HANLEY CASTLE. 189

the memory of this very fine old British institution. The Beauchamps, Earls of Warwick, were lords of Hanley, succeeded by the Earls of Gloucester, and some lands here belonged to the Priory of Malvern. The castle of these feudal lords (and which gave to the parish a part of its name) was a large quadrangular structure, with a tower at each angle. It was long ago destroyed, and on the site is now a farm-house occupied by Mr. Gee, some portions of the moat still remaining. The manor came to the Hornyold family by purchase in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and the present lord is John Vincent Hornyold, Esq., who resides at Blackmore Park, in a splendid new mansion of the Tudor style, erected in 1863, near the site of the old house. 'Squire Hornyold and Sir Edmund Lechmere, M.P., are the principal landowners. Sir Edmund is the representative of a family who are believed to have been seated here ever since the Conquest. He resides at The Rhydd, which commands "charming views from the steep bank of the Severn; but the ancient seat of the family is at Severn End, where Sir Edmund's steward now resides. The termination "end" abounds in this parish, so that you can't walk a hundred yards without coming to some end or other - Church End, Gilbert's End, North End, Robert's End, &c. Besides the distinguished families already named, Hanley is said to have the honour of giving birth to the infamous Bishop Bonner; Dr. Baron, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford in 1715, was born here, as also was Edmund Neale, alias Smith, a very learned but most licentious character, in the latter part of the seventeenth century.

There are 5,681 acres in the parish, with a population of 1,733, chiefly employed in agriculture. Produce, wheat, beans, barley, and roots. The soil varies, perhaps, more than in any other parish of the county. From Upton turnpike eastward there is a sandy loam up to North End, where the clay begins; and towards Malvern Wells gravel is found which is famed for roads and walks. The common and wastes of the