Shelsley-Beauchamp (All Saints)

SHELSLEY-BEAUCHAMP (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Martley, partly in the Lower, and partly in the Upper, division of the hundred of Doddingtree, Hundred-House and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, about 10 miles (N. W.) from Worcester; containing 519 inhabitants, of whom 275 are in the hamlet of Shelsley-Beauchamp. This parish is situated on the left bank of the river Teme, and comprises 2156 acres of fertile land, chiefly laid out in pasture; the arable lands produce wheat, hops, fruit, &c. The prospects are very beautiful, especially that from Upper House, the seat of Charles Edward Moore, Esq., embracing a perfect panorama of the country around, with the Malvern and the Shropshire hills. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 4. 4½.; net income, £376; patron, Lord Ward. The church, a stone edifice of the 12th century, was thoroughly repaired, and a north aisle added, in 1846, at a cost of £800, of which Lord Ward contributed £500. A free school was endowed with £100, by the Rev. Owen Plwy, in 1681, and subsequently received benefactions in land from Caleb Avenant and others, yielding in the whole £60 per annum. The Rev. Thomas Webb, in 1703, bequeathed an estate called Hay-Oak farm, for apprenticing children. Fossil remains are found in the limestone strata.