Chapter XXIX: Part 29

THE CHURCH is a small structure, mantled with ivy, and dedicated to St. Chad. It consists of nave and chancel, with a tower at the west end, in which are three bells. There is also a small gallery at the west end; and neat tablets have been erected in memory of the Marriot and Ogle families. The body of the church is very ancient, but the tower was erected in 1726. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £6. 1s. 8d., now returned at £494. Patron, Duke of Sutherland; incumbent, Rev. Andrew Burn, M.A. THE RECTORY is an ancient residence, on the west side of the church-yard. The tithes are commuted for £340. There is a PAROCHIAL SCHOOL in the village, which is chiefly supported by the Duke of Sutherland and the Rector.

DIRECTORY.—Rev. Andrew Burn, M.A., The Rectory; Thomas Brown, farmer; John and Thomas Davies, shoemakers; John Felton, shoemaker; William Gough, shoemaker; Thomas Hitchin, wheelwright; George Hooper, farmer; William Hooper, farmer and maltster, Margaret Hughes, farmer, Wall Farm; Richard Ogle, farmer, Manor House; John Taylor, farmer; William Weston, farmer; William Weston, blacksmith; Richard Williams, farmer and victualler, Crown Inn.

LEIGHTON

is a parish and delightful little village, situate on the banks of the Severn, and near the foot of the Wrekin hill, nine miles S.E. from Shrewsbury. In 1801 the parish contained 338 inhabitants; 1831, 360; and in 1841, 80 houses and a population of 403 souls. Rateable value, £2,691. Robert Gardner, Esq., and Sir George Harnage, Bart., are the principal landowners. The soil is mostly of a superior quality, and produces good crops of all kinds of grain. THE CHURCH, dedicated to St. Mary, is a plain brick structure, situated a short distance from the village, and consists of nave and chancel, with a small tower, in which are three bells. In the chancel are several handsome tablets, chiefly in memory of the Leighton and Kinnersley families, who formerly resided here, and had large possessions in this locality. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £7. 12s. 6d., now returned at £224, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. Robert Maddocks. The salubrious situation of Leighton and the vicinity is proverbial, and several extraordinary cases of longevity among the inhabitants have occurred. A short time ago, Stephen Davies was living at the advanced age of 97 years. He recollected old Sarah Beech, who lived in this parish, and died about the year 1738 at the age of 106 years, and who had a sister that lived to the age of 103 years. Stephen Davies had then a brother living at Wroxeter of the age of 96 years.

GARMSTONE is a hamlet, in the parish of Leighton.

CHARITIES—_Ann Lacon_, by her will, left £15 a-year for ever to the poor of Leighton, Sheinton, and Buildwas, to be given to four poor persons of each parish. This gift is secured on a messuage and lands at Much Wenlock, and the moiety belonging to this parish is divided equally among four of the poor inhabitants, _Richard Leighton_, _Esq._, left the sum of £100, the interest to be distributed by the minister and churchwardens for the time being among the poor of the parish on Candlemas-day. This bequest, and several other legacies amounting to £8, were placed out about sixty years ago upon the security of the tolls arising from the turnpike road which passes through Leighton, the interest of which, £5. 8s., is distributed in small sums among the poor on Candlemas-day.

DIRECTORY.—John Bagley, tailor; John Barnet, victualler, Barnet’s Grove; Job Basnett, farmer; Rev. Frederick Burd, curate; John Drury, farmer; John Evans, corn-miller; Daniel Everall, farmer; Thomas Everall, farmer; James Farmer, corn-miller; Robert Gardner, Esq., Leighton Hall; Thomas Gervis, farmer, Garmston; Sir George Harnage, Bart.; Harry C. Jeffries, farmer, Garmston; John Machin, farmer, Eye Farm; Thomas Richards, farmer; Isaac Shepherd, farmer, Longwood; Thomas Tart, tailor.

LILLESHALL

is a parish in the Newport division of the South Bradford hundred, which comprises the townships of Lilleshall, Donington, and Muxton, and embraces 6,111A. 3R. 9P. of land. In 1801 the parish had a population of 2,060 souls; 1831, 3,596; and in 1841 there were 708 houses and 3,851 inhabitants. Rateable value, £12,034. 1s. 8d. The Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor, and owner of the whole parish, except about half a dozen acres, the property of Mr. John Bradborn, in the township of Muxton. The village of Lilleshall is pleasantly situated on the acclivity of a hill, three miles south-west from Newport. The township in 1841 contained 155 houses and 795 inhabitants; the houses are scattered, and the population find employment in the extensive collieries and iron works with which the vicinity abounds. THE CHURCH is a venerable structure mantled with ivy, and dedicated to St. Mary; in the tower is a peal of six bells. On the north side of the chancel is an altar tomb, with two full length figures, in memory of dame Catherine Leveson and Sir Richard Leveson: the former died March 31st, 1674, and the latter June 2nd, 1661. The old font, about twenty years ago, was used as a cistern to a pump at Lilleshall old hall; it was removed by the late vicar, and now stands at the west end of the church. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £6. 17s. 11d.; now returned at £338; in the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland; incumbent, Rev. Henry George Bunsen; curate, Rev. Thomas Bucknall Lloyd. On Lilleshall Hill, in this parish, a monument was erected in 1839, to the memory of the first Duke of Sutherland; on June 20th, 1839, it was struck with lightning, and sustained considerable damage; but it was shortly after put in a state of complete reparation. On the north side is the following inscription.—

To the memory of
George Granville Leveson Gower, K G
First Duke of Sutherland,
The most just and generous of landlords.
This monument is erected
by the occupiers of his Grace’s Shropshire farms,
as a public testimony that he
went down to the grave with the blessings
of his tenants on his head,
and left behind him upon his estates
the best inheritance which a gentleman of England
can bequeath to his son:
men ready to stand by his house
heart and hand.

