ROUSE LENCH - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"ROUSE LENCH, a parish in the hundred of Middle Oswaldslow, county Worcester, 1 mile N.W. of Church-Lench, and 6 miles N. of Evesham. It contains the hamlet of Radford, which is a meet for the Worcestershire hounds. The soil in the uplands is a rich loam, and in the lower grounds marl. The substratum is a tenacious clay used for brick-making, for which there are severe: kilns. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment under an Enclosure Act in 1778. The village: is small, and wholly agricultural. The living is a rectory* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] in the diocese of Worcester, value £346. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient structure with Norman traces. It contains monuments and tombs of the Rome family, who formerly held the manor.
"RADFORD, a hamlet in the parish of Rouse Lench, middle division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, county Worcester, 6 miles N.E. of Pershore. The Worcestershire hounds meet in the neighbourhood."

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