314 SALWARPE.

Salwarpe.

A BROOK which keeps company with the canal from Droitwich to near Worcester gives name to the above village. The parish, which is hilly, is about ten miles in circumference, with an acreage of 1,979 and a population of 442. R. A. Douglas Gresley, Esq., of High Park, is lord of the manor, and the other landowners are Sir John Pakington, Rev. W. W. Douglas, Mr. J. P. Wilson, Mrs. Durant, Rev. J. H. Hill, and Mr. Lamb. Besides Mr. Gresley, the resident gentry are Mrs. Douglas, of Hillend, and Mrs. Morgan, of Middleton. The land in the parish is pretty well divided between grass and arable; the usual crops are grown. A few handicrafts are followed, and some of the women and girls are glovers.

Rector and patron, Rev. W. W. Douglas; value of living, £500; church sittings, 346; free, 79. The church, which stands amid charming scenery, contains remains of Norman work, but is chiefly Decorated, and the tower Perpendicular; chancel re-built in 1848. Some monumental remains are worth inspection. Churchyard cross re-built in 1852, to the memory of Mr. Thomas Wilson, by his two sons. Near here, whipping-post and stocks have been preserved as antiquarian curiosiffes. An endowed school appears to be well managed.

The Court House, an ancient timbered building, now occupied by Mr. John T. Mence, was formerly the seat of the albots, on the site of the baronial residence of the eauchamps, Earls of Warwick. Richard Beauchamp (born in 1381) distinguished himself greatly at the battles of Shrewsbury and Agincourt, and was appointed Regent of France. One of the above Talbots was beloved by Dame Olivia Sherington, whose father not consenting to the match,