Areley, King's, or Lower Areley (St. Bartholomew)
ARELEY, KING'S, or Lower Areley (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union of Martley, Upper division of the hundred of Doddingtree, the Hundred-House and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, ½ a mile (S. W. by W.) from Stourport; containing 423 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1449 acres, whereof two-thirds are arable and the remainder pasture, with the exception of sixty acres of common or waste. It is separated from Stourport by the river Severn, and fully partakes of the beauty of the surrounding district; the general surface is irregular, and the higher grounds are clothed with wood. Across the western boundary of the parish, nearly from north to south, a range of hills or high grounds extends from Stagberry, in the parish of Ribbesford, towards the Abberley hills: from the base of these hills the land generally slopes to the Severn. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9, and in the patronage of the Rector of Martley: the tithes have been commuted for £358, and there is a glebe of 41 acres, with a house. The church is situated on a considerable eminence commanding a fine prospect and nearly overhanging the river, which flows through a rich valley at the base. In the burial-ground is a singular sepulchral monument, of the date of about 1690, supposed to commemorate Sir Harry Coningsby, of Hampton Court, who lived in seclusion in this parish, in consequence of the loss of his only child.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.