WESTBURY, Shropshire
"WESTBURY, a parish in the hundred of Ford, county Salop, 8½, miles S.W. of Shrewsbury. It is a station on the Shrewsbury and Welshpool branch line of railway. The parish includes the chapelry of Minsterley, with 14 townships The surface, which is hilly in parts, is drained by a branch of the river Severn. The soil is heavy, but fertile, producing good wheat crops, and the substratum abounds in coal and lead ore, of which several mines are in operation. At Snailbeach, where is an extensive lead mine now at work, a pig of lead was discovered about twenty years back marked with the name of the Roman Emperor Aurelian. About one mile from the village, which is on the road from Shrewsbury to Montgomery, are the ruins of Cause Castle, once a border stronghold, the seat of the Corbets and Thynnes. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Hereford, in two moieties, distinguished as Dextra-Parte and Sinistra-Parte, the former, value £672, and the latter, £556. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. There are National schools, built in 1850, and partly supported by an endowment of £30 per annum, bequeathed by the Rev. John Earl in 1716, for teaching children; another school is partly supported by subscription.""CAUSE, a township in the parish of Westbury, in the county of Salop, 9 miles W. of Shrewsbury. On a hill, commanding an extensive view, are the remains of a castle built after the Conquest by the Corbets."
"FOREST, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 12 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury. It is situated on a branch of the Severn, near Cause Castle."
"LAKE, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 8 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury."
"MARSH, (or March), a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 10 miles W. of Shrewsbury.
"MINSTERLEY, a chapelry in the parish of Westbury, hundred of Ford, county Salop, 10 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury, its post town, and 13 from Bishop's Castle. The London and North-Western railway has a branch line from Shrewsbury to Minsterley. The village, which is large, is situated on the river Rea, and on the road from Shrewsbury to Montgomery. The extensive and productive lead mine of Snailbeach is in this parish, the company of which have extensive smelting works, &c., at Pontesbury. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Hereford, value £96. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is an ancient brick structure with a turret containing a clock and one bell. There is a free school, the endowment of which has been fraudulently disposed of; but is now supported by the Marquis of Bath and the Snailbeach Company, together with the children's weekly pence. The Marquis of Bath is lord of the manor and principal landowner."
"NEWTON, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 8 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury."
"STONEY STRATTON, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 7 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury."
"VENNINGTON, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 10 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury."
"WALLOP, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 10 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury, on a branch of the river Severn."
"WESTLEY, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 8 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury."
"WHITTON, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 9 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury."
"WIGMORE, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 8 miles W. of Shrewsbury."
"WINSLEY, a township in the parish of Westbury, county Salop, 10 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury."
"YOCKLETON, a township in the parish of Westbury, hundred of Ford, county Salop, 8 miles S.W. of Shrewsbury. It is situated on a feeder of the river Severn, and has a station on the Shrewsbury and Welshpool branch railway."
by Colin Hinson ©2012
Church Records
- The transcription of the Non-Conformist Register for
Westbury Minsterley Independent Chapel provided by Mel Lockie.
Added 17 June 2011.
- The transcription of the Parish Register for
Westbury provided by Mel Lockie. Added 4 Apr 2012.
Gazetteers
- A transcript of the Westbury parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1831 Topographical Dictionary of England,
- A transcript of the Westbury parish entries from Gregory's 1824 Gazetteer of Shropshire,
- A transcript of the Westbury parish entries from Stephen Whatley's 1750 Gazetteer of England,