On the south side of the monument is the inscription, “Let all the ends thou aimest at be thy country’s, thy God’s, and truth’s.” It is related that at the trial of Queen Caroline, the Lord Chancellor Eldon, in his charge to the peers, told them to “Be just and fear not,” when the Duke of Sutherland immediately rose from his place in the house and declared that he echoed the sentiments of his noble and learned friend on the wool sack, and would copy the immortal bard still farther by saying, “Let all the ends thou aimest at be thy country’s, thy God’s, and truth’s.” This was the occasion of the inscription being placed on the monument. The obelisk was designed by Sir Francis Chantrey.

His Grace, in March, 1803, succeeded to the trust estates and canal of his maternal uncle, the late Duke of Bridgewater, and in October in the same year, by the death of his father, he became Marquis of Stafford, and entered into possession of the paternal estates of the Leveson branch of the family, in Staffordshire and Shropshire, and to the ancient patrimony of the Gowers of Yorkshire. For some time he filled the office of postmaster general, and was ambassador to the court of France at the commencement of the revolution in that country. His titles were George Grenville, Duke of Sutherland, Marquis of the County of Stafford, Earl Gower, Viscount Trentham, Baron Gower of Sittenham, and a baronet. His Grace was also a Knight of the Garter, and a Privy Councillor. Among the near relations of the Duke of Sutherland may be enumerated the distinguished families of Bedford, Rutland, Lansdowne, Marlborough, Dorset, Kingston, Waldegrave, Jersey, Thanet, and Warwick. The Shropshire estates of the Duke of Sutherland are upwards of 20,000 acres.

THE NATIONAL SCHOOL, a plain brick structure a little south from the church, has an attendance of about eighty boys and sixty girls. It is supported by the Duke of Sutherland and a small charge from each scholar. There are about three roods of garden ground attached to the school, which is divided into twenty allotments, and cultivated by twenty of the senior scholars for their own benefit.

LILLESHALL ABBEY.—In a solitary and retired situation, about a mile south from the church, may be seen the ruins of Lilleshall Abbey. At the great western entrance is a fine Norman arch, richly recessed with ribs and running foliage. The pillars and arches of the church have been entirely destroyed, but the doors and windows still remain. The south door, by which a communication was formed with the cloister, is doubtless one of the most highly ornamented arches in the kingdom. A semi-circular arch, overspread with ornaments peculiar to the Saxon and early Norman buildings, is supported by clusters of slender shafts, some of which are spiral, and others covered with lozenge work, having the intermediate spaces embellished with mouldings. The east window of the choir has a beautiful pointed arch of the fourteenth century, and the north and south windows are narrow plain, and round headed. The walls of the refectory have been converted into a residence. The church was cruciform, and had probably two towers: one in the centre and the other at the west end; the breadth of the nave is thirty-six feet, and the length two hundred and twenty-eight feet. The boundary wall of the abbey encompassed several acres, and in some parts is still entire. The ruins of the abbey are scattered over a large space, and the walls, which in some parts are mantled with ivy, are of considerable height, and the fragments of superb workmanship still to be seen show it to have been a place of great magnificence and architectural grandeur. The stalls of the choir at the dissolution were removed to the collegiate church of Wolverhampton, where they now remain. Richard de Belmeis, says Bishop Tanner, the last dean of the collegiate church of St. Alkmund, in Shrewsbury, about the year 1145, with the consent of pope Eugenius and King Stephen, surrendered up that church with all the lands and churches belonging to the same to the use of some regular canons of the order of St. Augustine, who came from Dorsetshire and began to build an abbey to the honour of the blessed virgin, upon one of the prebendal estates, here in the wood of Lilleshall, to which his kinsman, Philip de Belmeis was an early and great benefactor. Other authorities state that in the time of the Saxon dynasty a religious house was dedicated here to the use of secular canons or prebendaries, and afterwards became a nunnery, which was reduced to a state of desolation by the predatory incursions of the Welsh tribes, and it so continued until about the year 1145. Among the principal benefactors to this abbey were Alanta Zouche John le Strange, who gave the church of Hulme; and Hillaria de Trussebut, the wife of Robert de Bulders, who gave certain lands, and directed her body to be buried within the precincts of the abbey. In the 34th Henry III. the abbot had leave to grub up twenty-three acres in the woods of Lilleshall, and in the 7th of Edward to make an assart of the wood near Watling street, in the forest of Wombridge. In the 11th of Edward I. the abbot had leave to make a park. The abbey was endowed at subsequent periods by different pious individuals, and the annual income at the general dissolution of religious houses was valued at £229. 3s. per annum. On account of the situation of this monastery, near the Chester road, the abbots were sometimes known to complain that their income was too scanty to entertain the continual influx of visitors that travelled that road.

CHARITIES.—_Sir Richard Leveson_, by will, dated 5th of November, 1660, gave to the poor people inhabiting the parish of Lilleshall a rent charge of £5 per annum, issuing out of certain lands called Kainton Meadow. The Marquis of Stafford pays this gift yearly, which is distributed on St. Thomas’s-day by the minister and churchwardens. There is a piece of land still called Kainton Meadow, which is no doubt the land charged by the testator.

