A Blog about Rowley Regis in the heart of Black Country with particular emphasis on Rowley Village and the immediate vicinity.

 

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Contact us on rowley2011@hotmail.co.uk

Contents (scroll down to view)

Where is Rowley Regis

Rowley village

The Hail-Stone

Where has a thousand years of history gone

Rowley Regis a royal hunting ground

Rowley village a description

Reminiscences of Rowley from early 1900s

Map of Rowley village 1803

Ode to the Rowley Hills

Rowley village in the twenties

On Rowley Hills

The boundary of Rowley Regis

Rowley Regis and Rowley Somery

Rowley - origin of the name

Rowley and the Romans

Pr Saxon times 

Saxon times

The Manorial system

St Giles parish church

The Haden family

Vestry rule - the power of the church

Time Line

Rowley places

Rowley people

King Charles and the flight from Worcester

The Rowley Hangman

Why is Rowley not still like Clent

The story of Warrens Hall

The evil of drink in Rowley

Religion in Rowley

Rowley Hall

Rowley and the Jews Harp.

Where is Rowley Regis ?

Rowley Regis is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It forms part of the area immediately west of Birmingham known as the Black Country and encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the combined population of these wards was 50,250.

The history of Rowley Regis can be traced back to the 12th century,^[3] when a small village grew around the parish church of St Giles, 2 miles (3 kilometres) southeast of Dudley. Rowley was part of the Royal hunting grounds – Regis was added to the name of Rowley in around 1140 to signify it was that part of Rowley belonging to the King.

"The parish of Rowley Regis of the Seisdon Hundred of Staffordshire, forms part of the great barony of Dudley, and is in the Diocese of Worcester

."NORTH SEISDON, a hundred in the county of Stafford, contains the towns of Dudley and Bilston, and the parishes of Himley, Kingswinford, Penn, Rowley-Regis, Sedgley, with parts of Bushbury, Tettenhall, and Wolverhampton, comprising an area of 42,050 acres, exclusive of Dudley

(Staffordshire was divided into five divisions called Hundreds for administrative purposes. These date back to the formation of the county as an administrative unit around the early 10th century in the reign of Edward the Elder.

The Hundred courts levied taxes, dealt with law and order matters, and tried some civil and criminal offences.
The functions of the Hundreds were gradually taken over by other local government organisations, although they retained some powers into the 19th century)

"The parish comprises the village of Rowley, hamlets in the parish are Blackheath, Corngreaves, Cradley Heath, Gosty Hill, Haden Cross, Haden Hill, Hayseech, Knoll, Lye Cross, Newtown, Oakham, Old Hill, Portway, Reddal Hill, Slack Hillock, Tippity Green, Tividale, Turner's Hill, Windmill End and Whiteheath Gate. The perpetual curacy was annexed to Clent vicarage till 1842 when Rowley Regis became a parish in its own right."

"The distinctive appellation of Rowley, proper, accurately
designates the elevation, on which the parish church, surrounded
by a populous manufacturing village, becomes an
object of distant perspective through an extensive tract of
country."

At the top of Rowley Hill sits St Giles Church, there has been a church on this site since the 12^th century but the present building is by no means an ancient monument, there have been 4 churches on this site which may be unique in all England, the first church survived until the 19^th century when it was replaced thanks to the efforts of the Rev George Barrs, Rowleys most famous incumbent who left a journal describing the life and condition endured by his parishioners. The second church which he never lived to see survived only years and had to be demolished due to mining subsidence, the third church was burnt down reputedly by Suffragettes as part of their Arson Campaign in 1913 the fourth church which survives today was completed in 1920. It is evident from the church yard and the wall surrounding it that an older building once stood on the spot and parts of the 3^rd church can be seen in the present building if you look close enough you can see traces of the fire in the bricks. There are also remains of the tower and floor to be seen.

Rowley village

Around the church until the 1970s there was Rowley Village again a settlement from ancient times, None of the old buildings now survive apart from the Robert Peel, once the village gaol and the Bulls Head at either end of the village. The buildings in between were demolished by Sandwell Council due to a road widening scheme which never happened or supposed subsidence which is denied by past residents. Modern housing now replaces the old buildings. The village boasted Rowley Hall again an ancient structure which was used as a hiding place by members of the Gunpowder Plot when they fled after the failure. At the time of the industrial revolution Rowley Village carried on the ancient trade of nail making amongst the farming and was once a large scale producer of the Jews Harp as it stood astride the 30 foot seam a vast coalfield it and the surrounding area soon fell foul of its legacy

Rowley Village was surrounded by fields and overlooked by the rest of the Green Rowley Hills and the gigantic Hailstone which stood at the summit of Hailstone Hill a wonder that people travelled many miles to admire. The views from the Rowley Hills are magnificent and on a clear day stretch as far as the Black Mountains of Wales.

The Hail-Stone.
This curious rock, adjoining to the highest of the chain,
presents a bold feature on the western frontier. It consists
of a vast cubical pillar abutting against a lofty acclivity. (i)
Surrounding it on all sides, and scattered in great profusion
through the copice which spreads over the slope, and strewed
in multiform fragments at it base ; are innumerable blocks of
the constituent substance forming the subject of this memoir.
Dr. Plot considers this stupendous pillar as a work of art,
resembling the wonderful masses exhibited in the ancient
structure of Stonehenge, but this idea is evidently erroneous.
In many of the rude clustered masses contiguous to the pillar,
some degree of crystallization is observable.

A brief reference is given to a standing stone / glacial erratic said to be a sacrificial alter stone to Thor (5). Hailstone, Turners Hill Rowley Regis, West Midlands Local folklore tells of Thunor, standing astride the Clent Hills near Stourbridge hurling a boulder at Woden on Turners Hill. The boulder became known as the Hailstone. It was blown up in 1879 after local concern about 'demonic' hoofprints which were found to emerge from the stone and wander over the area (6).

Unfortunately not the Hailstone but an outcrop of Rowley Rag giving an indication of what it was like.

The Hailstone

Unfortunately all of this no longer exists although you can still see traces of country side around Turners Hill and a careful look will see remains of stone walls assembled from the world famous Rowley Rag. There is the recently renovated 16^th Century farm on Portway Hill and its not too difficult to image what it once was like. Past residents still see the village in their imagination and it is the purpose of this web site to recreate it for nostalgia or posterity or the sheer pleasure of the memory.

Residents of Rowley forget or are unaware that in the not too distant past Rowley was rural, the village running down from the church at the top of Rowley Hill, was surrounded by farmland, and remained so, way into the Industrial revolution. A church has stood on the top of the hill since the 12th Century, at least, although the present incumbent is the fourth building on the site. The varied architecture of the village stood until 1970 when the council decided on wholesale demolition. Today only the ancient streets and lanes survive and the Rowley Hills retain only a vestige of their former glory.

"Where has a thousand years of history gone ?"

There has been a settlement at Rowley for nigh on a thousand years. St Giles church which stands at the top of the hill is the fourth known on that site, the first can be dated to the 12th Century.

Rowley grew into a typical medieval village with a church, manor house, mill, green, fish pond, court house, common land and a village pound; varied architecture reflected the ages through which it had passed. It was owned at first by the King, hence "Regis", later by the Earls and Barons of Dudley. It remained more or less like this until the 1960s when the local council pulled down the village, wholesale, due to subsidence (disputed by residents)and to make way for a road widening scheme which never happened.

This hand drawn map shows Rowley from Springfield to Blackheath in 1803; a self contained community surrounded by farm land and green fields.

Look at it today and we might well comment "where has a thousand years of history gone".

ROWLEY REGIS. A ROYAL HUNTING GROUND.

It has been a long time since the craggy hills of Rowley Regis were the hunting ground of Mercian Kings. Their wildness has been tamed by the hand and machine of man. They are not as craggy as they were, extensive quarrying has seen to that.

Towards the end of the seventeen hundreds, due to the creation of McAdam and Telford’s new roads, there was an urgent demand for a durable roadstone, and Rowley Rag, a hard basaltic rock was in great demand.

The quarries are still there, but the forty odd pits in and around Rowley at that time have long been closed. Some of the quarries have been filled in by masses of waste from nearby Birmingham, proving that a large hole in the ground can be a lucrative possession for a district council, the land has been reclaimed and grassed over. Parts of Rowley’s hills are looking green again.

The region was inhabited in pre-Roman times. Celtic burial mounds have been discovered. So also have Roman coins bearing the head of Galba who reigned in the year AD 68-9.

My grandmother was born in Rowley Village. When she was a child, 150 years ago, she did not go to school, but spent her time making nails. Most of the children at that time in Rowley did this unless they worked in the pits. The main trade, quarrying, was actually considered too tough for even these hapless children.

I lived within the sound of blasting which took place in the quarries. People set their clocks to the time of day when the ground was rocked by thunderous blasts and earth shaking tremors. Many people were injured by falling rock. The name Hailstone Quarry is metaphorical. The blasting charges sounding like the crack of doom, sent several tons of rock exploding high into the air, to come hailing down again onto the unprotected workers underneath.

Turners Hill climbs to a height of over two thousand feet, and is logged on some old maps of the area as ‘Cloudland.’ Once it was noted as being the highest agricultural point in the British Isles, because there was a farm on top of the hill. It was also said that on fine days one could see the Bristol Channel from this point. Another fact, which was frequently stated, was that should one throw a boomerang eastward from the top of Turners Hill it would touch nothing until it reached the Ural Mountains in Russia.

What else can I say about Rowley Regis? Until now nobody except the natives have found it a very interesting place. Like most Black Country towns it tends to ooze over and merge with its neighbour. Once it filtered through to Blackheath on one side. Now Blackheath is no longer on the planner’s maps. Its name has been taken away and part of it was designated to Rowley and part to Halesowen. On the other side Rowley melts into Old Hill, except that Old Hill has been taken off the map too and now half is in Cradley and the other half in Halesowen.

Rowley Regis was one of the many places that made the Ironmasters and Pit owners rich. Their great houses are still to be seen in the green of the surrounding countryside.

Eastwards, looking from the top of the hill, lies the sprawling urbanity of Birmingham while Westwards is a glorious vista of the hills and valleys of Shropshire, Worcestershire, the Malverns and Clees, and in the distance the mountains of Wales.

Rowley is definitely in the Black Country but there are still farms to be see, relics of the pre-industrial revolution. It is a region full of marl holes, canals, pubs pitshafts, and chapels. The new merges with the old as the past continually raises its head.

You won’t find much about Rowley except in specialist books written by people who loved the place. Another shift of boundaries and it may well be forgotten altogether. Maybe someone will at times recall that it once supplied the whole world with ‘Jews’ Harps,’ those strange musical instruments on which people wrecked their front teeth. And of course its Ragstone. As long as there are roads to be built this tough shiny blue-green rock will be needed, and when in the far off future al this has been worked out, and the great wounded gashes on the hillsides are grassed over, peace will descend, and once again it could become a place of sport and recreation. A playground fit for kings.

Clarice Hackett.

Rowley Village a description.

"Gradually we come to flourishing hedgerows, and wheat-fields, and the lower slope of the Rowley Hills, a range nine hundred feet in height, whence the view over the region of darkness is singularly striking in contrast with sunshine and verdure. From the visible portion of the landscape we can easily infer the beauty that must have pervaded the whole country before it was subjugated by havoc and smoke, when every slope had its wood, every hollow its rill, bordered by pleasant pastures; when Dud Dudley was making experiments, and proving that iron could be smelted with coal, with manifest economy to woods and forests. He would not recognise the landscape now; but the hills rise above it, and refresh the eye with pleasant scenes, interspersed with quarries, from which is dug the blue basalt, the Rowley Rag of builders.

The higher we go the more rural is the way, till we come to the village of Rowley Regis, whose church is as conspicuous from miles around as that of Harrow, and here the click-click, and thump-thump of hammers in nearly every house, make us aware of having arrived among the nail-makers.

The whole village resounds with the strokes, and each cottage has its little forge occupying the place of the wash-house. We look into one after another and see none but women at work, three or four together, assisted in some instances by a boy or girl. The fire is in common; and one after another giving a pull at the bellows, each woman heats the ends of two slender iron rods, withdraws the first, and by a few hammer-strokes fashions and cuts off the nail, thrusts the end into the fire, and takes out the second rod, and gets a nail from that in the same way. So the work goes merrily on; the rods growing shorter, and the heap of nails larger. " It ain't work as pays for men," answers one of the women in reply to my inquiry," " and 't ain't much better than clem- min' for women." To make a pound of ' fine clout' requires three hours, for which the pay is threepence- halfpenny : so it is hard work to earn a shilling a-day. The woman being a comely body, I ask her why she had not married, to which she replies " I hanna seen my mate yet; and 'tis better to do 'ithout than have a bad un."

In another cottage two women are busy over ' countersunk tips,' for which the pay is two shillings a pound; but the nails are small, and the heads must all be eone-shaped, hence, " 'tis good work to make half-a-pound a-day." One of the two lamented that the days were past when she could begin on Tuesday and earn thirteen shillings a-week. Poor woman! she had to come to the anvil the day after her baby was born, because her husband had long been out of work. She sits down to comfort herself with a pipe of tobacco while we talk, and says : " We be poor foak here, and mun dew what we can."

The founder of the Foley family was a nail-maker of this neighbourhood. He went to Sweden twice with his fiddle, where he cunningly made himself acquainted with processes of the manufacture then unknown in England, and thereby on his return achieved fortune. Now women make nails for a penny an hour, and are conquered by machines, which pour out a stream of nails in tons upon tons every week".

