77 



HISTORICAL MEMORANDA OF RIBBESFORD, IN THE 

 COUNTY OF WORCESTER. 



It being our object occasionally to elucidate portions of 

 the history of this and the adjoining counties, we shall com- 

 mence our present number with a succinct account of the parish 

 of Ribbesford, anciently Ribeford, an appellation probably 

 derived from the circumstance of a family of that name being 

 the first settlers there. It is delightfully situated on the 

 western bank of the Severn, three quarters of a mile from 

 the town of Bewdley, and lies in the western division of the 

 county of Worcester, in the hundred of Doddingtree, the 

 deanery of Burford, and diocese of Hereford; and contained, 

 at the* last census, (1831,) 95 inhabitants, exclusive of the 

 town of Bewdley. 



This place, according to the conqueror *s survey, was waste 

 and in the king*s demesne; but on 'reference to Heming's 

 Chartulary ^, we find that it formerly belonged to the church 

 of Worcester, and that the Villains f of the manor were 

 bound to furnish wears and nets for catching fish, and 

 proper implements for hunting. It was then taken from the 

 monastery and never restored, but shortly after the conquest 

 became the residence of the Ribbesfords J, a family of some 

 note in those days, many of whom received the honour of 

 knighthood, and continued there till the reign of Edward the 

 Third. It afterwards became the property of the barons Lisle, 

 and passing through the hands of the various descendants of 

 this family, came at length into the possession of Sir John 

 Dudley, Knight, first Viscount Lisle, who successively ob- 

 tained the titles of Earl of Warwick, and Duke of Northum- 

 berland ; after whose attainder it became the property of Sir 

 Robert Acton, Knight, who was succeeded by his son Robert 

 Acton, Esq., by whom the property was alienated ; and 

 having passed through the hands of various individuals, came 

 to Sir Henry Herbert, Knight, youngest brother of the first 

 Lord Herbert of Cherbury.§ His son Henry being created 

 Baron Herbert of Cherbury, in the reign of King William, in 

 consequence of the title becoming extinct by the failure of 



* Heming's Chartulary, p. 256. 



+ A kind of menial servant ; the term is supposed to be of Danish origin. 



+ Edward the first granted to Henry de Ribbesford a market on every Wed- 

 nesday, and a fair on St. Margaret's day, with charter of free warren to Ribbesford. 



§ A manuscript copy of the life of the celebrated Edward Lord Herbert of Cher- 

 bury, in Shropshire, is said to have been found here, and was published by Mr, 

 Walpole, of Strawberry Hill, many years since. 



NO. H. ' M 