_Lady Catherine Leveson_, by her will, in 1670, devised to trustees her manor of Foxley, in Northamptonshire, and directed the yearly proceeds to be put to charitable uses; among others to the payment of £120 a year to the maintenance of twelve poor widows, three of whom were to be inhabitants of the parish of Lilleshall, and she directed that there should be provided by the minister and parish officers, out of the £10 respectively allowed for their maintenance, a gown of grey cloth, upon the breast of which gown the letters of K. L. in blue cloth should be set, which gown should be constantly wore by the widows, and if any one should refuse to wear them she should lose the benefit of the charity. The testator gave a further sum of £100 yearly to be applied in putting forth ten poor boys apprentices, two of whom should be children of the inhabitants of Lilleshall. In respect of this charity £50 a year is received by the churchwardens of Lilleshall, out of which £10 a year are paid to three poor widows, appointed by the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor, a preference being given to such as have fallen into poverty from better circumstances, and have not received parochial relief. The gowns have not been provided for them for many years. Two boys are usually apprenticed every year with premiums of £10 each. Upon inspection of the parish books which commence in 1634, it appears that various small benefactions have been given to the poor, which were placed in the hands of different persons, who paid interest for them. These sums appear to have passed in various proportions to other persons, and the interest thereon to have fluctuated so as to afford no certain information as to the amount or donation of the benefactions. In the year 1718 the poor’s stock appears to have amounted to £40. In 1734 the sum of £56 was put by the churchwardens into the parish chest for the use of the poor. No further entry occurs till 1757, when a sum of £20 appears to have been in the hands of Charles Lawrence, and £15 in the hands of Henry Barber. The £20 subsequently passed into the hands of Robert Garmeson, who in 1786 gave his note of hand for the money, and shortly after died insolvent. The entries of receipt of interest of the £15 cease in 1800, for several years previous to which it appears to have been paid by Mr. James Barber, about which time he died in bad circumstances, so that this sum may also be considered as lost.

LILLESHALL HOUSE, the magnificent seat of the Marquis of Stafford, is situated on a commanding eminence, from which extensive and beautiful prospects of the surrounding country are seen. The mansion is about a mile from the ruins of Lilleshall Abbey, within the bounds of the parish of Sheriff Hales, and was erected by the late Duke of Sutherland; it is built of beautiful white free stone, and exhibits a fine specimen of the Tudor style of architecture, from designs by Sir John Wyattville. The garden and pleasure grounds are laid out with admirable taste, and cover between forty and fifty acres. The flower garden from its extent and the beautiful order in which it is kept is surpassed by few in the kingdom; the manner of planting the flowers of one particular colour so as to form the greatest contrast with the beds contiguous to it has a most brilliant and dazzling effect. An avenue in the garden, which stretches 300 yards in length, has a very pleasing appearance; the frame work is of wood, to which are trained roses, japonicas, the various sorts of clamitas, and fruit trees, and in the delightful season when the clustering fruits hang in profusion, enriched with the autumnal tints, among the beautiful blossoms of the japonica and rose—the whole has a most enchanting appearance. The terrace commands a fine view of the park, the woody scenery in the vicinity, and a large tract of the country extending over North Shropshire into Staffordshire, Cheshire, and the mountainous district of Wales.

The village and parish of Sheriff Hales is mostly situated in Staffordshire. The residents of a few scattered farms, and at the mansion of Lilleshall House, are included in the following directory.

_Those with * affixed are in the parish of Sheriff Hales_, _and the rest in Lilleshall parish_.

* Stafford The Marquis of, Lilleshall House

Adams John, assistant overseer & constable

Adams Thomas, nursery and seedsman

Bates William, parish clerk and bricklayer

Birch Thomas, surveyor

Bunsen Rev. Henry George, vicar, Lilleshall Old Hall

Diggens Emma, schoolmistres

Diggens William, schoolmaster

Duncalfe Rd., farmer, Honnington Grange

Edwards Thomas, vict., Red House

* Elliot Wm., gardener, Lilleshall House

Higgins Mr., farmer, Lubstree Park

Howle Jane and Mary, shopkeepers

Hughes George, cashier

Hunt John, farm bailiff

James Mary, farmer, Cheswall Grange

Jones John, farmer

* Johnson Thomas, farmer, Red Hill

* Leman Tubal Cain, butler, Lilleshall House

Lloyd Rev. Thos. Bucknall, curate, Vicarage

Maddings Thomas, corn miller & maltster

* Pearce John, farmer, Hinks

* Pearce Mary, farmer

Phillips John B., farmer, Brockton Leasows

* Phillips Joseph Taylor, farmer, Manor House

* Smith William, Esq., land agent to the Duke of Sutherland, Little Hales

Spearman Elizabeth, farmer

Timmis John, farmer, Abbey farm

West Francis, farmer, Lilleshall Grange

Wilde Edward, farmer, Lilleshall Hill

DONINGTON, OR DONINGTON WOOD,

is a considerable township with a scattered population, situated about a mile W. from Lilleshall, and four miles S.W. from Newport. At the census in 1811 there were 498 houses and 2,757 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in the extensive iron works, collieries, and ironstone mines, with which this neighbourhood abounds. The collieries vary from 100 to 300 yards in depth, and there are twelve seams from which coal is got; the mines from which the ironstone is procured are also of very great depths; the country extending south and south west for several miles present one vast field of collieries and iron works, and has a teeming population, all busily employed in these and their subordinate manufactures and employments.

