Caughley
Caughley, part of the medieval parish of Holy
Trinity, Much Wenlock, lay 2 km. east of Barrow and contained 821 a. (332 ha.) in 1883. (fn. 19)
Caughley's demesne was in Barrow parish by
1649, (fn. 20) and by 1838 the perpetual curate of
Barrow was owed customary payments from
Caughley (18s.) and Swinney (8s.). (fn. 21) In 1934 the
Caughley detachment of Barrow civil parish was
transferred to Linley C.P., itself absorbed by
Barrow C.P. in 1966. (fn. 22) The township (fn. 23) was
roughly triangular, bounded on the east by the
Severn and on the south-west largely by Dean
brook. (fn. 24) To the north Caughley's irregular
boundary followed no natural feature or field
edges and may have marked the former northern
boundary of Caughley wood. The township at
its longest extended c. 2 km. from north-west to
south-east and from north-east to south-west.
The land, highest (c. 150 m.) in the west, falls
south-eastwards to c. 40 m. where Caughley's
southern boundary reaches the Severn. (fn. 25) The
geology is mixed: in the east are the Upper Coal
Measures, containing siltstones, mudstones, and
some Spirorbis limestone, all of the Coalport
Formation, and marls of the Hadley Formation;
to the west the Lower Coal Measures outcrop
and are partly overlain by boulder clay. A broad
band of terrace gravels stretches along the
Severn. (fn. 26)
Caughley, perhaps 'daw wood', (fn. 27) existed by
901 when the minster at Much Wenlock acquired property there (fn. 28) but was unmentioned in
Domesday Book. (fn. 29) Swinney was mentioned as a
residence in 1199 (fn. 30) but may then have been long
established (fn. 31) like Caughley, mentioned in 1221. (fn. 32)
In the late 13th century Little Caughley was
mentioned along with Caughley and Swinney. (fn. 33)
Inett, whose name suggests an origin as an assart
farm, was probably also established by the 13th
century. (fn. 34)
It seems that the only nucleated settlement
was the hamlet of Darley straddling the southwest boundary of the township: its field was
mentioned in 1341. (fn. 35) Largely bounded by woodland in 1618, Darley then apparently comprised
three houses in Caughley township and two in
Willey. (fn. 36) By 1609 there were several cottages east
of Darley in former common woodland, inclosed
c. 1590. Cottages at Little Caughley in 1609 (fn. 37)
were perhaps on the site of the 13th-century
hamlet, and by 1693 a woodland clearing had
expanded outwards from some of them (fn. 38) to cover
c. 21 a. by the late 18th century. (fn. 39) In 1714 the
Browne estate had 13 houses or cottages, including Caughley Hall and Inett. (fn. 40) By 1780 there
were 6 dwellings at Darley, irregularly scattered
around a few acres of common, and others at
Little Caughley. (fn. 41)
In the late 18th century, as later, the main
farms were Caughley, Swinney, and Inett, those
at Caughley and Swinney adjoining the halls,
while coal mines flanked a newly built porcelain
factory whose saggar works stood east of Darley.
A few buildings, one or two of them perhaps
alehouses or warehouses, stood along the river
bank. (fn. 42) The clearing by the river at the end of
the road from the Dean (in Willey) was known
by 1752 as Roving, and the Rovings public house
was open there in the early 19th century. (fn. 43)
There were some changes between 1780 and
1795: the saggar works closed, Inett Farm was
rebuilt south of its previous position, (fn. 44) and
Caughley Place was built north-east of the porcelain factory for its managing partner Thomas
Turner. Reputedly designed by one of Turner's
French employees, (fn. 45) Caughley Place was in the
mid 18th-century French style with a projecting
bow (fn. 46) and a tall central feature surmounted by
a mansard gable. It was perhaps demolished
with the factory c. 1821. (fn. 47) Swinney and
Caughley halls were both demolished after those
estates were sold to George Forester and his
trustees in 1790 and 1822. (fn. 48)
Between the earlier 19th and the later 20th
century there was little change. The riverside
area lost importance after the railway arrived in
1862, and between 1882 and 1901 the cleared
area around Little Caughley reverted to woodland. (fn. 49) In 1931 the township's population was
48. (fn. 50) By the early 1980s settlement comprised
Caughley, Swinney, and Inett farmhouses together with a few isolated cottages; Darley was
no longer recognizable as a hamlet.
