353 WICHENFORD.

Wichenford.

HALF-A-DOZEN miles north-east of Worcester, to the church or monastery of which city it belonged in the middle ages, this large parish consists of 2,672 acres. The living is in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter, and is valued at £422 tithe rent charge, with 10 acres of glebe. Rev. H. Shuker vicar. Church accommodation, 260 ; free seats, 50. The building, which has a chancel, nave, porch, tower, and spire, was erected in 1262, and restored in 1863, at a cost of about £1,300. Stained windows have been given by D. Britten, Esq., of Kenswick, in memory of his father, an organ put up at the expense of the vicar, and a set of costly service-books presented by Mrs. Britten. There is Early English work in part of the tower, and the church contains monuments of the Washbournes, restored at the cost of W. Money Kyrle, Esq., of Homme House, Dymock, whose ancestor married the last heiress of that ancient family. Wichenford Court, now occupied by Mr. T. Heach, was the residence of the Washbournes, and was one of the largest mansions in the county, with moat, drawbridge, &c. One large room on the ground floor is still an object of interest to the antiquary. It was in this house that one of the Bourbon princes was confined and put to death by Lady Washbourne, in the absence of her husband, when Owen Glendower encamped on Woodbury Hill. In this parish is a place called Habingdon's, of some historical interest as, being the occasional residence of the well-known Worcestershire antiquary of that name (of Hindlip), in the seventeenth century. Most of the house was taken down in the last century, and the remaining portion has been recently con-