12 ALVECHURCH.

and convenient cottages for their accommodation, which he lets to them with large gardens at a nominal rent. Some of the land in the parish is very poor, and the crops (principally wheat and beans) very much damaged by the game, which abound on Mr. West's estates, he being a strict preserver of game. The West Junction Railway, now in course of construction, runs through the parish, and will, when completed, be a source of great convenience to the farmers and others residing in the neighbourhood. The church is a cruciform structure, restored about the year 1660. It has a tower, clock, and five bells. There are twenty-eight pews, fifteen of which are free sittings, and are generally well filled. Among the curious old names in the parish are Upthrop, Wolland, Great and Little Pike, Hoberton, and Wellod Leys.

Alvechurch.

NEAR Redditch, and accessible by rail from the IJarnt Green Station, on the Birmingham and Bristol line, is this ancient village, once a town of some importance. The names of several old streets, no longer in existence, still remain to attest the former extent of the town. The borough was governed by a bailiff. It had a fair, a market, ox roasting statute, and so forth. The fair is now held on the first Wednesday in May. The Bishops of Worcester were the " lords " here, and had a manor-house, where Bishop De Blois died in 1236, Bishop Gifford spent most of his time, and Bishop Brian died here of the plague in 1361, and Latimer, the martyr, sometime resided here and repaired the house. The ruins of the building were destroyed more than a century ago. Another fact attesting the importance of the place was, that the rector had a peculiar jurisdiction, not being subject to the Archdeacon's visitation, and was,