 Reminiscences of Rowley from the early 1900’s

There was a pump in Rowley village, a water pump, and folk would address their letters by it, instead of putting the house number, they would write “ 2 past the pump” on the envelope.

I don’t ever remember the pump working it was like a lot of men – too idle to lift their arm.

Around 1900 , dad said, the sewers were laid in Rowley village and thy dug up the floor of the house to lay them.

Electricity was connected in 1936. Anybody could wire up your house but the MEB had to pass it. A lot of people didn’t want it because thy thought it was dangerous.

The Quack – If anyone wanted to commit suicide it seemed as if thy always went and jumped in the Quack. It was a large marl hole just beyond Rowley Hall. There were little bays at the sides where we learned to swim. I remember them trying to find a body, they floated a loaf on the water with some quicksilver in it, it was supposed to settle where the body was.

Where Britannia Park is now, used to be Jack Haden’s farm.

I remember a rural spot with farm joining farm for two or more miles gradually taking upon itself the less attractive industrial visage with accompanying smut and smoke. The trees died before our eyes, barns became workshops, the smithy a modern garage and the old wheelwrights shop next door where the shire horses stood awaiting their turn to be shod has blossomed out as a body builder and sprayer.

The first memory of Blackheath is a few small shops but with thatched cottages still standing and cornfields adjoining shops, an ancient pub had a lovely circular garden where an occasional fox cub or monkey would be tethered to the tree in the centre of the garden as an attraction to the customers, next door a tiny shop, a strange little place where the more strange owner sold nothing but onions with a few bunches of sweet herbs. Where did that queer fellow find onions to stock his shop all the time?

When you came out of school you had to go and collect a bucket of coal before you had your dinner and the same again at night. Sometimes you had to do it before you went to school, w’ed have a bucket and a rake that we called a “munter” and go over the pit bonks.

Granny would stand no nonsense, after hitting uncle George over the head with a cast iron saucepan for some misdemeanour she examined it closely and declared; “ if yo’d a med it run out mi lad, I should’nt alf a paled thee”

Women were hard they worked in the brew-house in the back yard until they were nine months pregnant, went in the house and had the babby, lived for a week on gruel and then went back to making chains and nails outside. Often they had twelve children but we were happy, very happy.

Saturday night the children were tubbed and dosed with brimstone and treacle. Then they were put to bed while granny washed their underclothes. In the belief that cleanliness was next to godliness she made sure no child of hers was going to Sunday school with soiled clothes.

Blackheath had two cricket teams that played at Britannia Park and at least six football teams, Coombs Wood; Rowley United; Blackheath Town; St Pauls Vics; Blackheath Thursday; Rowley Associates.

It was awful really but when a pig is killed by someone at home all of us kids would gather round to watch. It was a sort of entertainment, they would wash the pig’s bladder and we would use it as a football, it would last for a few days. I was about 10 at the time so it would be about 1926.

When they slaughtered a pig it had to be done before dawn so that no flies could get on it. The young kids would have to stand around with lamps held up so that they could see to butcher it. You never had pork in the summer because of the maggots- you couldn’t keep it.

The cutting up was a fete with a drop of home brewed ale for the butcher, his helpers and for mom and dad then the huge booney pie, that exclusive black country delicacy, what a supper it was. Then the salting and three weeks later the real harvest home, when father hung up his two pitchers which were to provide a food reserve for nearly a year.

We were terrified of the local policeman, he used to hit the youngsters if they did wrong. It was better that way – there was no violence or rape in those days and we could all go ut and leave the door unlocked.

If the police saw you doing any wrong they’d give you one and if you complained when you got home they’d give you another one because they knew that you’d been up to something.

We were playing down the canal one day against instructions playing on sunken boats with just a bit showing above the surface of the water. I jumped from one to another and in I went. I pulled myself out knowing that I’d get a good hiding for it if I went home wet so we gathered lots of firewood together and I stayed there for about three hours drying my clothes. I nnednt have bothered though because by the time I got home mother already knew about it and I got a good hiding anyway.

you used to hear the hooter sound at the quarry just before 11am and just before 3pm to warn you of the basting. Along with other factory hooters you could tell time without a clock. Before they had the hooter at the quarry a bloke named Sammy Vine used to blow a trumpet before the blasting started, they used to stop you going up Turner’s Hill until after the blasting. If the blasting caused any damage to your house a repair man from the quarry would come and fix it.

Map of Rowley Village 1803.

“Ode to Rowley Hills” by James Whitehouse of Oldbury Circa 1900.

Full oft on Cambria’s breezy hills

I’ve stood, and gazed upon the scene,

of rushing streams and sparkling rills,

of shady woods and meadows green.

and oft upon some jutting peak,

I’ve watched the vessels scudding by,

and heard the seagull’s plaintive shriek,

like a new born infants cry.

But still I love the Rowley Hills,

to rest upon their verdant brow,

when spring dispels old winter’s chills,

and starts to work the spade and plough.

I cannot stand upon their heights,

and view the ever rolling sea,

but every where my eye alights,

recalls some memory sweet to me.

and when the lark his song shall raise,

at early dawn in grateful trills,

I’ll join with his humble praise,

to him who gave us Rowley Hills.

Rowley Village in the Twenties.

We could get almost everything we wanted in the Village; Hortons, Mrs Tromans, Miss Good, Mrs Oakley, and Mr Aldridge, were all general stores. S and E Parkes and Hortons were coal merchants. Mr Parkes and his daughter Lois sold all kinds of hardware and paraffin in one shop and drapery in the other. Hortons also sold fish and chips in one shop and Dan Bennett, lower down the Village also sold fish and chips. His shop is still there. Fish and chips used to cost one penny for a fish and one penny for chips. Mr Aldridge's shop was also the sub-post office. Albert Taylor was a butcher and I think Levetts also had a butchers shop too. Mr Downing, Mrs Taylors father, used to sell whitening, glass, putty and such. T P Moyle and Co, on the corner of the Village and Church Rd, was almost like a supermarket. Tibbetts sold newspapers, toys, haberdashery, cigarettes and tobacco, and nearly everything else you can think of. They also had a hairdressers next door.

There were plenty of tradesmen too. We had a regular order for milk and the milkman came to the door in his low milk float every day. He carried his churn and measures and you handed him a jug. The creamy milk was tipped into the jug from the half pint, or quart measure. The baker came every day too, we had Hopewells from Blackheath, and sometimes the bread was still warm. Their carts were always high carts with very high wheels.

Several green grocers came on different days, Hobb's came round with hardware, the pots and pans clinking as they rattled passed. Some of them would call to attract the attention of potential customers. Mr Levett the butcher used to call advertising his meat "roast, toast, baked or boiled, frizzled or fried" Mr Talor used to shout "meat buyer" with an inflection on the last syllable. Mr Moore, the fishmonger would chant "herrings alive, six dead out of five, two eyed steaks sixteen ribs to the inch" Joey "line prop" so called because that was what he shouted also sold bean and pea sticks. Billy Horton delivered coal by the load, he bought it across Curral Rd and tipped it by the gate. A load was a calculated ton. Could be slightly under or over, but you paid by the weight on the delivery note. Then there was Sylvester. In the winter he sold dried herbs, in the summer he came around selling sticky fly papers. He used to shout "catch yer flies, catch em alive, catch yer flies, all alive"

It was not uncommon in the twenties to get hawkers knocking on the door. A lot of them were gypsies but some were ex servicemen, often limbless, selling sundries, boot and shoe laces, matches and the like.

On Rowley Hills

 The Boundary of Rowley Regis.

The borders of Rowley Regis have existed virtually unchanged as an administrative unit since at least Domesday, the Manor and later the parish and now the township form an elongated strip of what was south Staffordshire protruding into Worcestershire and bordered by Tipton to the north, Oldbury to the east, Halesowen to the south and Quarry Bank, Netherton and Dudley to the west. All parts of the parish can be seen from the magnificent vantage point of the Rowley Hills. The “capital” of Rowley Regis was obviously Rowley village until superseded by the likes of Blackheath at the industrial revolution. The rest of the Manor/parish was made up of scattered hamlets which included The Brades, Tividale,Oakham,Knowle, Tipperty Green,Whiteheath Gate,Windmill End,Hades, Reddal Hill,Corngreaves,Hayseech and Gorsty Hill.

If we were to follow the borders of Rowley Regis in today’s terms we would perhaps start at Cradley Forge by the Woodman pub at the bottom of Quarry bank, following Mousesweet brook thru the nature reserve of the same name, Newtown lane, Brook Lane. Cut thru Halesowen Rd at Bluebell Rd and Gawne Lane at the bridge by Bramble Close on to Bumble Hole via Cobbs engine house, thru the Dudley Rd at Banklands Rd and up over Warrens Hall Park and the Rowley Hills cutting the Oakham Rd near Tansley Hill Rd. Over and down to the Wolverhampton Rd @ Hill Rd and on to Groveland. The boundary then turns right to Brades village and follows a line at the rear of Oldbury Rd thru Pencricket and Whiteheath cutting Blackheath at the Market place then following the Halesowen Rd to Gorsty Hill and Lodgefield Rd to Halesowen/Haden Hill Rd near The Crescent, it then follows the River Stour via the Gunbarrel works, Bellvale, Overend Rd, thru Cradley Rd at Bridge Street and on, once again to Cradley Forge.

Rowley Regis and Rowley Somery

From time unknown Rowley was divided into two Manors; Rowley Regis (Kings Rowley) an ancient Royal Manor and Rowley Somery named after the de Somery family, Rowley Somery consisted of scattered lands within Rowley Regis, the two Manors operated separately with separate Courts, but their History is intertwined and at some point they came under the same ownership. Here is a map of Rowley Regis with Rowley Somery within it.

Rowley  This famous English name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from any one of the various places called Rowley in Devonshire, County Durham, Staffordshire and Yorkshire. The place in Devonshire is recorded as "Rodeleia" in the Domesday Book of 1086; that in Durham was recorded as "Ruley" in 1229; Rowley in Staffordshire was found as "Roelea" in the 1173 Pipe Rolls of the county; while the Rowleys in East and West Yorkshire are both recorded as "Ruley" in 1227 and 1246 respectively. All the places share the same meaning and derivation, which is "the rough wood or clearing", from the Olde English pre 7th Century "ruh", rough, overgrown, with "leah", thin wood, glade, clearing in a wood.

Roman occupation of Rowley proved by finding of substantial hordes of Roman coins @ Hawes, Rowley Hills and Cakemore "At Rowley Regis which is situated on a lofty peninsulated tract, which stretches into Worcestershire, between the parishes of Bradley and Dudley, there was found, some years ago, a pot of a globular form, which contained 1200 Roman silver coins, of 140 different sorts. Some of them bore fine impressions of the Roman emperors, Galba and Otho. " From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire by William White 1834

 “In removing one of these barriers (a ragstone wall) about forty years ago was found, a little to the South East of the Hailstone, an earthen vessel nearly full of very ancient Roman silver coins. It was deposited in the foundation of the wall, when or by whom cannot possible be ascertained, but certainly not till after the Romans were in possession of this country. A little below the surface of the ground , and over it, lay a broad stone a few inches thick. The wall adjoined the public highway. The vessel resembled what is called a “save all”. The coins must have been put into it through a slit near the top, it being without any other entrance. In number they were not fewer than seven hundred. In compass they were about the size of sixpences, but much thicker. They had been made in the reigns of different Roman Emperors, whose image and superscription many of them bore. The ignorance of the person into whose possession they came, or his folly, or both, led him to sell some of them at the price of old silver, to allow some to be put into the crucible, and to squander away nearly all the rest as if of no value whatever. Three or four, however, together with a small fragment of the vessel that contained them, have lately fallen into the hands of the clergyman of the parish. One bears the image ANTONINVS AVG T.R.P. , XXVIII: that is Marcus Antoninus in Tribune Authority the 28^th time. In the reverse is a female figure in a sitting attitude, holding something like an urn, raised on a very high foot. The inscription is : IMP VL COSIII., that is, imperiator the 6^th time. Consul the Third. Antonius reigned nearly 23 years, and died in his 75^th year, AD 161".

"Two of the coins seem to have been made in honour of Faustina, wife of Augustinus. One bears her image with the inscription DIVA FAVSTINA. In the reverse the letters AVG I TI only are legible. The other is in nearly the same state".

"In the year 1804 about a mile south east, at Cakemore in the parish of Halesowen another vessel containing coins ofthe same description as the above was found. It was considerably less than the other and the pieces fewer. It was deposited in the earth a little below the surface. The finder was a most ignorant man who had drowned his senses to gratify his appetite, and the greater part of these coins shared a fate similar to that of the others. A few of them also fell into the hands of the clergyman above referred to The oldest bears the image of Nero and is inscribed IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PP> In the reverse are three standards; the middle one surmounted by a large eagle; the other two seem to have entwined serpents with the same device above, all of which are nearly defaced; but there is no inscription. Nero reigned Thirteen years, and died in the 31sy year of his age AD 70, it is therefore possible this coin may be 1770 years old.   ”from the journal of the Rev George Barrs, curate and vicar of Rowley Regis 1801-1841

Pre Saxon England. “ The only points we can fix at that remote age are the tenure of the Westminster monks succeeding that of King Edgar. To this king's possession was handed down, most probably from the long line of the Kings and Earls of Mercia. the whole of the extensive tract extending from the Severn bank, which-in those times was the boundary of Staffordshire, down to Arley, Kings and Kington in the south part of Worcestershire, across by King's Norton and Birmingham, by Rowley Regis in the west;Newton Regis, King's Bromley including Needwood Forest, Kingston, Cannock Chase, Brewood, and Kingswood at the Shropshire borders. This territory included the forests of Cannock, Needwood, -Brewood, Kingswood, Morfe and Kinver ;and in point of fact, at that period, nearly the whole of the County of Stafford, was a sort of grand centre of the royal shooting and hunting ground, and surrounded by and more or less in connection, with other forests of even larger extent, such as Arden, Sherwood, Dean, Wyreand Shirlet;the whole forming a truly royal chase.”

