BEOLEY. 27

Beauchamp, first Earl of Warwick; then by marriage to Lord Latimer, and next to Sheldon, of Abberton; and a Mr. Holmes subsequently became the owner of the Beoley estates, who some seventy or eighty years ago sold the hall and the estates in lots to Various purchasers. Before, however, the bargain was completed Mr. Holmes died without a will, and the conveyance of the properties was never completed. Mr. J. H. Whitehouse had purchased the mansion and about 300 acres of land. Some working colliers or nail-makers, named Stanton, laid claim to the manor and estates and the trifling accumulation of five millions in cash. The hall (which had been built on the site of one which had been burnt by its owner in the time of the civil wars to prevent its falling into the hands of the Parliamentarians) became the scene of much strife and violence, occasioned by the attempts of the claimants to gain possession and the determination of the owners to "bar them out." As late as 1860 Isaac Stanton was brought before the magistrates for illegal attempts to pursue his claims; but the affair seems now to have subsided, and the present owner of the estate has had it registered in the Government Registration Office, which will give him a satisfactory title against all claimants.

Mr. Robert Mole, a sword manufacturer of Birmingham, is now lord of the manor, and the chief landowner. He is also patron of the living, which is valued at 473; population, 682; acreage, 4,490. There are needle and paper mills in the parish, which give employment to a portion of the population, and some are employed in the manufacture of fishhooks, but the majority of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural labour, the principal crops being wheat, peas, and beans. Oats are occasionally grown, but only partially.

Church dedicated to St. Leonard. The chancel is partly Norman, and there is Decorated and much more recent work in the edifice, which on the whole is interesting, especially the gorgeous tombs of the Sheldon family. In 1845 the church was re-seated, and in 1861 the chancel was restored,