HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 201 



quary),and Whittemore-hall ; and Bobbington-hall, the property of 

 the Earl of Stamford. The soil is a stronger and moister loam than 

 Kinver or Enville. The late Mr. Caswell bequeathed Bobbington- 

 farm (charged with 101. annually to the curate of Bobbington), 

 for the support of a certain number of scholars at Christ Church 

 College, Oxford. 



The church is a perpetual curacy within the peculiar of Bridg- 

 north : it is in the patronage of the Whitmores. 



OVER ARELEY is bounded on the north, west, and south by 

 Shropshire, and on the east by Worcestershire, except a small neck 

 to the north-east, where it joins Kinfare, being about four miles in 

 length and one and an half in breadth : the Severn passes through 

 this village, but visits no other part of the county. 



Areley continued in the possession of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, 

 and his male descendants, from the time of Henry the Sixth to 

 the year 1779, when Thomas, son of George Lord Lyttelton, the 

 tenth in descent, gave it by will to his nephew, George Viscount 

 Valentia, (son of his only sister, Lucy,) who resides here, and is the 

 present owner. The family-mansion was re-built by the Lytteltons, 

 about the year 1650, and is delightfully situated on the richly- 

 wooded banks of the Severn. It has received much external im- 



vement from the taste of Lord Valentia, who is known to 

 the literary world by a well-written volume of Travels. He mar- 

 ried a daughter of the late Viscount Courtenay, by whom he has 

 one son, George Arthur, born October 2, 1793 : his lordship is di- 

 vorced from his lady. The church of Areley is an ancient struc- 

 ture, dedicated to St. Peter, first erected by Henry de Port in the 

 time of Henry I. and re-built in the reign of the first Edward. The 

 nave is divided from the chancel by a range of pillars : the tower 

 contains a peal of bells, and is a modern erection. The windows are 

 decorated with some old paintings, and there is likewise a modern 

 one by Mr. Eginton. In 1793, the interior was thoroughly repaired 

 and beautified at the expence of Lord Valentia, who is patron. 

 There is a very ancient monument to one of the Heckstans, and 

 several of the Lytteltons. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction is vested 

 partly in the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield, and partly in Lord 

 Valentia: the former annually visit the church, prove wills, 

 and audit the churchwardens' accounts, whilst the latter, by his 

 right of presentation, institutes and inducts; so that Areley is 

 strictly a donative, and exempt from episcopal or archdeaconical 

 jurisdiction. 



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