna his wife, in the time of Henry VII.; the beautiful decorations of the east window are of more modern date. The living is a rectory with the curacy of Broadstone annexed valued in the king’s book at £21. 15s. 2½d., now returned at £730, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. T. C. Powell. In the church-yard there is a singular building the uses of which are unknown. It consists of a roof supported by four oak pillars and arches of the same material; as it now stands it is raised little more three feet from the ground. There is a NATIONAL SCHOOL in the village which is supported by subscriptions and a small charge from each scholar.

CHARITIES.—In the year 1795, the sum of £300, five per cent stock, was purchased with a legacy of £100 left to the poor of the parish of Munslow in 1762, by _Major John More_, and a legacy of £200 left by his sister _Catharine More_ in 1792, the interest of which sum it was directed should be distributed annually to poor housekeepers within the said parish, at the discretion of the minister and churchwardens. When this stock was paid off, £328 stock was purchased in the new four per cents, which is now standing in the name of the rector. The dividends amounting to £13. 2s. 6d. per annum, are distributed to poor housekeepers in the parish by the rector.

DIRECTORY.—Arthur Bach, saddler and harness maker; William Bowley, butcher and shopkeeper; Thomas R. C. Downes, surgeon; Edward Edwards, farmer; Edward Evans, tailor; Edward Hughes, farmer; Edwin Keysell, maltster, corn dealer, and seedsman; Charles Pothecary, surgeon; William Power, surgeon; Rev. Thomas C. Powel, rector; David Pugh, builder; Obadiah Newnham, schoolmaster; John Roberts, farmer.

ASTON, a small township in the parish of Munslow, at the census in 1841 had 31 houses and 164 inhabitants: the acres and rateable value of the several townships in this parish are returned with the parish of Munslow. John Francis Wright, Esq., is the principal landowner. The principal residents in the township of Aston are John Downes, Esq., Aston Hall; John Hince, plumber and glazier; Edward Mullard, blacksmith; Miss Ann Pearce, The White House; Samuel Preece, farmer; William Shirley, farmer; Benjamin Wall, wheelwright; William Wigmore, vict., The Hundred House.

BACH or BEACH MILL, a hamlet in the parish of Munslow, at the census in 1841 had twelve houses and a population of forty eight souls. The landowner in the township is Herbert Cornewall, Esq. The principal residents are James Dyer, carpenter; Samuel Handcocks, blacksmith; Joseph Sankey, tailor and shopkeeper; Richard Sankey, tailor, and post office; John Stubbs, shopkeeper.

BROADSTONE, a township and tolerable village in Munslow parish, is pleasantly situated near the turnpike road from Munslow to Much Wenlock. There is a small Chapel of Ease at Broadstone, where divine service is performed once a month. In 1841 this township contained 42 houses and a population of 120 souls. The chief residents are William Bishop, cooper; John Blockley, farmer and maltster; Joseph Childe, wheelwright; Thomas Cocks, vict., Seven Stars; John Jones, shoemaker; Samuel Lewis, farmer; Thomas Lewis, bricklayer. HOLLOWAY VILLE, situated in the parish of Munslow, consists of only one farm house, which is occupied by Walter Watkins.

