Abbots Bromley in 1872

ABBOTS-BROMLEY, or Bromley-Abbots, a small town, a parish, and a sub-district in the district of Uttoxeter, Stafford. The town stands near the river Blythe, 6 miles NNE of Rugeley r. station, and 12 E of Stafford. It has a post-office under Rugeley; and is a polling-place. It was formerly a market-town; and still has fairs on the Tuesday before Midl., 22 May, and 4 Sept. It consists chiefly of a long street, containing some good houses and an ancient market cross. The parish includes also the liberty of Bromlev-Hurst and the lordship of Bagots-Bromlev.

Acres, 9,391. Real property, £4,409. Pop., 1,538. Houses, 350.

Blithfield, the seat of Lord Bagot, stands 24 miles W of the town. A Benedictine abbey was founded at Blithburv, on the Blythe, by Hugh Malveysin, in the reign of Henry I. or of Stephen; and passed, at the dissolution, to the Chadwick family.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £235. Patron, the Marquis of Anglesey. The church is an ancient structure, in various styles, chiefly later English; but has been modernised. There is an Independent chapel. There are also a free school, a national school, and other charities with £193 a-year. Mrs. Cooper, who saw her descendants to the sixth generation, lived at Abbots-Bromley.

The sub-district comprises three parishes and part of a fourth. Acres, 17,355. Pop., 2,976. Houses, 648. 

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]