THE LOWBANDS ESTATE 139 



THE LOWBANDS ESTATE. 



Lowbands estate is in the parish of Redmarley, 

 in Worcestershire. It is 170 acres in extent, and 

 was originally divided into forty-five allotments of 

 from 2 to 4 acres. The total amount spent on it 

 was 17,803, of which 8,977 was for the land and 

 legal expenses, and 9,925 for buildings, improve- 

 ments, and loans. The ground-rent charges here 

 are from 40s. to 47s. an acre, and 6s. tithe. The 

 cottages, which are of the same one-storied pattern 

 as those on the other estates, are built of stone 

 from Malvern quarries. Many of them seem very 

 dilapidated, and are used as outbuildings ; some 

 are altogether in ruins, and the land belonging to 

 them has been joined on to adjacent holdings. The 

 place lies for the most part in a bare and exposed 

 position, on the top of a bleak expanse of rising 

 ground. The soil is stiff, and does not look well 

 cultivated. It is off the high-road, and further 

 from any market than Snig's End, which, together 

 with its greater disadvantages of soil and aspect, 

 have made it even less of a success. 



By 1882 there were only fourteen owners left. 

 Most of the holdings were mortgaged, and when 

 the mortgagees foreclosed they lost over the trans- 

 action, and had to let them out for less than they 

 were receiving from the original owners. 



Many people have now got four or five of the 

 allotments and farm all the land, either letting the 

 houses and gardens to farm men working for wages 



