Stourbridge and its vicinity, containing a topographical description of the parish of Old Swinford, including the township of Stourbridge, with the adjoining parishes ... Antiquities, itinerary, memorable occurrences and memoirs geological, mineralogical, botanical, &c. Illustrated, etc

Front matter

— y/^ ( S-' f 'f/s/r/Yr/r/ '. Cr\ m m §1 r* <*: m | es «q < A STOURBRIDGE AND ITS VICINITY, CONTAINING TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PARISH OF OLD SWINFORD, INCLUDING THE TOWNSHIP OF STOURBRIDGE ; WITH THE ADJOINING PARISHES OF Burg Umber, ■Pe'ttmorc, ant> ftalcSofotn ; OBSERVATIONS ON HAGLEY, ENVILLE, HIMLEY, CLENT, &c. ; &nti(juitt*0, ITINERARY, MEMORABLE OCCURRENCES; AND MEMOIRS GEOLOGICAL, MINERALOGICAL, BOTANICAL, fye. IfllujltratetJ foils) Pate*. BY WILLIAM SCOTT. PRINTKD AT THE OFFICE OF J. HEMING, HIGH STREET. MDCCCXXXII.

Preface

. Amidst the various topographical descriptions which abound in the present day, it is presumed that an account of " Stourbridge and its Vicinity," may not prove to be entirely destitute of in terest, both to the general reader and the resident inhabitants of the district described. While the grand outlines of local history are supplied by works of a superior order, as County Histories, agricultural, statistical, geological, and other surveys ; the minuter localities of townships, hamlets, villages, &c. fall more immediately within the scope of personal observation. Moreover, the mass of information contained in the volumes alluded to above, generally constitutes part of the literary treasures of the opulent, and is inaccessible to readers in general ; copies also becoming, in a course of time, both scarce and costly.

Summaries of portions of these valuable and authentic docu ments, while they leave unimpaired the treasures from whence they were drawn, together with the additions of minutiae suggested by personal observation, carrying down to the current VI

PREFACE.

. period the various results occurring ; appear to be desirable re positories of local information. In addition to the stores obtained from the class of publica tions alluded to above, contributions innumerable from private individuals have been received, which it is impracticable to par ticularize, or adequately to acknowledge. In almost all the intercourses of society, facts, observations, &c. tending to illustrate, more or less, some of the points under consideration have occurred, many of them affording the most important information. To the candid consideration of the Public in general, more particularly to his Townsmen, Friends, and Neighbours, the writer submits this volume of Memoirs, the result of many years' study and investigation. CONTENTS. PAQI Preface .... 5 Introduction, containing Observations on the Midland, Mining, and Manufacturing District of England, comprising parts of the vicinities of Warwick, Stafford, Worcester, and Salop .... ix Other parts of the vicinity of Stourbridge, not entirely within the limits of the mining tract ...... .... xix

Natural History. Geology, Mineralogy, and Botany .... ..... 393

Appendix

. Danish invasion, memorials of, in Ireland. — Birmingham, Doomsday book, account of, — Lordship or barony of Dudley, chiefs of Mercia and Wiccia, Metes, &c. of Bedeote, — St. Thomas' church, Stourbridge, Silk manufactory, Magistrates, Population, — Churches of Kingswinford, — Tumulus at Quatford, — Itinerary of roads, canals, rivers, — Memorable Occurrences

Introduction

. OF the Midland, Mining, and Manufacturing District of England, comprising parts of the Counties of Warwick, Stafford, Worcester, and Salop. This important district may be considered as described by the figure denominated a trapezium, having Dudley (a) for its most, central town, and Birmingham with part of Aston, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Stourbridge, for its extreme points. The boundary line of this figure, taking the turnpike roads from town to town in continuity, with a little deviation on the northern side, to include Wednesfield and Bloxwich, will be found to be somewhat more than thirty-eight miles in ex tent. From the exterior of this line, a country devoted to agri culture is presented to view, while the interior space remarkably abounds in mines aud manufactures, containing a very considerable population. (a) Mr. Yarranton considers this manufacturing district as extending ten miles round Dudley. B X

INTRODUCTION.

