Martley (St. Peter)

MARTLEY (St. Peter), a parish, and the head of a union, in the Upper division of the hundred of Doddingtree, Hundred-House and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 7½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Worcester; containing, with the hamlet of Hillhampton, 1354 inhabitants. The parish comprises 4382 acres, of which two-thirds are arable and the remainder pasture, with a good portion of plantation and coppice; the surface is rather hilly, and the views from several parts are peculiarly fine. The Teme forms the southern boundary, and the vale through which the river flows is remarkably fertile, and produces hops of the finest quality: the district also abounds with luxuriant orchards of apple and pear trees. There is a quarry of limestone, which forms an excellent material for the roads, and of which great quantities are burnt into lime. The village is on elevated ground, is of pleasing appearance, and contains several respectable dwelling-houses. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £22. 10.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. James Hastings: the tithes have been commuted for £767, and the glebe consists of 90 acres, with a house. The church is an ancient structure with a tower; it was repewed and a gallery added in 1829, at a cost of £400. An estate producing £59 per annum, left as an endowment for a grammar school, is applied to the support of a national school. New schools have just been erected in the pointed style, at a cost of £1300, of which Lord Ward gave £300, and the family of Hastings a considerable sum also. The union of Martley comprises 28 parishes or places, containing a population of 13,117. The noble conical elevation of Berrow Hill has two lines of intrenchment round its brow; which shew it to be the site of an ancient camp: these remains seem to have been first described by Mr. Allies in his Antiquities of Worcestershire.