Ashwell (St. Mary)

ASHWELL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Oakham, hundred of Alstoe, county of Rutland, 3 miles (N. by W.) from Oakham; containing 223 inhabitants. It comprises 1800 acres by measurement; the soil is fertile, and a coarse kind of stone is quarried for inferior buildings, and for the roads. The Melton-Mowbray and Oakham canal passes within a mile of the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20. 16. 3., and in the gift of Viscount Downe: the tithes have been commuted for £412, and the glebe comprises 130 acres. The church is a neat substantial structure, in the later English style.