Chapter XIX: Part 19

is a parish and village in the Ellesmere division of the Pimhill hundred, pleasantly situated three miles east from Ellesmere. This parish lies on the northern verge of the county, adjoining Flintshire, in Wales. At the census in 1801, there was a population of 373 souls, in 1831, 532; and in 1841 there were 118 inhabited houses, four uninhabited, and 569 inhabitants. The parish contains 2,970 acres of land, the soil of which is various; in some places it is highly fertile, and in other parts of an inferior quality. The principal landowners are the trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater, Charles K. Mainwaring, Esq., Mr. Samuel Reeves, Mr. Richard Thomas, Mr. James Smith, Mr. Thomas James, Joshua Lewis Menlove, Esq., Mr. Thomas Grindley, Mr. Richard Evans, Mr. William Hewes, Mr. Thomas Williams, Mr. Thomas Baleman, Sir John Hanmer, Mr. Thomas Speakman, Lord Kenyon, Mr. William Williams, Mr. William Cartwright, Mr. John Price, and Mr. William Stant; besides whom there are several other small proprietors. The living of the church is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king’s book at £6, now returned at £139; in the patronage of Charles K. Mainwaring, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. George S. Master.

Lane Mary, schoolmistress, Hampton Wood

Lawrence Mr. Thomas, Hampton House

Master Rev. George Streyncham

Speakman Thomas, assistant overseer

Thomas John, parish clerk

Warwick Emma, schoolmistress

Windsor Mrs. Jane, Hampton Wood

Blacksmith.

Marth Clay, Hampton Wood

Boot and Shoemakers.

Dodd John

Harris Edward

Kynaston John

Ralphs Matthew

Sproston William

Stant William

Butcher.

Morgan Thomas

Carpenter and Joiner.

Hatton Thomas

Farmers.

Bowen John

Brigg John Bishop

Cooper John

Cook Mary

Downward Peter

Edge Joseph, The Roe

Grindley Mary

Harris John

Holbrook John

Hughes William

Jones John

Lewis Thomas

Lewis William

Oakley Edward

Pay John

Phillips Joseph

Price John

Speakman Thomas

Stant William

Williams Edward, The Fields

Woodall Mary

Grocers & Provision Dealers.

Davies John

Peate Edward

Inns and Taverns.

Red Lion, William Sproston

Royal Oak, Wm. Williams

Sun, Thomas Hatton

Maltsters.

Edge Joseph

Jones John

Stay Makers.

Hughes Jane

Lloyd Sarah Ann

Tailors.

Deakin Benjamin

Trevor Thomas

Wheelwrights.

Jones John

Lloyd William

Speake Thomas

THE NORTH BRADFORD HUNDRED.

The hundred of North Bradford is bounded on the north by Cheshire, on the east by Staffordshire, on the west by the hundred of Pimhill and the Albrighton division, and on the south by the hundred of South Bradford. There is a considerable extent of land in this hundred which is highly fertile, and the cheese, which is extensively made, is said to be quite equal in quality to the celebrated Cheshire cheese in the adjoining county. The soils are various. The meadow lands in general produce a rich herbage, and the arable lands are seen covered with luxuriant crops of grain. The scenery is rich and beautiful, and in some places highly picturesque. The land in most parts is pleasingly diversified with gentle undulations, and in some places there are considerable inequalities of surface and bold swells, interspersed with rising plantations and woody scenery, which add to the beauty of the prospects. In this hundred is found superior clay for making bricks, marl for improving the land, and peat or turf for firing. The hundred is divided into the Drayton Division, Wem Division, and Whitchurch Division, and at the census of 1841 contained 5,428 inhabited houses, 204 uninhabited, and 26 houses building, with a population of 27,971 souls.

_The Drayton Division_ contains the parishes and townships of Adderley, Bearstone, Betton, Betchley, Bolas Little, Cheswardine, Chipnall, Childs Ercall, Drayton Magna, Drayton Parva, Dorrington, Eaton, Goldstone, Gravenhanger, Hinstock, Hodnet (part of), Hawkstone, Hopton, Kenstone, Longslow, Losford, Longford, Marchamley, The Morrey, Moreton Say, Norton-in-Hales, Ollerton, Peplow, Sambrook (part of), Sowdley, Spoonley, Sutton, Styche and Woodlands, Stoke-upon-Tern, Woodseaves, Wollerton, Westanswick, and Woore.

_The Wem Division_ contains the parishes and townships of Acton Reynold, Aston, Besford, Cotton, Edgbolton, Edstaston, Horton, Lacon, Lowe and Ditches, Moreton Corbet, Muckleton, Newtown, Northwood, Preston Brockhurst, Shawbury, Sleap (part of), Soulton, Tilley and Trench, Weston-under-Redcastle, Wem, Wolverley, Wytheford Magna, and Wytheford Parva.

_The Whitchurch Division_ contains Alkington, Ash Magna, Ash Parva, Black Park, Broughall, Booley, Calverhall or Corra, Chinnell, Darliston, Dodington, Edgeley, Fauls, Harcourt, High Hatton, Hinton, Hollyhurst, Ightfield, Lee Brockhurst, Mickley, Millenheath, Moston, Prees, Tilstock, Sandford, Steel, Stanton-upon-Hine-Heath, Whitchurch, Whixall, Willaston, Woodhouses New, and Woodhouses Old.

