Clent (St. Leonard)

CLENT (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Bromsgrove, Lower division of the hundred of Halfshire, Stourbridge and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from Stourbridge; containing 918 inhabitants. It contains the two manors of Upper or Church Clent, and Nether Clent; is composed principally of a group of lofty hills; and comprises 2365a. 2r. 33p., of which about 1414 acres are arable, 565 pasture, 57 woodland, and 255 common. The living is a vicarage, with that of Rowley Regis annexed, valued in the king's books at £8. 16. 5½., and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriator, J. Amphlett, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £340, and the vicarial for £315. The church is an ancient structure, with a tower. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. A free school was founded by John Amphlett, Esq., in 1704; and a Sunday school by Thomas Waldron, Esq., who, at his death in 1800, bequeathed £500 for its support. The infant king of Mercia, St. Kenelm, is supposed by some to have been murdered here, in 819, by order of his sister Quendrida; others think that he was slain accidentally.—See Rowley Regis.