Stoke Prior, Herefordshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"STOKE-PRIOR, a parish in the hundred of Wolphy, county Hereford, 3 miles S.E. of Leominster, its post town, and near the Fordbridge railway station. It contains the hamlets of Witton and Risbury. The village, which is large, is situated betwixt the Leominster and Hereford and the Leominster and Worcester turnpike roads, and near the river Lug. The land is chiefly in pasture, orchards, and hop-grounds. The soil consists of a rich loam with a subsoil of clay.

The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to that of Docklow, in the diocese of Hereford, value £132, in the patronage of the Vicar of Leominster. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient edifice with a tower and three bells. There is a National school for both sexes. Adjoining this parish is an extensive piece of land designated Blackwardine, or Black-Caer-Dun, said to have been a British fortified town, where many Roman coins and other relics have been found. J. Arkwright, Esq., is lord of the manor and principal landowner."

"RISBURY, a township in the parishes of Humber and Stoke-Prior, hundred of Wolphy, county Hereford, 4½ miles S.E. of Leominster. It is situated near Risbury Cross, and contains a Danish camp, enclosing an area of about 30 acres."

"WICKTON, a township in the parish of Stoke-Prior, hundred of Wolphy, county Hereford, 4 miles S.E. of Leominster. It is joined to Risbury."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]