A History of Bilston, in the County of Stafford. A record of its archæology, ecclesiology, etc

Front matter

Copied from the Terrier book of 1750 BV PERMISSION OF THE REV. CHARLES LEE, M.A. A HISTORY OF BILSTON, IN THE COUNTY OF STAFFORD. A RECORD OF 3ts HrcbæoIOG^, JEcclesioIOGP, parocbialia, jfolfc lore, arto 36ibltOGtt.pb\>. WITH COPIOUS EXTRACTS FROM THE PARISH REGISTERS. BY GEORGE T. LAWLEY. COIPYIKia-IEIT. BILSTON : Printed and Published by John Price, Market Place. 1893. TLo jfrefcericfe Cbarles perry, JSec\., 3.p., Deput£=Xteutenant, an _Ei*=1btgb Sheriff os tbe Counts os Stafford, nnb tbe only surviving male representative of one of tbe most ancient families of Bilston ; anO to tbe 1Rev>. Cbarles Xce, flD.H., IDicar of tbe fl>arisb, wbo bag given tbe autboi* unrestricted access to tbe parish registers, an6 to tbe ancient terrier book from wbieb our frontispiece is taften, tbls "Ibfstorg is respectfully fc>efcicate&

Preface

. A quarter of a century ago a small volume appeared, entitled, "A History of Bilston." That work has long been out of print, and copies being hard to procure, the author has issued the present volume, which is swollen to three times the size of the former one, by the accretion of much valuable historical material — the accumulation of many years research. The author appeals with confidence to the verdict of his readers, knowing that though, according to the aphorism of the poet, "'tis not in mortals to command success," he has done his best to deserve it. Priestfield House, Near Wolverhampton. CONTENTS. Chapter I. Bilston before the Conquest. Sun Worship. Wolfeard's Hall. Chapter II. The Doomsday Entries, The Early History of the Church considered. Seizure of the Manor by King John. Chapter III.

Bilston and its Dependencies during the Middle Ages. Extracts from the Pipe Rolls. Charter of Edward III. Ancient Bailiffs of Bilston. Chapter IV The Founding of St. Leonard's Chantry. The Charter of Foundation. Seizure and Dissolution by Henry VIII. Re-established by Queen Mary. Ancient Tithe Hay Valuation Chapter V. Arms in St. Leonard's Chapel. Curious Law Suit. The " Boy of Bilson." The Town CrQsses. Chapter VI. The Legal Status of the Township. The Lord of the Manor's Chief Rent tempo Elizabeth. The Ancient Tenements, where situated. The List of Serving Bailiffs. Chapter VII. The History of the Church continued. A Lost Legacy. Bilston during the Civil "War. Dr. Plott's Account of the Township. Chapter VIII. The Rev. Richard Ames. The Earliest Register. Extracts therefrom. Chapter IX. The Church Registers continued.

Curious Baptismal Entries. Chapter X. The Church Registers continued. Some Curious Burial Entries. Chapter XI. The History of the Church continued. Church Restorations. Consecration of the Churchyard. Parochial Poll. Ancient Clerical Agreement. Chapter XII. Origin of Voting for the Parson. The Elections of 1731 to 1872. Chapter XIII. Dispute between Wolverhampton and Bilston respecting the Right of Presentation. Chapter XIV. The First Workhouse. Workhouse Badges. The Church Tower. The Bells, and their Inscriptions. The Curfew. Plague Visitation. Chapter XV. The Parish Registers continued. Ancient Customs Illustrated. The Minister's House. Beating the Parish Bounds. The Train Band. Gunpowder Plot. Churchwardens' Accounts. The Penderills. Goddard's Bridge. Bell Ringin"-. Penance in Church. Chapter XVI.

Notes on the Ancient Families : — De Bilston and Moseley Family. The Bovebroke Family. The Tomkys Family. The Hoo Family. The Robyns Family. The Kempson Family. The Pipe Family. The Perry Family. Chapter XVII. The Manor of Bradley. Its Ancient Possessois. The Families of De Bradley, Rugeley and Hussey. Chapter XVIII. The Rise of Wesleyan Methodism in the Township : Hell Lane Chapel. Early Gas Making. Bradley Chapel and John Wilkinson. Chapter XIX Bilston in 1790. Tho Population. Local Comers. Early Volunteer Corps. Holy Wells. The Commercial Crisis of 1815. Murder of Maria Martin. Establishment of a Market. Enlargement of the Church. Building of St. Mary's Church. Chapter XX. The Cholera of 1832. Terrible Scenes and Fatalities. Chapter XXI. Local Tokens. Bilston Books and Authors. Chapter XXII, Parochial Place Names and their Origin.

