History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire [1851]

Stone Acton, a township in Rushbury parish about a mile S.W. from the church, at the census of 1841 had four houses and 24 inhabitants.  The land is the property of Mr. William Jones and Mr. Daniel Mytton.  Mr. William Jones is the resident farmer.

Wilderhope and Stanway, a township in Rushbury parish, is situated about five miles S.W. from Much Wenlock, and at the census of 1841 had thirteen houses and 76 inhabitants.  Moses George Benson, Esq., and Richard Wainwright, Esq., are the landowners.

Wall-under-Haywood, a township and village in the parish of Rushbury, with 43 houses and 166 inhabitants, is situated about a mile west of Rushbury.  The principal landowners are Mrs. Cleeton and John Baker, Esq.

Directories.—Rushbury.—Edward Cleeton, farmer; Thomas Corfield, farmer; Richard Cox, saddler and harness maker; Mary Fewtrell, schoolmistress; Julian Fewtrell, registrar of births, deaths, and marriages; William Fewtrell, farmer; Rev. Matthew Y. Starkey, rector.

East Wall.—Richard Butcher, farmer, Longville; Thomas Gippins, farmer; Thomas Haynes, blacksmith and shopkeeper; Charlotte Hotchkiss, farmer; Thomas Hughson, bailiff; Morris Jones, bailiff, Lushcott; Sarah Makin, farmer; Edward Onslow, farmer; Thomas Preen, stone mason; Thomas Roberts, farmer.

Gretton.—Edward Esp, farmer; Richard Haynes, bailiff; Timothy Smout, blacksmith; Edward Humphrey, farmer.—Stone Acton.—William Jones, farmer.

Wall-under-Haywood.—Mrs. Margaret Cleeton; Richard Cleeton, farmer; Thomas Corfield, farmer; Richard Cox, saddler; William Downes, farmer and maltster; John Evason, shoemaker; William Gough, farmer, Cotes; Thomas Hammond, blacksmith; John Moore, vict., Lutwyche Arms; George Morgan, vict., The Plough; John Pritchard, farmer; Thomas Smout, wheelwright; Richard Smout, wheelwright; Mrs. Mary Woof.

Wilderhope and Stanway.—John Norris, farmer, Upper Stanway; John Webster, farmer, Lower Stanway; Mary Webster, farmer, Wilderhope.

SHIPTON

is a parish and village in the upper division of the Munslow hundred, pleasantly situated on the road from Much Wenlock to Ludlow, six and a quarter miles S.W. from the former and fifteen miles N.W. from the latter.  The parish contains 1,570 acres of land.  Rateable value, £2,220.  Population in 1801, 119; 1831, 154; 1841, 153, at the latter period there were 24 inhabited houses.  The principal landowners are Thomas Mytton, Esq., Rev. Robert H. G. More, Moses G. Benson, Esq., and John Corser, Esq.; the former is lord of the manor.  The Church is an ancient structure, dedicated to St. James, and consists of nave and chancel, with a square tower.  The interior contains several handsome memorials, chiefly to the Mytton family.  From a brass plate we learn that the chancel was re-edified from the foundation and glazed, at the charge of John Lutwyche, of Lutwyche, in the 31st of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1589.  The living is a donative curacy in the patronage of Thomas Mytton Esq.  Incumbent, Rev. Robert H. G. More.  Shipton Hall, a handsome mansion, the residence and property of Thomas Mytton, Esq., exhibits a beautiful specimen of the Elizabethan style of architecture.  Thomas Mytton, Esq., is in possession of the original letter, of which the following is a copy, addressed by a needy monarch to the ancestor of Mr. Mytton, then resident at Shipton Hall, and dated February 14th, 1643:—

Directory.—Timothy Bluck, farmer, Newhouse; John Corser, farmer, More House; Mrs. Frances Danzey, Larden Hall; Richard Esp, farmer, Larden Grange; John Fortune, wheelwright; Richard Jones, farmer; Thomas Mytton, Esq., Shipton Hall; William Partridge, vict., Bull’s Head; John Price, blacksmith.