From Perton of County Stafford by E.A.Hardwicke 1897.

 

Anglo Saxon times .  “Most people lived in small rural communities a couple of dozen or so homes circling a village green or extending up and down a single winding street (as in Rowley Village) The centuries leading up to 1000 were the years in which people picked out the crossroads or stream crossing where they thought they could piece together a living. Villages built around a green may have originally been constructed in a circular pattern to provide protection from wolves or other marauders. By the end of the first millennium every modern English village existed and bore its modern name and the names can tell us whether the identity of that village was primarily shaped by the Anglo Saxons or the Danes.”  As stated above Rowley is of Anglo Saxon origin. It is not clear where the original Rowley village green was placed but there was an animal pound on a piece of land in front of St Giles church as late as the 19th Century and Rowley Wake, a livestock and hiring fair was held in a field next to the Church in September on St Giles day.

Extract from “The year 1000. Robert Lacey 1999”

nors and their records

The Manorial System

People often use the word 'manor' to mean a manor house. The manor was actually a country estate, which was run from the manor house.

In the Middle Ages land ownership was tied to national security. Under the feudal system all land was owned by the king. He granted territories to his earls and barons in return for military aid in need. They in turn granted lands to men who fought for them. Thus the land and its people could be protected without a standing army. The system broke down in the later Middle Ages and feudal tenure was finally abolished in England, Ireland and Wales in 1660.

The basic administrative unit was the manor. Ideally a manor was enough land to support a cavalryman - a knight's fee. He needed not only food and clothing for himself and his family, but armour, weapons and horses. The acreage needed varied according to the quality of the land. England had about 5,000-6,000 knights' fees.

It was natural for a son to follow in his father's footsteps, taking over a manor and the duty to fight. But once it was accepted that fees were inherited, then a manor could be held by a disabled man. Or it could be divided between daughters. So it might be more convenient to commute military service to a money payment. Over the centuries this gradually became the norm. So knighthood was not inherited with the manor. As a code of chivalry developed in the Middle Ages, so the prestige of the knight rose, and with it the expense of maintaining armour and trappings. Knighthood became an honour, but one that some manorial lords preferred to avoid. Even today a knighthood remains an honour to an individual person. It is not inherited. The lord or lady of a manor was simply the person who held it. Manorial lordships are not part of the peerage.

Those holding manors direct from the Crown were called tenants-in-chief. Mainly these were barons and earls. In 1086 they held half of England. However the king kept about a fifth in his own hands. His manors could be granted direct to knights, who would then be tenants-in-chief. The rest of the English manors were held by the Church - mainly by monasteries or cathedrals.

Manorial administration and its records

The lord of the manor kept some land in demesne - farming it himself. The rest he let, or left as common pasture and wasteland There were two types of manorial tenant: villein and free. The freeman held land by deed and paid a fixed money rent. After centuries in which the rent remained unchanged while its value fell, such rents were nominal. The villein worked on his lord's land for certain days in return for his own.

All tenants had to attend the manorial court, held usually in the The lord or his representative presided. From the 13th century onwards the business done was recorded on court rolls. That included the lord's decisions on which villein would hold what land. As it became usual for the villein to be given a copy of the entry in the court roll relating to his holding, such a tenure became known as copyhold. In Tudor times copyholds began to be replaced by leaseholds. The 1922 Law of Property Act finally abolished copyhold tenure.

Not all manors had a resident lord. A lord who held several manors might chose to live in one, and place a resident bailiff in charge of each of the others. Or the demesne farm could be let on a leasehold. In either case a chief house for the manor would still be needed, The manorial lord not only built the manor house but frequently founded a church beside it or chapel within it. He could be involved in much other building in the manor too. Any building expenses would be recorded in the manorial accounts.

Sometimes a survey of the lord's land would be made. A medieval survey was not a map, but a written record of property, listing tenants and their acreages, rents and/or services to the lord. One type of survey - the extent, made on the death of any manorial lord or baron holding land directly from the Crown, did briefly describe the manor house and its surrounding farm buildings

ST Giles , Parish church of Rowley

1199; Ist Church built during the reign of King John between 1199 and 1216, local tradition says 1199. May have been Saxon Church on site before this E.C

"The church here is particularly remarkable for the deformity and barbarous taste of its construction" From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire by William White 1834" Another view of the first church Remains of the first Church (tower and floor) can still be found in the church yard today Remains of the first Church which can still be found in the churchyard today. A description of the first church of Rowley by the Rev George Barrs  With regard to the building: The once animated dust of the inhabitants has accumulated into such a mass around it, that the floor around is very much below the surface of the exterior ground. Though so elevated, the situation is extremely damp. When graves are opened in the churchyard, particularly at the East end of the building, a considerable quantity of water is soon collected in them. On these accounts the interior of the Church is perpetually wet, cold and dirty. I have literally been obliged to wade along the middle aisle, nearly to the tops of the shoes, in mud and water, to get to the desk; when there my clothes have been wet through by torrents of water from above. Many times has it been necessary to lade and mop the water out of the seats before people could enter them to worship: of course they must be places of great comfort and safety for people to occupy two hours at a time, especially for weakly constitution, and women just recovered from confinement. And who can doubt that such a situation must be extremely favourable to the feelings and sentiments of devotion, particularly if it be admitted that mortification is a powerful assistant in, and a requisite qualification for, acts of divine worship! The galleries are so low as not to admit of the floor being raised. And the roof is so low that if the galleries were raised, apertures must either be made through the ceiling and tiles for the heads of several of the congregation, or be content to kneel all the time they are there, To be sure the attitude of kneeling is not improper for worship; but then to see persons in a place of worship crawl on all fours into their places, like dogs into their kennels, would be as awkward an appearance as it would be to see a number of heads thrust through the tiling on the outside, like so many culprits condemned to stand two hours in the pillory. The roof is long and ponderous and so sunk on both sides, that if a line were stretched from the eaves to the ridge, the tiles would be found to lie several inches below it, about the midway between these extremes. The timbers in general are in a bad and decayed state; almost every rafter is lined, that is, has had a piece nailed to it nearly of the same length as itself; one of the side pieces is actually held together by iron-work, and several of them are so sunk in the middle that, as seen in the inside of the church, they resemble, in form, a segment of a rainbow inverted. The natural result of this is, some of them have nearly lost their bearings at the ends and the roof is actually supported by props. The walls are chiefly made of what are called Rowley rags; they are rough stones abounding in angles of every form, and so hard as to bid defiance to any tool but a sledge. Of course then they are not very well calculated for building. When used for this purpose they were laid together in the form of something like a thick wall, the interstices, or spaces, by which they could not be brought to touch each other, were filled up with either clay or a very course mortar and a coat of plaster daubed on the outside. Such is the construction of the walls of this church. And they have another property which cannot add much to their strength and durability. Instead of being cemented throughout, and forming one solid mass, each wall is formed by two outside shells of rag-stones placed at considerable distanc4e from each other, having little or no connection beside that of standing on a common foundation, and being held together by the freestones which stretch across both these shells, and the intermediate space to form the apertures for the windows and doors. That intermediate space is eighteen inches, or perhaps, in some parts two feet, is filled up with any kind of spoil or rubbish that could be conveniently had, thrown in loosely and not at all cemented. Whatever may be their thickness, everyone knows that such walls cannot boast much of firmness and strength. And these need not be very closely examined in order to ascertain their weakness and shattered condition. That on the south side inclines outward till it is nearly five inches out of perpendicular. The north wall has given way so as to be nearly eight inches out of perpendicular; it is also much cracked and shattered at the end towards the Church. In consequence of this expansion of the walls the joists which support the west gallery are drawn from the beams so that about four years ago it was found necessary to support the floor by props on which it now actually rests. On the north side the wall which formerly touched the wainscot on the ? below has retired and set back at a distance of several inches from it. The greatest probability it must be stressed is that the wainscot has retired from the wall but in this instance the fact is otherwise. With regard to the interior of the building this is, if possible in a worse condition than the shell From one end to the other it presents nothing but one continual spectacle of decay and ruin. The greater part of the pews on the ground floor are laid with nothing but earth. Many of the seats are so much lower at one end than the other that sitting on them is like sitting on an inclined plane, where you are perpetually sliding downwards towards the lower end. In several parts the framework is completely decayed and the wainscot of the pews completely broken down and has bid farewell to the place. The same fate has befallen the doors of some pews and of those which remain many drag on the floor, so that the opening and shutting of them requires no small degree of violence, and makes no little disturbance. Upstairs things are in a very similar condition, particularly in the west gallery. Instead of being raised towards the back, the floor lies horizontally. At the back, however, a few pews, it is presumed they once were (to find an approximate name for them now would puzzle a lexicographer) are raised above the rest. Several of them rest on posts placed in the form of props, and the stairs, by which you ascend into them, are very elegantly formed of loose pieces of stone and blocks of wood piled one on another. He who is to ascend and descend these stairs had need to have no other care on his mind than how he can escape without broken limbs. In addition to this, the pews and seats are so arranged in almost every possible variation of form so that the countenances of the congregation, when seated, instead of being directed towards the reading desk, look towards almost every point of the compass. If the place were intended for a watch tower, and the congregation were set there to act the part of sentinels, this circumstance might contribute somewhat to their advantage, as it would afford them n opportunity of descrying the approach of an enemy, from whatever quarter, without the trouble of standing and facing about. But it cannot certainly be very decorous nor yet contribute very greatly to devotion and edification, when the congregation, in a place of worship and public instruction, are obliged either to stand or to look over their shoulders, or not to direct their countenances towards him who officiates. Besides all these irregularities and incongruities, similar ones are very prominent in the height of the pews, and in the material of which they are made. Some are twelve inches higher than others, or more, and some of every height between the highest and the lowest. Some are formed of pane work, others without. Of some, the materials are two inch planks in slats, while others scarcely exceed brown paper in thickness. Some are curiously wrought with carved figures of various kinds while others are totally destitute of ornament, and have never experienced the operation of the smoothing plane. Such is the actual state of the ancient fabric in 1812. – and is such a place fit for a place of worship? Would it not be impossible to find such a mass of ruin, inconvenience, deformity, and danger, heaped together in any other fabric serving for a place of worship throughout the United Kingdom? To whatever part the eye is involuntarily turned, it is met by something which excites disgust, or raises indignation; and when once persons have ventured in, and are become conscious of the danger to which their lives seem to be exposed, from the ruinous state of the fabric, it is natural to suppose, the object of their greatest anxiety is that it may not fall and bury them in its ruins. The church is a very ancient kind of Saxo-Gothic structure. The walls are chiefly of Rowley- rag about three quarters of a yard in thickness. Whether they at some time imbibe moisture and at others exude, though covered with proper coats of plastering, and there are two fire stoves in the church, they very frequently stream with water in summer as well as in winter. After being cleaned and white-washed they are soon again covered with a greenish coat intersected thickly from top to bottom by furrows formed in the descending moisture. The principle aisle is rather nearer the north side than the middle of the church and continues from the entrance near the west end to the communal rails. Near the north side is a narrower aisle all the length of the church. Proof of the churches Roman Catholic origin lies in the existence of a Gothic niche or grotto used by the papists, about three feet high and four from the ground, once used for holy water. Towards the east there remains a flat white marble stone about six feet in length on which there are carved three letters in old church characters. Across the west end is a gallery upwards of eighteen feet deep erected under a faculty granted by the Consistory of Worcester in 1699 by Zachariah Downing, John Parkes, Henry Haden and John Turton, gentlemen, for themselves, their tenants and other persons of their respective familes at their own proper costs. On the south side is another galley about twelve feet deep from the west end to the chancel. The whole number of sittings after all does not exceed 300, that is one sitting and a half to every ten persons in the parish, but they are all private property. George Barrs and the rebuilding of the original Rowley Church. George Barrs was obsessed with rebuilding the Church, he regarded the building which he inherited as unsuitable for its purpose and perhaps unsuitable for his legacy. He succeeded against great opposition in having it rebuilt but never lived to see the completion. It was very unusual for a church to be demolished and completely rebuilt, as is the case with the original Rowley Church, and surely it is a crime to destroy a building which has stood for at least 800 years. In a way George Barrs did a disservice to Rowley, he may have built a spanking new church more suitable to house the parishioners but he destroyed its heritage and Rowley's sense of history, who is to know that a church has stood on the spot for over 800 years, people love old churches even if they are not religious, and they provide a sense of identity to local inhabitants through the generations and even present Rowley people go back many generation. Very few Rowley people even know that the present church is not the first, not to mention that there have actually been 4 churches, in all, on the site! the village has also been destroyed and Rowley's place as an ancient settlement is not recognised even within the black country, if you look around the church yard it soon becomes obvious that the graves predate the church but anyone passing or driving past is not able to see that the church and its surrounding village date from ancient times.As part of his campaign to rebuild the Church George Barrs wrote this account of the state of the church building when he arrived in Rowley, we do not know if he exaggerated the state of it but it would certainly have suited his purpose to do so. Parishioners wanted the church repaired and portraits of the church do not really bear out the curates description, but George Barrs was a very determined man and had his way in the end. The four churches of Rowley The King John Font from the original church This is a picture of the original font from the time of King John, it was badly damaged in the fire which destroyed the third church, the extract from the parish magazine in the 1920s clearly state that the remains were placed in the clock tower, despite various requests we have been unable to ascertain whether they still exist today. The St Giles Charnel Cave. In 1797 Shaw the Staffordshire historian wrote of the St Giles Rowley churchyard, “ There is a charnel cave left open in te graveyard containing a great number of human skulls and bones to serve I suppose as a “memento to mori” to the villagers and tell them to what complexion they must come at last” A charnel house is a vault or building where corpses and/or bones are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging graves. Often, where ground suitable for burial was scarce, corpses would be allotted a certain period of temporary interment following death. This enabled the relics to be collected and the ground re-used for further burial. This especially occurs in particularly rocky or arid places. William Crump vicar of St Giles postulated in 1854 that the cave could perhaps be attributed to mass burials, maybe the great plague of the 17th century or the “awful pestilence” which struck the village during 1728 and 1729. The Great Plague avoided the Rowley area but looking at the burial registers there were 45 burials recorded in 1669 which was double the average and from 1727 to 1729, as can be seen from the following statistics, there were also a large number of deaths perhaps swamping the abilities of the sexton at the time; 1725(54); 1726(60); 1727(110); 1728(174); 1729(168); 1730(103); 1730(103); 1731(102); 1732(48); 1733(45) We also found the following anecdote referring the to St Giles charnel House. “in 1791 the good people of Kingswinford were saved from the activities of a serial bodysnatcher and murderer thanks to an argument over a broken needle. William Hawkeswood was born in Pedmore where his father was an undertaker. After receiving some schooling William obtained a job as ’dispenser to Surgeon Fox’ in Kingswinford but after he accused the good Mr Fox of using broken needles when sewing up his patients Hawkeswood returned to live with his parents. The next year, however he was caught “secretly stealing sundry skulls and bones from an open charnel grave at Rowley Church in the borough of Rowley Regis”. Worse still was that he was found to have constructed a complete skeleton from the stolen bones. As a result the business of Hawkeswood’s father suffered and the family moved to Swindon, near Wombourne. William managed to get employment with a Mr Parker of Chasepool Lodge as a coachman. However, bodysnatchers became active in the area and—not surprisingly—William Hawkeswood was amongst the first to be interviewed. This caused a row between him and his employer who was found dead the following day having been poisoned. William ran off to Worcester but was captured and brought to trial on 4th April 1808. He was found guilty and executed on 6th April. Afterwards the body was cut down and delivered to surgeons (including Surgeon Fox) for dissection. The unwanted parts of the body were then buried at Trysull crossroads.” Compiled from various sources.

