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Stourport in Worcester County England History and GeographySTOURPORT, a market town in the chapelry of MITTON, parish of KIDDERMINSTER, lower division of the hundred of HALFSHIRE, county of WORCESTER, 4 miles (S.S.W.) from Kidderminster, and 130 (W.N.W.) from London. The population is returned with Mitton. This place, which is of modern date, owes its origin and present importance to the junction of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal with the river Severn, on the south side of the town, near the confluence of the Stour with that river. Its name is derived from its situation on the Stour, and from its being the port, or dep?t, to which the manufactured articles and produce of the adjoining counties are brought for transmission to different commercial towns; a communication being opened between the Severn and the Trent by the Grand Trunk canal, and a connexion thus formed with most parts of the kingdom. Prior to the completion of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, in 1770, the only part of the town in existence was a few cottages, forming a part of Lower Mitton. The trade principally arises from its being the dep?t for goods intended for transmission by canal navigation, extensive basins having been formed, and warehouses erected, for their reception; and the conveyance of them is a source of lucrative employment to many of the inhabitants, as well as the building of boats and barges, for which docks have been constructed. A canal was projected from this town to Kington in Herefordshire, but it has only been executed as far as Mamble. Stourport is a neat wellbuilt town, principally of brick; the chief streets are paved, and it is partially lighted with gas. A subscription library was established in 1821, and there are two reading societies. The Severn is here crossed by a handsome iron bridge to Arely-King's, consisting of one arch, one hundred and fifty feet in breadth, and fifty in height from the surface of the water, with several land-arches, to afford a more free course for the water, in case of a high flood. The former bridge, built in 1775, had three arches over the river, the centre arch being forty-eight feet wide, and the one on each side of it forty-two feet: this bridge having been swept away by a great quantity of ice brought down by the flood after a sudden thaw, the present handsome structure was erected. The market is held on Wednesday, in a market-house erected on a piece of ground purchased by the proprietors, who receive the tolls, and is beginning to assume considerable importance as a corn market. A great quantity of hops was at one time sold, but this branch of trade has very much declined. There are three fairs annually, on the 31st of March, 15th of September, and 18th of December. The inhabitants attend divine service at Mitton chapel. The Wesleyan Methodists have a place of worship, with a Sunday school attached, in which eighty boys and sixty girls are instructed. The Sunday school-rooms are spacious and airy, in which one hundred and twenty boys and girls receive education by means of voluntary contributions. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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