THE WENLOCK FRANCHISE.
The Wenlock Franchise is bounded on the east by the Brimstree Hundred, on the south by the Stottesden Hundred, on the west by the Condover and Munslow Hundreds, and on the north by that of South Bradford. The borough and franchise of Wenlock were formerly co-extensive with the Hundred of Patintern, mentioned in Doomsday Book, which comprised the following parishes, viz.:—Much Wenlock, Little Wenlock, Broseley, Madeley, Benthall, Barrow, Tinley, Badger, Beckbury, Priors Ditton, Stoke St. Milborough, Eaton-under-Heywood, Hughley, Shipton, Monk Hopton, Willey, Deuxhill, and the Extra Parochial Liberty of Posenhall. By an order of quarter sessions, held at Shrewsbury, April 4th, 1836, the parishes of Badger, Deuxhill, and Beckbury, were added to the Brimstree Hundred; and the parishes of Eaton, Shipton, and Stoke St. Milborough, should thenceforward be considered as part of the Munslow Hundred. Ironstone, coal, limestone, and a superior clay, are found in this division of the county, which is celebrated for extensive iron-works, the manufacture of porcelain earthenware, tobacco pipes, bricks, tiles, and draining pipes. The manufacturing district is chiefly confined to the north and north-east verge of the franchise. It is intersected by the river Severn at the northern extremity, and the river afterwards forms the boundary of the franchise for some distance. At the census of 1841 this division of the county contained 3,703 inhabited houses, 155 uninhabited, and 29 building; and a population of 18,016 souls; of whom 8,936 were males and 9,080 females. Of the total population 16,518 persons were born in the county, and 1,498 elsewhere.
BARROW
is a small but pleasantly situated village and parish, in the Wenlock Franchise, two miles east from Much Wenlock, and two miles south-west from Broseley. The parish contains 2,989a. 0r. 39p. of land, the rateable value of which is £3,086. 6s. 1d. At the census in 1801 there were 479 inhabitants; 1831, 351; and in 1841 there were 85 houses and a population of 383 souls. Lord Forester and Sir Richard Acton, Bart., are the landowners. Willey Hall, a handsome mansion, is the occasional seat of Lord Forester. The lands in this parish abound with game, which is rigidly preserved. The Church is a venerable structure, dedicated to St. Giles, and consists of nave and chancel, with a turret, in which are two bells. The walls display many tabular monuments, and there is an antique font, with a capacious basin. On the south side of the church-yard is buried Tom Moody, the celebrated whipper-in to George Forester, Esq. The grave-stone is simply inscribed “Tom Moody, died 19th November, 1796.” The church was formerly an appendage to the Priory of Wenlock. The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory of Willey. The Rev. Henry Bridgeman is the incumbent.
The School and Almshouse.—John Slaney, merchant tailor of London, having, in his life-time, built in the parish of Barrow an almshouse for six poor aged men or women that had been ancient dwellers thereabout, and appointed six acres of ground to be laid out for their better relief and to the support of a school. He also directed an allowance of 1s. 4d. weekly to be made to each inmate, and every alternate year a good frieze gown to be given to each person, worth 13s. 4d., and hose and shoes to the value of 6s. 8d. Mr. Slaney also erected a school for the free teaching of twenty children, and ordained that a great part of the six acres of land above mentioned should be for the maintenance of the school; and he gave towards the maintenance of the schoolmaster £10 a-year for ever. For the performance of the said allowance he gave a rent charge of £30 per annum issuing out of his manor of Willey. And for the residue of his gift to make up the pensions of the said schoolhouse and almshouse, he charged his cousin, John Slaney, that he and his heirs and assignees should for ever pay the same as a rent charge out of his lands called the Hem, which lands he gave to his said cousin on his continuing the charities according to the conditions of his will. In this will Mr. Slaney is directed to keep the school and almshouse in continual repair, and to provide fuel. The premises thus conditionally devised became the property of John Stephens, Esq., who, in 1816, exchanged the lands with Cecil Weld Forester, Esq., lord of the manor of Willey, for lands situated near Barrow church. The almshouse having become much dilapidated, the said Cecil W. Forester, Esq., agreed to be at the expense of taking down and rebuilding the school and almshouse (at his own expense), and keeping the same in repair during the term of his natural life, and to find garments and coals, pursuant to the will of the founder. In pursuance of this arrangement, the almshouse was taken down, and a new one and a schoolhouse built on the lands which he had given in exchange. The yearly expenditure when the Charity Commissioners published their report was £33. 