Defford

DEFFORD, a chapelry, in the parish of St. Andrew, Pershore, union, and Upper division of the hundred, of Pershore, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 3 miles (S. W.) from Pershore; containing 422 inhabitants. The chapelry comprises 1677 acres, of which 428 are open common, and the remainder arable and pasture in nearly equal portions. The road from Pershore to Upton passes through; and the river Avon here pursues a winding course eastward. A station on the Bristol and Birmingham railway is situated near the village, from which the line is continued across the common into the parish of Besford. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king's books at £2. 13. 4., and annexed to the living of St. Andrew's: the tithes were commuted for land in 1774. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, has a tower, and contains 140 sittings.