Broughton-Hacket (St. Leonard)

BROUGHTON-HACKET (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union, and Upper division of the hundred, of Pershore, Worcester and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 5 miles (E.) from Worcester; containing 154 inhabitants. This parish which is nearly encircled by the river Bow, so called from the direction of its course, comprises 365 acres, whereof two-thirds are arable and the remainder pasture; the soil is rich, and the surface has a gentle declivity from the village, which is situated on an elevated ridge. The road from Alcester to Worcester crosses the parish from east to west, and the Spetchley station on the Birmingham and Gloucester railway is only a mile and a half distant. There are some stone-pits, producing specimens (in which marine shells are imbedded) susceptible of a polish that renders them in appearance not inferior to the Derbyshire marble; a valuable blueish limestone, also, which supplies the city of Worcester and places adjacent with lime for building and manure, abounds. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 1. 0½., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £73, with a house built in 1845: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1807. The church is an ancient structure partly early English, and was repewed and thoroughly repaired in 1843, at a cost of nearly £200.