Upper Arley
The manor of Arley was possessed by the male descendants of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, from the reign of Henry VI, till the year 1779, when Thomas, son of George Lord Lyttelton, bequeathed it to his nephew, the late Lord Valentia. The fine old Hall, now called Arley Castle, was rebuilt by the Lytteltons about 1650, and is delightfully situated on the well-wooded banks of the Severn. It was the seat of the late Earl Mountnorris, but is now the property and residence of AL Annesley, Esq, who is lord of the manor and owner of most of the soil. The grounds descend to the Severn, where there is a ferry."
[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]
Census
The population of Upper Arley parish was as follows:
1801 -- 693
1811 -- 691
1821 -- 715
1831 -- 735
1841 -- 667
Churches
Upper Arley, Church of England |
You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Upper Arley area or see them printed on a map.
Church History
"The Parish Church, St Peter, which stands on a lofty eminence, is a small fabric, first erected by Henry de Port, in the reign of Henry I, and rebuilt in the time of Edward I, since when it has undergone many repairs, and the interior was renovated at the expense of the late Lord Valentia. It has several ancient monuments, one of the Heckston, and several of the Lyttelton family.
The perpetual curacy is in the patronage of AL Annersley, Esq, and incumbency of the Rev John Allen."
[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]
Church Records
Church of England Registers
The parish register of the church of St Peter commences in 1564. The original registers for the period 1564-1964 (Bapts), 1564-1963 (Mar) & 1564-1964 Bur) are deposited at Worcestershire County Record Office.
Bishops Transcripts, 1672-1861 (with many gaps) are deposited at Lichfield Record Office.
A transcript of the registers for the period 1564-1812 was published by the Worcestershire Parish Register Society.
Upper Arley parish was transferred to the Diocese of Worcester in 1905. Extracts of the registers in the IGI are filed under Worcestershire.
Description and Travel
A transcription of the section on Upper Arley from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)
You can see pictures of Upper Arley which are provided by:
Gazetteers
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Historical Geography
You can see the administrative areas in which Upper Arley has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.
Maps
A map showing the pre-1850 boundaries of Upper Arley Parish
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SO767805 (Lat/Lon: 52.421988, -2.344048), Upper Arley which are provided by:
- This place shown on a Google map.
- Google Streetview
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- OpenStreetMap
- Bing (was Multimap)
- OldMaps (Old Ordnance Survey maps.)
- Old Maps Online (Other old maps.)
- National Library of Scotland (Best site for old maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- Elgin Road Works
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
Poor Houses, Poor Law etc.
Upper Arley parish became part of Kidderminster Union following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.