Preston upon the Wild Moors

"PRESTON-UPON-THE-WILD-MOORS, a parish in the hundred of South Bradford, county Salop, 4 miles N.E. of Wellington, its post town, and 5 E. of Newport. The village, which is of small extent, is situate on the Newport Branch of the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction canal, and about three miles distant from the Holyhead road. It is wholly agricultural. The surface appears to have been once an extensive morass, but is now well drained. The land is nearly evenly divided between arable and pasture. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £198. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, has a tower containing two bells. The parochial charities produce about £1,757 per annum, the greater part of which goes to Lady Herbert's Hospital, founded in 1716. This has accommodation for 28 widows and 20 girls. It was enlarged in 1827, and has in the centre a grand hall, used as a chapel and school-room."[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2015]