Bromsgrove A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833

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Bromsgrove, co. Worcester.

London 116 m. NW. Worcester 12m. NE. Pop. 7519. M. D. Tu. Fairs, June 24; and Oct. 1; for linen, cheese, and horses.

A market-town and parish in the hundred of Halfshire. It is a large and populous town, with a long and straggling principal street, containing many good houses, interspersed with others of a very ancient description, formed of wood, and curiously decorated with black stripes and cross-pieces, the effect of which is extremely grotesque.

It is an ancient borough, and formerly sent members to Parliament, and it is still governed by a bailiff, recorder, alderman, and other officers.

The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester; charged in K.B. 48l. 1s. 1½d., patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The church, which is ded. to St. John the Baptist, is a handsome Gothic structure, the tower and spire of which, in height 139 feet, are remarkable for their antique elegance.

Here is a grammar-school, founded by Edward VI., with an additional endowment, by Sir Thomas Cooke, who gave exhibitions there from to Worcester college, Oxford, which was of his own foundation.

The manufactures of this town consist in wool-combing and spinning, linen for the table, sheeting, and general wear, besides needles, nails, tenterhooks, and various small articles of hardware.

The Lickey, a wild and lofty range of hills, are situated in this parish a little to the north of the town, which have been inclosed, and are covered with plantations. The views from them are very fine, and the botanist will find many curious plants in this vicinity. A part of the ruins of a Premonstratension monastery, founded in the reign of John, are traceable in the parts of a farmhouse at Dodsworth.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. I; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833.