THE CHURCH is a neat modern structure, situate at Donington Wood, built about the year 1844, at a cost of £2,000. The seats are all free and unappropriated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the vicar of Lilleshall; incumbent, Rev. Thomas O’Regan. THE BAPTISTS have a chapel here, which was built about twenty years ago. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL was built at the expense of the Duke of Sutherland, who is also a munificent contributor towards the support of the institution; Thomas Townsend is the teacher. THE DONINGTON WOOD MECHANICS’ INSTITUTION was established in February, 1851, for the object of providing useful and intellectual entertainment for the numerous artisans and other inhabitants of Donington; for this object a library and reading room has been established, which is furnished with the leading London and provincial journals and magazines. Toward the library the Duke of Sutherland has kindly presented a large and valuable collection of books. It is intended to employ lecturers on popular subjects, to which members are admissable. The Lilleshall Company holds the collieries in this locality in lease of the Duke of Sutherland.

POST OFFICE.—_At Mr. Samuel Hollis’s_. Letters despatched at 7 P.M. to
Newport.

Adams John, railway station master

Anslow James, shopkeeper

Bennett James, shoemaker

Bott John, shopkeeper

Bott Sarah, schoolmistress

Boycott William, farmer and corn miller

Bradbury Isaac, blacksmith

Bulger William, ground bailiff

Hollis Samuel, agent to Lilleshall Company and post master

Horton Charles, ground bailiff

Jarrett John, schoolmaster

Jones Edward, mining engineer and manager to Lilleshall Company

Morton William, agricultural implement manufacturer, &c.

O’Regan Rev. Thomas, incumbent

Roystone Thomas, painter, plumber, and glazier

Tipton Thomas, bookkeeper

Townsend Thomas, schoolmaster

Ward Joseph, spade tree maker

Wheeler James, engineer

Wheeler James Henry, engineer

MUXTON

is a township in the parish of Lilleshall, situate near a mile W. from the church, and three and a half miles S.W. from Newport, the acres and value of which are included with the parish. The land is the property of the Duke of Sutherland, with the exception of about six acres, the property of Mr. John Bradborn. At the census in 1841 there were 55 houses and 299 inhabitants. Mrs. Rebecca Walthall by will 1740 bequeathed £10 to the churchwardens of Lilleshall, and directed the interest thereof to be distributed to the poor of Muxton on St. Thomas’s-day. It does not appear that this legacy were paid to the churchwardens of Lilleshall. An annual sum of 5s. was paid to them by the late Isaac H. Browne, Esq., and is still paid by the agent of his widow, which is supposed to be on account of the above benefaction, and to have been charged on an estate derived from Mrs. Walthall by Mr. Browne, which he sold some time ago in various lots. It is more probable however that the money had been left at interest in the hands of the residuary legatees, and that this 5s. was Mr. Browne’s share of such interest. A similar sum was formerly paid by Mr. Walthall, the other residuary legatee and administrator, who resided at Wistaston, in Cheshire, but this payment has been discontinued many years. The 5s. paid by Mrs. Browne is distributed among the poor of this township.

Bradborn John, maltster

Dawes Mary, farmer, Muxton bridge

Gaunt Edward, farmer

Greene John, surgeon

Hawkins Richard, butcher

Hitchin William, shoemaker

Johnson Jane, farmer, Woodhouse

Jones Richard, carpenter and joiner

Pearce George, maltster & vict., Holly Bush

Thursfield Richard, maltster

Tudor Samuel and William, farmers, Street Grange

Webb Richard, shoemaker

LONGDEN-UPON-TERN

is a parish and village in the Wellington Division of the South Bradford Hundred, three miles and a half N.W. by W. from Wellington. The villager is scattered, but pleasantly situated on elevated ground on the southern banks of the river, and commands many interesting views of rural beauty. In 1801 there were 102 inhabitants; 1831, 109; and in 1841, 15 houses and 99 inhabitants. The parish contains 796A. 1R. 32P. of land, and is intersected by the Shropshire Union Canal, and the turnpike road from Wellington to Shrewsbury. The river and its tributary streams are crossed by two bridges—one of metal, the other of stone,—and the canal by a brick structure. The canal is carried over the vale of the river by an aqueduct of sixty-two yards in length. There are 6A. 1R. of land in roads and waste. The soil is various: in some parts it is cold and wet. Gross estimated rental, £1,522. 9s. 2d. Rateable value, £1,358. 8s. The Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor, and the principal landowner, William Howard, Esq., is also a proprietor.

THE CHURCH, a small brick structure dedicated to St. Bartholomew, has a square turret, containing one bell. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland, and incumbency of the Rev. Edward Meredith, M.A. The tithes are commuted for £110. THE PARSONAGE is a neat brick residence, embosomed in foliage, and pleasantly situated a short distance from the church. The minister receives a limited number of young gentlemen as boarding scholars. THE HALL is a spacious structure, of considerable antiquity, with lofty chimneys; it is built of brick, with stone quoins and finishings, and is the property of William Howard, Esq., and residence of Mr. Henry Stormont. Extensive and conveniently arranged farm-buildings have recently been added to the farms occupied by Mr. Peter Brisbourne and Mr. George Belliss. THE SCHOOL is a brick structure, erected in 1849, at the expense of the Duke of Sutherland, who also gave the site. It is partly supported by subscription, but chiefly from the private resources of the minister, and a small payment from the children that attend for instruction. There are extensive corn mills on the banks of the river in this parish.

DIRECTORY.—George Belliss, farmer; Edward Brisbourne, farmer; Mrs. Brisbourne; Peter Brisbourne, farmer; Joseph Cooke, corn miller; Elizabeth Hatton, schoolmistress; John Jones, farmer; Rev. Edward Meredith, boarding-school, and incumbent of the church; Thomas Paddock, farmer and corn miller, Manor House; Henry Stormont, farmer, The Hall.