Chapter XXIII. The Modern History of the Township continued. Chapter XXIV. Parochial Doles and Charities. Chapter XXV. Historical Notes on the Coal, Iron and other Trades of the Township. THE HISTORY OF BILSTON.

Chapter I

Bilston Before the Conquest. RCHÆOLOGY, which until recently scarcely deserved the name of a Science, has now — to use an analogue borrowed from the science itself — as clearly defined limits in the kingdom of knowledge as a Roman road in a conquered province of the Empire ; and archæologists can travel within them with confidence, knowing whither they terminate. There are, however, many vicinal ways branching in various directions which have yet to be traced before a complete itinerary can be laid down of the whole region of archæology. Among these byeways, that leading to the etymology^ of place-names is perhaps the one shrouded most in doubt and uncertainty. Many have been the flounderings of explorers in its bogs and morasses, and too frequently rash or amusing surmises have been made to do duty for actual and certain knowledge.

The subject offers strong temptations for wandering, and archæologists may be excused for occasionally turning aside, — like Christian, into the more flowery region of " Byepath meadows " — so long as they do not set themselves up as dogmatic and infallible guides. The difficulties surrounding the origin of place-names generally are present in the case of the name of Bilston. These difficulties are traceable to three principal causes; viz., to the successive invasions of the country by Saxons, Danes, and Normans ; to the similarity in mediæval times of many written characters ; and lastly to the carelessness of the monkish chroniclers before the invention of printing. To this last mentioned cause may be attributed many of the variations observable in the spelling of place-names — contemporary documents frequently showing both the unsettled condition of the language and the absence of responsibility sor accuracy on the part of the scribes.

How these causes have operated on the name of Bilston will be presently seen. The first documentary mention of Bilston occurs in Lady Wulfruna's Charter, which she granted to the Church at Wolverhampton in the year of our Redemption 996.* In Dr. Oliver's Copy the name is spelled " Bilsitneituna " and " Bilsetnetunensis," an elaborate Latinism for which the Dr. rather than the scribe is responsible. Mr. Duignan, in his translation of the same charter, gives the less corrupt form of " Bilsretatun." In the autograph letter which Sigeric, a Saxon Archbishop wrote to Wulfruna on the subject of the endowment of Wolverhampton Church, we have the undoubtedly correct Latinism of Belstona.t The next earliest mention of Bilston occurs in Doomsday — that most priceless of all national documents — in which the name is written '[ Billestune" — a compromise of Latin and Anglo-Saxon — and such is the spelling as it appears in Edward Ill's charter, which will be subsequently referred to.

In an old deed of the time of Henry IV. we have the spelling " Byllestone," in another dated 26 Henry 6th we have it preserved as "Byllyston," while subsequently there have been such variants as " Bylstune," "Bylston" and "Bilson," until it has become finally crystallised into " Bilston." The derivations of place-names are divisible into three broad classes, viz : — those derived from some natural feature in the position of a town, such, for instance, as Staff-ford, Weald-Heale * There is some doubt existing respecting the actual date of tliis charter. Archbishop Sigeric, one of the Signatories died in November, 994, so that either 996 is the wrong date, or else the grant was delayed for some time after the signing of the charter. t Dr. Oliver's transcript of Sigeric's letter was taken from a copy of the original document, made in the 17th century, and deposited in the Registry at Windsor.

The whereabouts of the original is not known. (Walsall) or "the palace of the wood"; the second derived from the names of their owners, such as Wolverhampton, or Wulfrune's Hamtune ; Ettingshall, so called from an old English family, named " Ettings," who once held the manor of Stow Heath ; and the third, from events which have occurred in their immediate neighbourhood, as Willenhall or "Winehala," a victory; and Wednesfield, signifying a battle field, or the field of Woden, the Anglo-Saxon g*od of war. While these cover pretty well the whole ground of topographical nomenclature, it is certain that there are many instances in which arbitrary causes have given rise to place-names, and Bilston is one of these. We may dismiss with a smile the guess of one writer, who supposed that Bilston was derived from "bill," an agricultural implement, and "stone," from the quarries of stone within the township, famous for the fineness of its grit and suitability "for grinding purposes" — a definition worthy to rank with Home Tooke's derivation of Pepin, the name of a famous French King, which in his Diversions of Parley he amusingly makes out as follows: — "Pepin is derived from a Greek word osper, thus transposed, osper, eper, oper, diaper, napkin, nipkin, pipkin, pepin " — a cutting satire on the guesses of ignorant etymologists.

