Directory.—Walter Minor, Esq.; Betty Blockley, farmer; Rev. Daniel Davies, Independent minister; Richard and John Cartwright, farmers, maltsters, and corn millers; John Hope, wheelwright; Phillip Hughes, blacksmith; Samuel Hughes, blacksmith; Margaret Icke, beerhouse keeper; John Lester, farmer; William Massey, farmer; William Massey, jun., farmer; James Pickering, cooper; William Powell, farmer.
IGHTFIELD,
a parish and village in the Whitchurch division of the hundred of North Bradford, four miles and a quarter S.E. by E. from Wem, contains 2,800 acres of land, mostly a strong soil, which produces good crops of grain. In 1801 there were 209 inhabitants; 1831, 301; and in 1841, there were 70 houses and 361 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,959. The principal landowners are Lord Kilmorey, Messrs. Corsers, Mr. John Walmsley, Mr. Isaac Forrester, Miss Morton, Mr. Samuel Lea, the Misses Hinton, Rev. John Justice, George Harper, Esq., and the representatives of William Skitt; besides whom there are several smaller freeholders. The Church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is situated on an eminence, and has a lofty square tower, ornamented with pinnacles. It is an ancient structure in the Gothic style of architecture, much delapidated, and fast falling to decay. The body of the church is divided into two compartments, and has a pitched roof, supported by octagonal stone pillars with pointed arches; the caps of the pillars are curiously carved. The tower contains four bells; and from its summit a most delightful and extensive prospect over the fertile plains of Shropshire is seen. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £7. 19s. 4½d., in the patronage of H. Justice, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. John Justice, M.A. The tithes were commuted in 1839 for the sum of £657. 16s. 5d., of which the sum of £320 was apportioned to the rector. The estate of Lord Kilmorey in this parish is tithe-free, but he pays a small modus, and keeps a portion of the north compartment of the church in repair. Kempley House is an ancient residence, and was formerly surrounded by a moat, which may still be traced.
Charities.—Several sums of money, amounting in the whole to £113, left by ten several donors, were laid out in the year 1819 in the purchase of certain premises, for the purpose of converting the same into a poor-house. The sum of £5. 10s. has been since paid annually as the interest of the charity money out of the parish rates, and disposed of as follows:—The sum of £1 is divided annually among poor widows of this parish; 18s. are expended in penny loaves, and distributed every Sunday amongst poor old persons most constantly attending the church; and the residue is distributed among the most necessitous poor of the parish, in sums varying from 4s. to 8s.
Bentley William, farmer, The Heath
Bentley William, jun., farmer
Blackmore John, farmer
Burgess Geo., farmer, Dairy House
Dickin Robert, farmer
Ebrey John, butcher