Ashley (St. John the Baptist)

ASHLEY (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Market-Drayton, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford, 6 miles (N. N. E.) from Market-Drayton; containing 853 inhabitants. It comprises 2800a. 3r. 32p. of fertile land. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 2. 8½., and in the patronage of Thomas Kinnersley and H. C. Meynell, Esqs.: the tithes have been commuted for £370, and the glebe comprises 40 acres. The church is a handsome structure in the early English style, and contains splendid monuments and effigies of the six Lords Gerard, the last of whom died in 1807; also an elegant monument by Chantrey to Thomas Kinnersley, Esq., father of the present patron. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Roman Catholics.