. The inhabitants of this part of Britain, previous to the Roman conquest, were unquestionably the Cornavii or Cor nabii, though some parts of Worcestershire and the adjoining counties were occupied by the Dobuni, succeeded by the Wiccii. ln tracing the history of this British tribe, to the period of their settlement, in the centre of the kingdom, that important event, the peopling of Britain from the opposite coast of ancient Gaul, demands attention. The Celtic tribes, (b) in the opinion of numerous respectable writers, took possession of a considerable portion of the island ; and with them, the Belgae afterwards became par ticipators, about three centuries before the arrival of Julius Cæsar. Among these Celtic tribes were the Cornavii or Cornabii, who inhabited the midland district at the time of the Roman invasion, but were not conquered till the reign of Claudius Cæsar.

The territory of this people extended over a great part of the counties of Warwick, Worcester, Stafford, Salop, Ches ter, &c. In addition to this branch of the Cornabii, inhabiting tbe tract extending from the Thames and Severn to the Humber, there were others, who, according to Mr. Whitaker, inhabited Cornwall, and also Caithness ; each region having a promon tery extending into the sea, to which the British word Kar neab, a horn, is considered as applicable, (c) (b) The Celtae were one ofthe two branches of the Cimmerians, Cumri or Gumri ; ancestors of the ancient Britons. In the principality of Wales the term Cymri, colloquially Kumri, still prevails. Brewer' i introduction to Beauties of England and Walts (c) Tacitus, though he frequently alludes to the Silures, Brigantes, Trino-

INTRODUCTION.

. XI The capital, or the second city of tho Cornavii, according to Camden, (d) was Uriconium, in Shropshire, a city celebrated as a Roman station, and which retained its consequence dur ing the Saxon heptarchy, (e) During the period of the Roman dominion over the British isles, the tract of country under consideration, formed a part of the province of Flavia-Caesariensis, it was limited by Britannia Secunda, and by Humber, Dan, and Mersey. Few vestiges of Roman antiquities occur within the limits described; these principally consist ofa part of the Ikenild street, consular road, and some remains of one of the Wat ling vicinal ways, hereafter to be described. A collateral branch of Ikenild is described as passing near Causeway green, Warley Wigorn and Langley, to Oldbury, in the Salopian district of Halesowen. bantes, Caledonians, &c. &c. does not notice the Cornavii — indeed they appear to have been little known to the Romans.

Horseley says, that Ptolemy takes no notice of Worcestershire, and that it is not traced in the itinerary of Antoninus, Glevum, Glocester, and Arico pium, Ross forming the extremities ofthe nearest line of Roman road to this district. Evidences of the Roman occupation of Worcestershire, additional to those afforded by vestages of roads constructed by that illustrious people, might be found in coins and other relics occurring at Hagley, Bellbroughton, kc hereafter to be noticed. The numerous and continuous forests spreading over this province and bevond its confines, seem to have led to the supposition, that it was not subject to Roman occupation. " Some companies ofthe Cornavii served under the latter emperors." Camden Notitia Proiinciarum. (d) Ed. of 1603. (e) Uriconium, Caer- Vrach of Ninius; Caer-Urnach, of Camden ; Uri conium of Antoninus ; Wiroconium of Ptolomy; Wroxeter ofthe Saxons; was destroyed by the Danes : after which Pengwerne, synonymous with Schrobbesbyrig ; (Shrewsbury) was made a shire town by Alfred, after he had subdued the Danes. Mons-Uriconium (Wrekin hill) Uriconii mons, is supposed to retain a vestige ofthe name of this ancient city.

INTRODUCTION.

. XII Other branches of Roman roads in this vicinity are— Moor street, communicating with Crook street, between Quinton and Northfield. Sturchley street, leading from Moor green to Kingsnorton. Ullenhall street, near to Wootton Warren. Twatling street, (corrupted from Watling,) leading from the Lickey towards Tardebig and Alvechurch, has also been con sidered as a branch of Roman road. Hutton speaks of a lesser road, issuing from London, and penetrating through Streetford, Stratford upon Avon ; also of Monks path street and Shirley street, near Birmingham. At Over Arley, in Staffordshire, near to the banks of tha Severn, historians have pointed out another branch of Roman viscinal road, but it would be difficult to trace its course by any remaining vestige, or by the aid of narrative. This street is indeed named in Wulfruna's grant of the manor of Arley to the church of Hampton, as a boundary line.