ADDERLEY

is a parish and small rural village, four miles N.N.W. from Market Drayton, which contains 3,938A. 2R. 38P. of land, and comprehends the townships of Adderley, The Morrey, Spoonley, and part of Shavington. In 1801 there were 365 inhabitants in the parish; in 1831, 468; and in 1841, 64 houses and 404 inhabitants. The township of Adderley, in 1841, contained 48 houses and 297 inhabitants. Rateable value, £3,096. 10s. Though now an inconsiderable village, it was in early times of sufficient importance to become a market town. In the 9th of Edward II., Bartholomew Badlesmere had a charter for keeping a market on a Thursday, at his manor of Adderley, and a fair on the eve, and the day and the morrow after the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, with the privilege of free warren. The manor and estate were afterwards carried in marriage to William Lord Roos, who died in the Holy Land, without issue. Thomas Lord Roos died on his journey thither. John Lord Roos died on his journey to Jerusalem. His son, Thomas Lord Roos, for his fidelity to the Lancasterian interest, was attainted in the parliament 1st of Edward IV., and the manor was seized by the king. Richard Corbet, Esq., and the Earl of Kilmorey are the principal landowners. THE CHURCH is a neat structure, dedicated to St. Peter, and consists of nave, chancel, transept, and side chapel. The tower is dated 1732, and the body of the church was rebuilt in 1801. On the north side is the Kilmorey chapel and family vault, the windows of which are ornamented with armorial bearings in stained glass. There are several neat tablets in memory of this family, one of which contains the following inscription:—

Sacred to the memories of
Robert Viscount Kilmorey and Frances Viscountess Kilmorey,
daughter of Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, Bart., of Combermere Abbey.
Their conjugal felicity, during an union of twenty-seven years,
knew no interruption, felt no decline.
The blow which severed them on earth
was mercifully healed by an early reunion in heaven;
and their mortal remains were together consigned
to the vault beneath, on the 7th day of December,
A.D. M,DCCCXVIII.

There is also a brass plate, with representations of one of the Earls of Kilmorey, his lady, and the figures of seven boys and two girls, in fine preservation, dated 1556; near to which is another brass plate, with the mutilated figure of a person in priestly vestments. The church-yard is ornamented with several fine yew trees, and the ancient font has been placed in the church-yard, and converted into a sun dial. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Cotton family, and incumbency of the Rev. William Cotton. The Rev. Leonard Slater is the officiating curate, and resides at the Rectory; a good residence, a little north from the church. ADDERLEY HALL, a handsome stuccoed mansion, with centre and wings, is approached by a noble portico, and is the seat and property of Richard Corbet, Esq. It is beautified with pleasure grounds and shrubberies, and stands in a well wooded park, ornamented with a fine sheet of water.

CHARITIES.—_The Rev. Robert Adams_, in 1719, devised certain lands, in trust, for charitable uses, which then produced a yearly income of £13. 12s. per annum. The donor directed £8 to be paid by the rector, vicar, and churchwardens of Muccleston, Adderley, and Drayton, alternately, on the 25th of March every year, for the setting a poor boy or girl yearly apprentice; the yearly sum of 30s. to be paid for the instruction of children in Adderley; the same sum for the like purpose in Muccleston; and the sum of 52s. to be expended in bread, and distributed to the poor who should attend divine service in the parish of Adderley. The estate now produces a yearly income of £35. 12s.; and the whole of the clear rents, since 1815, have been applied to the charitable uses mentioned in the will. The same person also bequeathed £20, to be placed out at interest, and distributed among the poor of the parish of Adderley. There is no evidence to show how this legacy has been applied.

_Thomas Reynolds_, in 1725, devised a messuage at Walkerton, near Wybunbury, in Cheshire, to apply one moiety of the rents and profits thereof, for the benefit of the poor of Adderley; and the other moiety among the poor of Dodcot-cum-Wilksley, in the parish of Audlem. The premises at Walkerton were subsequently sold for £1,050; and in 1814 the amount was placed in the hands of Sir Corbet Corbet, on the security of a messuage in Staffordshire-street, Market Drayton, and certain lands situated in Betton-lane, subject to redemption on the payment of £1,050, and lawful interest for the same. The yearly sum of £42 is now received from the trustees, under the will of Sir Corbet Corbet, by the churchwardens of Adderley, and one half is transmitted to the overseers of Dodcott-cum-Wilksley; and the other moiety is distributed among the poor of this parish, in sums varying from 5s. to 10s.

_Thomas Viscount Kilmorey_, by will, 1766, charged his whole estate with the payment of £1 per month, to be laid out in bread, and distributed among the poor every first Sunday in the month, in the parish church of Adderley.

_Thomas Clayton_, in 1760, left £100, and directed the interest to be expended in bread for the benefit of the poor. This money was invested in the purchase of £131. 7s. 3d. three per cent. consols, and the dividends, amounting to £3. 18s. 8d., are applied by the churchwardens in the purchase of bread, which is distributed every third Sunday in the month amongst seven poor widows.

Corbet Richard, Esq., Adderley Hall

Burgwin William, gardener, The Hall

Burrows Hester Maria, boarding school

Campell Archibald, farm bailiff, The Hall

Duckers John, farmer, The Lees

Groucott John, farmer

Hudson Thomas Heath, farmer

Kemp John, farmer, Pool farm

Lee Robert, shoemaker and parish clerk

Lowe John, shoemaker

Malem Thomas, farmer

Massey William, victualler, The Raven Inn

Moore George, shopkeeper and blacksmith

Moore John, farmer, Adderley Lodge

Moore Thomas, farmer

Pearce Richard, farmer

Roberts John, lime burner; Ellis Wynne, agent

Simons John, blacksmith

Slater Rev. Leonard, B.A., The Rectory

SPOONLEY,

a small township two miles N. from Market Drayton, at the census of 1841 contained 12 houses and 82 inhabitants, the acres of which are included in the return of Adderley. Rateable value, £1,421. 1s. Richard Corbet, Esq., is owner of the whole township, and lord of the manor. The poor of this township participate in the benefit of the charities noticed with Adderley. The principal residents are John Hudson, farmer, Castle Hill; William Lewis, farmer; Thomas Mulliner, farmer; and Richard Swan, farmer.

SHAVINGTON, OR THE MORREY,

is a township four miles N.W. from Market Drayton, partly in this county and partly in that of Cheshire, situated on the northern verge of Shropshire. In 1841 there were three houses and 25 inhabitants returned as within the bounds of this county, and in the parish of Adderley. Rateable value £1,541. 9s.; the acres are given with the parish. The Earl of Kilmorey is owner of the land, and lord of the manor, and occasionally resides at SHAVINGTON HALL—a spacious and elegant mansion of brick, surrounded with a park richly wooded, and beautifully adorned with sylvan beauty, comprising upwards of fifteen hundred acres. The noble owner enlarged the park, and began to enclose the whole with a brick wall several years ago—upwards of five miles of the wall has already been built; the park is about seven miles in circumference.