MILLICHOPE, a township in the parish of Munslow, at the census of 1841 had fourteen houses and fifty-seven inhabitants. The land is chiefly the property of Charles Orlando Childe Pemberton, Esq., of Millichope Park, an elegant mansion in the Grecian style of architecture, beautified with tasteful pleasure grounds and surrounded with woody scenery. The house is a modern structure, built near the site of an antique mansion which was chiefly composed of timber and plaster, bearing the characteristics of the reign of Elizabeth, and was taken down about eight years ago. On the top of a rock facing the hall, a beautiful Cenotaph has been built in the Grecian style, in memory of two brothers of the name of More, one of whom was an officer in the 79th regiment, and the other in the British navy. It has been erected about seventy-five years. The small but very ancient manor house of Upper Millichope formerly belonged to the Prior of Wenlock; it consists of only one room on a floor. The walls are seven feet in thickness, and lighted by narrow slips of windows; the entrance is by an ornamented circular-headed doorway, to the right of which are some steps of an old stone staircase carried up in the solid wall to the upper chamber, the entrance to which is guarded by three doors, the centre one being secured by a massive wooden bar which passed through the wall of the room into the outer wall on the opposite side of the staircase. The structure now forms part of a farm residence. It is supposed by antiquaries that the lower compartment in the warlike times of former ages was used for the purpose of securing the cattle in times of danger, while the upper story formed the habitation of the family. The principal residents in Millichope are Charles Orlando Childe Pemberton, Esq., Millichope Park; Mr. William Cadwallader, Thomas Clifton, mason; Thomas Wall, blacksmith.

THONGLANDS is a township and small village in the parish of Munslow, which in 1841 contained fifteen houses and eighty-three inhabitants. C. O. C. Pemberton, Esq., of Millichope Park, and the Rev. Frederick Lakin, are the landowners. The chief residents are Joseph Edwards, beerhouse keeper; William Lello, farmer; and Thomas Wall, farmer. TOPLEY VILLE, comprising two houses and twelve persons, is in the parish of Munslow. Mr. John Price is the only resident farmer.

POSTON LOWER is a township in the parish of Munslow, situated six miles north from Ludlow, which comprises three houses and twenty-three inhabitants at the census of 1841. The land is the property of Archdeacon Corbet. John Kelly, blacksmith, and Richard Wellings, farmer, are the residents.

ONIBURY

is a parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, which embraces the townships of Onibury and Walton, and contains 1,900 acres of land, the principal owner of which is Earl Craven; the other part is the property of the Hon. R. H. Clive. At the census in 1801 there were 359 inhabitants; 1831, 438; 1841, 368: at the latter period there were 73 houses. Rateable value £2,311. 17s. The village of Onibury is pleasantly situated on the east bank of the river Oney, and on the turnpike road leading from Shrewsbury to Ludlow: 24 miles S. from the former, and five miles N.W. from the latter. The Shrewsbury and Hereford line of railway, now in course of formation, will intersect the parish, and cross the turnpike on a level with the road. A portion of the village south east of the river is in the respective parishes of Stanton Lacy and Stokesay. A saw mill has been erected by Lord Craven on the river Oney. In the time of Edward the Confessor, Oniberie was in the possession of the bishop of Hereford, and after the conquest Roger de Lacy held it of him. The manor and patronage of the church was long possessed by the Burnels, and eventually passed, in marriage, to the Lovels, in whose family it remained till the attainder of Lord Lovel, in the time of Henry VII. It was subsequently held by the Mainwarings and Barkers, and about the year 1620 came into the hands of Lord Craven, the ancestor of the present proprietor, by purchase. There was formerly a park at Onibury, which is now divided into farms. Wootton, an ancient mansion of considerable extent, in the Elizabethan style of architecture, and moated, has recently been taken down. It was formerly the seat of distinguished families, and the park above mentioned was in all probability connected with this mansion. THE CHURCH is rather a plain structure of the early English style, with a tower at the west end containing four bells. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £8. 17s. 8½d.; in the patronage of Earl Craven, and enjoyed by the Rev. J. J. Hodges. The tithes have been commuted for £330. There is a good rectory house, and ninety acres of glebe land. THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL is a small structure built by subscriptions in the year 1836, and situated at the south-east corner of the church-yard. The school is free to the children of the parish, and those resident in the immediate neighbourhood, and is supported by subscriptions and a rent-charge of £6. 13s. 4d., left for educational purposes by William Norton, in 1593. The township and small village of WALTON, situated about a mile from Onibury, in 1841 had fifteen houses and ninety-five inhabitants; it comprises 625 acres of land, which are the property of Earl Craven.