This Portway, as it is termed, near Rowley Regis, is by some writers considered as a branch of the Watling vicinal way, already mentioned, and by others as entirely distinct therefrom. When to the Roman Pentarchy, succeeded the Saxon heptarchy, or in the language of Mr. Turner, the Saxon oc tarchy ; (f) this tract of country formed part ofthe compara tively extensive kingdom of Mercia. Uriconium continued to be the principal city of the middle Saxons, while Off-Church- Bury, near Southam, in War wickshire, became the residence of Offa, one of their monarchs, where he held his rural court. (f) By considering the two Northumbrian kingdoms as separate states, Mr. Turner, contrary to most authors, produces an octarchv. The kingdoms were, indeed, variously united and separated at different periods. introduction.

XIII The kingdom of Mercia, like that os the Dobuni, already mentioned, subsisted both in an independent, and subse quently a suborninate state, in each of which it experienced numerous vicissitudes. The Danes, A. D. 870, usurped East Anglia; and soon afterwards, Mercia submitted to their sway. During the reign of Alfred, incessant depredations were committed by these adventurers. After repeated conflicts, the sovereignty of Mercia became vested in that great monarch, who, though he discontinued its royal honours, constituted Ethelred, con sort of his daughter Ethelfleda, its military commander. Sometimes Ethelred is designated as viceroy of the Wic cians. A Ethelfleda governed the state eight years after the death of her husband, in very troublesome times ; she is highly eulogised by Henry of Huntingdon, in a poem.

The geological features of this part of England are curi ous and interesting ; — Mr. Aikin observes, that " a range 6f rude elevated land, sometimes rising into lofty mountains ; extends from the borders of Scotland to the very heart of England, running from North to South, and forming a natural division between the Eastern and Western Britain of the Romans." The British Apennines are, by some authors, represented as commencing at Ashover, in Derbyshire, (g) extending through the Peak, part of Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Northumberland, thence stretching to Scotland. (g) The British Alps are considered by Mr. Brande, as extending from Scotland, by Cumberland, and the principality of Wales, to the Southern extremity of Cornwall. — Ashover is termed " the root, whose trunk takes a northern direction." A See Appendix.

INTRODUCTION.

. In describing the extent and direction of the Apenmne range, some writers assign to it much more considerable di mensions. Commencing the range in the Highlands of Scot land, and pursuing its course through the northern counties, they' connect therewith, the eastern mountainous tract of Cumberland, and proceeding southward, to the root at Ash over, as above described; admit as components, though sometimes separated by numerous and extensive plains, the Leicestershire hills of Charnwood, the Buckinghamshire hills of Penn, Chiltern, &c. in their progress to the south, include the Moorlands of Staffordshire. Other midland elevations, as those of the south of Staffordshire, Edge-hill, in Warwick shire, Lickey, Breedon, Cotswold, and the eminences sur rounding the vale of Glocester ; (leaving Malvern, Abberley, and the Herefordshire and Salopian hills to the west,) form parts of the range, which further extends to the Mendip and other Somersetshire mountains, and embraces those of Wilts, Dorset, &c. terminated by the English channel.

Several of the eminences just enumerated, are included in or nearly approximate to the district here described, and others are within the scope of prospect from some of its most elevated stations. Mr. Keir, in his paper on the mineralogy of Staffordshire, points out two ranges of hills, which intersect the midland district, and form part of the elevations under description. First, the lime-stone hills, which begin to rise in the vicinity of Wolverhampton and Bilston, (h) and extend to the town of Dudley, whose castle is situated on the slope of the last of the chain. (h) Sedgley beacon is included in the range commencing near to Wolver hampton, by some considered as the highest ground in England— of course excepting the mountainous parts, even ofthe immediate vicinity. Major Mudge, while engaged in his trigonometrical survey, pitched upon the meridian of Dunnose, in the Isle of Wight, traversing theplains of Herts

INTRODUCTION.