LONGFORD

is a parish, with a scattered population, situated about a mile and a half west from Newport, which comprises 1,907A. 2R. 13P., and in 1801 had 182 inhabitants; 1831, 206; and in 1841, 209; at the latter period there were 38 houses. The township of Longford contains 1,257A. 3R. 10P. of land, and in 1841 had 24 houses and a population of 125 souls. Gross rental, £2,774. 4s. 7d. Rateable value, £2,529. 14s. Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., is lord of the manor, and owner of the whole township. THE CHURCH is a small neat structure, dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of nave and chancel, with a tower at the west end, built about forty years ago. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £6. 2s. 8½d., now returned at £425, in the patronage of Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. John Kynaston Chorlton. The tithes have been commuted for £144. About twenty yards north from the church is a small structure, which was left standing when the old church was taken down. This was a private chapel, built as an appendage to the old edifice, and was the burial place of a branch of the Talbot family. The Talbots formerly owned the Longford estate, which was subsequently inherited by the Shrewsbury family, from whom it passed by sale; except the site of this small structure, which still remains the freehold property of the Earl of Shrewsbury. On the south side of this chapel is an elegant marble monument in memory of a Lady Talbot, which is richly ornamented with carved work and gilt embellishments. On the north side of the chapel is an alabaster slab, but without date. LONGFORD HALL, the residence and property of Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., is a spacious and handsome mansion of free-stone, with a noble portico supported by four massive pillars of the Doric order. The hall is delightfully situated on a gentle eminence, and opens into a finely-timbered park of about a hundred and fifty acres. Not far from the hall is a fine sheet of water, which covers about seven acres.

BROCKTON is a hamlet, a little more than a mile south from the church, which consists of two good farm residences and the rectory; near to which is a farm called the Brockton Leasowes, but the house is just within the bounds of Lilleshall parish. THE RECTORY is an ancient residence, mantled with ivy. The soil in this township is highly fertile, and well adapted for the growth of barley and turnips. A little north-west from the church is a corn mill, which was unoccupied when our agent visited Longford.

DIRECTORY.—Ralph Merrick Leeke, Esq., Longford Hall; Rev. John Kynaston Chorlton, The Rectory; Clifford Firth, farmer, Brockton; George Veitch, farmer, Longford Mill; James Veitch, farmer, Brockton; Thomas Clues, gardener, The Hall; Robert Stevenson, gamekeeper; James Rowley, blacksmith.

STOCKTON

is a small township, in the parish of Longford, three miles and a half E. by S. from the church, and two miles and a half S.E. from Newport. The township contains 649A. 3R. 3P. of land, and at the census of 1841 had 14 houses and 84 inhabitants. Gross estimated rental, £189. 18s. 7d. Rateable value, £820. 16s. The tithes are commuted for £112. There are eight acres of glebe land. All the land is the property of John Cotes, Esq.

The principal residents are Humphrey James, farmer; and John Meredith, farmer.

NEWPORT

is a parish and market town in the Newport division of the South Bradford Hundred, pleasantly situated in the line of the ancient Watling Street, and near the eastern confines of the county, eleven miles S. from Market Drayton, seventeen E.N.E. from Shrewsbury, and 139 miles N.W. by N. from London. The town principally consists of one spacious, handsome street, stretching for about a mile in length, containing many good inns, private residences, and respectable shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. About the centre of the town, and in the middle of the street, stands the venerable parish church, an ancient market house, and a few dwellings, which are some of the oldest houses in the town of Newport. The parish in 1801 contained 2,307 inhabitants; 1831, 2,745; and in 1841 there were 553 houses and 2,497 inhabitants. The number of acres the parish embraces is 567A. 0R. 25P., the chief owners of which are Sir Thomas H. F. Boughey, Bart.; Thomas Collier, Esq.; John Morris, Esq.; Mr. Wilde; Mr. Silvester; Miss Bennett; and the trustees of Newport Marsh. Rateable value, £6,847. 13s. The inhabitants are supplied with an abundance of excellent water, from large cisterns and wells in various parts of the town, which are filled from a spring, about a mile distant, by means of a water-course and pipes, the expenses of which are paid from the income arising from the common lands. Newport was granted municipal privileges as early as the reign of Henry I., which were confirmed by succeeding sovereigns. The government is vested is a high steward, deputy steward, two bailiffs, and twenty-five burgesses. John Cotes, Esq., is the high steward; Robert Fisher, jun., Esq., deputy steward; and William Washbourne, Esq., and G. H. Duncalfe. Esq., are the bailiffs. Petty sessions for the Newport division of the hundred are held in the town: the presiding magistrates are Sir Thomas Fletcher Fenton Boughey, Bart.; John Charles Burton Borough, Esq.; and John Justice, Esq. The principal features in the trade of Newport are the engineering establishment and brass foundry of Messrs. Massey; the manufacture of agricultural implements by Mr. Underhill; and those belonging to Mr. Thomas Boughey and Mr. Lewis Atkins—ingenious establishments for the manufacture of all descriptions of bendware, wood turnery, together with hair sieves and dairy requisites of the most approved descriptions.

