Croome, Earl's (St. Nicholas)

CROOME, EARL'S (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Upton-on-Severn, Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Upton and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 2 miles (N. E. by E.) from Upton; containing 194 inhabitants. This parish is partly bounded on the north-west by the river Severn, and is intersected from north to south by the road from Worcester to Gloucester. It comprises by measurement 1138 acres, in equal portions of arable and pasture; the surface is undulated, the soil a rather stiff clay, and the scenery picturesque and beautiful: excellent limestone is obtained for building and for manure. There are several respectable houses: Earl's-Croome Court, an ancient halftimbered mansion in the Elizabethan style, is the seat and property of the Hon. William Coventry. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 8. 1½.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. Charles Dunne, M.A., whose tithes have been commuted for £235, and whose glebe comprises 5 acres, with a glebehouse. The church stands on the road from Upton to Pershore, and is an ancient building in the Norman style, with a noble arch. The tower was rebuilt in 1832, when the edifice was repaired and enlarged by subscription and a rate; the east window, of stained glass, representing the Crucifixion, was inserted at the expense of the rector, in 1844. Margaret, daughter and heir of Jeffries, of Earl's-Croome, in 1570 was married to Sir Thomas Coventry, father of Lord-Keeper Coventry; Dr. Butler, author of Hudibras, was clerk to a subsequent Mr. Jeffries, and is supposed to have written most of his works under the roof of Earl's-Croome Court.