CRICKETT
is a small township, containing 339a. 1r. 12p. of fertile land, situated two miles and a quarter S.W. from the church of Ellesmere. Richard Wynn, Esq., is the proprietor of the whole township. In 1841 the township is returned as containing four houses and 30 inhabitants.
Directory.—Richard Wynn, Esq., Old Crickett; Thomas John Rider, gentleman New Crickett.
DUDLESTON, OR DUDLISTON,
formerly written Duddlestone, is a township and chapelry in the parish of Ellesmere, four miles and a half N.W. from that town, and eight miles N.N.E. from Oswestry. The chapelry comprises the townships of Pentrecoed, Criftins, Chapel, Coadyrallt, and Dudleston, which together have an area of 4,640a. 1r. 24p. of land, mostly an undulating district, in some parts highly productive, and in other parts of an inferior quality. At the census of 1841 there were 950 houses and 1,207 inhabitants. The houses are in general scattered, and there are a considerable number of detached cottages, which in many instances were originally built upon the unenclosed land; and they have generally a small plot, or a few acres of land attached to each cottage. The principal landowners are Edward Morrall, Esq.; Lord Dungannon; George Harper, Esq.; James Edwards, Esq.; Rev. John Morrall; George Bennett, Esq.; John Owen, Esq.; Charles Brown Owen, Esq.; John Davies, Esq.; William Dickin, Esq.; Hon. William M. B. Nugent; Mr. Richard Edwards; Miss Benyon; Mr. Samuel Lea; Mr. Robert Grindley; Mrs. Elizabeth Jones; Miss Boydell; Mr. Dymock; Mr. John Vaughan; Miss Kynaston; Mr. James Munslow; and Miss Broom; besides whom are several other freeholders. Edward Morrall, Esq., is lord of the manor of Traian, which includes the parish of St. Martin’s and Dudleston chapelry. The Chapel is a neat structure, situated on elevated ground, built of rough stone, with hewn quoins and finishings. It consists of nave and side aisles, with an octagonal tower surmounted with short pinnacles. The body of the church was rebuilt in 1819, at a cost of £431. 13s., towards which the Society for Building and Enlarging Churches gave the sum of £200. It contains several neat mural monuments to the Boydells, of Kilhendre and Sodylt Hall, and the Morralls. The pulpit is of oak, curiously carved. At the west end of the church are three venerable yew trees, now much decayed. The living is a perpetual curacy, returned at £238, in the patronage of the Vicar of Ellesmere, and enjoyed by the Rev. David Birds. The Wesleyan Methodists and the Independent Methodists have each a small chapel on Dudleston Heath. The Association Methodists have a chapel at the Gravel Holes. There are two manufactories of bricks, tiles, and brown earthenware, in this township; and coal is got at the Flannag colliery, near to Coed-y-rallt. The pits, however, are within the bounds of St. Martin’s parish, but the underground works extend into this chapelry. The coal is of a superior quality, and the seams are from one foot to three feet in thickness.
About a quarter of a mile from the church, on the brow of a hill, overlooking a beautiful valley richly wooded, is Kilhendre, the residence of Captain Johnson. On the site of the present house, about fifty years ago, stood a very ancient mansion of chequered timber and brick work, the residence of the Edwards, who had been settled there for upwards of six centuries, and possessed considerable estates, in Dudleston, St. Martin’s, and the neighbouring townships. Here Colonel Jones, governor of Dublin, a very active and successful officer during the Commonwealth, for some time found a peaceful asylum after Cromwell’s death. In the centre of the house was a chamber, into which you descended by steps, and the passages to which were hidden by tapestry, evidently intended as a place of concealment in cases of sudden danger. The rooms were low, gloomy, and inconvenient, and a large hall occupied half the house. The house and demesnes were alienated in the year 1800, and soon after purchased by Mr. Boydell, in whose representative, Miss Boydell, they are now vested. Plas Yollen is a handsome and pleasantly situated dwelling, the residence of Robert Morrall, Esq. Plas-warren, an ancient house, the residence and property of Edward Morrall, Esq., who is also the owner of Plas-yollen. The Erway is a handsome house of modern construction, and the residence of Richard Ellerton, Esq. Sodylt Hall is a pleasantly situated house, with tasteful pleasure grounds, the residence of George Bennett, Esq. Shelbrook is a good house, the residence and property of John Jones, Esq. Pentre-coed is the residence and property of William Dickin, Esq. Dudleston Hall, a modern brick house, stands about 100 yards south from the site of the old hall, and is the residence and property of John Davies, Esq. At the northern extremity of the chapelry of Dudleston the county terminates in an elevated and precipitous rock, called Coed-y-rallt, which commands one of the most beautiful views of bold and romantic scenery that can well be conceived. The shelving precipice is clothed with a thriving plantation; and deep below wind the dark waters of the Dee, which separates this county from Wales. Other features in the scenery are the beautiful grounds and woods of Nant-y-lielan, the aqueducts of Chirk and Ponte-y-cysyllte, Chirk Castle, and Bryn-Kynalt, the beautiful seat of Lord Dungannon, all backed by the bold swells and the Alpine heights of the Welsh mountains.
Charities.—Frances Edwards, in 1719, conveyed certain premises in Dudleston, and directed them to be converted into a school and residence for a schoolmistress; to be kept in repair by such person as for the time being should be entitled to her capital messuage called Kilhendre; she also gave a rent charge of £10 per annum, issuing out of the great farm in Dudleston; £4. 10s. thereof to be paid to the schoolmistress, who should instruct twenty-four poor children; 10s. to buy books for the children; £3 to be paid in apprentice fees; 20s. for a distribution of bread every Sunday to five poor aged persons; and 20s., the residue thereof, to be expended in flannel, and given to the poor. The school is situated near the church, and occupied by a female, who teaches twenty-four poor children. The rent charge is expended in carrying out the donor’s intentions.
John Jones, by his will, dated 26th February, 1725, directed his executors to pay £100 to the incumbent, chapelwardens, and overseers, of the poor of Dudleston, to purchase land for the benefit of the poor. This gift, with £20 given by a servant, £10 by Roger Jennings, and £5 by Mr. Roberts, were laid out in 1740 in the purchase of 6a. 0r. 21p. of land. There is also an allotment of about a quarter of an acre set out on the enclosure of Dudleston common, the whole of which is let for £8. 12s. 6d., and distributed to the poor on St. Thomas’s day. The sum of £10, left by a servant man in 1735, and £10 left by another servant man in 1739, are charged upon the Sodylt estate, and the interest, 20s. per annum, is distributed with the above charity.
Thomas Kynaston, in 1761, left £200, the interest to be annually distributed to the poor. This money is invested on the security of the turnpike road from Wem to Bron-y-Garth.
William Challnor, in 1791, bequeathed £100, the interest to be applied in the relief of twenty of the poorest inhabitants of the chapelry. Elizabeth Challnor, by will, 1807, bequeathed £100 to augment the charity of her father-in-law, William Challnor. The first bequest is secured on the tolls of the road from Wem to Bron-y-Garth; and the latter is secured on the Ellesmere House of Industry. The interest, £9. 1s., is distributed on New Year’s day among the most necessitous poor.