Howle

is a small township with a scattered population, five miles north-west from Newport, and three miles north-west from Chetwynd. The township contains 765a. 1r. 28p. of land; and at the census in 1841 there were 18 houses and 102 inhabitants. The land here has an undulating surface, and is highly fertile. Arthur Mountford, Esq., is the principal landowner, and farms most of the land. The Wesleyan Methodists have a small chapel in the township.

The chief residents are Arthur Mountford, Esq.; and Messrs. Dawes and Whitfield, corn millers.

Dawley Magna,

a populous parish busily engaged in the extensive iron works and collieries with which the vicinity abounds, is situated four miles S.E. from Wellington. The parish comprises the townships of Dawley Magna, Dawley Parva, and Malinslee. In 1801 there was a population of 3,869 souls; 1831, 6,877, and in 1841 there were 1,716 houses and 8,641 inhabitants, of whom 4,490 were males, and 4,151 females. The township of Dawley Magna contains 997a. 1r. 21p. of land, and in 1841 had 904 houses and 4,485 inhabitants. R. A. Slaney, Esq., is lord of the manor and a considerable landowner; Beriah Botfield, Esq., the Coalbrook Dale Company, Robert Burton, Esq., and the Langley Field Company, are also proprietors. The collieries vary from 150 yards to 200 yards in depth, and the seams of coal from two feet to four feet in thickness; the coal is of a very superior quality, and got in immense quantities. The Coalbrook Dale Company give employment to upwards of 3,500 hands, and the quantity of coal raised by this firm in the parish of Dawley alone amounts to 8,500 tons per month, or 102,000 tons per annum, of ironstone 42,000 tons a year. The same company also make 17,880 tons of pig iron, at the Horse Hay Works in this parish, besides 14,200 tons of finished merchant iron yearly. A very ingenious contrivance is adopted at the Horse Hay Works, by means of which 100 tons of coal per month are saved. Attached to the furnace chimnies where the iron is made are pipes by which the gas is brought down under the immense steam engines which are necessary for raising the coal and ironstone from the mines contiguous to the works. On the gas uniting with the atmospheric air under the engines it immediately ignites, and thus an immense saving and power is acquired which is generally neglected in other establishments. At the time we saw the works there was a surplus supply of gas thrown off, which would have put in motion an engine of 100 horse power. The Horse Hay Works took their name from the circumstance of this place, in former days being the depository for hay, when the minerals were carried on pack horses from Ketley-bank to Coalbrook dale—this was a half-way house where the horses were fed, and hence the name Horse Hay Works. Each of the adult workmen employed at this extensive establishment pays 1s. per month, which forms a fund for educational purposes and funeral expenses.

The Church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a handsome structure of free stone, erected in 1845, at a cost of about £3,000, raised by subscriptions and grants from the church building societies. The stone was got from a neighbouring quarry. It consists of nave, chancel and side aisles, with a tower at the west end, in which are six bells. The interior has a chaste appearance: the nave is separated from the side aisles by four lofty arches; on the north side of the chancel is a neat stone pulpit, and there is a gallery at the west end, upon which there is a superior organ erected in 1851 at a cost of £200. The pews are uniform in character, and there are 831 sittings, of which 664 are free and unappropriated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the Messrs. Phillips. Incumbent, Rev. William Richards, M.A. The parsonage is about half a mile N.W. from the church. The rectoral tithes are commuted for £82. 10s. Messrs. Phillips are the impropriators. The incumbent receives £1. The parish register dates from the year 1666. The old church stood a little S.E. of the present edifice; it was a small structure of primitive simplicity, and had a short tower at the west end. On the east side of the church yard stands the old parsonage, an antique fabric of wood and plaster with a thatched roof; it is much dilapidated by time, and is expected shortly to be taken down. The Wesleyan Chapel, Dawley Green, is a plain octagonal structure, which will hold about 400 hearers. The Wesleyans have also a spacious chapel at Dawley Bank, built in 1846. The Wesleyan New Connection Chapel is a spacious structure at Dawley Green, which will hold about 1,000 persons. The Particular Baptist Chapel is a small structure situated at Dawley Bank. The Primitive Methodist Chapel is a spacious structure capable of holding about 1,000 persons, situated in Dawley Green-lane. Dawley Green is a most densely populated part of the parish, and is about half a mile from the church; in High street are many good houses and shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. Pool Hill School is a noble pile of buildings, erected at a cost of upwards of £3,500, defrayed by the munificence of different members of the Darby family. The interior is spacious and lofty, and the roof is of groined timber stained in imitation of oak. There is a good library containing upwards of 400 volumes. The school has been built for the education of the children of workmen belonging to the Coalbrook Dale Company, and is partly supported from a fund into which each workman pays 1s. per month for educational purposes and funeral expenses of deceased members; the residue necessary for the support of the school is paid by the Coalbrook Dale Company. The National School is a plain structure, erected in 1841, and situated near the parsonage house. About 100 children attend. It is supported by subscriptions and the pence of the children. Finger Lane is a scattered district to the east of the church.

Dawley Parva,

a township situated near a mile W. of Dawley Magna, comprises 900a. 1r. 38p. of land, and in 1841 had 270 houses and 1,435 inhabitants. The canal and roads occupy 30a. 1r. 8p. The tithes of Dawley Parva have been commuted, and £146 apportioned to Messrs. Phillips, the impropriators, and £6 to the incumbent. The Church is a neat structure, dedicated to St. Luke, and consists of nave and bay, with a belfry at the west end, built of hewn stone of very beautiful workmanship. The roof is of groined timber, and there is a gallery at the west end. The cost of the fabric was about £1,300, which was raised partly by grants from the church building societies and partly by subscriptions. There are 507 sittings, which are all free and unappropriated. The church was built under Sir Robert Peel’s act, and is endowed with £150 per annum. The patronage is vested in the crown and the bishop of Lichfield alternately. The Rev. James Morris is the incumbent. The vestry is used as a Sunday school for girls, and the boys are taught in the church. The parsonage is a neat residence situated near the church. The Wesleyan Methodists have a spacious chapel, built in 1837. Holywell Lane is a populous district, chiefly of cottage residences, which take their name from a well here called Holy Well. At Hinkhay are a number of scattered cottages.