In 1609 a north-south road from Rowton and
Swinbatch in Broseley crossed Caughley township via Caughley Hall. It was crossed near the
Hall by another running west from Swinney and
forking at Inett: north-west towards Broseley
and south-west towards the Dean and thence to
Bridgnorth. (fn. 51) By 1790 there had been changes:
the road to Broseley from Inett then left the
Dean road a little farther west than it previously
had. The road from Swinney then also had a
branch south-east from near Caughley Hall to
the Rovings by the Severn, while the road south
from Caughley Hall had apparently lost importance. (fn. 52) In the 19th century the western part of
the road to the Dean was straightened. (fn. 53)
Tarbatch dingle railway, built in the early
18th century from Broseley, terminated at
Willey wharf on the Severn east of Swinney. By
1882 the western end of the line in Broseley was
at Upper Riddings Farm, whence a branch ran
south-east to Turnersyard colliery in the township. That line closed between 1901 and 1925. (fn. 54)
In the later 18th century other lines linked coal
pits in the centre of the township with the
Severn. (fn. 55) In 1822 there were 80 tons of jenny
rails and sleepers at Caughley colliery that were
'nearly new'. (fn. 56)
CAUGHLEY AND SWINNEY c. 1790
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries
Willey wharf was an important outlet for Broseley's industrial products, particularly those of
the New Willey Co. from which it presumably
took its name. (fn. 57) A public house and warehouse
served the wharf in the late 18th century. There
was perhaps also a wharf at the Rovings 1 km.
south. Along the Severn bank ran the Coalbrookdale-Bewdley tow path, made c. 1800. (fn. 58)
The wharves' importance probably declined
rapidly after 1862 when the Severn Valley line
of the West Midland Railway (later G.W.R.)
opened along the river bank.
Manors And Other Estates.
Aethelraed, ealdorman of Mercia, and his wife
Aethelflaed gave three manentes at
Caughley to the church of Wenlock in
901. (fn. 59) In the 13th century Wenlock priory (the
Cluniac refoundation of the Saxon minster) was
overlord of estates there which it acquired in
demesne during that century and held until it
surrendered to the Crown in 1540. (fn. 60)
In 1255 Ralph of Caughley (fl. 1274) (fn. 61) held a
carucate in Caughley of the prior of Wenlock for
40s. a year and suit to the prior's court. (fn. 62) In 1296
Philip of Caughley and Margery of Presthope held
what was evidently that estate-a house, 4 virgates,
and 10 a. of wood-for 40s. a year and suit to
Bourton hundred. (fn. 63) In 1299 they were licensed to
grant their property to Wenlock priory. (fn. 64)
In 1290 Nicholas Brisebon of Montgomery
held 1 carucate, described as the manor of
Caughley, of the prior of Wenlock and was
licensed to grant it to the priory. (fn. 65) It must have
been that carucate, worth 12s. a year, which the
priory owned in 1291. Besides that carucate the
priory was said in 1291 to have 20s. annual rent
from Caughley property: (fn. 66) that figure (evidently
mis-stated) must have included the rent due
from the Caughleys' carucate.