. XV Secondly. Another range of mountains, beginning to rise near to the Limestone hills, and proceeding nearly in the same direction, but bending a little more to the east. " These," the author remarks, " might be considered as a continuation of the former range, did not their very different aspect, and the different nature of the Basaltic rock, of which they are composed, produce a striking distinction." "This chain of hills proceeds, from Dudley, through Rowley, hence called Rowley hills, and dividing into two branches, terminates in a valley between Oldbury and Hales owen." The features of the Apennine range, consisting of distinct hills, as Dudley, Rowley, Clent, and Lickey, appear in distant prospect as blended in an uniform group. These eminences afford prospects of great variety and extent in opposite directions, and divide the showers which fall on their summits, so as to fall into the eastern and western seas, through the media ofthe Trent and Severn.

Respecting the central hills, Mr. Whitaker particularises the chain from Derbyshire to Scotland, as consisting of Alpes, Pennines proper, in contradistinction from the southern and less continuous line. The term Mediterranean is applied, by some authors, Berks, &c. to Clifton, near Doncaster, Yorkshire, (a line parallel to the central chain,) as affording a convenient line for admeasurment. The confines of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, near th? sources ofthe Nen and Avon, (800 or 900 feet above the level of the sea,) are repre sented as the highest point, Ardbury hill, near Daventry, as the centre. Play/airs Works. Inkpen beacon, near Hungersord, Berks, 1011 feet above the level ofthe sea, is represented in Smith's Geological map, as the highest ground in the S. E. of England.

INTRODUCTION.

. to this tract. The above named historian asserts, that Ptolemy penetrated into central Britain, (i) The geographical boundaries of these counties are remarkably sinuous and irregular. Dr. Nash thus calculates the number of acres of which the detatched portions of Wor cestershire consist: — Dudley about 3900 (k) Edwin Lock, and Warley Wigorn 2000 Tredington, Alderminster, &c 8300 Evenload or Elmload, Daylesford, and Icomb 5000 19,200 The isolated Salopian district of Halesowen presents another instance of irregular division of counties. The prevalence of the iron trade in the district of south Staffordshire and north Worcester, has long been the theme of the local historian. Captain Andrew Yarranton, (1) in his work entitled (i) Distinguishing features of the Appennines, according to Mr. Shaw, (Staffordshire) are " The Moorlands of Staffordshire, The Peak of Derby shire, Blackstone Edge, Craven, Stanmore, and the Chaviots, branching into two horns."

" The middle and south parts ofthe island," says this author, " are gene rally level, or have gentle eminences, though with some exceptions, as the following Staffordshire hills : — Dudley, Sedgley, Clent, Barr; and others of less elevation as — Kinver, Enville, Cannock high grounds, Essington, Bush bury, &c. &c." (k) The bounderies of this county and that of south Stafford, were settled, According to Mr. Payton, A. D. 1238, 22d Hen. III. (1) " 1 was apprentice," says the author, " to a linen draper, and con tinued in the trade some years ; afterwards I became a soldier, and in 1652 entered an iron work." Mr. Grainger, in his Biographical History of England, has devoted a note

INTRODUCTION.

. XVII " England's Improvement, 1677 ;" notices the iron manufac tories of Birmingham, Stourbridge, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall, &c. ; observing that the commons, twelve miles round Stourbridge, afford favourable situations for planting of woods, for the production of charcoal. The iron of Dean forest is said, by this author, to be brought to this district for the purpose of manufactory. Mr. Yarranton travelled on the continent under the patronage of twelve gentlemen, eleven of whom are enumerated as follows: — Sir Walter Kirtham Blount, Sir Samuel and Sir Timothy Baldwin, knights, Thomas Foley, Esq. Philip Foley, Esq. Thomas Smith, Joseph Newbrook, Samuel Whyle, Nicholas Baker, John Finch, and Nicholas Harri son: the object of this expedition was, to bring into England the art of manufacturing tin plates, which previous to the year 1670, had been in the exclusive possession of the Saxons and Bohemians.

In the course of his travels, Mr. Yarranton made obser vations on the state of the linen manufactories of Holland and Flanders. His proposals for transferring which to En gland, may, in the present day, appear to be somewhat chi merical. The mineralogy of this district, together with the various manufactories connected with the mining interest, will de mand attention in a subsequent part of this work. to the memory of Mr. Yarranton, observing, that he was a soldier in the civil wars, that he was favoured with considerable patronage, and that his work contained some projects worthy of attention. Authors of a similar class are cited, as Roger Coke, Carew Reynell, and J. Gee. To this list, in our own times, might be added Campbell, author of the " Political Survey of Great Britain." C

INTRODUCTION.

