Carriers.
To Shrewsbury—Thomas Harris and Joseph Owen, Wednesdays & Saturdays.
ASTON
is a scattered village and township one mile E. from Wem, which contains 1,460a. 0r. 25p. of land, the soil of which in some parts is clay, in other parts a mixture of mould, gravel, and sand prevails; the strong soils produce excellent wheat. At the census in 1841 there were 47 houses and 212 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,107. There are 15a. 3r. 37p. in roads and waste. The principal landowners are Viscount Hill, Major Dickin, John H. Walford, Esq., and Thomas Holly Cooke, Mrs. James, Mrs. Nickson, the Duke of Cleveland, Sir Andrew Corbet, Bart., Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Caleb Powell, and the executors of the late Mr. Gwynn and Mr. Hassall are also proprietors; Major Dickin is lord of the manor. At the survey in 1561 there was only one estate that was freehold in the township, and that was the property of John Astley. The river Roden intersects the township, and is crossed by bridges to Lee Brockhurst and Aston. Barker’s Green in this township is noted for clay which makes a superior kind of bricks. Hill Cop Bank is also in this township. Aston Hall, an ancient structure built of timber and plaster, is now occupied as a farm homestead. At the Domesday survey the Astleys were seated here, from whom are descended the Astleys, of Ashton; the estate was then of much larger extent. It was afterwards sold to the Wilkinsons, and about the year 1680 Lord Chancellor Jeffreys purchased this estate; it is now the property of Mr. Thomas Holley Cooke. It is stated on the table of benefactions that Ralph Wilkiss, of Aston, left to the poor housekeepers of that township four nobles a year, charged on Shaw’s land in the said township. The yearly sum of £1. 6s. 8d. is paid out of the said land now vested in the executors of Mr. Hassall, and is distributed in small sums among the poor.
Directory.—Farmers, Thomas Holly Cooke, The Hall Farm; Thomas Harris, The Old Hall Farm; Thomas Kempster, Brook Farm; Edward Morgan, Moat House; Thomas Powell Brookhouse, and John Woodfin; Thomas Abbott, shopkeeper; William Hewes, maltster and beerhouse keeper; Edward Williams, blacksmith and agricultural implement maker.
COTTON,
a pleasantly situated village and township three miles N. from Wem, is variously written in ancient records as Cotton, Coton, and Cooton, being derived from the Saxon, cot, a small house, and ton, a town. The name may import that it was a town consisting chiefly of small houses, such as were usually built about woods by the poorer sort of people for the conveniency of fuel. The township contains 1,703a. 3r. 7p. of land, and is separated by four small brooks from the townships that border on it; there are 30 acres in roads and waste. At the census in 1841 there were 95 houses and a population of 439 souls. Rateable value, £2,774. The soil is a mixture of mould and clay, naturally poor, but of late years has been much improved by draining and superior cultivation; marl abounds in the township, which is much used for top dressing the land. This was one of the 28 lordships which Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, gave to William Pantulph. Cotton wood was one of the five woods within the lordship of Wem. It is about three miles in circumference, and still retains the name of wood, although there is scarce a tree left on it. The chief landowners are Viscount Hill, George Bowen, Esq., Mrs. Cooper, V. Dolphin, Esq., the trustees of Wem school, Mr. Robert Sandland, Mr. John Rodenhurst, Mr. Thomas Ashley, and Mr. William Ikin. Cotton Hall in the time of Edward IV. belonged to the Maddox family, and in the reign of Elizabeth we find it possessed by Richard Ward, who in 1614 obtained license to eat flesh in Lent. The following is a copy of the indulgence granted by Richard Sankey, rector of Wem, as found in the parish register:—“For that Richard Ward, of Cotton, in the parish of Wem, and county of Salop, gentleman, is notoriously sick, and enforced for the recovery of his health to eat flesh for the time of his sickness. Therefore I, Richard Sankey, parson of the said parish, forasmuch as in me lieth by force of authority to me given by the statute in the fifth year of our late sovereign lady Elizabeth, do license the said Richard Ward to eat flesh according to the contents of the said statute, by me, Richard Sankey, rector of Wem. Registered according to the statute in presence, and with the consent of the churchwardens for the time being, March 22nd of the same month, by reason of the continuance of the forementioned sickness.” Cotton Hall is now a good brick mansion, the residence and property of George Bowen, Esq., J.P. On the west side of Hill-lane stands the ancient residence of the Cotons, who took their name from this township, and are branched out into several families of respectability. Ralph Coton, a draper, and lord mayor of London in the 1st. of Charles I., was of this family.
Bowen George, Esq., J.P., Cotton Hall
Ashley James, shopkeeper
Ashley Thomas, farmer