Another estate in Caughley was held in 1221
by Walter the smith and his wife Agnes. (fn. 67) It may
have been the house and virgate, held of Wenlock priory, that Walter the goldsmith conveyed
to the priory in 1342. (fn. 68)
Wenlock priory's Caughley demesne consisted in 1369 of a house and 2 carucates. (fn. 69) In
1540, shortly after the priory's surrender,
Thomas Lokier, a Bristol merchant, bought the
chief house and demesne lands of Caughley
manor from the Crown. Lokier sold the estate
to the tenant John Munslow in 1541. (fn. 70) In 1564
Munslow conveyed the manor to William Bentley of Bridgnorth, who sold it in 1567 to John
Dudley. Dudley sold it in 1569 to Richard
Onslow (d. 1571), the solicitor general. (fn. 71) In 1584
Onslow's son and heir Edward sold the manor
to Thomas Owen, a London lawyer, who sold it
in 1586 to John Dawes (d. 1595) of Shrewsbury. (fn. 72) The manor remained with his relict
Margaret, who married Thomas Jewkes. In 1632
she settled the chief house and certain lands on
her grandson John Dawes, to whom the rest of
her Caughley estate passed at her death in
1634. (fn. 73) Dawes (d. 1680) (fn. 74) left the manor to his
grandson Ralph Browne (d. 1707), (fn. 75) who left it
to his son Edward (d. 1740), (fn. 76) husband of Laconia (née Berkeley), supposed original of Sylvia
in Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer (1706). (fn. 77)
After Edward Browne's death the manor may
have passed first to his eldest son Ralph (d.
1763), but Ralph's brother Edward had it at his
death in 1751 (fn. 78) and left it to his widow Jane (d.
1779); (fn. 79) she left it to their grandnephew R. B.
Wylde (d. 1810) who added the name Browne
on inheriting. Wylde Browne's son T. W. Wylde
Browne, of Glazeley, succeeded; his trustees sold
the manor to George Forester's trustees in
1823, (fn. 80) and thereafter it was part of the Willey
estate. (fn. 81)
In 1609 Caughley Hall stood on the site of the
later Caughley Farm. It had a central range with
cross wings and was of two storeys with attics
covered by a slated or tiled roof. (fn. 82) There was
probably a nearby dovehouse in or before the
late 17th century. (fn. 83) In 1672 the Hall was taxed
on 13 hearths. (fn. 84) Ralph Browne built a new Hall
in the early 1680s (fn. 85) a little east of the old. It was
rebuilt or greatly enlarged c. 1790 as a plain
building of seven bays and three storeys, with a
central entrance facing south. An adjoining
coach house and stables, with pedimented front
and gothick windows, faced west. All were demolished in 1833. (fn. 86) Caughley Farm is an early
19th-century brick building slightly in the Tudor style and incorporating probably older
stonework.
The Sandfords owned property in Caughley
from the 13th to the 16th century. About 1221
Ralph of Sandford unjustly disseised Walter the
smith and his wife Agnes of their free tenement
in Caughley, and Wenlock priory's tenant Ralph
of Caughley also owed Ralph of Sandford's son
Richard (d. 1249) 8s. rent for land in Caughley. (fn. 87)
Richard Sandford of Sandford had land at
Caughley in 1497 (fn. 88) and his son Hugh (d. 1530)
held it of the prior of Wenlock. The estate then
included the houses and land called INETT. It
passed to Hugh Sandford's son Richard (d. c.
1532) and then to Richard's son George who, in
1552, sold it to Richard Moreton (fl. 1578) of
Haughton (in Shifnal). (fn. 89)
In 1623 Humphrey Briggs, husband of Moreton's granddaughter Anne, sold Inett and the
rest of his Caughley estate to Francis Billingsley,
Francis Adams, and John Huxley, (fn. 90) presumably
interested in the minerals. (fn. 91) By 1651 the Dawes
family had bought the property and added it to
the manorial estate. (fn. 92) Inett Farm, 'lately erected'
in 1683, (fn. 93) was demolished c. 1790 and a plain
brick house of three bays and three storeys was
built just to the south. (fn. 94)
Several possible medieval holders of the freehold or reputed manor (fn. 95) of SWINNEY are
known. (fn. 96) By 1446 four virgates at Swinney belonged to Richard Lacon, lord of Willey. (fn. 97) The
estate presumably descended with Willey until
1618 when Sir Francis Lacon conveyed it to Sir
Francis Newport, who sold it immediately to Sir
Edward Bromley (fn. 98) (d. 1626), a baron of the
Exchequer. (fn. 99) Bromley's purchase included other
premises in Broseley, probably High or Upper Riddings and part of The
Woodhouse. (fn. 1) He bought other parts of the
Woodhouse (which were part of the Broseley
'socage land' in 1421) from William Whitmore,
probably in 1621. (fn. 2) The estate, which by 1641
evidently also included Lower Riddings in
Broseley (part of the 'Priory land'), (fn. 3) remained
with Sir Edward's widow Margaret in 1656 but
by 1657 had passed to John Bromley (fn. 4) (d. 1674)
of Worcester, his heir. John's successor was his
grandnephew William Bromley (d. 1707) of Holt
(Worcs.). William was succeeded by his cousin
William Bromley (d. 1769) of Abberley
(Worcs.), who left the whole estate to his son
Robert. Robert Bromley sold Swinney and Upper Riddings to George Forester in 1790, having
sold Lower Riddings in 1788 to John Guest.