THE CHURCH is a venerable structure of red sand-stone, situated nearly in the centre of High-street. It consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a square tower and an illuminated clock; the tower is dated 1,662; but this probably is the date of certain reparations, for the upper and some other parts of the tower appear to have been re-faced. The chancel and side aisles are of red brick, and were rebuilt in the year 1728, previously to which the church exhibited a beautiful specimen of the architecture of the fifteenth century. The interior has a spacious and handsome appearance. The roof is of groined timber, and the nave is separated from the side aisles by five pointed arches on each side. It contains a small organ, and there are some neat mural tablets. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued at £297, in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor; incumbent, Rev. William Sandford, M.A. The Abbot and Convent of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Shrewsbury, were patrons of the church at Newport; from them it was purchased in the twentieth of Henry VI., by Thomas Draper, citizen of London, who made it collegiate, placing in it a warden, who was to be in priests’ orders, and four chaplains or fellows, who were to pray for the King and the Royal Family, and for the soul of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, (the King’s uncle,) and for the fraternity of St. Marie’s Guild in the church of Newport.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is situated at the outskirts of the town, on the site of an ancient residence called Salter’s Hall, which was long the inheritance of the Shrewsbury family, adjoining which was a domestic chapel. The present structure was built about twenty years ago by the Earl of Shrewsbury. The interior of the structure presents a chaste and elegant appearance; the seats or benches are all open and uniform in character, and the altar is richly carved and gilt; on each side of it are beautifully carved figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Joseph. The windows on each side of the altar are adorned with representations of St. Peter and St. Paul, the patron saints of the church. The Rev. Michael Trovell is the priest.

THE INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, situated on the Wellington road, is a neat stuccoed structure, erected in the year 1817, at a cost of £1,300. It is provided with galleries, and is calculated to hold four hundred hearers. There is a flourishing congregation connected with this place of worship, who enjoy the talented ministrations of the Rev. William Berkeley Leach. The Sunday school in connection with the chapel is numerously attended. The old Independent chapel, which stood in Beaumaris lane, has been converted into two cottages.

THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHAPEL is a plain brick structure, of small dimensions, situated in the Upper Bar, and was formerly used as a theatre.

THE WESLEYAN NEW CONNEXION CHAPEL, a small brick fabric, is also situated at the Upper Bar.

THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have a small chapel on the Stafford road, built in 1830.

The FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.—_William Adams_, of the city of London, devised certain lands for the endowment of a grammar school and other charitable uses, in Newport, in 1656. By an act of parliament passed in the 12th year of the reign of King Charles II., after reciting the erection of the school-houses and alms-houses by William Adams, and his settlement of lands for the maintenance thereof, it was enacted that the master and four wardens of the Company of Haberdashers in London for the time being, and their successors, should be governors of the possessions of the Free Grammar School of Newport; and that they should have a common seal, for the sealing of their affairs, and hold all possessions granted by Mr. Adams for the maintenance of the school and other charitable uses. Among the objects of the trust Mr. Adams directed £20 yearly to be paid to the minister of Newport, for his encouragement in the works of the ministry, and upon the condition that the preacher for the time being should weekly catechise the scholars, children, and servants of the town of Newport, or such of them as for that purpose should repair to the parish church; and if the preacher should wilfully neglect to perform the weekly duty, the governors should apply the said £20 for the benefit of the poor, or in such charitable uses as they should think fit. A yearly sum of £60 was to be paid to the schoolmaster, and £20 to the usher; also £24 per annum to the inmates of the four alms-houses which he caused to be erected, and a like annual sum to be paid in apprentice fees, with various other gifts. The estate which Mr. Adams devised is situated at Knighton, in Staffordshire, and comprises 797A. 2R. 26P. of land. There is also a farm situated at Woodseves, in the parish of Market Drayton, containing 85A. 1R. 38P., which was purchased with the sum of £500, obtained from a sale of timber cut from the Knighton estate. In 1667 the testator demised the premises at Knighton for a term of twenty-one years to Luke Justice, at the annual rent of £175; and in 1714 the governors, on the surrender of the lease, which had become vested in William Justice, re-demised the premises to the said William Justice for another term of seventy years, at the same rent. The provisions of the will in behalf of Luke Justice were evidently intended as matter of favour to that individual; but it is difficult to conceive that two successive terms, embracing a period of 106 years, were in contemplation of the testator, when he authorized the granting of a lease for so long a time. Upon the expiration of the last lease the premises were let in several farms, on leases of twenty-one years and a half, at rents amounting to £476. 14s., which considerably exceeded the amount of the several payments prescribed by the founder; and it became necessary to obtain the directions of a Court of Chancery as to the disposal of the surplus. In the course of the proceedings which were instituted on that occasion, the heir-at-law of William Adams interposed his claim to the surplus rents beyond the sum of £175, the amount of the several charitable uses appointed by the founder; but it was determined by the court that there was no resulting trust in the charity estate for the said heir-at-law. By a decree made November, 1797, and a subsequent decree made December, 1808, on the occasion of a further advance of the rents to the sum of £768. 17s., a scheme for the disbursement of the income was established, which augmented the expenditure to £692 per annum. The leases having expired in 1814, new leases were granted under the direction of the court, and the advanced rents made the yearly income £957. 3s. 6d. From this fund the head master receives £200 per annum, the second master £100, and the third £100. The other principal items of expenditure are a sum of £60 per annum paid to the minister of Newport; to putting out three apprentices yearly, £54; exhibitions to four scholars at the university, £90; to the four alms-people, £78; to twenty-four persons free of the Haberdashers’ Company, £75; an allowance for books, £10; repairs of the school-house and alms-house, £10; to a boy for ringing the school bell, £3; to a boy for sweeping the school, £3; to the clerk of the Haberdashers’ Company, £6; to the two beadles, £3; Woodreave, £2; the receiver, £21; besides which there are several small items for incidental expenses.