DIRECTORY.—The Earl of Kilmorey, Shavington Hall; John Gregory, Esq., steward, Shavington Hall; James Lunt, farmer, The Morrey; and Richard Vernon, farmer, The Morrey.

CHESWARDINE

is a parish and village delightfully situated near the N.E. verge of the county, four miles S.S.E. from Market Drayton. The parish comprehends the townships of Cheswardine, Chipnall, Goldstone, Sambrook, and Sowdley, and contains 5,723A. 3R. 4P. of land. In 1801 there was a population of 628 souls; 1830, 1051, and in 1841, 1015. The township of Cheswardine contains 1,715A. 3R. 10P. of land, and in 1841 had 71 houses and 367 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,989. 10s. 9d. In the time of King Henry II. Cheswardine was held by John L’Estrange by knight’s service, and in the 32nd of Edward I. Roger L’Estrange had the grant of a market to be held on a Monday, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the day after the translation of St. Swithin. Sir John Mainwaring, knight, was keeper of the park of Cheswarthyn in the 13th of Edward IV. The church is an ancient structure, dedicated to St. Swithin, and consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower, in which are six musical bells, which were put up, and also a new clock, about two years ago; from the summit of the tower a most extensive and beautiful prospect of the country is seen. The clock and the bells were purchased with money raised by voluntary subscriptions, and the gallery on the west side of the church was erected at the joint expense of John Butter, of Sowdley Park; William Butter, of Chipnall, and Richard Meeson, of Little Sowdley. There is a mural tablet in memory of the Rev. Samuel Orpe, who was vicar of this parish for 56 years; he died in 1724, aged 86 years. A small memorial of brass remembers Gabriel Lloyd, who died in the year 1623, and another brass plate states that Richard Jervis died in the year 1688. The living is a vicarage valued in the king’s book at £5. 6s. 8d., now returned at £260, in the patronage of T. Smallwood, Esq.; the Rev. Charles Miller is the officiating curate. This church was anciently held by the abbot of Haughmond, having been given to the Abbey by John L’Estrange in the time of Henry II. He also gave to the abbey the mill at Cheswarthyn, with the appurtenances. Queen Elizabeth, in the 26th of her reign, devised the tithes of the parish to Richard Corbet, Esq. On the western verge of the parish there is an open common, covering an area of about 100 acres. The Shropshire Union Canal intersects the parish, taking its course through some deep cuttings about a mile west from the church; on the banks of the canal there is a wharf called the Goldstone Wharf. The National School for boys was built in 1838; there is also a girl’s school, which was erected in 1738.

CHARITIES.—The girls’ school was originally built by Richard Smithiman, and in 1738 it was rebuilt by the parishioners.

_Richard Meeson_, in 1712, left the yearly sum of £4, to be applied by the ministers and churchwardens of the parish, as an additional salary to the schoolmaster there, for instructing four poor boys in the English tongue, for so many years as the minister and churchwardens should think fit.

_John Sawdley_ left to the poor of this parish £100. The churchwardens have been in possession of several closes at Foxbrook, in the parish of Dilhorne, in Staffordshire, from the year 1721. Altogether there are about ten acres, and it would appear from entries in the churchwarden’s book, that this property was purchased with the legacy above mentioned, but the purchase deeds are not now in the possession of the parishioners. The land is let at a yearly rent of £12.

Several sums of money, amounting in the whole to £172, left at different periods, and by various donors, were held by the churchwardens in trust for the poor of the parish, previous to 1754; in that year the sum of £155 was laid out in the purchase of an estate in the parish of Hinstock, comprising between eight and nine acres, which now produces a yearly income of £20. The rents of the above two charities are received by the churchwardens, and the amount, with the produce of other charities, is given away on the Friday before the first of July, and on St. Thomas’s day, in wheat to the poor parishioners in quantities varying from two gallons to a bushel.

_Richard Jervis_, by will, 24th July, 1688, gave to the poor of Cheswardine parish £10, to be disposed of at the discretion of his executors. The yearly sum of 10s. has been paid in respect of this legacy. The last payment was made by Cresswell Pigott, Esq., as executor of Henry Z. Jervis, who was the personal representative of the donor. For two years previous to the Charity Commissioners publishing their report nothing had been received, in consequence of a suit in the Court of Chancery having been instituted respecting the estate of Mr. Jervis. An affidavit was sworn by one of the churchwardens in support of a claim to this legacy.

_Francis Butler_, by will, 1694, gave a rent charge of £2 10s. per annum for the benefit of the poor of Cheswardine parish. The property from which this gift is payable is situate in the township of Chipnall, and was part of the estate of the late Henry Zachariah Jervis, whose property became the subject of a suit in the Court of Chancery, as already mentioned.

In the parliamentary returns of 1786 it is stated that Sarah Sambrook left 2s. 2d. per month, to be given to the poor in bread. A distribution of bread takes place on the first Sunday in every month, in respect of this charity, and the amount, £1. 6s. per annum, is paid by the owner of Sowdley Park farm, upon which the payment appears to be charged.

In the parish books in which the distribution of charities is entered from 1721 to 1767, there is a memorandum stating that John Butter gave to the poor of this parish three dozen of bread on Good Friday, in respect of the legacy left by John Bold, of Great Sawdley. The last entry to this effect is in 1760, and we have not met with any proof of bread having been distributed on Good Friday since that time.

_William Goodall_, who died in 1808, left £10 to the poor of the parish, and John Goodall, who died in 1826, left the like sum for the same purpose; 20s., the interest of these legacies, are expended in bread and given amongst the most deserving poor.

There is an estate in Sowdley, the rents of which have been applied from time immemorial in aid of the church rate. The estate consists of two closes called Denway Croft and Ames Field, and two other closes containing altogether about eight acres and a half, which is let at a yearly rental of £14. 14s. There are also two cottages, with gardens, let by the overseers for the use of poor persons, at the yearly rental of £3. The rents are applied in aid of the church rates, and in paying the interest of £150 borrowed towards the erection of the new church.

POST OFFICE.—At Mr. Henry Bates.