DIRECTORY.—Samuel Amies, farmer, the Park; Philip Bach, farmer; Herbert Blakeway, farmer, Wootton; William Bright, schoolmaster; William Coston, farmer; Ann Jones, vict., the Griffin; Rev. John J. Hodges, the Rectory; Benjamin Pugh, farmer; Thomas Matthews, wheelwright; William Watkins, blacksmith; Mr. Thomas Wells, Onibury cottage; Thomas Wells, agent to Earl Craven. The residents at Walton are William Blakeway, farmer; Samuel Botfield, shoemaker; Thomas Hotchkiss, farmer.

RICHARDS CASTLE,

a parish in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, comprises the townships of Moore and Batchcott, Overton, and Woofferton, and is partly in this county, and partly in Herefordshire. The parish contains 4,512 acres of land; and at the census of 1801, 509 inhabitants; 1831, 586; 1841, 656. The village of Richards Castle is delightfully situated about three miles from Ludlow, in the county of Hereford. It was anciently called Gayton, and was a place of considerable importance until the reign of Henry III. “Richards Castle,” says Leland, “standeth upon the top of a very rocky hill, well wooded, and at the west end of the parish then. The keep, the walls, and towers of it stand, but going to ruin. There is a poor house of timber in the castle garth for a farmer. It belongeth now to the king; it belonged of late to the Lord Vaux; after to Pope. There is a park impaled.” Robert de Mortimer, in the reign of King John, had the grant of a fair and market at this place, both of which have long been obsolete. The castle was built before the conquest. At the doomsday survey it was held by Osborn Fitz-Richard, whose granddaughter married Robert de Mortimer, from whose family it passed in like manner by an heiress to the Talbots, who possessed it till the reign of Richard II. King Edward VI. granted the manor to the Bishop of Worcester. In the fifteenth century T. Bradshaw obtained it of the bishop on a long lease, and his grandson sold the lease to Richard Salwey, Esq., in whose representatives it is now vested. Some parts of the keep and walls of the castle are still remaining, but are so embosomed in foliage as scarcely to be discovered until they are nearly approached. Camden says, “Beneath this castle nature, which nowhere disporteth itself more in showing wonders than in waters, hath wrought forth a pretty well, which is always full of little fish-bones, or, as some think, of small frog-bones, although they be from time to time drawn quite out of it, whence it is called Bone Well.” This curious phenomenon is still in existence, and is the frequent resort of the curious, particularly in the spring and autumn, when the bones are found in great abundance. On the declivity of a hill near the castle, the Royalists, amounting to nearly 2,000, were defeated by an inferior number of Parliamentary troops, under the command of Colonel Birch.

The following is a grant to the burgesses made by Lord Mortimer, in the 29th of the reign of King Edward:—“Know all men present and to come, that I, Hugh, the son of Robert Lord Mortimer, lord of Richards Castle, I have given, granted, and by this my present writing conferred, to all my burgesses of Richards Castle, and to all my tenants of the townships of Moor Batchcott and Whitbrook, and to all my tenants of the township of Overton, for their good services done to me in the time of the Welsh war, and for twenty pounds sterling to me in hand paid common of pasture for all manner of their cattle and beasts in my fields at Bury Hynton, at all times after the grain is carried thence, and in all my meadow called Shule Meadow, after the feast of St. John the Baptist, and also common of pasture for all their beasts in all my woods within the said lordship of Richards Castle, as well within the county of Hereford as within the county of Salop, at all times in the year (except my park called Morbeck, and my Heys, lying between the ditch called Farthings Lawnde, and one hedge called the Royard, which are inclosed, and parted in at all times of the year). I have also given and granted to my said burgesses and tenants sufficient house-boot, hay-boot, and fire-boot, with all other necessaries that belong to husbandries, to be yearly taken at all times of necessaries in the said woods, by the order and delivery of my bailiff or constable there for the time being; to have and to hold all the aforesaid common of meadow, pasture, and wood ground as aforesaid, to my said burgesses and tenants of the aforesaid village of Richards Castle, Moor Batchcott, Whitbrook, and Overton, of me and my heirs, the sum of twelve shillings at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, viz., the burgesses of Richards Castle four shillings, the tenants of Moor Batchcott and Whitbrook four shillings, and the tenants of the township of Overton four shillings, for all manner of service, exaction, and demand; and if it shall happen that this my grant gains aid, withheld, or retained by me, my heirs, or by any person claiming under us at any time for the future, then I will and grant that all my said burgesses and tenants thereby, their own proper wills shall take and hold the aforesaid common in all the said meadows, pasture, and wood grounds aforegranted, and in all places thereby strength and virtue of the said deed: and I, the aforesaid Hugh, and my heirs, all the aforesaid common, together with house-boot, hay-boot, and fireboot, as aforesaid, (except as before excepted,) to the aforesaid burgesses of Richard Castle, and my tenants of Moor Batchcott, Whitbrook, and Overton, their heirs and assigns, for the consideration and rent aforesaid, against all nations whatsoever, will warrant and for ever defend; and that this my grant may be for ever ratified and established, I have hereunto set my seal.”

