STOKE-PRIOR - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"STOKE-PRIOR, a parish in the middle division of Oswaldstow hundred, county Worcester, 2 miles S. of Bromsgrove, its post town, and 4 N.E. of Droitwich. It has stations on the Bristol and Birmingham and the Worcester and Wolverhampton railways. The village, which is large, contains brick and tile kilns, stone quarry, chemical works, a needle factory, alkali and salt works, and flour mills, also mines of rock salt, which are worked with great advantage. The Birmingham and Worcester canal passes through the parish.

The living is a vicarage* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] with the curacy of St. Godwald's annexed, in the diocese of Worcester, value £310, in the patronage of the dean and chapter. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient structure with a tower and four bells. The interior has several stained windows. The register dates from 1513. The parochial charities produce about £29 per annum, of which £16 go to a Sunday-school. There is a National school for both sexes, including infants. The Dean and Chapter of Worcester are lords of the manor."

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