Arkinstall William, tailor

Bate Edwin, butcher

Bate Henry, parish clerk and schoolmaster

Bayley Mr. Edward, surgeon, &c.

Beeston James, grocer and druggist

Beeston William, maltster & beerhouse keepr

Boffey Samuel, tailor

Challenor John, corn miller

Cooper George, shoemaker

Edge Samuel, beerhouse keeper & maltster

Goodall John, farmer

Green Samuel, draper and tea dealer

Hoole John, farmer

Hudson Thomas, Esq., Cheswardine Hill Hall

Hughes Theodore Alfred, plumber & glazier

Hurst Mr. John

James George, wheelwright

Lamford James, shoemaker

Lea James, shopkeeper

Marsh George, farmer

Miller Rev. Charles, curate, The Vicarage

Nagginton James, farmer

Nicholas Abraham Barlow, shopkeeper

Pearce James, shoemaker

Pointer Edward, farmer

Ratcliffe Mr., farmer

Spender William, farmer, Haywood

Shropshire John, farmer and butcher

Shropshire William, tailor

Turnbull Mr. John, builder and victualler, Fox and Hounds

Wakefield Thomas, farmer

Walker Mr. John

Whilton Matthew, farmer, Haywood

Whittaker Henry, saddler

Wild John, farmer

Williams William, blacksmith

CHIPNALL, OR CHIPPENHALL,

is a township and village in the parish of Cheswardine, four miles N.E. from Market Drayton. At the census of 1841 there were 30 houses and 70 inhabitants. The township contains 1,309A. 0R. 10P. of land, which is the property of Thomas Hudson, Esq. Rateable value, £1,615. 15s. 11d.

The principal residents in Chipnall township are William Adams, farmer, Lipley; Joseph Duckers, farmer, Chipnall Hall; James Goodall, farmer and beerhouse keeper; John Moreton, farmer, Lipley; Matthew Plant, farmer and corn miller; John Taylor, blacksmith; Thomas Birbeck Wakefield, farmer, Lipley; Henry Yates, farmer.

ELLERTON

township is situated three miles from Cheswardine church, and contains 448A. 2R. 0P. of land, the whole of which is the property of Robert Masefield, Esq. At the census in 1841 there was no separate return for Ellerton as a distinct township, but the inhabitants were included in the returns for Cheswardine. ELLERTON HALL, a handsome modern mansion, the residence of Robert Masefield, Esq., was built in 1836, on the site of an ancient house composed of timber and plaster. The hall is delightfully situated on an acclivity near the verge of the county, and commands a beautiful prospect of great extent over the counties of Salop and Stafford. The county is here separated from Staffordshire by a small stream, which meanders in the front of the hall. Not far from the hall is a fine sheet of water, which covers upwards of six acres, near to which is a corn mill. Rateable value of the township, £732. 4s. 1d.

The residents are Robert Masefield, Esq., Ellerton Hall, John Challenor, farmer and corn miller; and William Challenor, farmer.

GOLDSTON

is a township and small village pleasantly situated on the declivity of a hill about a mile and a half west by south from Cheswardine church. The township contains 452A. 1R. 16P. of land, and at the census of 1841 there were 14 houses and 75 inhabitants. Rateable value, £598. 1s. 6d. There are only three farms in this township, two of which are the property of William Vardon, Esq., and the other is possessed by Mrs. Charlotte Masefield. GOLDSTON HALL is a neat brick house, the occasional residence of William Vardon, Esq. Near to the hall is an antique house, chiefly composed of timber and plaster, which was most probably erected about the middle of the fifteenth century; it is now the residence of Mr. Alfred Holden, farmer. On the banks of the Shropshire union canal, which passes about half a mile from the village, there is a wharf where coal is sold, called the Goldston wharf.

The resident farmers in this township are Thomas Beeston, Alfred Holden, and Ann Lea; William Vardon, Esq., The Hall; Thomas Finn, gardener to W. Vardon, Esq.

SAMBROOK

is a small rural village, partly in the parish of Cheswardine, and partly in that of Chetwynd, three and a half miles south from Cheswardine, and three miles north from Chetwynd church. At the census of 1841 there were 22 houses and 96 inhabitants in the former parish, and 15 houses and 80 inhabitants in the latter. John Charles Burton Boroughs, Esq., is the principal landowner; Dr. Swanwick is also a proprietor. A small chapel of ease was erected here in the year 1839. The turnpike road from Newport to Market Drayton intersects the township; and at Stamford Bridge there is a respectable inn, kept by Mr. Cordwell.

DIRECTORY.—Thomas Beddall, mason; John Cordwell, timber merchant, Oak Cottage; Thomas Cordwell, timber merchant and vict., Talbot Inn, Stamford Bridge; Thomas Dix, blacksmith; Joseph Goodwin, blacksmith and beerhouse keeper; William Jones, farmer; Joseph Lockley, wheelwright; Miss Stanley, The Cottage; George Stokes, farmer; Joseph Wainwright, farmer.

SOWDLEY GREAT

is a township and scattered village in the parish of Cheswardine, situated about three quarters of a mile south-east from the church. The township contains 1,497A. 3R. 22P. of land, and in 1841 there were 75 houses and 333 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,280. 3s. 8d. The principal landowners are Robert Masefield, Esq.; Thomas Addison, Esq.; George Addison, Esq.; Mr. Thomas Buckley; Mr. William Buckley; Mr. William Manley; Mr. Stanley; and Mr. William Brian. THE WESLEYAN METHODISTS have a small chapel in Great Sowdley, built in the year 1837, on land given by Mr. John Butterton. The poor of the several townships in this parish participate in the general charities noticed with the township of Cheswardine.