THE CHURCH is a fine structure, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, and stands contiguous to the castle; the tower stands a few feet from the body of the church, and had formerly a spire, which was burnt down. The windows contain some beautiful stained glass. The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £15. 1s. 3d. Patron, the Bishop of Worcester; incumbent, Rev. George Landon. The tithes have been commuted for £650, and there are 110 acres of glebe land of the annual value of £270. There are 2,324 acres of land in the township of Richards Castle, the rateable value of which is £1,652. 8s. Gross estimated rental, £1,862. 8s. 6d. The principal landowners are the representatives of J. Salway, Esq., Walter Stubbs, Esq., and William Moreton, Esq.

MOORE AND BATCHCOTT is a township and pleasantly situated village two and a half miles from Ludlow, embracing 928 acres of land, the principal proprietors of which are Richard Betton, Esq., and the trustees of the Rev. J. Salway. Rateable value, £1,244. 12s. At the census in 4841 there were 37 houses and 206 inhabitants.

OVERTON AND WOOFFERTON is a delightfully situated township and village in the parish of Richard’s Castle, about two miles south from Ludlow, on the borders of Herefordshire. The township contains 1,260 acres of land, the chief owners of which are Francis L. Charlton, Esq., Richard Betton, Esq., and the representatives of the late E. Salwey, Esq. Rateable value, £1,677. 8s. At the census of 1841 Overton contained 18 houses and Woofferton nine houses, and together had a population of 137 souls.

DIRECTORIES.—_Richard’s Castle_.—Edmund S. Davenport, Esq.; Samuel Davies, shoemaker; Miss Ann Child, Westbrook Cottage; John Hammond, vict., The Salwey Arms; Charles Mapp, farmer, Church House; Richard Mason, farmer, The Green; George Mason, farmer, The Rock; Henry Oseland, farmer and horse trainer, The Wood House; Richard Parker, farmer; Benjamin Ridley, farmer; Mary Taylor, vict., The Castle Inn; Mrs. Martha Taylor; Thomas Wheeler, farmer, The Merefield.

_Moore and Batchott_.—William B. Cooke, farmer; Thomas Froggat, farmer, The Leys; Rev. George Landon, rector of Richard’s Castle; William Parker, farmer; John Salwey, Esq., Moor Park; Thomas Summers, farmer; John Williams, blacksmith; William Wood, boot and shoemaker; Richard Woodhouse, wheelwright

_Overton and Woofferton_.—Richard Betton, Esq., Overton House; Thomas C. Bridges, Esq., The Lodge; John Burnett, farmer, Overton; Thomas Bywater, farmer; William B. Cooke, farmer; Richard Green, corn miller, Barratt’s Mill; John Lancet, farmer; Thomas Lowe, farmer, Hucks Barn; Richard Hardman, vict., Salwey Arms; William Heywood, farmer; Thomas Nottingham, farmer; Edward Stubbs, farmer.

