188 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



years since : near it is an ancient stone cross, and a good par- 

 sonage-house. The manor, and great part of the land, belong to 

 the Pigot family. The village stands on a rocky bottom, and the 

 lands about it are for the most part light and sandy. Pattingham 

 is supposed to be a very ancient place, from the circumstance of 

 several Roman relics having been discovered here at different 

 times, particularly a valuable torques of gold, found in the year 

 1700, and a small pig of gold in 1780. 



PATTESHULL is a small village about two miles north-west of 

 Pattingham. The church, a curacy in the gift of the Pigots, is an 

 elegant Grecian fabric, erected by Sir John Astley, and contains 

 several good monuments. The parish consists of Patteshull, Burn- 

 hill-green, and Westbach, and contains several farm-houses and 

 small cottages : it is in general level flat land, sandy, gravelly, 

 or marly, producing all kinds of grain and pulse, and is chiefly ma- 

 nured with lime. The air of Patteshull is pure and healthy, the 

 deaths not exceeding one in eighty annually. 



The mansion and demesne at Patteshull have always been consi- 

 dered as pre-eminetly picturesque, and art has been successfully 

 employed in heightening and embellishing the beauties of nature : 

 the aspect is various, the soil fertile, and trees of every species 

 vegetate in great luxuriance. The park contains within its walls 

 341 acres. Sir John Astley sold this estate, with Pattingham, to 

 Lord Pigot, for o100,000. whose celebrated diamond paid for it. 

 Snowdon pool, a very fine piece of water, is on this deme'sne. 



HIMLEY is a pleasant village, delightfully situated six miles 

 south of Wolverhampton, on the road to Stourbridge. Here is the 

 splendid seat of Lord Viscount Dudley and Ward, who is lord of 

 the manors of Sedgley, Himley, Swindon, King's Swinford, and 

 Rowley Regis. 



The mansion is a noble structure, situated in the midst of an ex- 

 tensive and rich park, abounding with deer, having at a proper dis- 

 tance in front a magnificent sheet of water, and in the back ground, 

 close on the left, a steep rocky hill, finely clad with ancient and 

 modern foliage ; while, to the right, the woods and hills gradually 

 arise towards the horizon, where the spire of Sedgley church, an4 

 windmill towards Dudley, raise their lofty heads amidst the pictu- 

 resque scene, charmingly secluded by a barrier of hills from the ma- 

 nufacturing country beyond. From the upper part of the park, the 

 woods and water on the right appear to great advantage. Over 

 ihe house the village church is a pleasing object, and the rising 