Allen Sarah, farmer

Arkinstall Henry, farmer

Ashley John, farmer, Little Sowdley

Beeston Joseph, tailor

Benbow James, farmer, Sowdley park

Brian William, farmer

Buckley Thomas, shopkeeper

Hamner George, farmer

Hayward John, carpenter, wheelwright, and beerhouse keeper, Hopshort

Hazledine Thomas, farmer, Sowdley park

Hughes James, shoemaker, Hopshort

Jackson Thomas, farmer

Lea John, farmer

Lee Philip, farmer, Little Sowdley

Pointon George, farmer

Robinson William, beerhouse

Simkin Thomas, farmer, Little Sowdley

Stanley Henry, farmer, Hanwood House

Swinnerton William, blacksmith and farmer

Walton John, farmer

Whittall John, schoolmaster

Worrall John, farmer

Worrall William, brickmaker

DRAYTON-IN-HALES, OR MARKET DRAYTON,

is a parish and considerable market town, in the Drayton division of the North Bradford Hundred, 153 miles N.W. by N. from London, 19 miles N.E. by N. from Shrewsbury, 11 miles N. from Newport, and 12 miles S.E. from Whitchurch. The town is pleasantly situated on the north-east extremity of the county, and is watered by the river Tern. It is a place of great antiquity; and, according to Nennius, was one of the principal cities of the ancient Britons. From the discovery of foundations, and other traces of buildings in the fields adjoining the town, it is probable that its extent was once more considerable than at present; and though no coins, pavements, or other monuments of antiquity have been discovered here, it is nevertheless strongly conjectured that this town was the Roman Station, MEDIOLANUM. It is still a place of importance, and the head of a division of the county, in which the petty sessions are held. It contains several good inns, and many respectable shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. There are three firms engaged in the manufacture of hair seating, which together employ about two hundred operatives. The manufacture of paper was formerly carried on to some extent, but was discontinued about five years ago. Here is a tannery, ironfoundery, and agricultural implements are extensively made. The various handicraft trades, in which a considerable number of the population are employed, will be seen on reference to the directory. The general traffic of this locality is facilitated by the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, which passes on the eastern side of the town. Drayton is twice mentioned in the Domesday survey, and it was then held by knights’ service under Earl Roger. In the 30th of Henry III. the Abbot of Combermere had a grant of a market here on a Wednesday, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the day after the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The market is still held on Wednesdays, and numerously attended by the farmers who reside in the surrounding district, when considerable quantities of grain are sold. Fairs are held on the first Wednesday in February, Wednesday before Palm Sunday, first Wednesday in May, Wednesday before June 22nd, first Wednesday in August, September 19th, October 24th, and the last Wednesday in November. The parish comprehends the townships of Betton, Drayton Magna, Drayton Parva, Longslow, Sutton and Woodseaves, in this county; it also extends into the Pirehill hundred, in the county of Stafford, and is divided into four quarters for parochial purposes, viz.:—Church quarter, containing Drayton Magna and Drayton Parva; the north quarter, containing Betton, Ridgewardine, and Tunstall; south quarter, Longslow, Sutton, and Woodseaves; and Tirley quarter, containing Almington, Blore, Hales, and Tirley. The entire parish, in 1801, contained a population of 3,162 souls; 1831, 3,882; and in 1841, 4,680 souls. It embraces 7,726A. 3R. 11P. of land. The township of DRAYTON MAGNA contains 678A. 2R. 35P. of land, and at the census of 1841 had 361 houses and 1,699 inhabitants. The principal landowners are Richard Corbet, Esq., P. Sillitoe, Esq., the Earl of Powis, William Church Norcop, Esq., Thomas Whitfield, Esq., and John E. Wilson, Esq. The former is lord of the manor, and impropriator of the rectoral tithes, which are commuted for £51. 5s. 9d. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £40. 19s. 9d. DRAYTON PARVA is a populous district, forming a western suburb to the town, chiefly consisting of cottage residences, many of which are small, ill-ventilated, and have a miserable appearance. At the census of 1841 there were 352 houses and 1,462 inhabitants. The township contains 520A. 2R. 32P. of land. Among the principal landowners are Thomas Whitfield, Esq., and Mr. Brocklehurst. Richard Corbet, Esq., and Peter Broughton, Esq., are joint lords of the manor. Mr. Benjamin Beeston, Mr. William Godwin, and Mr. Samuel Swinnerton, are also landowners; besides whom there are upwards of one hundred and fifty small freeholders. Little Drayton Common, containing 97A. 0R. 36P., was enclosed in 1850, when five acres were allotted for the site of the new church, the parsonage, and the burial ground. The rectoral tithes have been commuted for £54. 19s. 7d., and the vicarial for £21. 13s. 1d.

THE CHURCH, dedicated to St. Mary, is a massive structure, void of architectural beauty, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a castellated tower, supported by butresses. It was built in the reign of King Stephen, and underwent a complete reparation in 1786, when it was stripped of its gothic honours. But little of the original structure remains; the pillars and arches which separate the nave from the side aisles are undoubtedly the most ancient part of the building. The approach is at the west end, under a tower, by a Norman doorway, ornamented in the zig-zag style; the ornaments and clustered pillars are, however, much corroded by time. The tower, with the exception of a small portion at the bottom, appears to have been wholly rebuilt. On a beam in the belfry there is the date 1590, but there is no historical record to show that the tower was rebuilt in that year. There are six musical bells; the tenor bell, weighing 17½ cwt., was added about five years ago. The interior is spacious and lofty, and provided with commodious galleries. Upon the gallery at the west end is a small organ. Each side aisle is divided from the nave by five pointed arches rising from octagonal pillars, the ornamental portions of which have been defaced. In the centre aisle is a capacious font, of an octagonal form. The east window is richly beautified with stained glass, which was added about twenty-five years ago, at the expense of Sir Andrew Corbet. An antique tablet remembers Dame Anne Corbet, who died in 1682, aged 80 years. “She was the mother of ten sons and ten daughters, whereof seventeen lived to be men and women.” The walls of the chancel and side aisles are ornamented with numerous other tablets in memory of members of some of the principal families resident in this neighbourhood, but which our limits will not allow us to notice; several of modern erection are very beautifully designed. There was a chantery in this church, founded by Ralph de Basset in the 14th of Edward I., for three chaplains, who had three acres of land here. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £12. 10s. 7½d., now returned at £173, in the patronage of Richard Corbet, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. James Lee, M.A. THE VICARAGE, a neat residence a little west from the church, was erected in 1837, at a cost of £1,000, by the present incumbent. The old vicarage stood near the west end of the church, and was taken down when the present edifice was built. The site and the garden, measuring about half an acre, were sold by the vicar to the parishioners for the sum of £400, and were added to the church-yard. The church stands considerably elevated, and is a conspicuous and imposing object when seen from the Newport road, the southern approach to the town. The church-yard commands a fine prospect towards the south. Immediately before you is an abrupt declevity, with cottages nestling under the cliff; the meanderings of the Tern water the fertile meadows beneath; and on the opposite acclivity is seen the beautiful seat of Purney Sillitoe, Esq., embosomed in thriving plantations with a fine extent of richly-wooded country extending into Staffordshire.

