Welford (St. Mary)

WELFORD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Lutterworth, hundred of Guilsborough, S. division of the county of Northampton, 15 miles (N. N. W.) from Northampton, on the road to Leicester; containing 1074 inhabitants. Prior to the introduction of railways, this was a celebrated posting-town, where the royal family and the nobility and gentry slept on their first day's journey from London to the north. The parish is divided from Husband's-Bosworth and North and South Kilworth by the river Avon. It comprises 2931½ acres, whereof two-thirds are pasture, 40 acres wood, and the remainder arable: the surface is elevated and undulating; and of the soil, two parts are clay, and one gravel. There are some good gravel-pits. The village is seated upon a hill. The Grand Junction canal passes through the parish, and has a wharf here. The living, separated from that of Sibbertoft in 1830, is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £244, with a good house; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Oxford. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style, with a tower, and contains three painted windows, and an old font. There is a place of worship for Independents. The premises of the free school here were purchased out of funds arising from the church and poor's land; it is supported by subscription, of which Mr. Payne contributes £10.