Bromfield

is a parish and pleasant rural village, two miles north-west from Ludlow, formerly distinguished for its priory which was situated near or adjoining to the present church. The parish comprises 5,592a. 2r. of land, the principal owner of which is the Hon. R. H. Clive; the trustees of Ludlow charities are also proprietors. At the census in 1801, this parish contained 540 inhabitants; 1831, 517; and in 1841, 114 houses, and 531 souls. Rateable value, £7,308. 17s. 7d. The few remains of the ancient priory are situated near to the church. The establishment in the time of Henry I. consisted of a small college of prebendaries or secular canons. Osbertus Prior, of Bromfield, is witness to a deed before the year 1148. This priory was greatly enriched by Henry II., who granted to it his church in Bromfield, which was dedicated to the blessed St. Mary, with his royal licence and protection of their extensive possessions of the towns and lands of Haverford, Dinchope, Efford, Felton, Burghey and Lethewick; three prebends in Bromfield, and three in Halton. In the second of Henry II. the prior and brothers of Bromfield subjected themselves, by authority of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Peter’s, near Gloucester, called Lanthony Secunda, and became Benedictines, and continued so to the time of the general dissolution of religious houses. At the assizes of Salop, 20th Edward I., the prior of Bromfield claimed free warren in the manor of Bromfield by charter of Henry II., which was allowed. The said charter also comprised a grant of Infangthef; and a jury found one Henry de la Chapele guilty of theft, who was tried and condemned by the prior, and hanged at Bromfield. The yearly revenues of the priory were valued at the dissolution at £78. 19s. 4d. In the 4th of Philip and Mary it was granted to Charles Fox. He was the founder of four families, most of which were in opulence for four generations; but his estate at Bromfield, including what is now called Oakley Park, passed by marriage to Matthew Herbert, whose descendant George, late Earl of Powis, devised it to his nephew, the Hon. Henry Clive, whose representative of the same name now inherits the estate, and resides at Oakley Park, an elegant mansion, mostly of modern construction, delightfully situated on the banks of the Terne. The surrounding grounds are extremely romantic and beautiful, and the pleasure grounds and gardens are tastefully laid out. It commands many fine views in different directions; the meanderings of the river adding much to the effect. The park, which formerly contained nine hundred acres, and included within its circuit the priory to which it belonged, is yet of considerable extent. It is finely adorned with groves and clumps of stately oaks. The lordship of Bromfield is co-extensive with the parish, and the chapelry of Walford and Dinchope, and the township of Ledwich. The manor abounds with game, and is watered by the river Terne, esteemed one of the finest fishing streams in the kingdom.

The Church is picturesquely situated, and consists of nave, chancel, transept and tower: it exhibits some fine specimens of elaborate workmanship, and is said to have formed a part of the structure belonging to the benedictine priory. The interior has a chaste and elegant appearance; the roof is beautifully painted, and the windows are adorned with stained glass. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £6, now returned at £350; the patronage is vested in the Hon. R. H. Clive; incumbent, Rev. Thomas J. Longworth. The Court of Augmentation decreed the vicar of Bromfield a yearly pension from the dissolved monastery at Gloucester; and there are, in vellum hooks in the king’s remembrancer office, accounts of several decrees relating to the possessions of the priory and the rights of the vicar of this place.

Directory.—The Hon. Robert Henry Clive, Oakley Park; Samuel Bluck, farmer, Bromfield house; the Misses Davies, ladies’ academy; Peter Davis, farmer, King’s head farm; Henry Fletcher, farmer; George Jacks, cow-leech; Rev. Thomas I. Longworth, vicar; Henry Lippitt, farmer, Priors Walton; Thomas Payter, shoe maker; John Preece, vict., The Clive Arms; William Swift, farmer, Hill Halton; Herbert Titley, farmer, Cookridge; Richard White, agent to the Hon. R. H. Clive; Henry Vaughan, farmer, The Butts.