STANTON LACY

Downton, a township in the parish of Stanton Lacy, situated four miles from Ludlow, contains 765 acres of land, and in 1841 had 17 houses and 90 inhabitants.  Sir W. E. R. Boughton, Bart., is the principal landowner and lord of the manor, and resides at Downton Hall, an elegant mansion of modern erection commanding most beautiful and varied prospects over a luxuriant country richly clothed with woody scenery.  The pleasure grounds are tastefully laid out and beautifully ornamented with choice shrubs and flowers.

Hayton Lower, a small township and village four miles N.N.W. from Ludlow, contains 535 acres of land, and at the census of 1841 had 24 houses and 104 inhabitants.  The Earl of Craven is the principal proprietor of the land.

Hayton Upper, a village and township in the parish of Stanton Lacy, comprises 935 acres of land, and is situated four and a half miles N.N.W. from Ludlow.  At the census of 1841 there were 53 houses and 256 inhabitants.  The Earl of Craven is the landowner and lord of the manor.  In this township is the hamlet of Hayton’s Bent, where the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a small chapel.  A small rivulet which flows from the hilly ground in this township becomes on its passage through rocks strongly impregnated with carbonate of lime, and is found to possess the property of forming petrifactions of such articles as are placed in it.  The township of Henley, partly in this parish and partly in that of Bitterley, is noticed in the latter parish.  The township of Hopton also partly in this parish, is noticed with Hopton parish.

Rock, a small rural village and township in the parish of Stanton Lacy, contains 735 acres of land, and runs into the borough of Ludlow.  At the census of 1841 there were 32 houses and 134 inhabitants.

Wootton, another small township in the parish of Stanton Lacy, contains 544 acres of land, and in 1841 had 9 houses and 65 inhabitants.  Wootton Hall, a fine specimen of the domestic architecture of by-gone days, has been taken down during the present year and a farm house erected near the site.  The Earl of Craven is owner of the land in this township.

East Hamlet, in the parish of Stanton Lacy, contains 734 acres of land, the principal owner of which is Frederick Nash, Esq.; William Pattrick is the farmer.  In 1841 there were four houses and twenty-four inhabitants.

West Hamlet contains 650 acres of land, and in 1841 had nine houses and sixty-five inhabitants.  The chief landowners are the Earl of Craven, Hon. R. H. Clive, Mrs. Wakefield, and J. B. Cummings, Esq.

STANTON LONG

is a parish and small rural village in the lower division of the Munslow hundred, seven miles S.S.W. from Much Wenlock, and ten west from Bridgnorth.  At the census of 1801 there was a population of 206 souls; 1831, 278; and in 1841, fifty-three houses and 327 inhabitants.  Acres, 1,710a. 1r. 10p.  Rateable value, £2,636. 4s. 6d.  The parish extends about four miles in length and one in breadth, and is adjacent to the parishes of Holdgate, Shipton, Monk Hopton, and Ditton Priors.  The soil on the north side of the river Corve is well adapted for the growth of turnips and barley; on the south side it is of a stiffer nature, and better suited for wheat.  The principal landowners are the Duke of Cleveland; Rev. R. H. G. More; J. Deighton, Esq.; and J. Corser, Esq.; there are also several other proprietors.  Mrs. Thursby is lady of the manor.  Brockton and Patton are two small townships for highway purposes in this parish, the former containing 376 acres, and the latter 697 acres.  The Church, situated at the south-western extremity of the parish, is a neat edifice dedicated to St. Michael; the interior, however, contains little of interest, except a handsomely-carved oak pulpit, and there are some fine Gothic windows.  The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £7, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford.  The vicarial tithes are commuted for £95. 6s. 10d.; and there is a good vicarage house and 66a. 3r. 3p. of glebe land attached, commanding a pleasing prospect of the Corve Dale.  The rectoral tithes are commuted for £133. 17s. 5d., of which £7. 12s. 7d. is paid to the rector of Holdgate.  The Rev. Thomas P. Williams is the curate.  There is a National School at Brockton, capable of containing 120 children.  The interest of a sum of £20, left by an unknown donor, is expended in bread and given to the poor.