The St Giles parish registers

The Staffordshire Parish Registers Society (SPRS) has just published its transcription of the St. Giles, Rowley Regis, Parish Registers Part 4 covering the period from 1813 to 1849. The three earlier volumes of the registers were published by the SPRS in the period 1912 to 1916. It was extremely fortunate that the Society, founded in 1900, had chosen to transcribe these particular registers early in its existence for St. Giles suffered a fire on June 18th, 1913 and was burnt down. Most of the original parish registers were in the Parish Chest and suffered badly from fire and water damage. The damage to these registers makes anyone interested in church, local or family history cringe.   Part 3 of the printed registers gives some indication of the condition that the registers were found in after the fire. For example, the earliest volume covering the period from 1539 to 1624 is described as "Shrunk to exactly half its former size. Number of leaves complete but barely legible owing to damage by fire and water". Another register was described as "So soaked in water that in spite of all efforts to preserve it, it rotted away and had to be destroyed". Two registers survived intact for they were at the time of the fire in the custody of the Parish Register Society, being transcribed. Fortunately, the SPRS had transcribed all of the registers up to 1812 so at least the contents of the registers were made readily available for future local historians and genealogists.   The latest volume now to be published by the SPRS covers the period from 1813 to 1849, as stated above. Because most of the registers for this period are not in a fit state for inspection or use, the transcript is mainly based on the so-called Bishop's Transcripts. In 1598, all incumbents of the Church of England were instructed to henceforth make a copy of the entries in their Bishop which, in the case of Rowley Regis, was the Bishop of Worcester. Whilst the Bishop's Transcripts were supposed to be faithful copies of the original registers this was not always the case. However, for Rowley Regis, these Bishop's Transcripts remain the only full original record of the Rowley entries for that period.   Some of the original registers, although badly damaged, have survived from the fire and are held at the Sandwell Library. One or two of the volumes have been restored when possible. Each page had to be divided into two separate sheets by professional restorers and a strengthening sheet inserted before the front and back sections of the page were reunited.   During the period covered by this current transcription, Rowley Regis was a Chapelry to St. Leonard's Church at Clent. Thus from 1776 to 1816, Lyttleton Perry was the Vicar of Clent with Rowley Regis, being followed by Joseph Sharpe in 1816. On his death in 1825, Adolphus Hopkins took over until he died in 1855. These Vicars were essentially based at Clent, whilst the day-to-day running of the Rowley Regis Church was vested in a Curate. The Curate of Rowley Regis in the early part of this period was the Rev. George Barrs who held that office from 1800 to 1840. For the next five years there were a sequence of incumbents, namely E.J. Burke, Frederick Foot, J.H. Sherwood and T. Massey. William Crump became Curate of Rowley Regis in 1846. It had long been realised that the linkage of Rowley Regis to Clent was outdated, since at this time, Rowley Regis was a populous community expanding rapidly with the development of industry, whilst Clent remained a fairly small, mainly agricultural parish. At the time of the 1831 Census, Rowley Regis was recorded as having a population of 7,438 and increasing rapidly whilst Clent was only a mere 922 which was fairly static. It was thus agreed by the Ecclesiastical Authorities in 1845, that on the death of the then Vicar of Clent with Rowley Regis, the two parishes would be split into two distinct parishes. The Rev. Adolphus Hopkins died in 1855 and from that date Rowley Regis was elevated to a parish in its own right.   The registers transcribed cover the baptisms, marriages and burials for the period 1813 to 1849. The original registers were of a pre-printed format and hence required only certain specific information on the parties concerned. However, fortunately, one or two of the Curates of Rowley did provide more information than the minimum required. To take a few examples from the Burial Register for 1813, we have on the 21st March the burial of Sarah Lovell aged 60 "a gipsey woman who with the others of the same fraternity had resided in the parish during the winter" and John Slater "very poor but truly believing in Jesus Christ". On the 7th April the burial of Sarah Bennett aged 20, "A dwarf and dumb idiot and a dwarf of not much above three feet high".   The register is rather unusual in that although there was no column in the register for the cause of death, the incumbents at the time obviously thought it useful to record this for posterity. Taking 1820 as an example, 106 people were buried. The most frequent cause of death, claiming nineteen lives, was said to have been "decline", a condition that seemed to affect people of all ages since the youngest to die of this cause in that year was aged just three months whilst the oldest was aged 54. That children's complaint, measles, was the next largest cause of death with some 14 children dying from it in that year. This was closely followed by smallpox which claimed 12 lives. (How fortunate we are to live in a period where both of these diseases don't carry the same risk).   "Bowel complaints" came next, presumably a reflection of the quality of the water and of the food people ate. This was followed by "natural decay", a rather graphic description of the effects of old age. Another facet was the risk of bearing a child with four women dying in this year during child birth. The modern scourge of cancer didn't really figure, with it being the cause of death in only two instances.   We mustn't think that everyone in this period was doomed to a short life. There were many residents of Rowley Regis who lived to a ripe old age. Many made it into their seventies and eighties whilst some five over the period covered, from 1813 to 1849, made it into their nineties. The oldest death recorded was of Thomas Brooks of the "Town" who was buried on the 20th January 1837, aged 101. His cause of death was that graphic phrase, "natural decay"!   We have seen that measles and small pox caused significant deaths but perhaps the most feared of all was cholera. In common with many other Black Country towns, Rowley Regis was hit by the cholera outbreak in 1832. The first death from this cause was recorded on the 16th July when Rhoda Davis, aged 22 was buried. From then on, over the next two months, there were continual burials due to cholera. It seemed to peak in mid August when on the 12th there was one such burial, two on the 13th, six on the 14th and five on the 15th. One can but imagine the horror and fear that this wave of deaths caused. The disease continued through into August, by which time a total of 72 people had died from this cause. Rowley Regis was by no means an isolated area for these attacks. They were prevalent during this period throughout the Black Country. Whilst Rowley Regis suffered 72 deaths in its population of about 7,500, bear a thought for Bilston which suffered 741 deaths in a population of only twice that size.   The registers also give an insight to the occupations carried out by the residents of Rowley Regis at that time, since there was a requirement to enter the occupation of the father when baptising a child. Again looking at the entries for 1820, a total of 88 of the entries gave the father's occupation. Way at the top of the list was "Nailer" with 45 entries, meaning that half of all the fathers were engaged in the manufacture of nails. The next nearest occupation given was "farmer" which perhaps was a surprising second with ten fathers giving this as their occupation. Next were labourers at eight, after which we were down to one and possible two of a variety of occupations. These included "Collier" (1), "Blacksmiths" (4), "Tool mender" (1), "Tracemaker" (1), and "Pincer Maker" (1). Standing out from all, was the one entry for the gentry class, namely William Eagles Johnson who was described as a "Gentleman" of Portway.  

The St Giles Registers

A descendant of the Haden family (C W Bassano writing in 1921) stated that there were (are?) five vaults under St Giles church, presumably he is referring to the third church.

1 The Haden family of Haden Hall, the vault is under the chancel – entrance being within the church just outside the chancel – built by Henry Haden who died in 1675 aged 42 and was buried in the vault, his wife Mary followed in 1717, Elizabeth presumably their daughter 18.08.1732 and Henry their son 09.10.1736 aged 77, These are all recorded on one floor stone headed “Hic Sepulti”, on another floor stone headed “underneath are buried” are recorded Mary Haden 17.03.1810 aged 88; Ann Smart 25.02..1819 aged 92 and Elizabeth Kendrick 19.09.1826 aged 95. Mary is a daughter of Thomas Haden,the latter two, Ann and Elizabeth, were daughters of Henry Haden who died in 1736.

2 Rev Georg Barrs – built by himself on south side of chancel, large enough to hold six coffins, the vault contains Elizabeth the wife of his son Frederick, himself in 1840 and wife Mary in 1844.” Rev George Barrs died on 26.08.1840 and was buried in the family vault which now lies in the south transcript on 02.09.1840 aged 69 years”. His widow Mary was also buried in the same vault 26.03.1844 aged 79 years. Both died at Haden Hill.”

3 Mr Dan Hill – only occupant – stone bore no date – Daniel Hill was a Farmer and Iron Master of Rowley village, he lived with wife Nancy in a farmhouse next to the church they farmed 66 acres one of the largest farms in Rowley. They had two daughters Ann Elizabeth and Mary both of whom married sons of the Rev George Barrs, Ann Elizabeth to Alfred Haden Barrs 20.07.1840 and Mary to Frederick W G Barrs, Frederick and Mary are buried in the Barrs vault. Daniel Hill died aged 51 in 1831 of a burst aorta, his wife Nancy remained in Rowley until her death in 1875 when she was not able to be join her husband in the family vault as burials within church walls was forbidden after 1853. She was interred in the vault of her son in law Alfred Haden Barrs.

4  Thought to be of The Russell family of Rowley – The Russell family or as they were originally known De Rushales were granted the manor of Rowley regis by King Henry II in 1154 but eventually lost out to the Somery family (see Rowley time line). A Thomas Russell is on a muster roll from 1539 and a William Russell of Portway Hall on a hearth tax list from 1660 William Russell an iron monger rebuilt Portway Hall in 1664 . A Daniel Russell of Rowley fought with Cromwell at the battle of Worcester during the civil war. It is not known which of the family is interred in the vault

5 Possibly the Sheldon family of Rowley – A very old Rowley family associated with Brindlefield Hall ,Tividale a Richard Sheldon lived at Rowley as early as the 14th century, together with sons Maurice and Richard, a grandson John moved to Beoley in Warwickshire. A descendant, Lady Monins, (Elizabeth Brimfield of Derretts Hall, Tividale) who founded the first school in Rowley in 1703 was certainly buried at St Giles in 1705.

All vaults are completely enclosed with strong walls of brick and mortar and were many feet below the surface of the church floor, all interments were in lead coffins.

In 1853 an order was passed forbidding further interments within church walls, the Barrs family considered this a personal affront to their family and petitioned the then Home Secretary in 1856 to no avail.

In 1862 the vault of Alfred Haden Barrs son of George Barrs was built outside the church, it measured 7.6” by 6.6” and eleven feet high, it eventually contained

Eliza Ann Barrs – wife of Alfred Haden Barrs 1875

Mary wife of Frederick Barrs 1904

Alfred Haden Barrs himself 1877

Frederick W G Barrs, his brother 1875

 Ann Eliza Haden his half sister 1876

Mrs Hill (Nancy) his wife’s mother 1875

When the third church was built a faculty was obtained to extend the walls to cover this vault and so bring it within the church building. What happened within these vaults when the church was the subject of mining subsidence at the end of the 19th century is not known. It is believed that the headstones for the Haden vaults were removed from the ruins of the church and kept at Haden Hall after the fire of 1913 and not returned to be included in the new church building, presumably these are still there!