Guest sold Lower Riddings in 1789 to Daniel
Onions, from whom Forester bought it in 1790. (fn. 5)
In 1687 Swinney Hall was on the Caughley
side of the parish boundary, Swinney Farm on
the Broseley side. (fn. 6) By 1790 the names seem to
have been reversed. (fn. 7) The Swinney Hall then in
Broseley parish, perhaps the earlier Farm, was
probably demolished soon after George Forester
bought the estate in 1790. (fn. 8) Swinney Farm,
perhaps the earlier Hall, comprises two ranges:
one, timber framed and with a large stone end
stack, is perhaps 17th-century, the other, of
brick with plat bands, is c. 1700. Upper Riddings
stands inside Broseley's southern boundary and
is 18th-century and later. Lower Riddings, a
1½ storeyed building just south-east, is 17thcentury and later.
Wenlock priory, as appropriator of Holy
Trinity, Much Wenlock, (fn. 9) owned the Tithes.
From 1540 the tithes of Caughley's demesnes,
later called the manor, descended with that
estate (fn. 10) and in 1809 the demesnes were described
as tithe free. (fn. 11) The rest of the impropriate tithes,
including Swinney's, descended after 1540 with
those of Barrow. (fn. 12)
Economic History.
Agriculture.
It
seems likely that the three Caughley manentes of
901 were represented by the 13th-century estates
at Caughley (2 carucates) and Swinney (4 virgates). (fn. 13) In 1290, when land in Caughley was
granted to the priory, it was agreed that the
villeins' status should remain unchanged. (fn. 14) In
1321 Wenlock priory had a bailiff for Caughley. (fn. 15)
Despite the disafforestation of Caughley and
Little Caughley from Shirlett forest in the 13th
century, (fn. 16) much of Caughley remained wooded.
Over 90 pigs were pannaged in Caughley wood
in 1380, (fn. 17) and in 1532 the right to take wood
from Caughley between Michaelmas and Lady
Day was included in a lease of Shirlett smithy
to Thomas Munslow, later, if not then, lessee of
Caughley manor. (fn. 18) About 1590, soon after his
purchase of Caughley, John Dawes inclosed
much of Caughley wood, c. 100 a. between
Darley and Little Caughley. That large area of
common woodland adjoined Rudge wood in
Willey and they had been intercommoned at the
time of the Dissolution. Dawes also inclosed a
second common, Westly moor, to the northwest. John Weld disputed those inclosures after
he had bought Marsh manor in 1620, claiming,
in part successfully, rights of lordship over the
inclosed areas. (fn. 19) John Slaney, Weld's predecessor as lord of Marsh, had apparently also
inclosed a part of Caughley wood. As late as 1722
rival claims of the lords of Caughley and Marsh
led to litigation. (fn. 20) By c. 1650 the Dawes family
had also considerably extended the Caughley
estate by purchase, (fn. 21) and in 1693 the lordship of
Caughley totalled 647 a. including 52 a. of
Caughley wood. (fn. 22)
No large areas of open field land are known,
although the field of Darley was noted in 1341, (fn. 23)
and there were 'furlongs' south-east of Caughley
Hall in 1609 and at Little Caughley in 1780. (fn. 24)
The main concentration of arable land in 1795
was in the north-west. When George Forester's
trustees bought Caughley manor in 1823 the
701-a. estate included 215 a. in hand and the
216-a. Hall farm, while in 1832 Inett farm
covered 248 a. (fn. 25) In the late 19th and early 20th
century there was a pheasantry at Caughley
Farm. (fn. 26)
Swinney extended to at least 4 virgates in
1446, (fn. 27) and to c. 248 a. in the 1790s. (fn. 28) In 1794
the farm was said to be undergoing 'much
improvement'. (fn. 29) In 1910 Swinney farm comprised 89 a., much of its land having apparently
been transferred to Inett farm, then 353 a. (fn. 30)
Industry.
