192 HANBURY.

of the Worcestershire rectories - its gross income being about £1,200. H. F. Vernon, Esq., M.P., is the patron of the living, and the Hon. and Rev. H. Douglas the rector, having been appointed in the year 1855. Habingdon's (unpublished) description of the place must here be given: "Although our countie (saith he) is graced with so many pleasant prospects, as scarce any sbyre the lyke, in so much as allmost eavery littell hyll largely aifourdethe the same, yet aspyringe Hambury obtayniuge the principality, overlookethe them all. A statelie seate meete for a kynges pallace, and had it but the comodity of our Severne myght compare with that of Wyndesore. Neyther wanted theare for recreation of our kynges a fayre parke, though in thys parishe is styled Feckenham Parke, sortinge in name with the kynges vast forrest reachinge in former ages far and wyde. A large walke for savage beastes, but nowe more comodyously changed to the civil habitations of many gentellmen, the freehouldes of wealthy yeomen, and dwellinges of industrious husbandmen. Gratus opus agricolis. But Hambueryes churche, which invironed with highe and mighty trees is able to terrifye afar off an ignorant enemy with a deceytfull shape of an invincible castell, maye rightly bee called the lanthorne of our county. The Bishop of Worcester was heere lord and patron, but had not, as far as I can yet see, charter warren, because beeinge in the myddest of the kynge's forrest it might have byn prejudiciall to hys game." Our old author is very eulogistic, yet Hanbury is nevertheless a charming spot. It belonged to the Church of Worcester in Norman times, and was in the forest of Feckenham till the same was disafforested in the time of Charles I. The manor and advowson went to the Grown in the reign of Elizabeth by exchange with the Bishop; then it was granted to a Leighton, and afterwards was purchased by a Vernon, whose family have been resident here for more than two centuries. Haubury Hall was built in 1710 by Counsellor Vernon, who was considered the ablest man then in the legal profession. It is a handsome building, situated in a well-wooded park of 130