Noake's Worcestershire Page 193

HANBURY. 193

acres, and contains a hall and staircase painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Mr. H. F. Vernon, M.P., and Lady Georgina Vernon and family reside here. Mr. Vernon is the principal landowner, and among the resident gentry are Mr. Bearcroft, of Mere Hall (a fine example of an old timber mansion); Mr. H. Bearcroft, The Moorlands; Capt. Gregory, R.N., Hanbury Mount; Miss Bearcroft, Broughton Court; &c. The Bristol and Birmingham branch of the Midland Railway runs through the parish, also the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. Crops of the usual kind grown, and chief employment of the population agricultural. Flax was grown here in 1782 by Henry Ellins.

The church stands on a small but steep elevation, and was partially restored at great cost in 1861, when a chapel was erected at the east end of the south aisle, to be called "The Vernon Chapel," into which the family monuments were removed. These are beautiful and costly, though not all in accordance with the present taste in such matters, and include specimens of Chantrey and Roubiliac's works. On the north side a chancel aisle was also erected, with gable end to the north, with vestry and organ chamber adjoining. There is also a handsome new font. It is a splendid restoration, so far as the chancel and east end are concerned, but the nave has not yet been taken in hand by the parishioners. A new rectory and two national schools have also been built. There is a small endowment, dating from a remote period, for a school, which now goes towards the expenses of the parochial schools. A Wesleyan and a small Baptist chapel exist here. There Was Dissent at Hanbury in the seventeenth century, for in the county records is a memorandum, dated 1693: "The wallhouse in the parish of Hanbury, and in the possession of Dame Ann Rouse, "was certified to be "a meeting-house according to ye new Act of Parliament." Among the other institutions of Hanbury are a Volunteer Rifle Corps, coal and clothing clubs, charities for apprenticing poor children and for distributing bread, clothing, and fuel, Sunday and night schools and reading room. Parochial Association for Home and Foreign Missions, &c.