306 REDDITCH.

of Huntend. Mr. Heath's productions were honourably mentioned, and Messrs. Townsend and Co. received a medal.

With such an increase of trade as Redditch has experienced, of course the town and its institutions have expanded in proportion. At the beginning of the present century there were but 1,000 inhabitants, whereas at present they are not far short of six times that number, and there is so great a demand for houses both here and at Studley, that no sooner is one vacant or a new one erected than a dozen applicants are in the field for it, and of course rents have gone up in proportion. This is partly attributable to the influx of labourers employed on the Evesham and Redditch Railway. Within the last half-a-dozen years, factories, warehouses, dwellings, and new buildings of all descriptions, have been erected, and new streets would have risen much more extensively if the land had not been chiefly leasehold. The new Gloucestershire Branch Bank was put up last year, besides which there are the Stourbridge and Kidderminster Branch Bank, and the Post Office Bank. A new County Police Station was erected in Evesham Street in 1863. Bromsgrove was the post-town for Redditch until the early part of 1867, when it was found requisite to make the latter a post-town of itself. It is not long ago that the town was left in Egyptian darkness during the winter months, but gas works are now established, and 5s. 6d. per thousand is charged to private consumers - a somewhat high figure, where the consumption in the manufactories must be very large. There is a Literary Institution, and a Reading-room for working men; also a Land and Building Society. The highways in Redditch and eight or nine surrounding parishes are managed by a Board which meets every six weeks at the Unicorn Hotel. There is a Petty Session every Wednesday at the new police station, where also is held the Small Debts Court bi-monthly.

The Health of Towns Act was adopted here in 1859 (the same year as the branch railway from Barnt Green was