The principal residents are Charles Acton, farmer, Brockton; Thomas Bywater, farmer, Brockton; Thomas Chatham, farmer, Stanton Long; Edward Corks, farmer and maltster, Stanton Long; William Crudington, shoemaker, Brockton; Isaac Day, blacksmith, Stanton Long; Evan Davies, farmer, Patton; Thomas Downes, farmer, Patton; James Edwards, wheelwright, Stanton Long; Edward Esp, farmer, Stanton Long; Edward Instone, farmer, Brockton house; Thomas Mancell, blacksmith, Brockton; Edward Philpot, vict., Feathers; John Pope, carpenter, Stanton Long; Rev. Thomas P. Williams, curate.

STOKE ST. MILBOROUGH

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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,

The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is a free-stone structure, consisting of nave, chancel and side aisles, with a square tower in which are six bells; the nave is separated from the side aisles by five pointed arches on each side; over the side aisles and at the west end are galleries; upon the latter is placed an organ.  The church was rebuilt in 1845, and in consequence of a grant of £400 from the Incorporated Society, 694 of the sittings are free and unappropriated for ever; there is now accommodation for 1,200 hearers; it is neatly fitted up with oak sittings, and the roof is of groined timber.  The old church was a brick structure, with a low tower of free stone, and had sittings for 782 persons.  The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £7. 18s. 6d., in the patronage of Lord Forester: incumbent, the Hon. and Rev. Orlando Watkin Weld Forester, M.A.; curate, Rev. Andrew Burn, B.A.  The tithes are commuted for £453.  The Baptists have small chapels in Duke street and on Harris’s Green.  The Independents have a chapel in Duke street.  The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel at Duke street and one at Coalford.  The Primitive Methodists have a chapel at Broseley Wood.  The National School is held in a spacious room over the Market Hall, which measures sixty-one feet long and twenty-one feet broad.  The average attendance of scholars at the present time is one hundred and ninety-five.

Jackfield is a populous hamlet, in the parish of Broseley, stretching along the banks of the Severn, and situated near a mile north of the parish church.  Here the inhabitants are busily engaged in extensive works for the manufacture of bricks and tiles.  At this place is also situated the Ivanhoe Pottery, an establishment conducted by Mr. George Proudman, where all kinds of earthenware are manufactured.  The clay used in the manufacture is got from mines on the premises, and is found in regular layers above the coal and limestone; some of the mines extend to the depth of one hundred yards.  The Church (or Chapel of Ease) at Jackfield is a handsome brick structure, with stone finishings, consisting of nave and chancel, with a square tower.  It is situated on an eminence overlooking Ironbridge and a part of Coalbrook Dale.  It is dedicated to St. Mary, and was built in 1759, by Francis Turner Blythe, Esq.  The interior has a neat appearance, and on the south side there is a neat marble tablet to the memory of Alexander Brodie, Esq., ironmaster, of Calcutt, who died June 5th, 1830.  Another neat tablet remembers the founder of the church, Francis T. Blythe, Esq., who died September 22nd, 1770, aged 61 years.  There is also a tablet to Thomas Carter Phillips, Esq., who died in 1783.  The National School is a commodious brick structure, erected in the year 1844.  The school-room is used as a place of worship on Sunday and Wednesday evenings.  The rector and curate of Broseley officiate alternately.

