Shobdon (St. John the Evangelist)
SHOBDON (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in-the union of Leominster, hundred of Stretford, county of Hereford, 5½ miles (E. S. E.) from Presteign; containing 491 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the road between Ludlow and Kington, and comprises 3491 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 7. 11.; net income, £764; patron, Lord Bateman. The church, which is the burial-place of the Bateman family, was partially rebuilt in 1757, by John, Viscount Bateman. The rent of several acres of land, and the proceeds of some minor benefactions, are distributed among the poor. Near the church is a mount called Castle Hill, encompassed with a moat, supposed to be the remains of a Roman or Danish fortification.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.