Stanwardine-in-the-Wood

is a small township and secluded village with a scattered population, four and a quarter miles north from Baschurch, and 12 miles N.N.W. from Shrewsbury. In 1841 there were 9 houses and 69 inhabitants. Rateable value, £1,037. 8s. The Hall is an antique mansion, built about the year 1681, and occupied by Stephen Denston, Esq. It is approached by a flight of steps and a portico; the sides of the great hall are of panelled oak, enriched with carved work, and upon one of the scrolls is the date 1588. The apartments are decorated with some fine paintings and costly prints; the steps of the staircase are of solid blocks of oak, and the floors are laid with oaken planks four inches thick. In the front of the hall is a pedestal of stone, upon which is affixed a sun-dial; on the plate, which is of silver, is a beautiful engraving and some fine tracery, bearing the arms of the Corbets and the Wynns, and the date 1560. The ancient hall of Stanwardine was a moated mansion, and stood a little south from the present structure. It was in early times the seat of a branch of the ancient family of Corbet, and subsequently of the Wynns. In the front of the present hall are the family arms of the Corbets and the Wynne, exhibiting a beautiful specimen of chiselling. Wicherlry Hall, an ancient structure chiefly composed of timber, has recently undergone considerable reparations, and a new front has been added. It is the property of C. K. Mainwaring, Esq., and occupied by Mr. George Belliss, who farms upwards of 200 acres of the land in this township. William Sparling Esq., is the principal landowner; Charles Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq., and others, are also proprietors.

Directory.—Farmers, George Belliss, Wicherley Hall; John Williams, Stanwardine Hall; Mary Jones, Andrew Jones, and John Young.