The laws of etymological derivation are fortunately becoming more certain and accurate, and much light has of late been thrown upon obscurities of nomenclature. Dr. Oliver, a learned, though very diffuse, writer, tells us in his History of Wolverhampton Collegiate Church that Bilston is derived from " Beli " the principal male divinity of ancient Britain, who was none other than Hu, or the Sun — the Apollo in fact of classical mythology, who was worshipped by the Druids, and in whose honour the midsummer-eve festival of " Bel-tein " was celebrated. Dr. Oliver does not give any evidence in support of his supposition, yet a little examination serves to confirm his opinion. In the first place we have the name written by Sigeric " Belstona," in which form the name of the god appears distinctly, in the second place there are evidences extant of the existence of a Saxon temple* founded by Oswy, King of Mercia, * This Temple was afterwards given by Lady Wulfruna to the Temple at Wolverhampton. on the occasion of his victory over the army of Penda, King of Northumberland — at Bilston, dedicated to the "Sun," and given to the See of Lichfield, but which, on the accession of Wulfere to the Mercian throne, became a royal possession — while thirdly Bilston was situated in the very heart of the Druidical retreats, only six miles from Great Barr, and Aldridge, the summer residence of the Arch Druid ; within a mile and a half of Beacon Hill, anciently called " Druid's Hill," on whose summit, oak crowned, the Druids are traditionally believed to have offered up their sacrifices.

In this opinion Mr. Duignan, an able local antiquary partially concurs : He says, "I know of no better etymology of Bilston than the Gaelic Beal-tuinn , the fire of Bel, Baal, or Bil, the great Gaelic God ; but this derivation is so awful that I suggest it in fear and trembling." Assuming then the origin of the first half of the word Bilston to be as stated, the termination " tona " or "ton" becomes easy of explanation — it being in fact nothing more than the Saxon word " tynan ; " a town or dwelling-place. Bilston therefore becomes a place-name full of strange significance, calling up pictures of antiquity of absorbing interest, for it literally means the "village of the sun," or the " village of sun worship." At the time that the town emerges from pre-historic darkness it was a very tiny village, consisting of a few swine-herds' mud huts surrounding the stockaded residence of the Saxon possessor.

It was situated in a thick wood* which extended up to the summit of the Sedgley Beacon, and lay on the edge of Cannock Forest, though not within the forest boundary, which lay a little to the east, and ran from Wednesfield to Wednesbury, both of which were within the area of Cannock forest. The charter of Lady Wulfruna to the Monastery of Wolverhampton gives a very interesting account of this district at that remote period, and is valuable for the clearness of its topographical descriptions. The portion relating to Bilston runs thus : — "Hi sunt Bilsetnetunensis et Wodnesfeldenses. Primo ab Hinde-broca (i.e. cervce rivulo , forte ) * This is shown by the following extract from the autograph of Archbishop Sigeric respecting the endowment of Wolverhampton Church by Wulfruna. The letter refers to "quintus quercus," and to the vast woods bearing great quantities of acorns "triginta porcorum glandationes apud Scipricgam (sylvam forte glandiferam) , ita nominatum," Ssc. in fossam inter Ettingeshalem (aulem, forte, sic dictam) et Bilsetnetunam, in longam fossce prorsus usque ad locum ubi fossa vergit en orientem, et a fossa prorsus ad spinetum Mud ubi tres termini, Hantuniensis (scilicit) et Ettingeshalensis et Bilsetnetunensis conveniunt, et a spineto in irriguum lacum, et a laca in vadum ubi Beorgitha viam lapideam transeunt, et a vado in fossam quæ facet inter Wednesfeldæ at Hamtunœ limites, et ad ajuilonem vadi per fossam in Piatœ spinetum," &fc, <5*-*_*.