16s., of which the rent charge on the manor of Willey provides for £30; so that there remained for the annual charge upon the lands of Mr. Stephens £3. 16s., but which was then paid by Mr. Forester, besides the cost of twelve tons of coals. With respect to the terms of this exchange, it cannot escape observation that the £3. 16s. and the twelve tons of coals which are furnished by Mr. Forester, in pursuance of his agreement, and the expense that he may be at in repairs, are a part of the consideration that he was to give for the old schoolhouse and almshouse, and the land belonging to them; and not the annual supply which Mr. Stephens’s estates were charged by the will of Mr. Slaney to furnish. When the charity has received Mr. Forester’s supply, it has received nothing more than the stipulated equivalent for the old schoolhouse and almshouse premises. But before the exchange it was entitled to something more, namely, to the supply charged on Mr. Stephens’s estates. It must, therefore, continue still entitled to that supply since the exchange; unless the effect of the exchange has been to exonerate the estates of Mr. Stephens during the life of Mr. Forester at the expense of the charity. We think that such has not been the effect, but that Mr. Stephens’s estates are liable to make good to the charity the annual supply of £3. 16s. and twelve tons of coals yearly, and to continue that supply in future. The school teacher, in addition to the £10 prescribed by the will of Mr. Slaney, has the use of a schoolhouse, and about five acres of land attached to it, with the privilege of taking private scholars.
It appears from the parish books, that a sum of £9 poors’ stock, which had for many years been in the hands of successive parish officers, was applied in the year 1788 to the repairs of the church, as interest of which the sum of 10s. is distributed by the churchwardens at Christmas in fourpenny loaves among the poor of the parish.
Directory.—John Michael Howell, farmer, The Marsh; Thomas Instone, farmer, Swinney; Augusta Jones, schoolmistress; Robert Peake, farmer; William Thursfield, Esq., farmer and land agent to Lord Forester.
BENTHALL
is a small parish with a scattered population, three miles and a half from Much Wenlock, which comprises 1,195a. 3r. 1p. of land, the whole of which is the property of Lord Forester, who is also lord of the manor. The land has a bold swelling surface, and abounds in limestone. There are lime works in this parish, which give employment to a number of the inhabitants. There is also a tobacco pipe manufactory, and an establishment for the manufacture of earthenware, carried on by Mr. Edward Bathurst. At the census of 1801, the parish contained 636 inhabitants; 1831, 525; and in 1841 there were 131 inhabited houses, and 587 souls. The Church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, consists of nave and chancel, and has a small turret, in which is one bell: it was rebuilt in 1667, and stands on a gentle eminence: it is neatly pewed with oak sittings, and has a gallery at the west end. On the north wall of the chancel there is a tablet to the memory of Ralph Brown, Esq. and Catherine, his wife; the former died in 1707: he was lord of the manor of Benthall. On the south wall is a neat memorial to Edward Brown, gentleman, of Broseley, who died January 29th, 1849, aged 74 years. In the nave of the church is buried Philip Benthall, Esq., who died July 26th, 1713, aged 81 years. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Much Wenlock; incumbent, Rev. W. H. Wayne; curate, Rev. Thomas H. Edwards. Benthall Hall is a stone mansion situated near the church, some portions of which were erected in the year 1535. It is the property of Lord Forester, but is now unoccupied. In the time of the civil wars it was garrisoned by the royalists, at which period tradition states the old church was destroyed.
Mrs. Ann Brown, by her will dated 30th May, 1764, directed that the dividends of £200 stock, consolidated three per cents, belonging to her, should be yearly, at Christmas, distributed by her brother, Francis Turner Blithe, and his heirs, and the minister of Benthall, as they should think fit. The dividends are received under the power of attorney, and are paid to the minister, who regularly distributes them about Christmas in small sums among the poor.