a small parish in the Chelmarsh division of the Stottesden hundred, contains 683 acres of land, the rateable value of which is £471. The principal landowners are the Rev. Mr. Haden, Mrs. Deenton, and the Rev. Richard Herbert; besides whom there are a few smaller proprietors. At the census in 1801 there were 30 inhabitants; and in 1841, eight houses and a population of 45 souls. The village is pleasantly situated on the Bridgnorth end Cleobury Mortimer turnpike road, four and a half miles S.S.W. from the former town. The Church is a small structure, consisting of nave and chancel, with a small turret, in which is one bell. Over the porch is the date 1668. A neat tablet remembers John Lewis, who died in 1804, and his wife Frances, who died in 1809. The living is a rectory, annexed to that of Chetton: incumbent, Rev. Richard Herbert.
The principal residents are Charles Birkin, farmer; Mary Ann Birkin, farmer; Mary Jenkins, schoolmistress; Thomas Stonyer, corn miller, Horsford.
DOWLES,
a small parish in the Cleobury division of the hundred of Stottesden, situated one mile north of Bewdley, contains 1080 acres of land, the rateable value of which is £1130. 10s., and gross estimated rental £1300. In 1841 there were nine houses and eighty persons; population in 1801, fifty-seven; 1831, sixty-two. The Misses Taylors are ladies of the manor and the principal landowners, Mr. James Taylor, Rev. Joseph Fletcher, and others are also proprietors. The word Dowles comes from the British Dôl, which signifies a bottom surrounded with hills, or perhaps from the Saxon Doelar, to divide, as it is on the extreme border of the county, a small brook dividing it from Worcestershire. It is situated on the bank of the river Severn and surrounded with beautiful scenery. The Bewdley Gas Works are in this parish, and the manufacture of bricks and tiles is carried on extensively here.
The Church, dedicated to St. Andrew, stands in a sequestered situation near the Severn. It is built of brick and has a small turret; the interior consists of nave and chancel and the fittings are neat and appropriate. The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £4, in the patronage of the Misses Taylor, and incumbency of the Rev. J. Fletcher, B.A. The tithes are commuted for £120. There are two acres of glebe land.
Charities.—An old parish book records benefactions to the poor between the year 1636 and 1710 to the amount of £13. 10s., which in the year 1786 was applied towards the rebuilding of the church, the rent of one of the pews thereof being given to the poor in consideration of this sum, which was regularly distributed till the year 1800, when a new minister of the parish opposed the further letting of any pews and ordered them to be thrown open to the public.
Directory.—Samuel Hill Crocket, farmer; William Downing, farmer; Rev. Joseph Fletcher, B.A., The Parsonage; Benjamin Jeffries, parish clerk and overseer and inspector of the Bewdley police; James Lawley, farmer; William Meredith, farmer; and Thomas Perry, farmer.
GLAZELEY
is a parish and village situated on the Bridgnorth and Ludlow turnpike road, three and a half miles S.S.W. from the former town. This parish is in the Chelmarsh division of the Stottesden hundred, and contains 636 acres of land. At the census in 1801 there were 31 inhabitants; 1831, 47, and in 1841 eight houses and 38 souls. Thomas Whitmore Wylde Browne, Esq., is lord of the manor and owner of the land. Adjoining the church-yard is a mound or tumulus. The Church is a small unpretending structure of brick, consisting of nave and chancel, and will accommodate about eighty persons. In the chancel is a tablet in memory of Edmund Wylde, Esq., who died in 1695. On the floor is brass, in a good state of preservation, with two full length figures and six children, commemorative of Thomas and Elizabeth Wylde and their children; it is dated 1599. The living is a rectory annexed to that of Chetton, enjoyed by the Rev. Richard Herbert. The parsonage house is a neat brick residence on the south side of the church-yard. The Woodlands, a handsome stone mansion, the seat and property of T. W. Wylde Browne, Esq., is surrounded by a finely timbered park, and commands extensive views of the surrounding country.
The principal residents are Thomas Whitmore Wylde Browne, Esq., J.P., Woodlands; and Edward Brown, farmer.