The school premises is a spacious building situated a little back from the High street, and is respectively appropriated to the use of the school, and to the residence of the master and usher, as directed by the founder. By the statutes of the school it was intended for the instruction of eighty scholars; but the town of Newport and its neighbourhood, to which a preference was given by the founder, not being able to supply the full number, the scholars are admitted indifferently from other parts; and to facilitate their admission, it has been left to the head master to appoint them on their application to him, without the intervention of visitors, on whom that duty was imposed by the statutes. The course of education was intended to embrace the Hebrew language; but it appears to have been hitherto confined in practice to Greek and Latin, with the addition of writing and arithmetic. In December, 1850, there were 59 scholars on the foundation. Charles Waring Saxon, D.D., is the head master; Rev. William Sandford, M.A., second master; Mr. Richard Crowther, third master. The particulars of the four exhibitions on Careswell’s foundation will be found noticed with Bridgnorth Grammar School. The alms-houses above mentioned are situated near the gates, at the entrance to the Grammar School.

THE ENGLISH SCHOOL is a neat brick building, erected in 1843, and situated on the Wellington road. This school appears to have had its origin in a certain grammar school, which, by the certificate of the commissioners under the statute of the 1st of Edward VI., now remaining in the augmentation office, was certified to have been always kept by Richard Robins, one of the Fellows of the college of Newport, to whom was paid out of the revenues of that college the annual stipend of £5. In the twenty-third year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, her Majesty granted to Edmund Downing and Peter Ashton, “all that site of the late college of Newport, in the county of Salop, late the possession of the said college, with all rights, members, and appurtenances, rendering to her said Majesty £15 yearly, to be paid for a salary or stipendary curate of Newport, and school-master there—that is to say, to the curate £10, and to the schoolmaster £5.” William Robson, in 1633, deposited £5,000 in the hands of the Salters’ Company for charitable uses, among which he directed £5 per annum to be paid to the master of the free school at Newport, and £10 per annum to a lecturer, and a like sum annually for the benefit of the poor. William Adams gave to the bailiffs and burgesses of Newport, and their successors for ever, all those two closes, situate at Norbroom, upon trust, to apply the rents for the support of the English school. William Barnfield, in 1665, gave “six days’ work of ground in Norbroom, four tenements let for 16s. a year each, and a shop let for 30s. per annum, towards the support of the free school.” The total income, when, the charity commissioners published their report, amounted to £49. 1s., of which £24 arises from Adams’s gift, £15. 11s. from Barnfield’s, £5 from Robson’s benefaction, and £4. 10s. from the receiver-general. The school has long been confined to the instruction of children in reading English, and we find it described by the name of the English school as early as 1660. How long before that period it had ceased to teach grammar we have not been able to discover; but it may reasonably be conjectured to have been about the time when that branch of education became otherwise so largely provided for by the establishment of the Free Grammar School of William Adams. The school is free to the children of the humbler classes of society for instruction in English: fifty-four scholars now attend.

THE INFANT SCHOOL, situate on the Wellington road, was built in 1841 at a cost of £250; the room is spacious and lofty, and has an average attendance of 95 scholars. The Sunday school in connection with the Independent Chapel is also situated on the Wellington road, and has an attendance of 150 children.

THE GIRLS’ NATIONAL SCHOOL is a neat brick structure, situated in the Workhouse lane; it was built in 1842, and has an average attendance of seventy children.

THE TOWN’S ALMSHOUSES. In 1446 the burgesses or commonalty of Newport granted to William Glover a plot of land between the church-yard and the king’s highway, towards the north, between two stiles in the said church-yard, that the said William Glover should build on the land a hospital for the use of the poor. The almshouses are appropriated to the use of four poor old women of the town of Newport, who are appointed from time to time by the trustees, and retain their respective places for life. The rents of lands and dividends of funded property, left by various benefactors, produced a yearly income of £69. 14s. when the charity commissioners published their report. Each inmate has a weekly payment of 4s. 6d. from Lady-day to Michaelmas, and 5s. from Michaelmas to Lady-day. They also receive 10s. each for coals, and a gratuity of 5s. each at Christmas. The present almshouse was built in 1836, and is situate in Workhouse lane.

THE SAVINGS’ BANK, held at Mr. Silvester’s, High street, was enlarged in 1818, on November 20th; the capital stock of the bank amounted to £36,221. 12s. 10d., at which period there were 1,450 separate accounts, of which twelve were charitable and seven friendly societies. Of the total number of depositors 963 had respective balances under £20; 268 were above £20 and less than £50; 135 did not exceed £100; 51 did not exceed £150; 31 were above the latter sum and less than £200; and two exceeded £200. Mr. Charles Silvester is the secretary.

THE COUNTY COURT OFFICE, for the recovery of debts, and in all pleas of personal action where the damage does not exceed £50, is situated in High street. The several parishes and places within the jurisdiction of the court in Shropshire are Adney, Brockton, Caynton, Cherrington, Cheswell, Chetwynd. Chetwynd Aston, Chetwynd End, Church Aston, Donington, Donington Wood, Edgmond, Howle, Lilleshall, Longford, Littlehales, Lynn, Muxton, Newport, Pave Lane, Pickstock, Pilston, Sambrook, Stockton, Tibberton, Vauxhall, Woodcote. The places in Staffordshire are Adbaston, Alston, Apeton, Aqualate, Batchacre, Beffcote, Bishops Offley, Bromstead, Coton, Cowley, Flashbrook, Forton, Gnosall, Great Chatwell, High Offley, Knighton, Knightley, Loynton, Meertown, Moreton, Norbury, Oulton, Outwoods, Plardiwick, Shebdon, Sutton, Tunstall, Weston Jones, Wilbrighton, and Woodseaves. _Judge_: Uvedale Corbett, Esq., Aston Hall. _Clerk_: William Liddle, Esq., Newport. _High Bailiff_: George Hill Townsend, Wolverhampton. _Appraiser and Auctioneer_: Joseph Doody, High street, Newport. _Bailiff_: Thomas Roberts, Upper Bar, Newport.

