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Wednesbury in Stafford County England History and GeographyWEDNESBURY, a market town and parish in the southern division of the hundred of OFFLOW, county of STAFFORD, 19 miles (S.S.E.) from Stafford, and 117 (N.W.) from London, containing 6471 inhabitants. This place, denominated by the Saxons Weadesbury, and now commonly called Wedgebury, was fortified, in 916, against the Danes, by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great: at the Conquest it was held in royal demesne. The trade consists principally in the manufacture of articles of iron, both cast and wrought, such as locks, screws, nails, horse-shoes, hinges, gun-locks, coach ironmongery, agricultural implements, apparatus for gaslights, &c., many of which are prepared for exportation. In the vicinity of the town are numerous collieries, yielding a superior species of coal, which, from its great heat, is admirably adapted for the forges; and a species of iron is here made, termed Blondi, well suited for the preparation of axes and other sharp instruments. On a small rivulet near the town is an extensive manufactory for edge tools, also some corn-mills. A branch of the Birmingham canal passes in the vicinity. The market is on Friday; and fairs are held May 6th and August 3rd, for cattle. The town is governed by a constable chosen at the manorial court held annually in October. A court of requests for the townships of Bilston and Willenhall, and the parishes of Wednesbury and Darlaston, in the county of Stafford, excepting the manor of Bradley, is held here occasionally, for the recovery of debts not exceeding £5. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, rated in the king's books at £4. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, occupying an elevated site, commanding a beautiful prospect, is dedicated to St. Bartholomew: it is a fine structure, principally in the later style of English architecture, with an octagonal east end, and contains some ancient wooden seats, and monuments to several families of eminence. It has undergone complete repair, having received an addition of four hundred and fifty sittings, of which three hundred are free, and towards defraying the expense the Incorporated Society for the building and enlargement of churches and chapels contributed £500: it is supposed to stand on the site of the ancient castle. There are places of worship for Independents and Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. An almshouse, erected and endowed by Thomas Parkes, in 1602, has received some subsequent benefactions: the same benefactor has also bequeathed a house and land, called Clay Pit Leasow, and his son a small sum, for the education of poor children. The Lancasterian school, in High-street, is amply supported by voluntary subscriptions. William, the first Lord Paget, Secretary of State to Henry VIII., was a native of this town. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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