township contains 324a. 3r. 30p. of land, and is situated two miles and a quarter S.W. by W. from Ruyton. Buckley Owen, Esq., is the land owner and impropriator. In 1841 here were two houses and sixteen inhabitants. Rateable value, £341. 7s. 9d. The principal residents here are Buckley Owen, Esq., John Morris, farmer, and John Hughes, farm bailiff and woodranger to B. Owen, Esq.

SHOTATTON,

a scattered village in the parish of Ruyton, two miles and a quarter S.W. by W. from the church, in 1841 had 14 houses and 84 inhabitants. The township has 850a. 3r. 1p. of land, of which 730a. 1r. 37p. are arable, 101a. 1r. 6p. meadow, and 26a. 3r. 38p. are in woods and plantations. The soil is of a light sandy nature. Rateable value, £748. 15s. 5d. John Arthur Lloyd, Esq., owns the whole township. The tithes were commuted in 1838, when £30. 18s. were apportioned to the Vicar of Great Ness, £15. 9s. to the Vicar of Ruyton, £93 to the late Countess of Bridgewater, £11. 17s. 6d. to R. A. Slaney, Esq., M.P., £33. 10s. to J. A. Lloyd, Esq., and £1. 17s. 6d. to several smaller impropriators.

The principal residents are Samuel Bickerton, Esq.; Joseph Humphreys, farmer, Handley Hall; Robert Lee, farmer; Robert Wall, farmer; Samuel and Joseph Briscoe, blacksmiths and agricultural implement makers; Samuel Briscoe, registrar for the Knockin district; and John Lloyd, wheelwright.

WIKEY, OR WYKEY,

a township, two miles west from Ruyton, has 869a. 1r. 38p. of land, 31 scattered houses, and 151 inhabitants. The soil is a mixture of peat and loamy sand. Rateable value, £800. 4s. 3d. The landowners are John Basnett, Esq.; Richard Oswell, Esq.; T. B. Oswell, Esq.; Mrs. Richards; Mrs. Cureton; William Price, Esq.; and the devisees of the late Mr. Humphreys. The tithes were commuted in 1847, when £50. 8s. were awarded to the Vicar of Ruyton, £20 to John Basnett, £3. 10s. to Thomas B. Oswell, Esq., £25 to William B. Oswell, Esq., and £25 to Richard B. Oswell, Esq. The Chester and Shrewsbury railway intersects the township. The residents are John Basnett, Esq., The Hall; John Humphreys, farmer; Richard B. Oswell, Esq.; Thomas B. Oswell, Esq.; Edward Jones, blacksmith; and William Morgan, shoemaker.

SELATTYN

is a parish on the N.W. verge of the county, bordering on Shropshire, comprising the townships of Upper and Lower Porkington, and containing 5,437 acres of land. In 1801 the parish embraced a population of 701 souls; in 1831, 1,143; and in 1841 there were 241 houses and 1,128 inhabitants, of whom 556 were males, and 572 females. The village of Selattyn lies on an acclivity, three miles N.N.W. from Oswestry, and consists of a few detached houses near to the church. The rest of the population reside in dwellings which are scattered throughout the parish. To the north and west of the village, a bleak and mountainous district stretches to the extremity of the county. The principal landowners are William Ormsby Gore, Esq., M.P.; Thos. George Warrington Carew, Esq.; John Wynn Eyton, Esq.; John Povey, Esq.; Richard Henry Kinchant, Esq.; Mrs. Lloyd; Richard Lewis, Esq.; Thos. Jones, Esq.; Thomas Lovett, Esq.; Mr. John Williams; Mr. John Edwards; Mr. Richard Jones; Messrs. Gilpin and Owen; and the trustees of Shrewsbury Grammar School; besides whom are several other proprietors.

The Church is a plain cruciform structure, with a square tower, and is dedicated to St. Mary. A small organ was added in 1847, at a cost of £70. The Rev. Thomas Edwards, who died in the year 1800, is remembered on a neat tablet. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £12. 9s. 7d., in the patronage of Mrs. Lloyd, and enjoyed by the Rev. Albany Rosendale Lloyd, M.A. The tithes were commuted in 1840 for £813. James Wildig, one of the assembly of divines, and the Rev. Henry Sacheverall, D.D., remarkable for their different principles, were rectors of Selattyn. A Chapel of Ease, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was opened for divine service on June 11th, 1850, at Hengoed. It is a small edifice, in the early English style, with nave and chancel, and has a chaste and neat appearance. The cost of the structure was about £500, which was raised by subscription, to which the rector was a liberal contributor. The Rev. Thomas Lewis Lewis is the officiating minister. Previous to the erection of this chapel there was a small place of worship here, which has since been converted into a school, where about fifty children are educated. The Free or Parochial School is situated a short distance from the parish church, where about 100 boys are educated. There is also a girls’ school, where 40 children are instructed. Mr. William Cullis, the teacher, is writing master to the juvenile branches of the royal family, and has published a small school book, which has had a large circulation. (For the endowment, see “Charities.”) The village is supplied with an abundance of excellent water, by means of a Water Ram Fountain, which was placed on the road side, at the sole expense of the rector, in the year 1847. The water is brought from a distance of about 1,000 feet, and rises 100 feet in perpendicular height. There are lime works on the western verge of the parish. About half a mile W. by N. from the church is a tower, upon the lofty summit of a hill, which is a conspicuous object for many miles. It was built by the Rev. Gerald Carew, and has the following inscription:—

GORSEDD ORWYNION.
It is recorded in the poems of the aged Prince and Bard, Llywarch-hen,
that in the 7th century, from
this spot he saw his son Gwen slain in a battle
between the Britons and Saxons, on the brook Morlas below.
Oedd gwr-vy-mâb oedd ddysgywen hawl
Ar ryd Vorlâs-y-llass Gwen.