RUSHBURY

is a considerable parish in the upper division of the Munslow hundred, comprising the townships of Rushbury, Stone Acton, Wall-under-Haywood, and Wilderhope and Stanway, and part of the townships of East Wall and Getton. The parish comprises upwards of 5,600 acres of land, and at the census of 1801 had 356 inhabitants; 1831, 507, and in 1841 had 109 houses and a population of 502 souls. The village of Rushbury is situated about nine miles S.W. from Much Wenlock, and the township contained 26 houses and 115 inhabitants. The principal landowners are Mrs. Lutwyche, Barnard Dickinson, Esq., and Mrs. Thursby; the latter is also lady of the manor. Some authors conjecture this place to be the Roman station Bravinium, between Magnum and Uriconum; the distance agreeing better with the Roman itinerary than Bridgnorth. At the Doomsday survey Roger de Lacy held of Earl Roger Riseberie, and Odo of him, at which time there was an eyrie of hawks. In the 11th of Edward I. Hugh Burnel had a charter for a market on a Thursday, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the day after the feast of St. Margaret the virgin, which upon a _quo warranto_ brought against Sir Philip Burnel in the 20th of Edward I. was ratified and confirmed by the king’s council. In the time of Edward I. Richard de Harley had free warren here. John de Handelo levied a fine on the manor of Rushbury in the 14th of Edward III. Among the fees of Roger Earl of March, Nicholas Burnel held one knight’s fee. In the 3rd of Edward VI. the king gave Rushbury in exchange to Nicholas Bishop of Worcester and his successors for lands in Warwickshire. THE CHURCH is a small structure, dedicated to St. Peter, consisting of nave and chancel, with a tower in which are five bells. The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £19. 7s. 8½d., now returned at £449 in the gift of the Bishop of Worcester. Incumbent, Rev. Matthew Y. Starkey. The endowed school, where twelve children are educated, and the almshouses, will be further noticed with the various gifts to charitable uses. The tithes are commuted for £384.

CHARITIES.—_Benjamin Wainwright_, _M.D._, by his will, bearing date 1st December, 1817, directed certain trustees to raise out of his personal estate the sum of £1,200, and appropriate £400 in building a school-room and a small dwelling house for a schoolmaster, and also two almshouses, all to be erected in the little church-yard near the Pound, in Rushbury, if the rector would allow it. And he directed that the following words should be cut upon the stone in the front part of the dwelling house:—“This school and almshouse were built and endowed by Benjamin, the seventh son of the late Richard and Mary Wainwright, of Stanway.” The residue of the said sum of £1,200 he directed to be invested in the funds, and 50s. of the yearly dividends thereof to be given to each of the poor widows resident in the said almshouses; the trustees to provide coals for the almshouses, and also to pay £5 yearly to a schoolmaster for teaching poor children of Rushbury, Eaton, and the adjacent parishes every Sunday; £5 to be laid out in warm clothing on the 1st of December for the poor of Rushbury; £5 per annum to be paid to a schoolmistress for teaching children to knit and sew, and to pay the remainder of the dividends to a schoolmaster to instruct nine poor children of Rushbury and three of Eaton in reading, writing, and common arithmetic. The sum of £400 above mentioned was reduced by the payment of the legacy duty to £360, and a school was erected at a cost of upwards of £500, part of the surplus having been advanced by such of the trustees as were of the testator’s family. The remainder of the sum of £1,200 was invested in the purchase of stock, and there is now standing £737 new four per cent. stock, producing dividends amounting to £429. 10s. per annum, of which £20 is paid to a schoolmaster for teaching a Sunday as well as a week day school. Two poor women are appointed by the trustees to reside in the almshouses, each of whom receives £2 annually, including an allowance of coals.