This Dr. Oliver translates as follows : — "commencing at " Hind Brook " or " Stag River,"* the boundary line continued straight along the ditch between Ettingshalem — where stood a large Saxon manor-house — and Belstona, until it turned off at an angle eastward towards a thorn-bush, where was placed a landmark to shew the junction of Belstona, Ettingshalem, and Wulfrunehamton. It then proceeded to a remarkable overflowing pool, and onward to the ford where Beorgitha's paved road crosses the stream ; thence along the ditch which separates Wulfrunehamton from Wodnesfelde, to Goldthorn — Holythorn, Sanctum Spinetum — thence to the ditch on the road to Penn (Viam) to the boundary where Wulfrunehamton, Bishbyrie, and Wodnesfelde meet in an angle. From this point the line proceeded along the Burgesses' River to a grove of alders ; thence through Wodnesfelde, to the old Village (of Belstona,) by the miry road where the herds of swine are nightly folded in buildings erected for that purpose ; thence to the fosse of Kunesford by the military road, to the bridge of white stones, and onward to the Virgin's Ferry ; thence down the river until it arrived at the point where the survey commenced."

The Saxon Hall ("aulem, forte sic dictum") above mentioned was in all probability erected by Kerdic Wolfeard, a favourite of King Ethelwolf. During his lifetime the Danes became troublesome, and Kerdic had more than once to go out against them. He caused a strong stockade and ditch to be made round his hall, and across this threw a rude moveable drawbridge, * This stream passed through Bilston, and thence eastward through Willenhall, where it joined the Tame, then called Beorgitha's stream. The bed of this stream was discovered a few years ago, in digging out the foundations for some buildings at the latter town. diverting one of the watercourses that flowed through the scene into his ditch, so as to provide it with a supply of water. In the time of his son and successor, Kenwolf, the Danes again invaded the district, and in the year 909 carried on extensive plundering and burning, till they were met on Stow-Heath, near Bilston, where a terrible battle took place between them and the Saxons under Edward the Elder, who completely defeated them.

Kenwolf from the hall here fought under the King, and performed many gallant exploits, but did not survive to wear his laurels. The estate of Swinestam, as Ettingshall was anciently called — viz., the place of swine keeping* — soon after fell into the hands of a family named "Ett." To this was added the usual tribal patronymic " ing " — meaning a family, and "hall" a residence, and these put together gave the name Ett-ings-hall, or the residence of the family of Ett. This family was in all probability dispossessed by William the Conqueror, and as no later evidence of this Hall exists it was probably then destroyed, and its owners made serfs. About the year 1760 a very interesting relic of this building was discovered. During some mining operations the workmen found a vaulted passage of stone work, about fifty feet in length by four feet in breadth, which they explored.

In this passage several curious implements were found, among them a two-edged axe,** bearing in Saxon capitals the name " Cedric Wolfeard." Unfortunately, the workmen ignorant of the value of the implements, took no care of them, and the axe was taken home by one of the men and used as a wood-chopper. The passage was also destroyed, without affording the antiquary an opportunity* of examining it. In the 10th century, Bilston and the neighbourhood formed a retired district abounding in woods and streams, and was inhabited by a pastoral population which was employed in swine-herding and * The reason for their being so numerous at this place may be attributed to an ancient custom, which obliged the tenants of manors to send their swine and cattle to the land of their lords, at a certain period of the year, that it might be made more fit for the plough. ** The axe must have been one of those known as " Securis Danica," which had been introduced into England a few years previous to the time of Wolfeard. agriculture.

The woods were well stocked with deer, boars, and other animals, affording abundant sport for the regal-hunters who often spent many days successively — when the bloody hand of Mars was resting — in the stirring "chase of hart and hare." Through the old village ran a Roman military road, a mighty proof of the superiority of those hoary Roman soldiers who had done battle for the conquest of the then known world. To the south, the ground gently sloped for the distance of a mile, at which point a clear sparkling stream wound its peaceful way, marking in its course some of the boundaries of the village. To the north, as far as Monmore, a beautiful sylvan forest stretched away in all the majestic grandeur and sublime repose of a new creation, and from the top of its noblest monarch could be seen the square, ivy-mantled tower of Wulfrune-Hampton Church ; excepting which, and the turreted hall of the Saxon chieftains, few habitations were to be seen.

To the west, from the same observatory, the range of the " Beacon " and Sedgley Hills was plainly seen, and still further on, the "Wren's Nest," and the newly raised battlements of its chieftain "Dudo." The Druid's Altar, as the Beacon Hill was then called, was crowned with a garland of Nature's own weaving*, and under the noble shelter of its luxuriant foliage the Druid priests had oft performed their mystic rites. Midway in the valley, was the famous spring, called " Lady Wulfruna's," which gave the name " Springvale " to the valley. To the east was Winehala, or Willenhall ; the silvery waters of the Hindbrook occasionally flashed in the sunlight, until it reached the "bridge of white stones" over by the military way, when it became lost to view in the mazes of the forest. Willenhall itself was also hidden behind the columns of the stately trees, with no other indication of its existence than the fantastic curlings of the smoke, which arose among the foliage and floated in the dreamy atmosphere.

