146 THE ELMLEYS.

a prominent position in the county. Henry Townshend, justice of the peace in the middle of the seventeenth century, has left a diary which the Camden Society years ago handed over to Mrs. M. A. Green to edit, but it is high time that the lady, or some one else, performed the task. Elmley Lodge ig now partly in ruins.

From these sad annals of sin and shame let us turn to a somewhat more pleasing picture, as presented by the parish of Elmley Castle. In Saxon times this place belonged to the Church of Worcester, but was alienated at the time of the Conquest, then restored, then seized again, and ultimately became the property of Robert, the Conqueror's steward. The said Robert built a strong castle under Bredon Hill, which, with the lordship, descended to the Beauchamps, and became their chief seat. On the attainder of the Earl of Warwick the castle was destroyed, but Castle Hill and its mounds and trenches remain. There was a famous chantry of the blessed Virgin within this castle, founded by the Beauchamps, and the parish church was appropriated to the master of the chantry and his successors, with reservation of a portion for the vicar. The castle gave half the name to the parish, and the other half was derived thus: "Lea" or "ley," a place or enclosed ground; "elm," with elm trees; the enclosed place of elms under or near the castle, shortened to Elmley Castle. The manor was granted to Christopher Savage by Henry VIII, with tvhose family it remained till last year. It was one of the Savages who is said to have been the illegitimate father of the bloodthirsty Bishop Bonner. The lord of the manor is Joseph Jones, Esq., of Abberley Hall, and the principal landowners are himself and Lady Pakington. The parish once rejoiced in a weekly Wednesday's market and a fair on the feast of St. Lawrence, but this was afterwards transferred to Earl's Croome. The shaft of a village cross yet remains to mark (as some suppose) the scene of the ancient fairs and markets. Population (including the hamlet of Netherton, which belonged to Crop.thorne till 1864, when it