. An unrivalled seat of arts, forming the central metropolis of the kingdom, forms a principal feature in the picture. To attempt a description of this flourishing emporium, and the numerous manufactories, towns, and villages, in its vicinity, would be to deviate from the design of this topo graphical sketch, neither is such an effort necessary, as seve ral of the towns have their histories, and ample materials are at hand to form the basis of other local descriptions, (m) Dyer has celebrated this, and some others of our large manufacturing towns in his " Fleece." " The increasing walls of busy Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham, whose reddening fields Rise, and increase their suburbs." And speaking of Canton, in China, the poet adds : — Upon the Strand they heap their glossy bales, And works of Birmingham in brass and steel.

South Staffordshire, over a part of which the mining vici nity of Birmingham extends, is considered as the centre of inland navigation, and numerous additional channels for commercial traffic, are continually emanating therefrom, while facilities for travelling by land are afforded by the proximity and approaches of many of the principal roads. " No district in the world," according to a modern publi cation, (n) " is more nobly supplied with cheap and easy methods of distributing its own productions, and receiving those of others." (m) Beauties of England and Wales. (n) This station ofthe iron trade has the advantage of a ready demand on the spot for the produce of its industry ; that of South Wales, with the bordering district of Monmouthshire, enjoys facilities for exportation.

INTRODUCTION.

. XIX The midland, mining, and manufacturing district, is tbe seat of a very considerable population, perhaps equal in den sity to any in the kingdom, though some are much more ex tensive. Taking Manchester for a centre, -a circle might be drawn of large circumference, containing a much larger total amount of inhabitants, (o) Other parts of the vicinity of Stourbridge, not entirely within the limits of the mining tract. The Worcestershire part of this tract consists, principally, of a branch of that county, extending from the mainland to the N. W. in the form of a peninsula, and united thereto by what may be figuratively denominated the isthmus of Churchill. At the period of the Norman conquest, this tract, together with Halesowen, formed part of the hundred of Clent, but is at the present time included in the lower division of Half shire, (p) (o) Two other seats of manufacturing industry, nearly approximate to this district, as Bromsgrove become the seat of a very considerable nail manufactory; and Kidderminster, long known for its woollen trade, particularly the manufactory of carpets.

(p) The lower division ofthe hundred of Halfshire consists of Bellbrough ton, Chaddesley-Corbet, Churchill, Dudley, Elmley-Lovett, Frankley, Hag ley, Kidderminster, (including Stourport,) Halesowen, (part of, including Cradley, Lutley, and Warley,) Oldswinford, (including Stourbridge and Swinford,) Pedmore, Rushock, and Stone. XX

INTRODUCTION.

. A plea-roll, 10th John, gives it the latter appellation. » A portion ofthe south of Staffordshire forms another part of this district, being part of the hundred of Seisdon, as Clent and Broom. The bounderies ofthe counties of Worcester and Stafford, at a period alluded to above, were so settled by consent of B. P. Stavenby, and William de Cantelupe, bishop of Wor cester; Dudley was assigned to the diocess of Worcester, and its castle and priory to that of Lichfield. The parish of Halesowen, now in part Salopian, was once entirely in the County of Worcester, and still remains within the diocess so designated. In a geological point of view, the borders of the south Staffordshire, &c. mining station, enter into a contact with a very extensive formation of sand and gravel, occupying a considerable portion ofthe kingdom.

Publications affording information relative to the vicinity under review, consist principally of County Histories — to which may be added, those enumerated in the subjoined list, (q) (q) In addition to sources obtained from countv histories, and others of a more general description, as " Beauties of England and Wales," &c. &c. others have been supplied through the kindness of friends, consisting of scarce publications, which though they do not expressly treat of the subject in hand, yet supply important incidental information. Of this description are — Stowe's Summary of English Chronicles. Atlas Minor, by Gerard Mercator, with additions by Hondius, Amster dam, 1609. Nauclerius's Chronica, with additions by Basclius and others, 1543. Poor Man's Library, by William Alley, Bp. of Exeter, 1571, 2 vols. Camden's Britannia, 1603, another edition, 1637. Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, 1676, &c. &c.

