HIMBLETON - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"HIMBLETON, a parish in the middle division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, county Worcester, 7 miles N.E. of Worcester, its post town, 5 S.E. of Droitwich, and 2 E. of the Dunhampstead railway station. The parish is situated on a branch of the river Avon, and contains the hamlet of Shell. Dean's brook runs near the village. It is a meet for the Worcestershire hounds. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1779.

The living is a vicarage* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] in the diocese of Worcester, value £110, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter. The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, has a wooden tower containing four bells, The parochial charities, formerly of great value, are lost, with the exception of Andrew Baker's £1 per annum, which is distributed in bread every Easter. The Dean and Chapter of Worcester are lords of the manor."
"SHELL, an extra parochial place in the middle division of Oswaldslow hundred, county Worcester, 3 miles S.E. of Droitwich."

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