BBWDLEY, RIBBESFORD, AND WRIBBENHALL. 39

churchwardens, and burgesses of Bewdley made a presentment or certificate to the Government to the effect that the rector of the parish church of Ribbesford, who received his emoluments from their town, had never given any maintenance to 'the ministers of their chapel - then described as a "decent chappell in the middle of the towne" - which had enjoyed revenues of its own until the same were transferred to the Crown by Act of Parliament in the reign of Edward VI; that the said ministers were chosen, not by the rector of the parish, but by the bailiff and capital burgesses; that the suppression of the chapel would be a great inconvenience to the town, with a population then of 1,500 or more, many of whom, being aged and weakly, would not be able to go to Ribbesford church; that there was sufficient work for two ministries, and that both therefore might be kept up, suggesting that a parochial boundary should be defined for each, and that better provision should be made for the curate of Bewdley. It seems that the chapel could not be made parochial owing to there being no land near it for a burial ground, also that the bailiff (now mayor) and burgesses were entitled to the soil on which the chapel stood; and having made up the stipend to the curate, they claimed the right of nominating him; nevertheless, the rector in 1720 filed a bill in the Exchequer to recover the right of presentation, and succeeded. The rector of Ribbeaford, Rev. J. Walcot, is still the patron of Bewdley, Rev. J. Fortescue being the perpetual curate of the latter place. Value of the rectory, £360; but the incumbent of Bewdley only receives the pew rents, which vary considerably, in general averaging about £140 a year; and this with a population of between three and four thousand! The living is in the diocese of Hereford. The patronage of Ribbesford is in the Ingram family. Very little had need be said respecting the chapel. Its predecessor, a timber structure, was pulled down and the present one built in 1748. It was "improved" in 1837, and made to contain about 1,000 persons; and again (1866-7) it has undergone thorough repair; but really the