INTRODUCTION.

. XXI Dr. Nash, in his " Collections for the History of Wor cestershire, 2 vols. folio, 1781," with a Supplement, 1799, has consolidated the labours of prior historians, as Habing ton, (r) Thomas, Bp. Lyttelton, (s) and others. He has extended his narrative to the Salopian as well as the Vigornian portion of Halesowen, situate in the hundred of Brimstree. The Rev. Stebbing Shaw published, 1801, "The History and Antiquities of Staffordshire," (partially completed) in 2 vols. folio, comprising the substance of Huntbatch, Lox dale, Lyttleton, Wilkes, Fielde, Eardeswick, and Plot. Pitt's Staffordshire is dated 1817. In the preface to Harwood's edition of Eardeswick, 1820, are memoirs of the historians of Staffordshire, including one of Eardeswick, who died 1603, and was buried at the place of his residence, Sandon, now a seat of the earl of Harrowby.

To the topographical works on Staffordshire, may be added, Sanders' History of Shenstone, affording some particulars of the neighbourhood of Stourbridge. The Rev. Henry Sanders, curate of Shenstone, and suc cessively master ofthe Free Schools of Halesowen and Bir mingham, descended from the family of Titery of Nantz, in Lorraine. He was brother to Mr. Sanders, of Stourbridge, (r) The MSS. of Habington and John de Feckenham, are said to be still in a train of elucidation. Beauties of England and Wales, vol. XV. 1S14. (s) Parochial Antiquities of Hagley, Clent, Arley, &c. compiled from Original Records, Public Offices, and private muniments, by Charles Lyttel ton, dean of Exeter, and afterwards Bishop of Carlisle ; are deposited in the library of the Society of Antiquaries.

INTRODUCTION.

. apothecary, an early and extensive practitioner in inocula tion, another brother of the same profession resided at Dudley. The historian of Shenstone died 1785. Payton's " History of Dudley Castle and Priory," — and Dr. Booker's Descriptive and Historical Account of Dudley Castle, 1825, close, for the present, our enumeration of Staf fordshire histories. Respecting Warwickshire, Sir William Dugdale Garter, king at arms, (t) has written with distinguished ability, "Opus aureum" is the encomium bestowed on this work, and respecting its author, Bp. Barlow observes, — Plurimum tibi debet Comitatus tuus, in allusion to the eulogy bestowed on the historian Camden, — Multum tibi debet Britannia. Warwickshire is by an ingenious author termed, " the centre of the land, whose lustre diffuseth light, and darteth beams to the circumference of the kingdom."

Peake observes that, " Warwickshire is more indebted to Dugdale's indefatigable pen, than lo Guy's fictitious sword." Hutton's History of Birmingham was begun, A. D. 1780, and published 1782. Mr. Sheriff's Map of the vicinity of Birmingham, to the extent of twenty-five miles and upwards, published 1798, and since republished, contains an accurate delineation of this district, with some other parts of the neighbourhood. (t) See his " Life and Correspondence," published by — Hamper, Esq. 1827, who informs us that he was the associate of many eminent men of his day, as Archbishop Sheldon, Abington, Ashmole, who married his daughter, Brady, Causaubon the younger, Anthony Wood, &c.

INTRODUCTION.

. XXIII Evidences extant. MS. Stourbridge Free School. Millward's at Wollescote. Earl of Stamford's concerning Amblecot. PART FIRST. A TOPOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE PARISHES OF OLD SWINFORD (INCLUDING STOURBRIDGE;) King Swinford; Kinver; Pedmore; and Halesowen: WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF Clje EcasJofog, Slagkp, SEnbt'lle, ants ftimlej) ; CLENT-HILLS, AND AN ITINERARY OF ROADS, CANALS, &c.

