Old Swinford, Staffordshire
Historical Description
Swinford, Old, a parish comprising Stourbridge, Lye, Wollaston, Wollescote, and Upper Swinford townships in Worcestershire, and Amblecote hamlet in Staffordshire. Old Swinford proper is half a mile SSE of Stourbridge, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (T.S.O.) under Stourbridge. Acreage of the civil parish, 3369; population, 27,932. The ecclesiastical parish comprises Upper and Lower Swinford and Norton. Population, 2571. In 18.95 the parish was constituted a ward of Stourbridge, to whose urban district council it returns six members. Stourbridge St John-the-Evangelist, Stourbridge St Thomas, Lye, Stamber Mill, Wollaston, and Amblecote form separate ecclesiastical parishes. Useful minerals abound; manufactures of iron, glass, and fire-clay utensils are carried on; and ample communication by the river Stour, by canals, and by railways exist. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Worcester; net value, £313 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Dudley. The ancient church, dating from the 13th century, was, with the exception of the tower, entirely pulled down, in 1842 and rebuilt in the debased style of that period.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Staffordshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Swinford St. Mary | |
Hundred | Seisdon | |
Poor Law union | Stourbridge |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Old Swinford from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Swinford, Old (St. Mary))
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Staffordshire is online.
Maps
Online maps of Old Swinford are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Staffordshire newspapers online: