STEELE,
a township in the parish of Prees, at the census of 1841 had 12 houses and a population of 65 souls. The township contains 436a. 3r. 36p. of land. Viscount Hill is the impropriator and the principal landowner. The rectoral tithes are commuted for £54. 12s. 6d., and the vicarial for £13. 14s. 6d. The principal residents in Steele are John Bradshaw, shopkeeper, The Heath; John Heatley, glazier; Ann Hodgskin, farmer; Thomas Hodgskin, farmer; Daniel Holding, tailor; Richard Holding, farmer; Joseph Hussey, farmer.
WHIXALL
is a township, chapelry, and populous village, in the parish of Prees, four miles N. from Wem, which at the census in 1841 contained 211 houses and 978 inhabitants. The township comprises 3,361a. 1r. 32p. of land. Interspersed with gentle undulations, there is some good meadow and pasture land, which produces a fine herbage, and cheese is made to a considerable extent. The houses are chiefly cottage residences, with a small portion of land to each, and the residents are in many instances freeholders. The houses are built of brick, and slated, and have a comfortable appearance. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in cutting the moss, which they dry, and then take it to distant parts of the country for sale. The moss, usually called Whixall Moss, covers a surface of upwards of 5,000 acres, and extends into the several townships of Northwood, Whixall, Bettisfield, and Fenswood. It is cut to a depth of from sixteen to thirty feet, and in some instances to a greater depth. The moss is mostly submerged in water. A company of gentlemen have recently taken a lease for a term of years of a considerable tract of the moss, and are about to erect works for converting this hitherto comparatively useless commodity into articles of appliance for useful purposes. It is said to be superior to the Irish moss for some particular uses. Sir John Hanmer is the owner of about two-thirds of the moss; the other principal landowners are Lord Kenyon, W. P. Poole, Esq., James Foster, Esq., John C. Coham, Esq., John Bowen, Esq., Mr. George Hutchinson, Mr. John Phillips, Mr. John Keay, William F. Dickin, Esq., Mr. William Furber, Rev. John Evans, Mrs. Weaver, Mr. William Cartwright, Mr. Thomas Clay, John Taylor, Esq., Robert Salmon, Esq., Mr. Thomas Jones, Mrs. Hazledine, Mr. Thomas Salt, A. Duff, Esq., Mr. Benjamin Sandbrook, Mr. Jarvis, Rev. R. Young, Mrs. Cooper, Joshua Lee, Esq., Mr. James Rodenhurst, Mr. Thomas Sadler, Mr. William Whitfield, Mr. John Whitfield; besides whom there are many smaller proprietors.
The Church is a plain unpresuming edifice of brick, erected in the form of a cross, and has the date of 1640 upon it. It was enlarged and beautified in 1826, when 155 free sittings were added. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued at £107, subordinate to the vicarage of Prees, and enjoyed by the Rev. John Evans, M.A., whose income arises from certain lands, £5 yearly from the Lord of the Manor, and £4 per annum from the Vicar of Prees. The Parsonage is a pleasantly situated residence near the church. The National School, a commodious structure, with a residence for the teacher, was built during the years 1848 and 1849. The cost of the structure was £655. 13s. 6d., of which the Committee of Council on Education gave £100, and £50 towards the master’s residence; the National Society £50; the Diocesan Society £40, and £10 for fittings; and the sum of £405. 18s. 6d. was raised by subscriptions and donations, of which £276. 18s. 6d. was given by the Incumbent of Whixall. About 100 children attend the school. The Independents have a neat chapel here, which is numerously attended. The Primitive Methodists have also a small chapel here. The Llanymynech, Ellesmere, Whitchurch, and Quina Brook canals intersect the township. Whixall Hall and Bostock Hall are two ancient residences, now occupied as farm houses. James Foster, Esq., is lord of the manor, and holds a court leet and baron. The poor have a yearly sum of 5s., the gift of Mr. Minshull, which is paid out of land in the parish of Wem.
Brookes Thomas, blacksmith
Butler Richard, shoemaker
Callcott Samuel, farmer
Cureton William, shopkeeper
Dawson Thomas, farmer