Ketley

KETLEY, a township and ecclesiastical district, in the parish and union of Wellington, hundred of South Bradford, N. division of Salop, l½ mile (E.) from Wellington; containing 2642 inhabitants. This place forms part of the iron and coal mining district of Shropshire. It contains many ironstone and coal pits, some of which are in full work, and there are three blastfurnaces for the smelting of iron, employing several hundred hands; the mining was of still greater extent a few years since. The stone-quarries here produce a fine and durable stone for all kinds of building purposes. Fossils are frequently found in the coal and ironstone. Several canals meet in the neighbourhood, one of which is connected with the Severn at Coalport, about five miles distant. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland, who is owner of the township. The church, erected at the expense of his Grace, and consecrated in Aug. 1839, is an elegant and substantial stone structure in the later English style, situated on an eminence commanding fine views of the Shropshire and Cheshire plains, the celebrated Wrekin, and many of the Welsh mountains.