A most melancholy accident occurred near Broseley on October 23rd, 1799.  The passage boat in crossing the Severn, which at this place is very rapid, was overturned.  There were forty-one persons in the boat who were employed in the china works of Messrs. Rose and Co., of these thirteen only escaped, the remaining twenty-eight were all drowned.  Tradition states that a large house in Broseley was formerly in possession of some Dutchmen, who had a mint for coining money secreted in cellars under the house.  They lived in a very expensive style, and kept race horses.  There is a curious fossil found here in the stratum of coal resembling a fish with the head and tail cut off.  It is covered with scales, and measures about eight inches long.  Its solidity is much greater than the substance in which it is infolded, and when broken appears like limestone; if thrown into the fire it explodes with considerable violence.

In the year 1711 a very remarkable inflammable spring was discovered at Broseley, of which the Rev. Mr. Mason, professor at Cambridge, gives the following account:—“The well for four or five feet deep is six or seven feet wide, within that is another hole of like depth, dug in clay; in the bottom whereof is placed a cylindric earthern vessel, of about four or five inches diameter at the mouth, having the bottom taken off, and the sides well fixed in, the clay rammed close about it.  Within the pot is a brown water as thick as puddle continually forced up with a violent motion, beyond that of boiling water, and a rumbling hollow noise rising and falling by fits; but there was no appearance of any vapour arising, which perhaps might have been visible had not the sun shone so bright.  Upon putting the candle down at the end of a stick, at a quarter of a yard distance, it took fire, darting and flashing after a very violent manner, for about half a yard high, much in the manner of spirits in a lamp, but with great agitation.  It was said that a tea kettle had been made to boil in about nine minutes time, and that it had been left burning for forty-eight hours without any sensible diminution.  It was extinguished by putting a wet mop upon it, which it was necessary to keep there for a considerable time, otherwise it would not go out.  Upon the removal of the mop there arises a sulphurous smoke, lasting about a minute, and yet the water is cold to the touch.  The cause of this inflammable property is most probably the mixture of the waters with petroleum, which is one of the most inflammable substances in nature, and has the property of burning on the surface of water.”  In the year 1755 this well entirely disappeared by the sinking of a coal pit in its neighbourhood.

William Lewis, by indenture, dated January 2nd, 1740, granted a yearly rent charge of 20s., issuing out of a messuage and two acres of land, situate near the church, in Broseley, with the penalty of 6s. for every day that the payment should be in arrear, and directed the same to be distributed among twenty poor widows.  It further appears from the benefaction table that Andrew Langley, of the Woodhouse, left 12s. yearly to be distributed by the minister and churchwardens on St. Andrew’s-day yearly, and to be paid for ever by the owner of the Woodhouse estate.

Mary Cotton, who died in 1838, bequeathed to the minister and churchwardens for the time being of this parish the sum of £300, three per cent consolidated bank annuities, upon trust, to receive the interest and divide it among forty poor widows of this parish on the 29th of December, yearly.  Fanny Pritchard left £100 in trust to the same parties, to be invested in government securities, and directed the interest to be divided among ten poor widows on St. Thomas’s day.

Post Office—At Mr. Jeremiah Ashwood’s.  Letters arrive at 8 A.M., and are despatched 5.35 P.M.

Marked 1 are in Cape or King street; 2 Church street; 3 High street; 4 Queen street; 5 Barratt’s hill; 6 Broseley Wood; 7 Jackfield and neighbourhood; 8 Barber’s row; and 9 Duke street.

