Clent, Worcestershire Family History Guide
Clent is an Ancient Parish in the county of Worcestershire.
Other places in the parish include: Upper Clent and Lower Clent, Holy Cross.
Parish church: St. Leonard
Parish registers begin: 1561
Nonconformists include: Baptist and Methodist.
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Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
Clent
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
CLENT, two hamlets and a parish in Bromsgrove district, Worcester.
The hamlets are Lower and Upper Clent; they jointly comprise all the parish; and the former lies on the verge of the county, near the West Midland railway, 3½ miles SSW of Stourbridge, and has a post office under Stourbridge. Acres of the parish, 2,365. Real property, £6,934. Pop., 966. Houses, 227. The property is divided among a few.
Clent Hall is the seat of the Amphletts; and Hagley Park is the seat of Lord Lyttleton. The Clent Hills have broad slopes and pleasant hollows; and form a fine foil to the Black Country of Warwick. Kenelm, king of Mercia, was murdered here, at Cowdale, in 819, by his sister Quendrida.
The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £417. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is old but good; and there are Baptist and Methodist chapels, and charities £132.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851
Clent, a parish formerly in the south division of the hund. of Seisdon, union of Bromsgrove, county of Stafford, but included in Worcestershire, to which county it is now annexed; 3½ miles south-south-east of Stourbridge.
Living, a vicarage with the perpetual curacy of Rowley Regis, in the archd. and dio. of Worcester; rated at £8 16s. 5½d.; gross income £446. Patron, the Lord-chancellor.
There are places of worship here for the Baptists and the Wesleyan Methodists. The Baptist church was formed in 1802.
This parish possesses 2 daily and 3 infant schools, besides 2 charity-schools, one of which is a Sunday school with an endowment, in 1820, of £21 19s. 6d. per annum; and the other a day school with an endowment of £8.
The church lands in this parish yielded, in 1820, an annual rent of £67 3s.; Maris and Cole’s charity to the poor, an income of £35; and minor charities £8 7s.
Acres 2,520. Houses 188. A. P. £4,337. Pop., in 1801, 738; in 1831, 922. Poor rates, in 1838, £336 10s.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
CLENT (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Bromsgrove, Lower division of the hundred of Halfshire, Stourbridge and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from Stourbridge; containing 918 inhabitants.
It contains the two manors of Upper or Church Clent, and Nether Clent; is composed principally of a group of lofty hills; and comprises 2365a. 2r. 33p., of which about 1414 acres are arable, 565 pasture, 57 woodland, and 255 common.
The living is a vicarage, with that of Rowley Regis annexed, valued in the king’s books at £8. 16. 5½., and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriator, J. Amphlett, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £340, and the vicarial for £315. The church is an ancient structure, with a tower.
There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. A free school was founded by John Amphlett, Esq., in 1704; and a Sunday school by Thomas Waldron, Esq., who, at his death in 1800, bequeathed £500 for its support.
The infant king of Mercia, St. Kenelm, is supposed by some to have been murdered here, in 819, by order of his sister Quendrida; others think that he was slain accidentally.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Holy Cross
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851
Holy-Cross, a small village in the parish of Clent, county of Stafford; 3½ miles south by east of Stourbridge, on the Broomsgrove road. Large fairs are held here, on the second Wednesdays in April and September, for cheese, linen-cloth, and cattle. Returns with the parish.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Directories
Administration
- County: Worcestershire
- Civil Registration District: Bromsgrove
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Worcester (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Worcester
- Rural Deanery: Kidderminster
- Poor Law Union: Bromsgrove
- Hundred: Halfshire
- Province: Canterbury