THE NEWPORT UNION HOUSE, situated in Workhouse lane, a plain brick structure, will accommodate about sixty inmates; the aged, infirm, and the older children are sent to the union house of Gnosall, in Staffordshire, which is connected with the Newport union, and this house is for the reception of the able-bodied poor and very young children. The several places comprised in the union in the county are Newport, Chetwynd, Chetwynd Aston, Church Aston, Cherrington, and Edgmond. The townships and places in Staffordshire are Adbaston, Forton, Gnosall, High Offley, Norbury, and Weston Jones. _Chairman to the Guardians_: John Cotes, Esq. _Clerk_: Henry Heane, Esq. _Chaplain_: Rev. William Sandford. _Surgeons_: Mr. William Lindop, Mr. Godley, and Mr. John Green. _Relieving Officer_: Mr. Benjamin Rees. _Master_: Samuel Winnell. _Matron_: Emma Wellings.

THE MARKET HALL is an ancient structure, standing upon pillars, and situate nearly in the centre of High street. The area between the pillars is appropriated to a corn market; and here the farmers assemble on a market day for the sale of corn and other grain, which is sold by sample. The market is held on Saturday, when the town has a busy and animated appearance. Above the corn market is a spacious room, which is used for magisterial purposes. Here the petty sessions are held every alternate Tuesday, and the official business of the county court is also transacted here. An adjoining room is used as a Sunday school. The Market Hall was chiefly erected at the expense of William Adams, the munificent founder of the Grammar School, who “gave £550 towards building a town house.” Near to the Market Hall is a butter market, a covered area, which is of more modern construction. Under this covering is the market cross, a structure of considerable antiquity, consisting of four steps, and a fluted pillar broken at the top, the whole much dilapidated by time.

FAIRS.—The chartered fairs at Newport have merged into the fortnightly cattle market, held every alternate Tuesday, except the fair held on May 28th, which is still continued. These markets are well attended by the farmers in the surrounding district, and considerable quantities of fat and other stock are sold. Whether the growing importance of the Shrewsbury cattle market, which is held on the same day, will not tend to diminish the number of buyers at Newport remains to be seen.

THE GAS WORKS, situate in Marsh lane, were established in 1835 by a company of shareholders with a capital stock of £1,800, since which £400 has been added to the capital. There are two gasometers, each of which will hold about 8,000 cubic feet of gas. A charge of 7s. 6d. per 1000 cubic foot is now made to the consumer. The expense of lighting the streets is paid from the income arising from the town lands, and the cost of pitching the streets is also paid from the same source.

THE LOCK-UP, situate on the Stafford road, has been built within the last few years. It is a small structure with two cells, and residence for the constable.

THE RAILWAY STATION is situated about half a mile S.E. from the church, within the bounds of the township of Field Aston. There are six trains each way daily; an omnibus meets the different trains, and calls at the principal inns in the town. Newport is distant 17½ miles from Shrewsbury and 11½ miles from Stafford by railway.

Newport sustained great damage by a fire which broke out on the 16th May, 1655; it consumed 162 houses, the loss of which with what they contained was estimated at £30,000. It is stated that a festival was formerly kept on the 30th August, in memory of Mr. Adams, the founder of the Grammar School and almshouses. Tradition says that Charles II., being informed what large sums Mr. Adams had expended in charitable uses, expressed a desire to see him when he was on a visit to the city; and Mr. Adams being introduced to his Majesty, the King asked him whether he had not straitened his fortune by his great benefactions. Mr. Adams replied that he had not, and if his Majesty pleased he would present him with £1,000, provided he would procure an act of parliament to exempt his land from taxes, to which the king consented. How far the above may be true we are unable to affirm; it is certain, however, that the estate at Knighton, with which the Grammar School is endowed, is exempt from parliamentary and parochial taxation.

THE MARSH TRUST.—By an Act of Parliament passed in the 4th of George III., intituled “An act for dividing and inclosing a waste ground called the Marsh, in the township of Newport, in the county of Salop, and for applying the produce thereof to the several purposes therein mentioned;” after reciting that there was within the said township a common waste ground called the Marsh, containing 117 acres, or thereabouts, wherein each householder in the said town had from time immemorial a right of turning a milch cow, which privilege had proved of very little advantage to the town, but rather an inconvenience, by increasing the poor thereof; and that it was apprehended that the enclosing and improving the said Marsh, and applying the profits thereof from time to time, after making satisfaction to the lords of the manor for their respective rights therein, in paving and keeping in repair the streets of the town of Newport, and in keeping in repair the Market Hall and Cross there; and also in establishing and encouraging some manufacture, and in apprenticing the children of the poor parishioners of Newport, would be of great advantage to the town in general, and might be a means of extending a manufactory throughout the neighbourhood; it was enacted, that certain persons therein named, and their heirs and successors respectively should be trustees, for enclosing, improving, and dividing the said Marsh, and for putting the said act into execution: and it was further enacted, that from and immediately after passing that act, all right of common or pasturage in or upon the said Marsh should cease and be extinguished; and the trustees were authorized to set out to the Earl of Shrewsbury such portion of the Marsh as two indifferent persons should appoint, as a recompense and satisfaction for the said earl’s four beast-gates upon the Marsh: and it was further enacted, that the residue of the said Marsh, after the allotment so made, should be vested in the said trustees and their successors, and be freed from all right, title, and interest whatsoever, of the householders of the township.