Piddle, North (St. Michael)

PIDDLE, NORTH (St. Michael), a parish, in the union, and Upper division of the hundred, of Pershore, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 5 miles (N. by E.) from Pershore; containing 158 inhabitants. This parish appears from time immemorial to have been called by its present name; but in some of the oldest writings it is styled North Pidlet. It is intersected by the road from Worcester to Alcester, and comprises by measurement 791 acres: there are several quarries of stone for the repair of roads. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 1. 3., and in the gift of Earl Somers: the income arises from 151 acres of land, assigned in 1813 in lieu of tithes, and now valued at £1 per acre. The church, a small plain edifice, appears to have been erected about the twelfth century.