SALFORD PRIORS - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"SALFORD PRIORS, a parish in the Stratford division of Barlichway hundred, county Warwick, 4 miles N.E. of Evesham, and 5 S.W. of Alcester. The parish, which is large, includes, besides the village of Priors Salford, the hamlets of Abbots Salford and Dunnington. It is watered by several streams flowing into the river Avon and its tributary the Arrow, which last is here crossed by a bridge. The surface slopes gradually towards the Avon, along the banks of which are some rich alluvial meadow lands. The soil is generally light, consisting of gravel and marl, but interspersed with patches of stiff clay, upon a substratum of lias rock. There are numerous marl pits, but few are at present used.

The village is considerable, and part of the female population not engaged in agriculture are employed in glove-making for houses in Worcester. Orchards are largely cultivated, and a good deal of cider is made. Tradition says that there was anciently a priory, but all traces of it have disappeared. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Worcester, value £111. The church, dedicated to St. Matthew, and situated at the extremity of the parish, is an ancient spacious structure with a square tower 60 feet high, and containing a peal of eight bells. The interior has recently been restored, and contains several ancient monuments of the Woodchurch Clarke family.

There was formerly a chapel-of-ease called Woodchurch, near Bevington Wood. At Abbots Salford is a Roman Catholic chapel, and at Dunnington are places of worship for Wesleyans and Baptists. A Benedictine nunnery came here from France during the troubles of the Revolution, but has recently been removed to the neighbourhood of Worcester. There is a free school, founded in 1656 by William Perkins, which has an income from endowment of £50, also a Sunday-school, and a day school for girls at Dunnington. The parochial charities include a bequest of £6 annually, to be given in clothing to six poor men.

Part of Ragley Park lies in this parish, which is chiefly the property of the Marquis of Hertford. In a field called the Vineyard, near the church, are ruins of the ancient seat of the Clarkes. There are saline and petrifying springs. At Parkhall farm many fossils have been found belonging to the lias era, and on the banks of the Arrow Roman remains, including pottery, spear-heads, urns, ornaments, and a few coins."

"DUNNINGTON, a hamlet in the parish of Salford Priors, Stratford division of the hundred of Barlichway, in the county of Warwick, 2 miles N. of Salford, and 2 S.W. of Alcester."

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