2 Amphlet Susannah, vict., The Dog

3 Ashwood Jeremiah, corn miller, maltster, and postmaster

3 Bartlam Edward Glover, Esq., surgeon, and coroner for borough of Wenlock

5 Bathurst Henry Martyn, schoolmaster (national)

5 Baker Mrs. Frances

3 Baker The Misses, drapers and mercers

2 Baugh George, Esq.

2 Bayliss Miss Helen, ladies’ boarding school

7 Beard Thomas, victualler, Werps Inn

3 Beddoes John, shoemaker

6 Beddow Thomas, grocer

6 Bill Jeremiah, butcher, shopkeeper and beerhouse

3 Birch Thomas, coalmaster

7 Boden Susannah, shopkpr.

3 Booth Henry, farmer and butcher

6 Bradley Richard, tobacco pipe maker

3 Bourne Wm., blacksmith and beerhouse-keeper

2 Boycott Richard, baker and confectioner

2 Broadhurst Thos., timber merchant & wheelwright

2 Brodie Mrs.

7 Brown Edwd., blacksmith, and vict., Summer House

3 Burnet Henry, hosier and haberdasher

3 Burnet Isaac, boot and shoemaker

3 Burnet John, grocer and dealer in hops

7 Burn Rev. Andrew, B.A., curate, Rock House

7 Burton Edward, brick and tile manufr. & barge owner

7 Burroughs John, rope manufacturer

3 Cartwright Chas., butcher

6 Cartwright James, butcher

3 Charlton Humphrey, wine and spirit and hop and seed merchant

4 Colley Bernard Wilkinson, maltster

8 Collins Thos., locksmith

2 Cooke Joseph, victualler, Old Crown

3 Corfield Thomas, butcher

3 Cowley Jas., grocer, ironmonger, and seedsman

3 Cox Robert, saddler

3 Crowder Leonard, painter, plumber, and glazier

3 Crump William, butcher

7 Crumpton William, ferryman and barge owner

7 Cullis William, victualler, Tumbling Sailors

7 Davies Ann, brick and tile maker

7 Davies James, sen., brick and tile maker, The Rock

7 Davies James, jun., brick and tile maker, The Rock

3 Davies John, farmer

6 Davies Samuel, butcher and maltster

7 Davies Thos., shopkeeper, and brick and tile maker

Davies Thomas, tailor, The Delph

6 Dean James, thatcher and beerhouse-keeper

1 Davies Thomas, victualler, Duke of Cumberland

7 Dillon Joseph, bargeowner, Salt house

7 Dodd Andrew, bargeowner, Salt-house

7 Doughty Geo., bargeowner, Salthouse

7 Doughty Robert, bargeowner, Salthouse

7 Doughty Theophilus, brick & tile maker, Lloyd Head

6 Easthope Mrs. Ann

2 Edwards Ann, victualler, Foresters’ Arms

3 Evans Edwin R. auctioneer, accountant, house & estate agent, valuer & appraiser, agent to the Sun Fire office, and superintendent registrar

9 Evans Richard, registrar of births and deaths

6 Evans John, shopkeeper and poulterer

Evans Robert, Esq., J.P., The Dunge

8 Evans Susan, confectioner

3 Evans Thos., confectioner

8 Everall Robert, butcher and vict., The Plough

1 Everall Thomas, baker and grocer

3 Fawkes Arthur, victualler, Cape of Good Hope

8 Fenton John, brazier and tinman

2 Forester The Honourable and Rev. Orlando Watkin Weld, M.A., The Rectory

5 Firfield Mrs.

5 Francis Robert, tailor

8 Glover Edwd., hairdresser

6 Gough Mrs. Martha

2 Griffiths Edward, shopkeeper, Salt-house

2 Griffiths John, timber merchant and wheelwright

Griffiths Miss, milliner

3 Gwynn Geo., basket-maker

5 Gwynn Martha, basket-maker

7 Harris Richard, tailor, Salt-house

3 Hartshorne Edward, boot and shoemaker

2 Hartshone Frederick H., Esq., surgeon

3 Hartshorne George, auctioneer, appraiser, cabinet-maker, builder, and upholsterer

1 Harvey John, grocer, draper, accountant, agent to the Birmingham fire office, and medical, clerical, and general life office

9 Hayman John, glass dealer and victualler, The Fox

1 Holmes Wm., coalmaster

8 Hill Benjamin, joiner and builder

5 Hill Hiram, grocer and coal master

8 Hiskett Thomas, tin-plate worker

7 Holt Thomas, victualler, Woodbridge Inn