Coal, ironstone, and limestone
were probably all mined in Caughley in the 16th
century and used in the ironworks there. John
Dawes and John Weld, lords of Caughley and
Marsh, defined their mining rights in Caughley
c. 1650. (fn. 31) How much mining was then actually
going on, however, is unknown. Larger scale
coal mining perhaps began in the north in the
earlier 18th century after the opening of pits at
Rowton and Gitchfield in Broseley. (fn. 32) Some of
the coal was carried west by crickers (packhorse
drivers). (fn. 33) By 1752 there were pits around Swinney. (fn. 34) Exploitation in the later 18th and early
19th century was haphazard and centred on 200
a. north-east and south-west of the porcelain
factory and bounded by faults. Coal was carried
to the Severn. The clod or furnace coal was of
variable quality but local ironworks used it if
other supplies were short. A little ironstone was
probably got with the coal. (fn. 35) Between 1823 and
1825 Robert Evans & Son took a lease of the
Caughley coalworks. In 1825 both the Caughley
and the Swinney coalworks were taken over by
John Onions and Thomas Rose, still lessees in
1834. (fn. 36) Small scale digging continued around the
site of the porcelain factory and north of Inett
Farm, and in 1910 Broseley Tileries Co. Ltd.
held the lease. Extraction continued until 1927
or later. (fn. 37) There was some opencast mining
around Turnersyard colliery by the National
Coal Board after the Second World War. From
1955 Coalmoor Refractories (Horsehay) Ltd.
and its subsidiary Prestage & Broseley Tileries
Ltd. got high quality alumina fireclay there;
extraction continued in the earlier 1980s. (fn. 38)
Walter the smith lived in Caughley in 1221,
though he may not have been an iron smith. (fn. 39)
Thomas Munslow, lessee of Inett from 1524, (fn. 40)
had an ironworks at Caughley by c. 1523. (fn. 41)
Munslow, a furnace technologist who worked at
several ironworks in the county, (fn. 42) probably used
foreign expertise; a Frenchman, John Morell (d.
1556) of Caughley wood, was the 'founder' and
chief workman at Munslow's 'smithy'. (fn. 43) In 1541
the works was leased to Reynold and Thomas
Ridley of Caughley for 21 years: for £13 6s. 8d.
a year they enjoyed the same rights as Munslow
had. The works then comprised an 'ironhouse'
and an 'iron mill called an iron smythe place'.
The Ridleys' forge was probably still working in
1568 when another ironworks was probably run
by the 40-year old John Munslow who had
liberty to dig ironstone in Shirlett. (fn. 44) He was
presumably the tenant, and from 1541 to 1564
the owner, of the Caughley demesnes (fn. 45) and a
kinsman of Thomas Munslow. (fn. 46) But the location
of his works, even its parish, is unknown.