Of the history of Bilston, previous to the Norman conquest, nothing more is now known. Though no evidences exist in the shape of " Massive ruins, ivy clad, and grey with age," to remind us of its infancy, and but few waifs and strays of information in the chronicles of those remote and barbaric ages to inform us of our rude forefathers ; yet, there are several circumstances which survive the "smiting hand of time " that, like solitary footmarks in the snow, lead us to those early times and demonstrate to us even by themselves that the origin of this town dates from the first ages of the christian era. In the first place, we have seen that a temple dedicated to the sun was erected here, where the mystic rites and ceremonies of a patriarchal priestcraft were celebrated ; that according to Lady Wulfruna's charter a village existed, which even in the ioth century was described as the OLD village of Bilsretatun ; that a Roman military road, which, wherever practicable, took in the British villages, so as to overawe them, passed through the old village ; and Roman coins of the reigns of Commodus and Antoninus, in a beautiful state of preservation, have been found.

Composed probably of rude mud huts, and inhabited by the fierce and warlike Cornarvii, the village would, in the fierce forays between them and the Roman soldiers, fall into decay, while they hid themselves in the surrounding woods Conquered at last they returned to their huts, and under their conquerors learned the first lessons of civilized life. When the Saxons became masters of the island we find that some of them came and resided here, so that in time the inhabitants from being savage and warlike, became accustomed to a more pastoral life, living chiefly on the produce of the chace and the flesh of the swine that fed in the woodland glades, and were nightly folded at Swinsetam, that portion of the township now known as Ettingshall. In the neighbouring chace of Cannock, which then extended to Bilston, both Saxon and Norman Kings indulged in their passion sor hunting, and the cries of their hounds and the blasts of their horns have also rung in the woodlands of Bilston, which were from an early period in demesne, or part of the crown possessions, until the latter part of the ioth century.

That portion of the township within the manor of Stow Heath was then granted to Lady Wulfruna, who granted it to the Canons of Wolverhampton, in whose hands it remained until the Norman Conquest, when it again fell into the hands of the Crown, but whether alienated by the Canons themselves, which was not very probable, or had been seized by the King, which was much more likely, is not now certainly known. On this point we have a statement made by Erdeswick, in his Survey of the County, which is certainly an error. He tells us that "in the 20th year of William the Conqueror (1086) Bilston belonged to the Canons of Wolverhampton, and was incorporated by charter by Lady Wulfruna with the Church of Wolverhampton, the Canons of which received the tithes." Erdeswick must have overlooked the positive evidence of Doomsday Book on the point, which as will be seen in the next chapter shows that Bilston was then in the hands of the King.

Shaw, in his History of Staffordshire, comes much nearer the actual truth, though even his statement which follows is not strictly accurate. He says that "Bilston is one of those Vills given by that noble Lady* Wulfruna to the Monastery of St. Mary at Wolverhampton but at the time of the Conquest the Canons had not much (land) here, the greater part of the Vill being in the King's hands, and as I suppose then, as now it is, in the Manor of Stow-Heath, for in the time of King Edward the Third (A.D. 1326) the men and tenants of Billestune are certified to be free of toll, because the Vill was of the ancient demesne of the Crown." If we insert " not any " for Shaw's phrase " not much " we shall have an exact statement of this important fact. A

Chapter II

The Doomsday Entries. The Early History of the Church Considered. \'AA?KA\ H E Norman Conquest practically constitutes the ,', '?-m". '• boundary line which separates legendary from \Vsswif®M authentic history. The Dom-Boc, or Doomsday XXXli book, is of so surprising a character, is so full of SSa/ information respecting the condition of the land, and fAi the habits, customs, and extent of the population, is, in fact, so unique in itself as to be sufficient to give point to the observation, and definiteness to the work of the historian, whether he be desirous of eliciting facts relating to parochial or to national affairs. Edward I. has been justly described for his excellent laws the "English Justinian," but William the Conqueror may with equal appositeness be called the Norman Cæsar, for while he conquered and enslaved England, he left behind him a more valuable record of the conquered land than the Commentaries of the Roman emperor.

