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Brewood in 1817

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Description from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)

BREWOOD (BREEWOOD).

Breewood is a large parish in the south-west part of the Hundred of Cuttlestone, and contains about 10,000 acres of land, consisting of meadows on the banks of the Penk, and upland of a mixed gravelly loam, which, when well cultivated, yields abundance of the different kinds of grain, clover, and turnips.

The town of Breewood is delightfully situated on a branch of the Penk, about a mile and a half south of Watling Street, and nine miles distant from Stafford. It is a place of great antiquity. A small priory of Benedictine nuns was founded here by Hubert Walter, in the reign of Richard the First, A. D. 1195. At the Dissolution, its revenue was only £11.1s.6d. per annum.

Breewood is one of the most ancient market-towns in Staffordshire. A weekly market was formerly held on Friday, but it is now declined, and the decayed market-house pulled down. There is a large annual fair for cattle held on the 19th of September. In the year 1811, this town contained 210 inhabited houses, and 212 families, 69 of whom were employed in agriculture, 87 in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, and 56 not engaged in business; males 475,females 516: total,991.

The Church is a vicarage, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in the patronage of the Dean of Lichfield. The Rev. Baptist Proby is the present vicar. The edifice is ancient and large, built of stone, with a tower and lofty spire of the same material. From its elevated situation it is a picturesque object, distinctly visible at the distance of several miles. A new organ was erected and opened on the Wake Sunday, Sept. 24, 1815.

An excellent Free Grammar School was founded at Breewood, by Dr. Matthew Knightley, and endowed with lands to the value of £60 per annum. The Rev. Mr. Kempson, and the Rev. Matthew Kemsey, are now the masters, and receive a limited number of pupils as boarders. Some eminent men have been educated at this school, particularly the late Bishop Hurd, preceptor to the Prince Regent.

The principal manufacture carried on at Breewood, is Joseph Brewster's fixed and portable thrashing machines, kibbling mills, and straw engines.

Chillington is the largest estate in the parish of Breewood, and includes the south and west part. It is the property of Thomas Giffard, Esq. The mansion and offices are extensive; and the gardens, pleasure-grounds, and plantations, are laid out with great taste, and much improved by the present owner. This estate contains several villages and farm-houses, besides Chillington; particularly Gunston, Long Birch, the Hattons, White and Black Ladies, and the Hyde. The Giffard family has large estates in other parts of this county, but their religious tenets have kept them from public employments. Mr. Giffard, of Chillington, is, however, a gentleman of liberal principles, and is married to a Protestant lady, by whom he has a large family. His tenantry are mostly Roman Catholics, who are accommodated with chapels on his estate at Long Birch and Black Ladies.

Somerford is another large estate in the parish of Breewood, including the manor of Coven, Breewood Hall, Engleton Hall, Four Ashes, and Somerford Hall. The present possessor and resident, the Hon. Edward Monckton, is third son to Viscount Galway in Ireland; he has much improved this estate, and Somerford Hall is now an elegant mansion, in a pleasant situation on the eastern bank of the Penk. The estate was nearly stripped of all its timber by the former owners, but Mr. Monckton has improved its general appearance by extensive plantations. The population of the liberty of Somerford, in 1811, was 578 persons, of whom 283 were males, and 295 females.

The parish contains other villages and hamlets, particularly Kiddimore Green, a township situated to the west of Breewood; the villages of Broomhall and Horsebrook, near the Watling Street; the hamlets of Crateford and Standeford; Aspley Farm, and the Laches, hamlets on the eastern side of the parish; and the small village or hamlet called Paradise.