There was possibly another grave or vault within St Giles, when Stebbing Shaw visited Rowley in preparation for his History of Staffordshire, published in 1798, he noted that there was a white marble slab within the church with just three letters carved upon it, unfortunately he did not say what these three letters were and the marble slab does not survive but it could mark the grave or vault within the church of one William Orm a prominent Rowley landowner with holdings in both Rowley Regis and Rowley Somery who’s will stated that he desired to be buried “in the Churche of Rowley under the marble stone” at his death which occurred in 1611. (Edward Chitham)

Vestry rule, the power of the Church Rowley along with other parishes in England was governed from the Vestry by the Vicar or Curate and his churchwardens. Dating from the fourteenth century the vestry was a parish parliament chaired by the parish priest or in his absence the churchwarden or, in the absence of both, an elected member of the meeting. Its powers grew with the decay of the hundredal and manorial courts system.In England, until the 19th century, the parish vestry was in effect what would today usually be called a parochial church council. Vestries were responsible not only for the ecclesiastical affairs of the parish but all the other administrative requirements of lay business. In 1835 more than 15,600 ecclesiastical parish vestries looked after their own: churches and burial grounds, parish cottages and workhouses, their common lands and endowed charities, their market crosses, pumps, pounds, whipping posts, stocks, cages, watch houses, weights and scales, clocks and fire engines. Or to put it another way: the maintenance of the church and its services, the keeping of the peace, the repression of vagrancy, the relief of destitution, the mending of roads, the suppression of nuisances, the destruction of vermin, the furnishing of soldiers and sailors, even to some extent the enforcement of religious and moral discipline. These were among the multitudinous duties imposed on the parish and its officers, that is to say the vestry and it's organisation, by the law of the land. The vestries spent not far short of one-fifth of the budget of the national government itself[2]. From 1837 the provision of support for the poor was no longer the direct responsibility of the vestry, but came under elected boards of guardians for single parishes or poor law unions. In the London area civil vestries were incorporated by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, distinct from the ecclesiastical vestries. A system of elected rural parish councils and urban district councils was established in 1894, replacing the vestries for all administrative purposes.    Timeline

1066; Norman conquest

1086; The Domesday Survey. Rowley Regis is not thought to be listed in the Domesday survey at least in its own righ. There are various reasons why this should be so: Sir Edward Coke in the early 17th Century wrote that “ Certain it is that before as after the Conquest, the King upon his ancient demesnes of the Crown of England, had houses of husbandry, and stocks for the furnishing of necessary provisions for his house hold: and the tenants of those manors did by their tenures, manure, till etc and reap the corn upon the Kings demesnes, mowed his meadows etc., repaired the fences, and performed all necessary things belonging to husbandry upon the Kings demesnes: in respect of which services and to the end they might apply the same the better, they had many liberties and privileges, as that they should not be sued out of the court of that manor, nor impanelled of any jury or inquest, nor appear at any other court, but only at the court of the said manor, nor be contributory to the expenses of the Knight of the Shire which serve at Parliament, nor pay any toll etc, which liberties and immunities appear to this day, albeit the original cause thereof is erased. Now all the manors which were in the hands of Edward the Confessor before the Conquest, or in the hands of William the Conqueror, and so appear in the book called Domesday are accounted the ancient demesne of the Crown of England, and had been the demesnes of the Crown long before.”   This historical view that ancient demesnes tenures survived from pre conquest times and were to be found in Domesday was a widely held view in Cokes time and a legal treatise written during the reign of Henry 111explained that privileged villains on Royal demesne lands were descendants of the free Anglo Saxons who had been removed from there holdings by the Normans.   This has been found to be not necessarily true, for example Rowley does not seem to appear in Domesday but was since declared ancient demesne of the Crown and several Monarchs issued charters to this effect beginning with King John and men of Rowley certainly had the privileges accorded to tenants of ancient Royal manors.   There are several reasons why Rowley may not have been mentioned in Domesday apart from the fact that the survey has been found not to be without omissions and errors, it could have erroneously have been considered to be part of Clent as it was linked ecclesiastically, it was in an obscure part of Staffordshire surrounded by Worcesteshire manors, and could have been simply overlooked by the Staffordshire surveyors, and ignored by those assessing Worcestershire or it could have been considered part of the Royal hunting grounds and not mentioned in its own right.   The omission was corrected by the pipe rolls of Henry 11 in 1172 which came next to the Domesday survey and contained a full account of Crown revenues.  Rowley was listed amongst five other Staffordshire estates as being an ancient demesne of the Crown (The Annals of Willenhall by Frederick William Hackwood 1908). At this time the administrators of the King (Henry 11) were aware of the importance of Royal resources and set to regain Royal lands alienated in the previous reign thus, to raise more revenue in taxes for the King.  Pipe Rolls are English royal administrations “set of accounts” attempts to value estates in Royal hands.

1140; Rowley was part of the Royal hunting grounds - Regis was added to the name of Rowley in around 1140 to signify it was that part of Rowley beonging to the King. JWJ maintains that at the time of the Domesday survey Rowielia(Rowley) was extra manorial in that it did not belong to any Manor it is listed as "Ep'i de cestre" in the survey. After the survey such lands (forests or wastes) were taken into the Royal Demesne and thus Rowielia became Rowley Regis.JWJ page 52, there was no church at the time of the survey.

1154 ” Rowley Regis must be taken to have been included in the Corpus Comitattus of Stafford on the accession of Henry 11 in 1154” – notes on the pipe rolls of 1 John 1199, Collections for a history of Staffordshire

1154; “Tenant in Capite” - Henry 11 granted Rowley Regis to Richard de Rushales (who also called himself de Rowele). Tenant in Capite is the holding of land in feudal tenure direct from the monarch .(EWA) 1170 “A crementum of 6s 2p was set upon the Sherriff in respect of this ferm of Roelea” * 1171 increased to 13s4p.* 1172 decreased to 12s8p * 1172; “In the year 1172 the Pipe Rolls, which come next to the Domesday Book among our most ancient national records, and contain a full account of the Crown revenues, return Willenhall, among five other Staffordshire estates, bringing in the sum of £19 7s. 8d. per annum to Henry II.  These estates were Bilston and Rowley Regis, being ancient demesnes of the Crown, and the manors of Leek, Wolstanton, and Penkhull (in the north of the county), which had escheated at the Conquest from the Earl of Mercia.  Rowley probably brought in but a few pence at that time, when it formed a part of Clent” “The Annals of Willenhall, by Frederick William Hackwood 1908 edition” 1173 crementum 13s4p 1195; pipe rolls of Richard 1 value Clent and Rowley Regis at 18s per annum. “de Tallagio de Clent at de Ruggelega et xviiis.” Tallagium Villarum in Staffordshire 8 Richard 1, (Collections for a history of Staffordshire) 1199 Rowley Regis appears in the pipe rolls of 1199 (accession of King John) as a King's Manor, fermed by the Sheriff, at a fee-fam rent of one mark per annum. (Collection for a history of Staffordshire volume 2)

1199; Ist Church built during the reign of King John between 1199 and 1216, local tradition says 1199. May have been Saxon Church on site before this E.C

"The church here is particularly remarkable for the deformity and barbarous taste of its construction" From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire by William White 1834"

1200; The 1154 grant of Manor of Rowley Regis to Richard de Rushales(Rowele) is ratified by King John in a charter confirming Richard de Roshale's holdings in Rowley Regis as Tenant in capite – Copy of charter held at National archives Kew, 1201; Pipe rolls of King John – Nova oblata (payments due to the Crown in exchange for favours) Ricardus de Rushale is named as Tenant in capite of Rowley Regis in succession to his father, debit 10 marks. Collections for a history of Staffordshire notes that this is the only passage which can be supposed to tell us anything about the old Lords of Rowley, it also notes that Richard de Rushale was not the contempoorary Lord of Rushale. 1202 Idem Vicecomes r,c.. de I. Marc. De firma de Rolea. Pipe rolls 4 John (1201-1202) 1203 De Oblatis, Ricardus de Rushale, the outsanding 10 marks to be paid in two installments. 1215; Pipe rolls of King John – Ricardus de Rueleia tenant in capite of Rowley Regis is charged one mark per annum “de firma de Rueleia and in addition 18p for Cradley mill (Molendini de Cradeleia) 1215 Halesowen Abbey, which at subsequently held Rowley Regis from the Monarch, was founded by Premonstratensian canons under King John. 1236 Inquisition made by the sheriff of stafford about knights who hold single and minor fees of the Lord the King in chief found that “Phillip de Ruwele holds village of Ruwele (Rowley) at fee-farm, paying 13s4p per annum.

1255; Philip de Rowele holds the vill of Roule (Rowley Regis) of the Lord the King, rendering annually 16s. 4d. and for frankpledge 40d., and he has a free court (habet liberam curiam), and he does suit at two general Hundreds on requisition (et facit sectam ad duo generalia Hundreda ad curiam suam exigendam (see footnote )  (Footnote  For the meaning of this, observe the King's writ to the Sheriff of Warwickshire at the bottom of p. 12 of this volume. The tenants in capite had, amongst other privileges, that of not appearing at the Sheriff's Tourns, which are the two great Hundred Courts held at Easter and Michaelmas of each year, except on special summons)  From: 'Staffordshire Hundred Rolls: Seisdon hundred (39 Henry III, 1255)', Staffordshire Historical Collections, vol. 5 part 1. 1272 Phillip de Rouleye died and the Manor of Rowley Regis reverted to the King, In an inquisition 1327 where there was a dispute over who held the manor, it was found that at his death; "Phillip de Rouleye held in his demesne as of fee the manor of Roulye of the King, in capite, by the service of 16s.4p to be paid annually at the exchequer by the hands of the sheriff of Co Stafford, at Easter and Michelmas, and there was a messuage there worth 8p yearly, and no more because it was in ruins, and there was a carucate of land worth 20s and no more because the land was stoney "saxosa" and there were three acres of meadow worth annually 6s at 2s an acre and several pasture worth 20s and a watermill which was worth 20s and the rents of assize of the customary tenants were 60s annually and the pleas and perquisites of the Court were worth 6s8p annually."

1233; Somery family sue de Rushales for two carucates of land in Rowley Regis Manor. the (carucate was a nominal 120 acres).

1270; Phillip de Rushale Lord of the Regis Manor grants lands (Haden Hill?) to the Haden family

1272; Death of Roger de Somery 1.;( ?-1272)"Mill de Ruleye" mentioned in the inquisition. E.C. Heir Roger de Somery 11.(1255-1291)

1272; Death of Phillip de Roule, Manor of Rowley Regis reverted to King Edward 1

Between 1272 and 1302 Edward 1 gave Rowley Regis to;

1.William de Duclyngge

2.Ralph de Hengham who was Chief Justice of the Kings Bench between 1274 and 1290 during the reign of Edward 1 when he was disgraced and imprisoned.

3.Roger de Somery 11(1255-1291)who now presumably owned both manors

1284; First mention of Rowley being a chapel of ease of Clent 8 miles away. JWJ

1291; Death of Roger de Somery 11. 1255-1291, his elder son Roger111 died ? And  his younger son John (?-1321) succeeded in 1299

1291; Rowley Regis manorial survey Rowley residents inluded Richard/Rogerde Derybate; Thomas de Wynesthurst

Phillip ate Toun; John de Fevere; Phillip de Brodehurst;John Martyn; Henry de Muryhurst; Stephen ate Hade;

The Manor House Rowley Hall valued at 2 shillings.

1291; Manor of Rowley Regis passed to Agnes widow of Roger de Somery. 1293; Ist Mention of Market and Fair held at Rowley Village, Market would likely have been held weekly and  the Fair (Rowley Wake ?) which was held in a field adjacent to the Church on the Eve of St Giles day (1st September.) Rowley Wake was still being held as late as the 1960s although by then a fun fair held on waste ground at Whiteheath. Market (Prescriptive) recorded 1293, mercatum, held by Agnes de Somery   Fair (Prescriptive) feria recorded 1293, held by Agnes de Somery .

1293; Jury of Seisdon Hundred declared Manor of Rowley Regis (which) was of "Ancient Domain" and belonged to Somerys

After death of Agnes in 1308, Manor of Rowley Regis reverted to the crown and was subsequently given to; (see 1;2 and 3.)

1; john de Somery who died in 1321 then * and **

1316;  "John de Somery was owner of Rowley Regis".  Erdswicks "Staffordshire", "Rowley at the Conqueft remained of the King's Demefne and fo continued till afteF the xxth Year of his Reign But in 9 Edw(1316) 2 John Somerye was Lord of it and continiieth ftill in the Inheritance of his Pofterity the Lord Dudley being now Owner thereof" see The History of the Black Country page 33.JWJ.

2; William de Herle * Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas who died in 1347.

Note; In 1327 Richard de Roule grandson of Phillip petitioned the King (Edward 111) for the return of Rowley Regis to his family but his efforts would seem to have been in vain.

3; John de Hampton The Lord Kings escheator for the counties of Heref;Glos;Worcs;Shrop and Staffs. who still held it in 1337.**

1321; At the death of John de Somery, Baron of Dudley, in 1321,His sister and Heir, Margaret (b1290-1384) wife of John de Sutton, inherited the bulk of his estates, The Manor of Rowley Somery passed to his younger  sister  , Joan (1288-1326), wife of Thomas Botetourt(d1322).

At some point between 1321 and 1326(death of Joan 1326/7 ?) Rowley Somery came into the possession of John de Sutton husband of Margaret.