THE NEW CHURCH, situated on Little Drayton Common, is dedicated to our Saviour, and was built in 1846. It is a neat structure, in the early English style of architecture, with nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower at the north-west corner. The interior has a chaste and pleasing appearance, and will accommodate about six hundred worshippers. The sittings are uniform in character, and are all free, with the exception of forty. The total cost of the structure was £2,600, of which Mrs. Nonelly gave the munificent sum of £500, and a like sum towards the erection of a residence for the minister. The parsonage stands a little south from the church, and was built in 1847, on the five acres of land given for the site of the church and parsonage. About an acre and a half has been enclosed for a burial ground, and the rest is appropriated as gardens and pleasure grounds to the parsonage. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Drayton; incumbent, Rev. Edward Cheere, M.A. The district of this church comprises Little Drayton, the township of Sutton, and part of Woodseaves.

THE INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, a plain brick structure, situated in Back-lane, was built in the year 1778. It is neatly fitted up and provided with galleries. The congregation had no settled pastor when our agent visited Drayton.

THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHAPEL, situated in Shropshire-street, within the bounds of the township of Little Drayton, was built in the year 1808. The structure is plain, is provided with a gallery, and will accommodate between four and five hundred people.

THE BAPTIST CHAPEL, a small structure, situate at Little Drayton, has a residence attached. There is no baptist minister residing here, but members of this persuasion meet for worship every alternate Sunday.

THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have a small chapel, situated a little back from Cheshire-street. This is the only place of worship in the town,—too small for the number of hearers who attend religious service. It is expected a new chapel will shortly be built.

THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, situated on the south-east side of the church yard, was founded by Sir Rowland Hill, in 1554, who charged the manor at Wellington Hey, with the lands thereto belonging, with the payment of £22 per annum, for the support of the said school. The churchwardens of the parish were incorporated governors of the school, and were directed to pay twenty marks yearly out of the above sum to the master, to the usher £6. 13s. 4d., and the yearly sum of 40s. residue thereof should be kept as a fund for the reparations of the school. The governors covenanted for themselves and their successors that the hall or tenement on the south side of the church yard at Drayton, commonly called St. Mary’s Hall, wherein a grammar school was then kept, or such other house as should be thereafter erected on the site, should be for ever used for the said grammar school. The school was to be free for all children whose parents should place them there for learning to read English, the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and that neither the master nor the usher should agree for any recompense for such instruction. Sir Thomas Lake, in 1662, gave a rent charge issuing out of certain lands in the parish of Baschurch, amounting to £9. 19s. per annum, £6. 12s. 8d. thereof to the schoolmaster, and £3. 6s. 4d. to the usher. By an order in the Court of Chancery made 22nd January, 1816, on a petition presented by the governors it was ordered that the offices of master and usher should be consolidated, and that the office of usher should be abolished. That the governors should be at liberty to expend a sum not exceeding £191 in repairing the school house and other buildings belonging to the school; and that such sum should be raised by a mortgage of the said premises. That the governors should let the house then occupied by the usher. That a salary of £25 should be paid to the master, and that the residue of the annual revenues of the school should be applied in discharge of the principal money to be borrowed for the said repairs, and of the necessary repairs that might from time to time be wanted. The income of the school consists of the two rent charges above mentioned, and £7 per annum arising from the rent of the house formerly occupied by the usher. Out of the income amounting to £38 19s. there is paid a salary of £25 to the master, £9. 2s. as interest on the £182 laid out in the repairs of the school premises, and some small sums annually for repairs and incidental expenses. The Rev. Charles Cooke, M.A., is the master.

THE PAROCHIAL AND NATIONAL SCHOOL is a neat brick structure in the Elizabethan style of architecture, situated on a bold eminence a short distance west from the church. It was built in the year 1835, and is supported by annual subscriptions, and small weekly payments received from the children. There are one hundred and sixty boys and one hundred and thirty girls now educated in the school. William Scott is the teacher.

THE MARKET DRAYTON POOR-LAW UNION comprehends twelve parishes, embracing 61,637 acres of land, and an area of 91 square miles, with a population returned at the census of 1841 of 13,925 souls. The Union House, situated in Shropshire-street, was formerly used as the parish workhouse; it was enlarged by the poor-law guardians in the year 1839; the average number of inmates is usually about one hundred. A new Union House will shortly be built upon Little Drayton Common, which will accommodate about 350 inmates. The district comprised within the union is the same as that of the county court, the several places of which are stated here below:—_Chairman of the Guardians_: Thomas Twemlow, Esq. _Vice Chairman_: Walter Minor, Esq. _Clerks_: Messrs. Wilkinsons. _Chaplain_: Rev. Robert Upton. _Surgeons_: William W. Saxton, Market Drayton district; John Hopkins, Moreton Say district; John Walmsley, Hodnet district; Edward Bayley, Cheswardine district; and Michael Ryan, Ashley district. _Master_: William Crutchley. _Matron_: Mary Crutchley. _Schoolmistress_: Martha Crutchley.

