Abberton

ABBERTON, a parish in the union, and Upper division of the hundred, of Pershore, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 10 miles (E.) from Worcester, on the road to Alcester; containing 81 inhabitants. Henry VIII. granted the whole of the manor or lordship to Thomas and Francis Sheldon, whose family continued to be owners of the parish, until it passed into the possession of the present proprietor, William Laslett, Esq. The parish comprises 971a. 1r. 35p., one-half of which is fine pasture land, much esteemed for its dairy and feeding produce; the soil is sand and clay: there are quarries of sandstone and limestone, and coal exists. Abberton Hall, the manor-house, the seat of Mr. Laslett, is in the centre of the estate, on an eminence overlooking a park of nearly 500 acres of pasture; it stands on a level with the Malvern hills, and commands a mos beautiful panoramic view of the Malvern and Bredon hills, the Lench woods, and vale of Evesham. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 8. 1½., in the patronage of Mr. Laslett, and incumbency of the Rev. Francis Best: the tithes have been commuted for £173. 10., and there is a glebe of 2½ acres. The church is an ancient stone edifice, situated near the manor-house: two acres of land in the parish of Flyford-Flavel, near Huntings farm, belong to Abberton, and the rent is applied to the repair of the building. There are mineral springs, whose waters, bitter and cathartic, are supposed to be little inferior in virtue to those of Epsom and Cheltenham.