1326; The lands of John de Sutton (1286-1359) including Rowley Somery passed to Hugh de Spencer son of Earl of Winchester who petitioned Edward 11 under a pretence that John de Sutton had been loyal to Thomas Earl of Lancaster.

1327; in first year of Edward 111 Rowley Somery reverted to John Sutton who successfully petitioned the King to say his lands had been taken from him by force. JWJ

1327; Subsidy Roll raised to obtain funds to fight the Scots gives mames of main inhabitants of Rowley, those mentioned in 1291 joined by "atte Grave"; de Tukkenhale"; de Scaresmore"; E.C.  Mention of "messuage"(significant house) Rowley Hall? Said to be in ruins.

1330; Abbot of Halesowen Abbey was renting Rowley Regis from John de Hampton who at this time held it from the King.

1337; Abbot of Halesowen was paying rent directly to the King John de Hampton having died? **

1340; Advowson of Church and Chapel of Clent and Rowley granted to Hales Abbey by Lord Botetourt. (He presumably previously had the livings in his gift)

1344; One vicar for Clent and Rowley under patronage of Halesowen Abbey. Vicars were subsequently listed fom 1344

1450; A Rowley Regis manoral court Jury consisted of the following men of Rowley, Thomas Staresmore; John Derby; William Adynbroke; Thomas Turhull; William Grove; Roger  Derby; William Cook; William Alnechurch; William Haden; William Adynrok jnr, John Orme.

1508 By 1508 Rowley Somery had been purchased by James Leveson (1487-1547) a wool merchant from Wolverhampton who obtained vast estates in the Midlands, he was the ancestor to the future Dukes of Sutherland and Rowley Somery remained in this families possession until at least 1851.

1524; Charter granted by Henry V111 to Chapelry freed residents of jury service outside Rowley and certain taxes.

1538; Halesowen Abbey disolved- Abbey lands passed to Lord Dudley, Duke of Northumberland including Rowley Regis ?. Rowley Regis remained in the hands of the Lords of Dudley until at least 1851 1539; 20/1/1539 First entry in St Giles registers "Thomas son of Richard Lyddiate" baptised..

1539; Survey showed 15 men of Rowley able to bear arms, William Orme; Henry A Whille; John Grove; John Darby;

Thomas Russel;Thomas Cartwright;Richard Haden;Thomas Hantruv;George Allchurch;Thomas Parkes;

Henry Cattell;George Marten;John Mansell;John Hoccheks;John Addenbroke.   1540 At this time there was  dispute between James Leveson and Lord Dudley as to the ownership of Rowley Somery, judgement was found in favour of Leveson."On the Quindene of Easter. 31 Hen. VIII. (1540)  Between James Leveson, Armiger, complainant, and Edward Sutton, otherwise Dudley, Armiger, deforciant of the manors of Overpen, Netherpen, Oxley, and Rowleysomyrey, and twenty messuages, 600 acres of land, 300 acres of meadow, 600 acres of pasture, 200 acres of wood, 100 acres of furze and heath, and £12 of rent in Overpen, Netherpen, Oxley, and Rowleysomyrey." Edward remitted all right to James and his heirs, for which James gave him £800 sterling.

1605; Fugitives fom the Gunpowder Plot Robert Winter and Stphen Littleton hidden in Rowley ( tradition says Rowley Hall) until new years day 1606. 1606; Thomas Smart and John Holyhead of Rowely Regis were subsequently charged with sheltering the renegades. They were tried in Wolverhampton and executed in High Green (Queen Square) on or about 27 January 1606.

1620; Dud Dudley patented method of smelting iron with coal instead of charcoal at Cradley Forge this would pave the way for the industrial revolution in Rowley Regis.

1648; During English civil war only on Rowley resident reported as suspected Royalist (William Brimfield of Derrett Hall)

1653; During the reign of Cromwells English Commonwealth many attacks were made on the Church and its institutions, on th 24th August 1653 an Act of Parliament abolished Church marriages, subsituting a civil marriage contract, banns had to be posted in the market place and marriages had to be conducted by a magistrate in his own house, Magistrates were not common and the Bride and Groom may have to travel 8/10 miles to find one, many Rowley marriages were conducted by Henry Stone of Walsall, these marriages were later added to the St Giles parish registers 1654; William Turton minister at Rowley. 1657; Queen Elizabeth 1 passed thru Rowley on the way to Dudley Castle from Halesowen.

1660 The monarchy was restored under King Charles 11  1661; In response to survey churchwardens reported that "church fabric in good and decent order, churchyard fenced with stone wall, ministers house in good repair, curate regular, book of common prayer in use, no hospital or school in the area.

1662; William Turton minister at Rowley ejected after the Restoration of  the Monarchy and the Act of Uniformity which compelled ministers to conform closely to the Prayer Book, later became minister at Old Meeting House in Bham. 1664 poll tax return for Rowley

1670; Manor court of Rowley Somery met to survey Somery lands, chief landowners were, Richard Amphlett (Warrens Hall), Richard Aynesworth (Yew Tree), John Dabbs (Dobbs Bank), Johnathon Rushton (Windmill End).

1676; In response to Bishop of Worcesters questionaire (Compton Return) churchwardens stated population of Rowley Parish to be 420 "of whom 384 absent themselves (from church) but not obstinately." Returns were made to the Bishops of the inhabitants of all parishes over the age of 16 and the form of faith they professed, the return for Rowley was as follows; “420 conformists; no papists or non conformists”

1684; Church reported as needing substantial repair, chancel needing repair and new bells were to be purchased and hung. 1688 A Trust deed for erection of almshouses, 22 March 1688/9, between (a) John Turton senior of Brades, Rowley Regis, yeoman (b) Henry Haden of Haden Hill gentleman, John Turton junior, Thomas Willetts of Portway, John Grove gentleman son of Thomas Grove gentleman, Francis Corfield, John and Richard Russell, John Bath, Thomas Hill, Joseph Rowley, Christopher Chambers, Joseph Coleborne, John Martyn, Richard Aynsworth, John Parkes son of William Parkes of Tottnall, William Steven and John Bridgwater, all of Rowley Regis a quarter of an acre of land at Old Hill. in trust for charitable purposes. (a) conveys to (b) in trust for charitable purposes. Signature of (a) [John Turton senior of Brades, Rowley Regis, yeoman.] Witnesses: Jo Grove, William Parkes, John Parkes son of Richard Parkes. 22 March 1688/9

1703; Elizabeth Brimfield of Derretts Hall (Lady Monins) set up group of trustees to remedy lack of a school in Rowley.

1717; First Court of Rowley Somery held since 1670 in an attempt to survey manor. 1728; "Ye epidemical distemper" a particularly virulent desease struck Rowley and took its toll amongst the poor,from a norm of 53 in 1721 buriels in Rowley jumped to 174 in 1728 and 168 in 1729. 1734  Appointment of new trustees, 28 Sept. 1734, bet. (a) Henry Haden of Haden Hill, gent., and Richard Aynsworth, yeoman, both of Rowley Regis, surviving trustees of charity as in (i); (b) Thomas Saunders rector of Avon Dassett Warwicks., Thomas Haden of Wolverhampton gent. and s. John, John Grove gent., Thomas Carpenter and s. Thomas, John Turton, Sheldon Cox, John Cartwright, William Parkes, Thomas Willetts, Daniel Ruston, William Haden and s. Henry, William Aynsworth and s. Squire, Thomas Aynsworth and s. William, John Bate of Foxoak. 1738  Poor House – by indenture date 03/08/1738 in consideration of £50 Thomas Haden and John Turton had purchased of the Rev Thomas Saunders two dwelling houses or tenements situate at a place called Iberwick Green in the Parish of Rowley and reciting that the said messuages had been converted into a workhouse for the poor of the said parish.   1740 Earliest mention so far found of a Jews Harp maker (William Sidaway) in Rowley Regis. Most people in the Black Country during the sixteenth and seventeenth century had some metal working and smihy tools recorded on their probate inventories at the time of their death, even if their official description was "Yeoman" rather than "Nailer" A significant number of people combined nailing and other metal work with small farming. The life of a nailer and his family was a hard one. The nail rod was taken from the nail master, cut into pieces of the correct length and hammered into shape. this was carried on in the "shop" attached to the house or at the bottom of the "fold" The man of he house could work at two trades, wet days at the fire and fine days in the fields, his wife and children were always at work, in this way enough was made for the family to live on. There was no need for emigration as children when grown could be absorbed into the work. However hard it was at least there was security and constant available work at home without the need to travel, this continued until the industrial revolution and far later in Rowley village which remained relatively untouched by progress.

1755; George Holyoak appinted steward of Rowley Somery and Upper and Lower Penn- According to Manor Court records held at Staffordshire record office all three Manors were administered together whilst in the posession of the Leveson family. E.C 1793 Act to cut a navigable canal from the Dudley canal to the Worcester canal at Selly Park. Canal went from Windmill End and Old Hill thru Gorsty Hill tunnel to Weoley Castle and Selly Oak. This heralded the birth of the great industrial age and the beginning of the end for Rowley as a predominately rural district. 1794; In pulling down stone wall near to the Hail-stone1200 silver Roman coins were found in an earthern globe. Hoard formed complete series of Roman Emperors. 1794; The Rowley Building Society formed at a meeting in the Swan at Rowley Village. It was decided to build a row of houses at right angles to Hawes Lane between the church and the windmill, Plans were drawn up by John Mackmillan and Jesse Taylor was to be the builder of the first 4 houses with nailshops and earth closets to be completed by 1795. 8 houses were completed for let by 1797 and became known as "Club buildings" This was amongst the earliest builsing societies recorded in England, the houses survived into the 1970s. 1799; Rowley Regis Enclosure Act  (completed in 1805) enclosed most of the remaining common land and distributed it amongst various land owners. The Earl of Dudley held the mineral rights and his agents could sink a pit or exploit these rights anywhere despite what buildings or farm land happened to be in the vicinity.  1803  The Rowley windmill was sketched in sepia by David Parkes in 1803 alongside Rowley church on Alsop’s Hill, The original is in the British Museum. A farm was about 100 yards from the windmill and Brickhouse barn by Doulton Rd was the tythe barn for the church. The barn was taken down in the 1960’s. The site of the windmill is now occupied by the graveyard. 1814; Reported in Gentlemans magazine two deaths at Rowley; At his son's, Lympsbam, Rev. C Stephenson, vicar of Olrtey, late minister of Rowley Regis, co. Stafford. Few ever possessed more fervent aud habitual piety, or warmer aud more diffusive benevolence. Staffordshire.—At Rowley Regis, Mr. J. Dowding, who, though possessed of an unincumbered estate of 1000/. per annum, almost deprived himself of the common necessaries of life; and had lived for many years totally excluded from the world, without even a single attendant, 1820; In January a vestry meeting decided that inmates of the poorhouse should have to work breaking stones to earn their bread, others worked in the poor house nail shop. 1820; A vestry meeting was held at Rowley 29th May 1820 to discuss the building of a new road from Blackheath to Rowley village, it was to be 24ft wide, lined with post and rail fence and as "straight as conveniently can be done" 1821 An 1821 enclosure map showed about 80 houses and farm buildings collected around the Church. Rowley Hall was the main house with the housing running from it past th Church and down the hill as far as Bell End junction, and a few near what is now the Robert Peel public house. In Hawes lane there were a few houses close to the church while in Siviters Lane there was one cottage near the village, a large house (later called the Hollies) at the corner of Siviters Lane and Ross and a large building named Shepherds Fold at the foot of the lane. A few houses stood in Mincing Lane near the Pear Tree inn, there was a small hamlet nearby called Blackheath  and a few isolated houses were to be found in Tipperty Green (about half a dozen), Moor Lane, Yew Tree Lane ad Powke Lane. Smaller hamlets existed at Perrys Lake, Turners Hill, Cock Green, Knowle and Pigs Foot Green, there was no through road to Dudley 1822 The vestry bought the following implements to help in road building and maintainence; 2 iron scrapers, 4 round pointed shovels, a block and ring for breaking stones and a hand hammer. 1823 6 men and their families leave the St Giles congregation believing that the Bible supports believers baptism which the Rev Barrs was vehemently against, results in the founding of the Providence Strict Baptist chapel at Bell End.  1825 A law was passed outlawing bull, bear and badger baiting, favourite pass times for Rowley and Black- Country people. 1828 Daniel Matthews becomes minister of Bell End Strict Baptist Chapel his ministry lasts untill his death in 1888 (See separate article in "Rowley people"   1830; The overcrowded graveyard; Extract from the journal f the Rev George Barrs 1830. "The burying ground around the church has long been so crowded with dead that it is scarcely possible to make a single additional grave without violating the repose of someone not yet reduced o earth. This is not creditable to survivors nor is it more so that the clergyman has been trying for 30 years and upwards to get the churchyard enlarged without success! 1832; 52 died in Rowley Regis during cholera epidemic. After its first appearance in July a Parish meeting was held, A volunteer inspector was to "see in what state the dwellings of the poor are, to recommend whitewashing where it appears needful and in cases of real poverty to furnish lime and lend a brush" It was also recommended that "all drains and soughs" were cleaned out and families kept as clean as possible. No one knew at the time that the desease was spread by effluent mixed with drinking water and that poor drainage caused rapid spread of the desease. 1832 During the cholera epidemic the Rev George Barrs added the following to his journal.1832 August 15th 1832 August 15th.“The dreadful pestilence (cholera) has now reached this parish, for several weeks it had been in the adjoining parishes of West Bromwich and Tipton and Dudley. Along the borders of this parish it seems to have got a firm footing. Eleven persons who were each carried off by it in a few hours were buried in the churchyard here yesterday and today besides two on Monday and two on Tuesday morning making fifteen in four days.” 1832 Sept 1st “The month just ended has been eventful indeed to multitudes in this neibourhood. In this parish not fewer than forty six of its victims have been interred within the month and six during the latter part of July making a total of fifty two. They were nearly all young and in the meridian of life, perhaps very few of them had even entertained an idea that death was within many years march of them. The intelligence of this pestilence making ravages in different places was by many of them disbelieved, by others treated with ridicule and contempt. In that part of the neibourhood where it was found most victims the people seemed to grow more hardened as the news of its approach was more frequently and fully confirmed. The infatuation which has long been evidenced among hem seemed to become tenfold more strong and awful to such a degree that many could be convinced of their delusions only by feeling the attack which speedily numbered them with the dead. Eighteen were buried in three days, so malignant was the disease that in more than one instance persons who were attendants at funerals were seized on their return from the church and rendered unable to reach their abode without help and bought next day to be buried.” 1832 Sept 30 “The month of September has ended and with it I hope the tremendous visitation is almost gone in this neibourhood, three funerals only have occurred from its attacks in this Parish since the tenth instant. No sooner had the violence of the disease abated than many who under the state of alarm appeared among the worshippers in the congregation and heard the word preached seemed to have fallen into their old state false peace and security for they are seen no more in the congregation.”  "The first outbreak of Asiatic cholera in Britain was at Sunderland on the Durham coast during the Autumn of 1831. From there the disease made its way northward into Scotland and southward toward London. Before it had run its course it claimed 52,000 lives. From its point of origin in Bengal it had taken five years to cross Europe, so that when it reached the course of Durham, British doctors were well aware of its nature, if not its cause. The progress of the illness in a cholera victim was a frightening spectacle: two or three died of diarrhoea which increased in intensity and became accompanied by painful retching; thirst and dehydration; sever pain in the limbs, stomach, and abdominal muscles; a change skin hue to a sort of bluish-grey. The disease was unlike anything then known. One doctor recalled: "Our other plagues were home-bred, and part of ourselves, as it were; we had a habit of looking at them with a fatal indifference, indeed, inasmuch as it led us to believe that they could be effectually subdued. But the cholera was something outlandish, unknown, monstrous; its tremendous ravages, so long foreseen and feared, so little to be explained, its insidious march over whole continents, its apparent defiance of all the known and conventional precautions against the spread of epidemic disease, invested it with a mystery and a terror which thoroughly took hold of the public mind, and seemed to recall the memory of the great epidemics of the middle ages."   1834 15 died in Rowley Regis during cholera epidemic 1834; Population of Rowley Regis 7438 1834,   August 16th 1834;  Rev George Barrs wrote to his parishioners, In the reign of Henry VIII a charter was granted to the inhabitants of this parish and renewed by queen Mary, it conferred on them certain privileges – one was that of being free from serving on juries except within the parish. For many years these privileges have not been claimed. An attested copy of this charter is now in my possession. I therefore request the ratepayers especially them as are liable to be called on juries, to meet in the vestry at 10am Friday 29.08.1834 to consider and determine on taking the necessary measures for availing themselves of the privileges granted by the said charter” 1836 Rowley regis poor-house amalgamated with Dudley Poor Law Union. Rowley Regis poor house which was located in Treacle Street  between Cock Green and the Knowle closed. Treacle Street no longer exists but its where abouts can be defined from the 1861 cencus. Another site for an earlier or later poorhouse is thought to be at the junction of Tipperty Green by the Bulls Head.