About 1590 John Dawes, lord of Caughley, (fn. 47)
built an iron smithy in Caughley wood to use
the coal and ironstone there. It was leased to
others and probably short lived. (fn. 48)
Benjamin Ball leased a warehouse and land at
Willey wharf in 1816, (fn. 49) and between 1817 and
1838 he leased the Swinney iron foundry there
from the Willey estate. (fn. 50) It stood beside the
railway from Willey ironworks, on the site of the
public house of 1790. (fn. 51) Possibly he was the
Benjamin Ball who managed the Barnett's Leasow furnaces in Broseley from c. 1821. (fn. 52)
Inferior limestone was got in the early 19th
century and burnt for local agricultural use. (fn. 53) It
was also used for a cottage limewash known as
'Lord Forester's livery'. (fn. 54)
There was probably a pottery at Caughley
from c. 1750; (fn. 55) a 62-year lease of it is said to have
been taken in 1754 by Ambrose Gallimore, a
native of the Staffordshire Potteries. Traditional
coarse and slip coated wares were made. About
1772 Gallimore was joined by Thomas Turner, (fn. 56)
a former apprentice at the Worcester Porcelain
Manufactory. Turner was the creative force, but
Gallimore retained an interest in 1787. (fn. 57) The
two- and three-storeyed Salopian China Manufactory, (fn. 58) was built south-west of Inett Farm,
and porcelain was produced by 1775. Saggars
were made, presumably from local refractory
clay, (fn. 59) at a works to the south, (fn. 60) and coal was got
from adjacent mines. Soapstone came from Cardington as well as from the Lizard (Cornw.), and
china clay was presumably also brought from
Devon or Cornwall. (fn. 61) Grinding was done in mills
at the Smithies (in Willey) and Calcutts (in Broseley). The Salopian China Warehouse opened in
London in 1783. (fn. 62) The works employed c. 100 in
1793. There were three kilns in 1795, but the
saggar works had apparently been demolished. (fn. 63)
Caughley: The Salopian China Manufactory c. 1800
From the beginning production concentrated
on transfer printed imitation Chinese porcelain
table wares. Turner had learned transfer printing at Worcester, and in 1775 Robert Hancock,
then the most celebrated engraver for porcelain,
joined Caughley from Worcester. 'Salopian'
china enjoyed aristocratic patronage yet undersold Worcester. From c. 1780 there was much
French influence on style and design, and gilt
began to be used on its own for decoration.
Those changes reflect the work of the decorating
establishment of Humphrey and Robert Chamberlain at Worcester, and increasingly from the
1780s Caughley porcelain was sent away for
decoration.
In the 1790s the Chamberlains began to produce their own porcelain, and it was perhaps
that, together with the establishment (1795-6) (fn. 64)
and growth of the Coalport porcelain works, and
perhaps Turner's ill health, that led in 1799 to
his sale of the Caughley lease, works, and stock. (fn. 65)
The buyers were the Coalport partners Edward
Blakeway and Richard and John Rose, the last
named a native of Barrow and former Caughley
apprentice. Caughley continued to make porcelain, much for decoration and finishing at
Coalport, until 1814 when the two works were
bought by John Rose. He closed Caughley, and
by 1821 (fn. 66) most of the factory had been taken
down and the materials taken to Coalport for
re-use. Two brick cottages, derelict in the early
1980s, may have been made from parts of the
works left behind. (fn. 67) Among Rose's apprentices
at Caughley was probably T. M. Randall, a
native of Caughley who later had his own porcelain works in Madeley. (fn. 68)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Caughley seems to
have been subject to the prior of Wenlock's
Broseley manor court in 1379. (fn. 69) That Broseley
estate was later absorbed by the priory's manor
of Marsh. (fn. 70) There is no evidence of a separate
court being held for Caughley, and in 1568
Caughley was stated to be in Marsh manor; in
the earlier 17th century the lord of Marsh
claimed suit to his court leet and baron from
Caughley and at least part of Swinney. (fn. 71)
Roger Halghton of Swinney owed suit at
Willey court baron in 1438, and Swinney was
said to be in Willey manor in 1573. (fn. 72)
Caughley was absorbed by Linley civil parish
in 1934 and thus remained in the Barrow ward
of Wenlock borough. On the borough's dissolution in 1966 Caughley, like the rest of Linley
C.P., was absorbed by Barrow C.P. and so was
in Bridgnorth rural district 1966-74 and Bridgnorth district thereafter. (fn. 73)
NONCONFORMITY.
A papist in Barrow parish in 1676 was perhaps one of the Brownes of
Caughley. (fn. 74)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
Barrow parish
charities (fn. 75) presumably applied to Caughley.