Pencombe, Herefordshire - Kelly's Directory, 1858

Extract from Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire, 1858

PENCOMBE.

PENCOMBE is a Parish and village, 4 miles west from Bromyard (its post town), 6 west from Dinmore Railway Station, and 11 from Hereford; it is in Broxash Hundred, Bromyard Union, Frome deanery, Hereford archdeaconry and bishopric. The church is a very ancient and remarkable building, in the Norman style; the tower is stone; was rebuilt in 1840, and contains 3 bells; it has a nave, chancel, apse, porch an ancient font, and three modern tablets. The living is a rectory, worth £490 yearly, with residence and 119 acres of glebe land, in the gift of John Arkwright, Esq.; there is a Sunday School and day school for boys and girls, supported by the rector. The Rectory House is very pleasantly situated about half a mile from the church. The population, in 1851, was 359, and the acreage is 3,955. The soil is clayey; the subsoil partly stone. John Arkwright, Esq., is lord of the manor and chief landowner. The chief crops are wheat, beans, oats, and clover. A Court Leet is held at the Court-House once in three years; and by an ancient custom, The Lord of the Manor claims a pair of gilt spurs when a Mayor of Hereford dies while in office. At FISH POOLS, the residence of Mr. John Grosvenor, is very large oak, about 32 feet girth, with huge thick branches. It is hollow, and ten sheep have been frequently enclosed in it; it is now used as a store-house for empty casks.

   GRENDON WARREN is an extra-parochial place, sometimes returned as a parish, and in which, in 1851, were a population of 38. It contains about 700 acres, and then remains of a chapel, which is now used as an out-building for farming purposes.

   SPARRINGTON, Maidenhill, Banstone, Upper Egdon, Baldhurst, The Nash, Fishpool, Day House, Stone Lodge, Court House, Maidenhide, Wootton, Upper and Lower Sidnal, Marsh, Lower Marston, Betterley, Hyde, and Durstone, are farms.

   Letters through Bromyard, which is the nearest money order office

   Day School, Mrs. Ann Yapp, mistress

MISCELLANEOUS.
Bamford Thomas, wheelwright	Mapp William, victualler
Gurney Richard, blacksmith and shopkeeper	Perry Thomas, shoemaker
Jones B. cider retailer	Turbill John, blacksmith
King Rev. T. Rector	Yapp Thomas, wheelwright
Lawrence Charles, beer retailer

FARMERS
Baker Thomas, farmer, Sparrington	Hall Richard, (&parish clerk), The Bank
Bamford Thomas Wheelwright	Jones Edwin, farmer, Lower Sidnal
Brown William, farmer, Stone Lodge	Lane Mary (Mrs.), farmer, Grendon Court
Brtten William, farmer, Upper Egdon	Lane Richard, farmer, Little Hegdon
Colley James, farmer, Maidenhide	Mason Edward, farmer, Pencombe Mill
Edwards Jonathan, farmer, Banstone	Mason Nicholas, farmer, Bitterley Hyde
Edwards William, farmer, Baldhurst	Maund George, farmer, Dorston
Goode William, farmer, Pencombe Court	Parker William, farmer, Sidnall
Griffiths John, farmer, The Nash	Williams Richard, farmer, Marsh Court
Grosvenor John, farmer, Fish Pool

[Transcribed by Richard Lane in December 2002
from a copy of Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire, 1858 in Hereford Central Library]