1840; First Church existed until 1840 when it was rebuilt, with the exception of the Tower,due to the tireless efforts of the Rev Barrs who saw the foundation stone laid but never lived to see it completed, he was buried beneath the new church near the alter. Church opened in 1841. 1840 Dickens in his "Old curiosity shop" gives a description of the Black country as a grim desolate place and sparks a debate on social conditions. 1841 - Vestry minutes 1841- Alehouses and Beer shops “At a public meeting 21/05/1841, the minister, churchwardens and overseers of the poor request the ratepayers to meet to consider what steps can be taken to prevent the alarming increase of wickedness and immorality resulting from the vast number of beer shops and public houses with which this parish abounds.” F Foote, minister. The resulting meeting issued the following statement; “Resolved unanimously that there are now existing in this parish 39 old licensed victualling houses and 57 beer shops exclusive of the houses licensed to retail beer not to be drunk on the premises, it is the opinion of his meeting that the said number is more than sufficient to supply the wants of the population” “It is resolved that we who are now present do pledge ourselves to use our utmost endeavours to prevent any increase in the numbers of alehouses within the limits of this parish”

1841; Act of Parliament severed Rowley from Clent Rowley becme a Parish in its own right 1841 Glebe land (land belonging to the church) at Blackheath sold, Blackheath parish formed.   1842.Nailors Riots in Dudley Amongst men from Rowley were Eber Johnson,? Holyoak, Eli Jones, William Parry (ringleader) Samuel Lewis a factory owner was forcibly taken from hs home in Rowley and marched to Dudley. 1843 Mr Best, manager of the British Iron Company's works, said in evidence to a Parliamentary enquiry in !843 into conditions in the South Staffs coalfield in the aftermath of industrial unrest that;- "Lord Ward, of whom we rent our royalties, has, by an Enclosure Act, passed in the early part of the century, a right to search for mines in any part of the country, which forms a large portion of the parishes of Dudley, Kingswinford, Rowley Regis, and Sedgley, notwithstanding that, the surface belongs to various proprietors, so that if we wish to sink a pit anywhere in our royalty we have only to intimate to the proprietor that we want one of his fields. By the progress of the workings houses are thrown down and land ruined." 1844 Parish further divided when Cradley parish formed. 1847 Church document notes that "The old village choir lives again in those violin players and mixed choir" Singers musicians were - Ann, Phoebe,Joseph and Abraham Parkes; Charles Parish; John Lowe, James Preece;Hannah and John  Taylor and Catherine Smith. Violin players - Edwin Burgess and Herbert Terrington. Bell ringers - George Hadley, David Troman, Daniel Woodhouse Isaac Fowley, John Breasier jnr. all good Rowley names 1848 The National School in Hawes lane was opened as a mixed school, under the control of the Church with places for 340 pupils, Arthur Wilson Swallow was the master.. 1851; Population of Rowley Regis 14000. According to the 1851 cencus 200 houses in Rowley Village. 77% of occupants had been born in Rowley 15% in neibouring parishes and only 1.5% outside the west midlands. There is still no through road to Dudley beyond the Knowle 1854 .Boiler explosion. at Beasley and Farmers. June 1854. Current events for the year 1854 a monthly supplement to Household Words by Charles Dickens. “There was a boiler explosion at Beasley and Farmers Iron Works in Smethwick in the Black Country in the early morning of the 16th,.The engine worked by the boiler had been stopped for repairs, just after the engine was again put into motion the boiler gave way at the ends with an explosion of terrific violence. Many of the buildings around were shattered, one piece of the boiler weighing about six tons ploughed through brick walls as if they were paper, fortunately most of the workpeople were absent but three men and three boys were dreadfully scalded, th boiler had been examined recently and pronounced safe.” 1858 Church tower finally rebuilt. 1858 Netherton Tunnel which runs under the Rowley hills to Tividale opened. The last canal tunnel ever built in England. 1861 The Dudley New Road appears on the 1861 census showing for the first time a through road to Dudley from Rowley village via the Knowl 1863, According to the Edinburgh Review, fatal casualties in mining accidents in the Black Country were around 800 a year. 1869 On September 18th 1869 A reporter from the Midland Industrial News arrived in Rowley Regis to report upon 'The Long Strike.' Already, the nailers had been 'out' for eleven belt-tightening weeks and the prospect of another bleak Christmas faced the people. Not that many of them looked that far ahead. Finding sufficient food to survive another day was enough of a problem for the vast majority! 1870; Rowley Hall colliery opened by Frederick North who lived at Rowley Hall. 1871 Rowley Regis Urban District Council formed. Until this time Rowley Regis remained a Manorial land administered by Parish Vestry, Courts Leet and Baron. 1874 Old Hill parish formed 1875, John Alfred Langford reported in his book ‘Staffordshire and Warwickshire’, that the number of collieries at work in Rowley was 26 with 5 standing idle; at Corngreaves there were 22 pits and a further 17 standing. The ages of miners employed in these were stated as; above 5 years old, 23; above 10 years old 2056; above 15 years old 4418; above 25 years old 6924. “It was a district that had no plan, the heart of Black Country England. Thirty pits had been constructed where one would have done, houses had been thrown together so that the workers rolled out of bed into work. The roads and houses had been drawn into weird shapes by subsidences and the sun scarcely penetrated the gloomy haze. People lived and died hard." 1876 New purpose built Providence Strict Baptist chapel built on new site at Bell End to replace original which was too small for the congregation.  1877; Knowle infants school founded. 1878 Tividale parish formed this and previous changes left the parish of Rowley Regis as it is today. 1879; The Hail-stone demolished, 2 men died in the process.  1879; Dudley Herald 1/2/1879 “ A distress prevails in the Rowley and Blackheath district to an alarming extent. A local relief committee has been formed including non conformist and churchmen who are working together in this noble cause. Last week 400 4ld loaves and 120 gallons of soup were given away which is the intention of the committee to repeat weekly throughout the winter months. Subscriptions in hand and promised amount to £80.” 1879; Dudley Herald 15/2/1879. “ In Rowley Regis 140 gallons of soup were distributed to about 300 people in the Rowley village area by the local relief committee, the Duke of Sutherland who is a large propery owner in the area and the Lord of the manor of Rowley Somery donated £10 to the relief fund”  1880, the scene from Rowley Regis resembled a picture from Dantes Inferno. Over fifty collieries poured thick smoke into the clouds, four large blast furnaces lit up the night sky. Near Garratt’s Lane the Old Hill Iron Works maintained a continual thump of drop hammers and a perpetual whistle as the hammer was hoisted up again. The noise of the winding gear, water pumps and factory sirens had taken the place of the lark; farmlands had retreated until only the higher moorland was left; even there the blasting of quarries left very little peace.” - The History of the Black Country, 1949 1880 Macmillans charity school remained as a day school up to the 1880s and also a Sunday school linked to Rowley church. It was rebuilt in 1858. From 1880 it was a Sunday school only with a service once a month in Rowley church. There was a dispute in 1886 and the service in the church ceased. The school became wholly independent. The school building was demolished in 1920 and moved up the hill to its present position in 1929 1888 Daniel Matthews of Bell End Strict baptists dies and new minister Alfred Dye is appointed. His ministry lasts until 1923 1894; The church has been closed since February 1894 it being in the most dangerous state having been condemned by an architect    1895 Joseph Ruston and others split from the Providence Strict baptists in Bell End after an argument over the installation of an organ to form their own congregation in Hawes Lane.  1897 Opening of Ebeneezer strict Baptist chapel in Hawes lane (demolished 1981)  1899  The second church is now closed, having been the victim of subsidence due to mining,  and undergoing extensive alterations, services are being held in the parish room. The church was finally condemned in 1900. 1900 Sewers were first laid in Rowley village.  1904 The third church was built during 1904 the foundation stone being laid 27.06.1904, The tower from 1858 remained and stood as part of the new church. The new church opened in 1905. 1904; Siviters Lane mixed and infants opened with places for 310 mixed pupils and 300 infants. the master wa Mr A E Bloomer and the infants mistress Miss Caddick. 1910 In 1910 hundreds of women chainmakers from Cradley Heath went on strike to improve their poverty wages. Dubbed the “white slaves of England” they struck for 10 weeks, defeated their bosses and won a minimum wage for the first time in Britain, doubling their wages.  Mary Macarthur, union agitator, led the strike and on 22 October 1910 spoke to a mass meeting of chainmakers in Cradley Heath to announce their victory. A festival to mark the occasion is held every year at the Black Country Museum and from 2011 a separate festival sponsered by Trade Unions will be held at Cradley Heath in September.   1913; Third church of St Giles gutted by a fire of spectacular proportions, the blaze could be seen from a distance of twelve miles, (18.06.1913) The Church which was not insured at the time was completely destroyed despite the best efforts of the Old Hill Fire Brigade. The fire was rumoured to have been started by suffragettes but this was never proven. The parish chest was rescued by the firemen, its contents charred pages lost here and there but mostly legible, luckily the registers had already been transcribed by Miss Auden apart from one section which was in her possession at he time of the fire. the replacment and present church was not completed until 1923 and in the meantime services were held in temporary accommodation in the church grounds. Edward Chitham wrote - "18.06.1913 fire broke out on the evening shortly after the verger had locked the church, it began in the organ loft and soon engulfed the church being seen from miles around. Ironically the insurance would have taken effect only a few days later. The cause of the fire is a mystery to this day. The Great War intervened and not until the 1920s did rebuilding begin, spearheaded by the Rev Francis Cheverton it was finished in 1923."   1914; Church Hill quarry in Currall Rd closed during Ist World War, Currall Rd is named after the operators of this Quarry, Currall, Martin and Lewis. The excavation remained until the 1960s when it was filled and is the site of the current village green. 1916 Zeppelin L21 appeared over Rowley. 1920 Rev F C Cheverton a retired army officer became Vicar of Rowley, A grat debt is owed to him as he was responsible for raising funds to rebuild the church after the fire (it was not insured) He also preserved the History of Rowley thru the medium of the Parish magazine and deposited many documents in Birmingham archives. 1921  In the 1921 Parish magazine the minister Lt Col Rev F J Cheverton wrote; “Easter will give us an opportunity of showing that we have not forgotten our departed who lie buried in our midst in the ancient graveyard of Rowley. So many graves and monuments show such neglect that one is sometimes driven to think that we are soon forgotten after our mortal remains are laid to rest in mother earth.” 1921 Rev Cheverton offers £1 reward for apprehension of person who stole 3 hyasynth bulbs from grave no 58 on 1st MARCH. 1921;  George Aldridge took over post office in Rowley village on the retirement of Fanny Tryphena Underwood who had been post mistress for many years 1921;  August, Rev Cheveton offers £5 reward for apprehension of persons who broke open and removed contents of collection box by churchyard water tap.    1921;  Parish Mag Nov 1921, “Our church has seldom had such an inspiring Harvest thanksgiving day as on October 16th there was a great display of fruit and floral decorations. The most pleasing feature was a contribution of about 100 loaves and bread varying from 14lbs and 4lbs each, thus showing a practical sympathy for those who find it hard in these days to provide daily bread for little hungry mouths.”   1921 Effects of Pit strike (flooding) closed most of the mines in Rowley Regis. 1921 When George Haden Best died in 1921 the Haden Hill Estate was bought by RRUDC and Haden Hill park opened to the public in 1922. 1923; Dedication of the fourth(present) church of St Giles.  1926 January. A buried gravestone. Whilst excavating in some waste land in Hawes Lane, Rowley, on Monday, preparatory to laying the foundation of a garage, Mr Samuel Barnsley, one of the workmen, found a gravestone of red sandstone in the ground. The inscription on the stone, which was in a good state of preservation, is as follows;” Here lies Eliza wife of John Bibb died October 25th 1719”. This discovery seems to suggest that the parish churchyard once extended to the south west instead of the opposite direction, further excavations are being made. 1929 Church of England school in Hawes Lane closed, buildings continued to be used as a Sunday School,the mixed school in Siviters Lane became a girls school. 