THE COUNTY COURT OFFICES, situated in Cheshire-street, is a neat structure of brick with stone finishings, and was built in the year 1850, at the expense of Joseph Loxdale Warren, Esq. The lower part of the building is used as offices for the despatch of business connected with the county court, and above is a large room capable of holding upwards of 400 people, which is used for magisterial purposes. The court embraces within its jurisdiction the following townships and places, viz.:—Adderley, Almington, Ashley, Aston, Bearston, Betchley, Betton, Blore, Bolas Parva, Cheswardine, Childs Ercall, Chipnall, Dorrington, Drayton Magna, Drayton Parva, Eaton, Ellerton, Goldstone, Gravenhanger, Hales, Hinstock, Hodnet, Hopton and Espley, Howle, Hungary Hatton, Kenstone and Hopley, Knighton, Langford, Longslow, Losford, Marchamley, Moreton Say, Muckleston, Norton-in-Hales, Ollerton, Peplow, Pickstock, Sambrook, Shavington, Sowdley, Spoonley, Stoke-upon-Tern, Stych and Woodlands, Sutton, Tittenley, Wistanswick, Woodseaves, Woolerton, and Woore. _Judge_: Uvedale Corbett, Esq. _Clerk_: Joseph Loxdale Warren, Esq., The Lodge. _Bailiff_: Mr. William Darbyshire Green, Cheshire-st.

PETTY SESSIONS are held on the last Saturday in every month, in the spacious room above the county court offices, when prisoners are committed to Shrewsbury or Stafford, as the case may occur, in which county the offence is committed, the magistrates having jurisdiction in both counties.

THE POLICE OFFICE is situated in Cheshire-street nearly opposite the county court office. It was built in 1850, and has two cells, where prisoners are confined before committal by the magistrates. In which case they are sent to Shrewsbury if the offence has been committed in this county, and to Stafford if committed in Staffordshire. Attached to the cells is a residence for the constable; William Hemming is the police officer.

THE MARKET DRAYTON SOCIETY FOR THE ACQUIREMENT OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE was established in September, 1850. The objects of the institution are to extend to all classes aid for cultivating, and occasion for exercising their mental powers; to afford to its members the powerful advantages and incitement of association for prosecuting their several studies in the various branches of useful knowledge, and to secure to them opportunity for engaging in such pursuits as shall tend to their moral as well as intellectual advancement. For these objects the society has taken convenient premises situate in the beast market; classes for mutual improvement have been formed, a library and news room have been established, and it is intended to have lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, and the fine arts, as occasion may occur; the news room is furnished with the principal London and provincial journals and the most popular periodicals of the day; and the library, although only recently established, contains many valuable and standard works. Persons are admitted to all the privileges of the institution on the payment of 8s. per annum. An annual subscription of 21s. per annum constitutes an honorary member, and any person giving the sum of £10. 10s., or books, or apparatus to that amount, or a course of not less than ten lectures, is considered an honorary member for life. The honorary members have the exclusive use of the reading room from nine o’clock in the morning till six o’clock in the evening. The institution has the patronage and active support of the principal gentry and clergy of the town and neighbourhood. _Patrons_: Henry Bayley Clive, Esq., M.P.; John Whitehall Dod, Esq., M.P. _President_: Thomas Twemlow, Esq. _Treasurer_: W. M. Wilkinson, Esq. _Secretary_: Mr. William Crutchley.

A NEWS ROOM has been established by the gentry and tradesmen in the town, at Mrs. Barnett’s, High-street. It is supported by subscriptions of 21s. per annum.

THE GAS WORKS are situated in the outskirts of the southern side of the town, near the river Tern; they were established by a company of shareholders, who reside in Staffordshire, and the town is expected to be lighted with gas during the autumn of the present year (1851).

PROVIDENT SOCIETIES.—There are in this town several societies or clubs, the members of which pay small contributions to their respective funds, from which they are relieved in case of sickness, infirmity, or superannuation, and from which the friends of deceased members receive a sufficient sum for their decent interment. Among these are the Market Drayton Tradesmen Club, and the fraternities or sacred Orders of Oddfellows, M.U.; Ancient Forresters, and Female Societies, &c.

THE GROVE is a handsome brick mansion, a quarter of a mile east from the church, the residence and property of John E. Wilson, Esq.—SPRING FIELDS, a good house a little west from the church, situated on elevated ground, commands fine prospects of the country, and is the residence and property of Thomas Whitfield, Esq.

Near this town, during the desolating wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, a desperate conflict took place at BLORE HEATH, on the borders of Staffordshire, which proved very disastrous to numbers of the Cheshire gentry, and many of the principal families of the adjoining district. The battle took place on the 23rd of September, 1459, when Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, commanded the forces of the white rose, and had an army of 5,000 men encamped on a hill near Market Drayton. He was opposed by James Touchet, Lord Audley, on the part of the red rose, with an army of 10,000. Though so disproportionate in numbers, the army of Salisbury proved victorious: 2,400 men are said to have been slain in this bloody conflict, together with their brave and loyal chief, who fell by the hand of Robert Kynaston, Esq., of Hordley, a zealous partizan of the house of York. In a field adjoining the turnpike road from Market Drayton to Newcastle, a stone has been set up to mark the spot where Lord Audley fell. What rendered the battle more calamitous was, that the principal families ranged nearly in equal numbers on the side of each of the contending parties. The old English poet, Michael Drayton, in his “Polyalbion,” represents the conflict as partaking of the form of a duel, in which one relative falls a sacrifice to the resentment of the other:—

“There Dutton Dutton kills; a Done doth kill a Done;
A Booth a Booth; and Leigh by Leigh is overthrown;
A Venables against a Venables doth stand,
A Troutbeck fighteth with a Troutbeck hand to hand;
There Molineux doth make a Molineux to die,
And Egerton the strength of Egerton doth try.
O Cheshire! wert thou mad of thine own native gore,
So much until this day thou never shedd’st before;
Above two thousand men upon the earth were thrown,
Of whom the greater part were naturally thine own.”

Thomas Whitfield, Esq., of Drayton, has in his possession the crest of the Egertons, a sword handle, and a brass stirrup, richly ornamented and in good preservation, which were found about thirty years ago on the field of battle. During the struggles between Charles I. and the parliament, a skirmish took place in the neighbourhood of Drayton, between the King’s party, under the command of Prince Rupert, and the parliamentary forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, when the royal cause gained a temporary success.

