Wombourne in 1859

WOMBOURN (ST. BENEDICT), a parish, in the union, and S. division of the hundred, of SEISDON, S. division of the county of STAFFORD, 4 miles (S.W. by S.) from Wolverhampton; containing, with the liberties of Orton and Swindon, 1808 inhabitants, of whom 1220 are in the township. The parish comprises about 4000 acres of a light loamy soil, generally good, and remarkable for the early produce of corn and vegetables; the scenery, interspersed with extensive garden and nursery grounds, is very picturesque, and well wooded.

The common was inclosed in 1816, and brought into tolerable cultivation. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal passes for four miles and a half through the parish. The Wood House, a noble mansion in the Elizabethan style, the property of Thomas Shaw Hellier, Esq., is situated in a beautiful vale, and occupied by William Chinner, Esq.

The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Trysull annexed, valued in the king's books at £12.12.85., and in the patronage of certain Trustees: the impropriate tithes of Wombourn have been commuted for £194, and the vicarial for £93.13.; there is a parsonage-house, and a glebe of 36 acres. The church is a fine structure in the early English style, with a square tower surmounted by a graceful spire; it was enlarged and thoroughly repaired in 1841, at a cost of £1500, and contains 600 sittings, of which 193 are free. In the interior is an elegant monument by Chantrey, in memory of R. B. Marsh, Esq. 

An 1859 Gazetteer description of the following places in Wombourne is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Orton
• Swindon

[Description(s) from The Topographical Dictionary of England (1859) by Samuel Lewis - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]