a small township in St. Mary’s parish three miles N.N.E. from Shrewsbury, containing 742a. 2r. 21p. of land, is the property of Andrew William Corbet, Esq. At the census of 1841 there were 8 houses and 45 inhabitants. The principal residence is an antique house of timber and plaster, occupied by Mr. John Minton, who farms a considerable portion of the land in the township, and is also a maltster.
HARLSCOTT
township, situated two and a half miles N.N.E. from Shrewsbury, is partly in St. Alkmund, and partly in that of St. Mary’s. In 1841 there were 8 houses and 41 inhabitants returned as in the former parish, and 6 houses and 28 inhabitants in the latter. The land owners are Andrew William Corbet, Esq., and Scarlett LLoyd Parry, Esq.
The principal residents are Thomas Briscoe Barber, farmer; Scarlett LLoyd Parry, Esq., solicitor; John Ralphs, carpenter; and William Hewlett, shoemaker.
HENCOTT,
a small township with a scattered population, is about one and three quarter miles N. from Shrewsbury. Colonel Wingfield is the only proprietor in this township, which in 1841 had 14 scattered houses and a population of 84 souls. The Shrewsbury and Chester railway intersects this township. The soil for the most part is a fertile loam.
The following are the principal farmers, viz.:—Robert Legh, Cross Hall; Ann Bromley, Hencott farm, Robert Parry, manager; Edward Randles, Old Heath; and Joseph Yates, Old Heath.
BATTLEFIELD
is a small parish, pleasantly situated three and a quarter miles N.N.E. from Shrewsbury, which contains 1,008a. 0r. 3p. of land, the whole of which is the property of Andrew William Corbet, Esq., of Sundorne Castle. In 1801 there was a population of 83 souls; in 1831, 70; and in 1841 there were 14 houses and 64 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,008. 6s. 8d. The name is derived from the battle fought here on the 21st of July, 1403, between Henry IV. and the forces under Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and generally denominated the battle of Shrewsbury, which will be found noticed in a preceding page. The king afterwards built a collegiate church for secular canons, upon the spot where the battle was fought, and “endowed it with a piece of ground, with all the buildings on it, within the lordship of Albrighton Husee, in the field called Battlefield, which piece of ground was ditched in, and contained in length and breadth two acres of land, together with two inlets and outlets along the lands of Richard Husee, one twenty feet wide and the other fifteen feet wide.” No doubt appropriate buildings for the residence of the canons and servants of the establishment were erected on the land inside this ditch: these probably were demolished at the period of the dissolution of monasteries, but no remains of them are now to be seen.
The Church, a venerable fabric dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, consists of nave, chancel, and embattled tower ornamented with pinnacles; the nave, however, has long been roofless, the windows are destroyed, and the tower is in a dilapidated state. Divine worship is now performed in the chancel, which has been neatly fitted up, and a new font recently added. The fine east window was formerly richly adorned with stained glass. In a recess on the south side of the altar is a mutilated carving of the Virgin Mary, with a small figure of the dead Saviour on her lap. A beautiful monument of the white Grinshill freestone, enriched with Gothic tracery, remembers John Corbet, Esq., Emma Elizabeth, his wife, and John Kynaston Corbet, their son. About half a century ago, when the vault was made in which rest the remains of Mr. Corbet, the workmen discovered an ancient stirrup and bridle bit, which had lain among the ashes of the slain since the period of the battle which gave origin to the church. Near the chancel wall, surrounded by pallisades, is the tomb of the Rev. Edward Williams, incumbent of this parish and Uffington, who died on January 3, 1833, aged 70 years. The living is a perpetual curacy, returned at £233, in the patronage of A. W. Corbet, Esq.; incumbent, Rev. J. O. Hopkins, who is also the perpetual curate of Uffington.