The importance of the Doomsday Book it would be difficult to overestimate, for though errors and omissions occur in its time-honoured pages, which our limited knowledge of its exegesis does not permit us always to understand, it is confessedly a marvellous picture of England in the i ith century, such as no other country in the world possesses. Turning to its pages, for happily owing to the application of Photo zincography to the copying and printing of manuscripts, copies of this national record are within easy reach of every provincial antiquary ; we find under the heading of Staffordshire, the following entries relating to the several portions of the township of Bilston. "In Billestune sunt II hidæ. Tra-e-IIII. car. Ibi sunt VIII. villi et III. bord. cu III. car. Ibi i ac. pti silui dimid leuu lg et dimid lat.

Valuit XX sol, modo XXX sol." Freely translated, it is as follows : — " In Bilston there are two hides of land, which is four caracates, and there are eight villains and three bordarers with three ploughs. Also one acre of meadow land. The wood is about a furlong long and a half broad. Was worth 20s., now 30s. For Ettingshall we have the following entry : " Isd-W-ten in Etinshale II. hidæ et Robt. de eo. Turstan tenuit en saca et soca. Tra-e-IIII. car. In dnio sunt II. ac. et IX vill et III bord cu II ploughs. Ibi V ac. pti Silua ht III qrent in lg et lat. Valuit et val XXX sol." The meaning of this extract is as follows: — "The same William (Fitz Ansculfi) holds in Ettingshall 2 hides, and Robert de Thurstan holds the same of him by sac and soc. There are 4 caracates. In demesne are 2 acres, and 9 villains and 3 bordarers with 2 ploughs.

There are 5 acres of meadow, having a wood 3 furlongs in length and breadth. Valued and now of the value of 30 shillings." The entry relating to Bradley is as follows " Walbert ten de W. 1 hid: in Bradelee. Tra e. II car: Ibi II II villi hnt 1 car. Silvi III q. lg et una q. lat. Valuit et val. LXIIII denar,: Untan tenuit en saca et soca. Ibi II ac pti." This may be translated thus : — " Walbertus holds of William (Fitz Ansculf) one hide in Bradley. There are II caracates, with them are 4 villains having one plough. The wood is 3 furlongs long and one furlong broad. Valued and now of the value of 67 pence. Untan holds by sac and soc. There are 2 acres of meadow land." It is but fair to say that the Bradley here described is rubricated as being in Offlow Hundred, but that does not prove that it refers to another Staffordshire Bradley, of which there are three.

Manors and portions of manors are in many instances wrongly inserted, as for instance William Corbucion's manor of Sibeford, is inserted in the Staffordshire portion of Doomsday, though it was really in Oxfordshire, while the manor of Essington in Staffordshire is entered also in Warwickshire. These errors the well-known antiquary, the Rev. R. W. Eyton, attributes to the fact that the Exchequer clerks who made the entries in Doomsday were different from those who made the various surveys, and on that account occasionally got the transcripts mixed up. Certain it is that the Bradley entry above quoted does not refer either to Bradley in the moors, or to Bradley-green. These extracts from the Doomsday Book prove, at once, that Bilston is far more ancient than it is generally supposed to be ; and though the population according to that book (which it should be remembered only gives the number of the serfs or labourers) is very small, yet comparing the population of the country at that time, it was by no means insignificant.

It must be borne in mind that so late as the reign of Henry III, the population of Wolverhampton was only about 300, and it was considered so important a place that that king granted the inhabitants a charter, permitting them to hold an annual fair. Indeed, if we compare Bilston with some of the towns around at that time, it will be seen to go beyond them in the number of its inhabitants. It will be observed that no mention is made in these extracts to any church existing within the township or its members. We find neither "Ecclesia" nor "presbyter." But this must not be taken as absolute proof that a church did not exist then. That a church of some sort existed in the time of King Oswy, though of a Pagan character, we have already mentioned, and that it would not be allowed to entirely disappear is probable.

The practice of the early christians was not to do away entirely with Pagan temples, or their rites and ceremonies, but in order to win over the heathens to Christianity, Christian practices were grafted upon ancient superstitions, and permitted for a time to grow together. The less offensive tenets of idolatry were permitted to remain, their temples converted to Christian Churches by the removal of the idols and the erection of altars, while their sacrificial festivals were gradually made to coincide with the Christian feasts. Many Saxon temples therefore existed till the Conquest, but had gradually lost all, or nearly all traces of their Pagan origin. Why no record of Bilston Church appears in Doomsday book may be due to the fact that during the fierce struggles between Saxons and Normans for the sovereignty of England, the church, like hundreds of others, may have been destroyed, the Midland and Northern Counties having bitterly opposed the Norman rule for years after the Southern Counties had been entirely subjugated.