Chapter I

Old Swinford. Old Swinford, in the Counties of Worcester and Staf ford, hundreds of Halfshire and Seisdon, and deanery of Kidderminster, &,c, is bounded N. by King Swinford, (having the Stour for a boundary,) W. by Kinver, S. by Pedmore, and E. by Halesowen. Historians, of the counties in which the two Swinfords are situated, present us with different etymologies of this name. Dr. Nash asserts that a ford, over a rivulet of the name of Swin gave name to this place, (u) Mr. Shaw derives it from the Danish king Sueno, Swane, or Sweyne, who, A. D. 1004, came with a fleet to the city of Norwich, and was afterwards proclaimed king of England. The appellation of " Old," distinguishes this lordship, in the record of Doomsday, from that of Swinford Regis. Verstegan in his Antiquities, alluding to places whose names had been changed by the Saxons, on their arrival, enumerates Oxford, Hereford, Swinford, &c. (u) Such a rivulet presents itself to view, originating in Pedmore, and flowing through a romantic dell called the Ham Dingle, near to the borders of this Parish.

This small stream, whether it gives name or not to the dis rict, may properly be called Swinford brook. Swinford occurs in Leicestershire as a manor near Wel ford, with Swin-brook ; also, on the Avon in the vicinity of Bath. Swinside is a verdant mountain intersecting the vale of Keswick in Cumberland. Swindon is a village in the parish of Himley. Sir Thomas Swinford, whose widow Catherine was third wife of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and whose sister married Chaucer the poet, flourished in the reign of Richard II. The lordship of Oldswinford, in the time of EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, was held by Olwin or Ulwin, thane of Edwin, earl of Mercia, being part of the barony of Dudley. (B) In the reign of WILLIAM I. according to the accurate and authentic record of Dooms day, (C) it was also a member of the barony of Dudley, and part of the lands of William Fit'z Ansculf, under whom it was held by Acard.

Afterwards, it went with Dudley to the Paganels and Someries, till the extinction of the male line in John de Somery, who died 1322. (v) (B) See Appendix No. 2. Bromsgrove and Frankley were also held by earl Edwin and his thane in succession. (C) See Appendix No. 3. (v) Among lord Lyttelton"s Evidences is a deed, supposed by Bp. Lyttel ton to be of the age of Henry III., whereby William de Somery leases to Ranulph Langde a tenement, in the manor of Swinford, which he held in the reign of king John, from the death of Somery's father. OLD SWINFORD. 15th EDWARD II. On this event, his two sisters, Margaret and Joan, divided the estate between them; (w) when Old Swin ford, Northfield, and Cradley, came to the latter, wife of Thomas Botetourt, when the separation from the barony of Dudley took place.

On the decease of this lady, her son John, who possessed the lordship, 12th EDWARD III. died. 9th RICHARD II. having joined Clent and Rowley to Hales, Joyce, his grand daughter, wife of Sir Hugh Burnel, became his successor, who dying without issue, Jan. 1st, Fifth Edward II. Bernard de Brus, lord of Old Swinford,* grants lands at Gorsthill, within the same manor, to William Fourges. By another deed, without date, Bernard son of Bernard de Bruys, grants lands in Haya de Veteri Swyneford, to Richard de la Leye. And 14th of the same reign, the said Bernard for himself and heirs, quits claim of all right and interest in the manor of Old Swinford, with the advowson of the church, to John Somery, lord of Dudley, and his heirs. • For Edward de Brus, see under Lye. (w) Margaret married John de Sutton, ofa respectable family in Notting hamshire — hence the Sutton branch of the Dudley family.

At this period, several deeds present themselves to notice, the titles of which will find their most appropriate situation in a note, as they do not make a part of the narrative, viz. I. Deed, 39th Edward III. by which it appears, that lands and tenements in Wollaston and Bedeote, formed a part of the manor of Old Swinford, being a deed of confirmation between Sir John Botetourt, baron of Weo leigh, and lord of Old Swinford, and Philip de Lutley. II. A deed of 46th Edward III. being a grant of John de Lutley to John de Styler. III. 4th Henry V. 1416. A mortgage. Sir Humphrey Stafford to Robert Daniel. IV. 36th Henry VI. 1457. Humphrey Stafford to John Styler, son ofthe above. OLD SWINFORD. 7th HENRY IV. the lordship came into possession of her heirs, (x) Joan Beauchamp, lady Bergavenny, temp.