THE MARKET DRAYTON SAVINGS’ BANK, on November 20th, 1850, had a capital stock of £29,004. 3s., invested with the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, at which period there were 866 separate accounts, of which ten were charitable societies, with deposits amounting to £260. 12s. 1d.; and ten friendly societies, with deposits amounting to £1,706. 2s. 6d. Of the total number of deposits, there were 449 whose respective balances did not exceed £20; 218 were above £20 and not exceeding £50; 109 above £50 and not exceeding £100; 36 above £100 and not exceeding £150; and 29 between that sum and £200. John Moore is the secretary.

CHARITIES.—_Frances Hill_, in 1557, gave a rent charge of 29s. per annum, out of premises in Castle Donnington, and directed 2s. to be paid yearly to the vicar or priest of Drayton to say mass in the parish church, or such divine service as should be lawful to be observed there; 8d. to the parish clerk, and 16d. to the bell ringers; 2s. 8d. for two wax tapers; 8d. to her heirs for the trouble of payment; and the residue to be given to the poorest inhabitants of Drayton. Out of this gift 2s. is paid to the minister, 2s. to the clerk, and to the two churchwardens 8d. each, and the remainder is distributed among the poor, in groats, on Trinity Sunday.

_Elizabeth Wetenhall_, by her will, bearing date 19th December, 1693, devised to Robert Clive and John Gardner, and their heirs, two parcels of land at Drayton, called the Gallow Tree Field and the Clay Pits, which then produced a rental of £6. 16s. per annum; also a yearly rent of £4, issuing out a messuage and lands at Winstanwick; and a yearly rent of 8s. 4d. out of a farm at Childs Ercall. And she also bequeathed to the same persons £60, to be laid out in the purchase of land, or a rent charge, and out of the yearly proceeds, £4 to be paid in apprenticing one poor boy of the parish of Drayton to some useful trade; 40s. to be equally distributed among forty poor widows, or old decayed workmen of Drayton; 20s. to the vicar of the parish, provided he should preach a sermon on St. Thomas’s day; £6. to be paid to Gabriel Wetenhall and George Dodd, and their heirs and assignees; £4 for the purpose of putting forth a poor boy of the parish of Audlem, in Cheshire, apprentice; and 40s. to be distributed among forty of the poorest widows or decayed labourers of the said parish. In 1811, an information was filed against Robert Farbeck and Samuel Redshaw, as the representatives of the co-heiresses of Robert Clive, the surviving trustee, and against Richard Grant, who acted as the trustee of the charity by the attorney-general, at the relation of the Rev. William Cotton and others. On the 21st of July, 1848, a new scheme for the administration of the charity and distribution of the income thereof, was made, and certain trustees appointed. In this scheme the trustees are ordered, after paying any expenses incident to the administration of the charity, to divide the income into thirteen parts, and apply the same in the following manner, viz., four-thirteenths thereof in apprenticing a poor boy of the parish of Drayton, selected by the majority of the trustees; two-thirteenths to be distributed in money, or laid out in the purchase of coals, blankets, provisions, or clothing, at the discretion of the trustees, and distributed among forty poor widows, and old decayed workmen of the parish of Drayton; one-thirteenth to be paid to the vicar of Drayton, provided he shall have preached, or cause to be preached, two sermons on St. Thomas’s day, in Drayton church; four-thirteenths in apprenticing poor boys of the parish of Audlam, in Cheshire; and the remaining two thirteenths to be distributed in money or clothes, among forty poor widows or decayed labourers of the said parish of Audlem. From certain technicalities not yet complied with by the legal gentlemen, and which few can see the reasonableness of but a lawyer, the charity yet remains in abeyance. The accumulations amount to upwards of £1,400, out of which between £400 and £500 had been expended in the prosecution of the suit up to December, 1850. The trustees appointed for the administration of the charity by the attorney-general, July, 1848, are the Rev. George Pitt; Richard Corbet, Esq.; Henry Clive, Esq.; William Tayleur, Esq.; Thomas Twemlow, Esq.; William Wilkinson, Esq.; and Richard Grant, Esq.

_John Wright_ left the yearly sum of 10s., to be given in bread on the feast of St. John the Baptist, and the feast of St. John the Evangelist: he also left the like sum yearly for the poor of Tyrley quarter. In respect of this charity, 20s. per annum is received from certain premises at Stoke-upon-Tern, which is applied according to the donor’s intentions. _Lawrence Thompson_ left 20s. per annum to the poor of Drayton, to be given on St. Lawrence’s day. _Ralph Kendrirk_ gave an annual sum of 20s. to the poor, and _Mr. Cooke_, a yearly sum of 3s. 4d. These several sums are carried to the poor’s account, and bread distributed to the amount on New Year’s Day.

_The Rev. Richard Price_, by will 1730, devised certain lands and houses in and near Drayton to the poor of Drayton and Hodnet; viz., £5 per annum, for a distribution of bread every Lord’s-day, and the remainder for the schooling of poor children of each place. The premises now held by the parish officers of Drayton, as derived from the Rev. R. Price, consist of a building in Little Drayton, formerly used as a poor house. This building was probably erected upon the site of the five messuages conveyed in trust by the Rev. R. Price; but it does not appear how the parish of Drayton became entitled to the whole, as part was allotted to the parish of Hodnet. The are also two pieces of land, called the Town Field and Crab Tree Field, and a small plot of land in Longslow lane, which produce a yearly rental altogether of £19. 11s. This sum is carried to the general account, kept by the churchwardens, entitled the Poors’ Account.

_John Bill_ left £240, the interest to be disposed of in the Shropshire part of the parish. In 1781 the sum of £240 was lent to Thomas H. Alcock, on his bond, but he subsequently failing, a dividend of £106 was received from the bankrupt’s estate. In 1819 a sum of £190 was advanced by the churchwardens for the repairs of the Grammar School, for which interest was to be paid at the rate of five per cent. It is stated in a memorandum, entered in the churchwardens’ book, that £118, part of this money was left by Mr. Bill for the purpose of a charity school in Little Drayton, and apprenticing poor children, at the discretion of the churchwardens. Interest is now paid on £182 from the school funds, and the amount is carried to the poors’ account; but it may be observed, that in the application of those funds, only £4 is disposed of annually for the education of poor children of Little Drayton, which sum falls short of the income of Price’s charity before mentioned, which is also applicable to this purpose, and nothing whatever is applied in binding out apprentices.