THE ELMLEYS. 143

The Elmleys.

ELMLEY LOVETT, the near neighbour of Hartlebury, and Elmley Castle, a little south-west of Evesham, next present themselves for notice. The first-named derived one-half of its title from the family of Lovett, who had their day, and became extinct several centuries ago, after founding a chantry to pray for their souls. They were followed by the Earls of Warwick, the Actons, Townshends, Foresters, and now the lord of the manor is W. O. Foster, Esq., who has estates here, the other landowners being the Rev. Thomas Williams and the representatives of the late John Williams and Francis Moule. Population entirely agricultural; wheat, beans, barley, and roots, chiefly grown. There were forty-eight families here in the time of Elizabeth, and they have not yet increased fifty per cent., the last census showing only 353 inhabitants. Acreage of the parish, 2,381. The commons of Cutnal Green, Snead's Green, and Broad Common, are now about to be enclosed. A curious feature of the parish is this, that five acres of meadow land between the Salwarpe and Bury Hill estate, near Droitwich, being more than two miles distant from the nearest boundary of the parish, belongs to it; and among the strange names of places still in use here are Burn Hill, Wat Pit, Tin Meadow, Great and Little Puckall, and Cntnal Green.

Christ College, Cambridge, are the patrons of the living, the gross value of which is £607. Rev. H. Perceval rector. The church accommodation, 284; free seats, 120. With the exception of the tower and spire the church was rebuilt about 1839 in the debased Gothic, fashionable at that time, and what is the worst feature of the business is that the expense of re-building (£1,500) was taken from the funds of the local