1930 The Endowed Mission and Sunday school moved from the bottom of the Village to its present location half way between Bell End and Siviters Lane. 1932; Roman coins from the time of Hadrian found in Hawes lane 1932 Britannia Park in Rowley opened on the site of Stlilehouse Farm now known as the Britannia Inn at Bell End. 1933; Foundation of Rowley Regis Borough. 1934 The Bassanno family were instrmental in saving the 16th century Old Haden Hall  from demolition by the Council who could not justify finding £2000 of ratepayers money to renovate it! 1936 Mains electricity came to Rowley village  1937. Rowley Regis municipal buildings containing Mayors Parlour opened. 1939 Population of Rowley Regis 44780. 1940. German bombs fell on the Rowley Hills killing 15 people. 1946 Rowley Regis Grammar school opened in Wrights Lane.  1947. The winter of 1947. In the bad winter of 1947 when ice and snow lay on the ground for many weeks,  bread and milk could not be delivered as normal because of the hills around Rowley and the depth of the ice and snow, in one of his earliest memories, the author can remember a channel being dug up along Church Road past Rowley Hall, the wall of the channel reached far above his head (although he was only 3 at the time!) Residents collected bread and milk from the Co-op in Hawes lane, some would also take an old pram to get coke from the Powke Lane gasworks, everyone had to stand in a long queue waiting for their turn, then they had to pull or push the load all the way back up Moor Lane to the village, it would have been very hard work as the hill was steep and the snow very deep. The author can also remember a neighbour who lived in Newhall Road and worked at the gasworks often bought a load of coke in an old pram for his own use, presumably a welcome perk of the job. 1950. Rowley village cricket club played at Britannia Park on Saturday afternoons from the 1950s to the mid sixties. Tea was taken in the Sons of Rest building next to the park. By 1966 the cricket club had become very successful and applied to join the Kidderminster league which necessitated a move from Britannia park to a ground in the Kidderminster area where it survived until 1983 befoe amalgamating with Old Hill cricket club. Although Britannia Park is still used by numerous local soccer teams cricket has not been played there for many years   1962 Rowley Regis Grammar School moved to Hawes Lane site. 1966 Rowley Regis joined (not willingly) with Smethwick and Oldbury to form Borough of Warley. 1966 formation of Black Country society. 1970 Rowley Hall and most of Rowley village demolished and replaced by modern housing. 1972 Rowley, Oldbury, Smethwick, West Bromwich, Tipton, and Wednesbury formed Sandwell MBC, the whole of Rowley Regis is now known as one of the six towns of Sandwell despite it containing Blackheath, Old Hill and Cradley Heath which are towns in their own right. 2008; the Post Office in Rowley Village closed as a result of Government cuts. 2010 Centenary of the 1910 women chainmakers strike celebrated at the Black Country Museum and in Cradley Heath at Mary McCarther gardens. 2011; Annual Rowley Church fete had to be moved to the Church Hall as a new section of Currall Rd cut across part of the Green for access to the new school. 2011; New "super school" built as result of Government initiative on the site of the old grammar school in Hawes Lane, restores the link with education in Rowley. 2013 In January a funding was obtained to restore the Great War memorial in St Giles churchyard. The memorial has become eroded and the names of Rowley residents killed are no longer readable. We do not know the timetable for this restoration but hopefully it will be completed by November.  2015; An archaeological survey carried out on behalf of the Diocese of Birmingham found that; the internal graves/vaults, which contained burials of the Haden family and others, in the floor of the original church, are not now visible and their exact location is unknown, The Haden vault is thought to be in the area of the pulpit. The boarded floor possibly overlies an earlier floor. Chamfered blocks, reset in a line to south east of church, are from one of the earlier churches (thought to be the original tower). The overall assessment stated that there is probably good survival of below church deposits I.e vaults and graves. Rowley places Bell End  the name Bell End has almost certainly medieval origins. An End, in the Black Country, was a small collection or grouping of homesteads. The origin of the name “Bell End” has been lost in the mists of time and has been the subject of much debate, but maybe the following gives a clue. Bell End Colliery. This colliery was owned by the Rowley Hall Colliery when it opened new shafts were sunk on the site of a former un named mine, (possibly the site of an old Bell Pit) it survived until 1932 the last working mine on the southern slopes of the South Staffs seam, the others having succumbed to flooding in the 1920’s “Medieval mines were usually drift mines or shallow bell pits. The bell pits were dug down from the surface and then out into the coal seam in the shape of a bell. Coal and miners were hoisted up and down in the manner of a bucket in a well. Mine roofs only collapsed if the 'colliers' burrowed too far outwards” “The Bell Pit was one of the earliest forms of underground mining where a central shaft was sunk into the seam. The miners then worked outwards from the pit shaft until the pit roof was in danger of collapsing whereupon the bell pit would be abandoned and a new shaft would be sunk nearby. The materials would be hoisted up on a wooden rope winch or windlass with a basket attached to it.” Bell End Pit had two shafts with rope, one shaft had a tank which filled with water, the other shaft was for a cage in which the miners were transported up and down to and from the coal face. The water for the tank came from a pool at the side of the pit called the “wimsey pool” fed from a stream from the Rowley Hills and perhaps a legacy of the old “bell pit”. When the tank was at the surface and the miners cage at the bottom of its shaft a door in the tank automatically opened and the water went into a brook which flowed in the direction of Oldbury Rd. The pit workings were quite high as though on stilts and one could easily walk underneath them. The coal came up in square metal tubs on wheels, ten were chained together the first tub was clipped to a steel wire and the tubs were pulled on a pit railway which ran from Bell End to Rowley Hall colliery on the “Quack” at the top of Mincing Lane and on to Cold Blow pit around Portway and eventually to find its way to the canal. Smethwick Weekly News 5/10/1901 “Yesterday, Mr. H. A. Pearson (coroner) held an inquest at the BRITISH OAK INN, Garratts Lane, Old Hill, respecting the death of Patrick Malsy (31), a slater and plumber, formerly residing at Trinity Street, Langley, who was killed whilst employed at the Bell End Colliery, Rowley, on Wednesday afternoon. Deceased was engaged to paint the pit frame. For this purpose ladders were secured to the pit frame, and placed upon a railway, upon which waggons ran to and from the colliery. One of these came in contact with one of the ladders, and deceased was thrown to the ground, a distance of 27 feet, and sustained a fractured skull and fractures of both arms, death taking place immediately afterwards. The jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death, but expressed the opinion that more care should have been exercised in ascertaining if the tubs could pass under the ladder, also that a man should have been placed at the foot of the ladder.” Rowley people The Rev George Barrs of Rowley Regis A most significant event of this period which was destined to have lasting influence on the spiritual life of the district was the settlement of the Reverend George Barrs as incumbent of Rowley Parish Church in May ,1800. The following account of his coming to Rowley is taken from' A Brief Memoir of the life of George Barrs' prepared by his son in 1879. ' On Sunday, 17th March, 1799, he was ordained Deacon in Ely Cathedral, and the same evening delivered his first sermon in Trinity Church, Cambridge, from Hosea 5 verse 4 .' They will not frame their doings to turn to God', and soon after took charge of the curacy of Warham All Saints, in the County of Norfolk, and faithfully preached the gospel there upwards of twelve months. Here the hand of Providence was visible. His friend, and as he termed him, his spiritual father, the Reverend Mr Hemmington, accidentally hearing of the vacancy at Rowley Regis wrote to him. He resolved on coming over. When this determination was known, the following Sunday evening nearly 100 of the congregation at Warham addressed a memorial to the vicar, urging him to prevent, if possible, such a step; but God had work for him to do at Rowley and therefore he ' must needs go there '. He arrived late in the evening of Saturday, 8th May 1800; and the next day preached twice in the Church, and in the evening in a large school room in a distant part of the parish. [ this was probably at Reddal Hill.] His first sermon from Judges 3 verse 20' I have a message from God unto thee', was heard with general satisfaction, and referred to by many with delight to the latest hour of their lives. In his own words...' the desire for my staying at Rowley seems pretty general' The Reverend George Barrs was clearly a Calvinist of the old school ' Free and sovereign grace, Unconditional election, man's total apostasy, the absolute necessity of the new birth, salvation by Christ entirely and alone, justification by faith, a life in the flesh of faith in the Son of God, evidenced by its fruits, and the security and final perseverance of God's chosen; all in the full scope and true sense of the Articles and Formularies of our Scriptural and incomparable, but abused and perverted, National Church, were the doctrines which formed the theme of his discourse, and the delight of his soul' Married to Mary, the widow of the late John Haden, of Haden Hill, the two worked tirelessly in the parish for forty years. The Parish during these long years was transformed from a place of profanity and drunkenness, to a place of godliness and piety. George Barrs was obsessed with rebuilding the Church, he regarded the building which he inherited as unsuitable for its purpose and perhaps unsuitable for his legacy. He succeeded agaimst great opposition in having it rebuilt but never lived to see the completion. It was very unusual for a church to be demolished and completely rebuilt, as is the case with the original Rowley Church, and surely it is a crime to destroy a building which has stood for at least 800 years. In a way George Barrs did a disservice to Rowley, he may have built a spanking new church more suitable to house the parishioners but he destroyed its heritage and Rowley's sense of history, who is to know that a church has stood on the spot for over 800 years, people love old churches even if they are not religious, and they provide a sense of identity to local inhabitants through the generations and even present Rowley people go back many generation. Very few Rowley people even know that the present church is not the first, not to mention that there have actually been 4 churches, in all, on the site! the village has also been destroyed and Rowleys place as an ancient settlement is not recognised even within the black country, if you look around the church yard it soon becomes obvious that the graves predate the church but anyone passing or driving past is not able to see that the church and its surrounding village date from ancient times.As part of his campaign to rebuild the Church George Barrs wrote this account of the state of the church building when he arrived in Rowley, we do not know if he exaggerated the state of it but it would certainly have suited his purpose to do so. Parishioners wanted the church repaired and portraits of the church do not really bear out the curates description, but George Barrs was a very determined man and had his way in the end. Old Hill Double Suicide, May 1892 “Harry Pugh a miner and Ann Gill a domestic servant were lovers and both decide in a suicide pact, by drowning in the Pig Lane Pool off Waterfall Lane at Old Hill. They both entered the water and Ann was drowned, but Pugh survived and got out. He was arrested (You could be tried for murder if a double suicide took place, and one survived it) and admitted to police that they had struggled and that he held her under till she drowned. Her body was recovered the next day. Harry Pugh was subsequently tried for murder but the outcome is maybe surprising given what we perhaps think of as the harsh justice system of the Victorians. When one starts a genealogy journey they dream of finding some unknown spectacular event in their family history. Usually they turn up nothing of the sort, most of our ancestors led pretty mundane lives as indeed is the case today, but sometimes we come across some remarkable event which brings the past and people to life and being so well documented that it gives an insight into personalities, social conditions and the day to day lives of our ancestors. Such was the case when I found the story of Harry Pugh and Ann Gill, the former an ancestor of mine from Old Hill, the first paragraph above gives an outline of the story but it was so well documented by newspaper articles at the time that we will let these sources tell the story in detail. Transcript of Inquest proceedings and verdict. Yesterday Mr F W Topham (deputy coroner) opened his enquiry at the Public Office, Old Hill, touching the death of Ann Maria Gill, widow, 28 years of age, who was found in the Pig lane pool, Old Hill, on the morning of the 26th ult. Superintendent Woolaston and inspector Bishop were present. Mr Waldron appeared for the friends of the deceased, and Mr Tanfield, Cradley Heath appeared for the accused, Harry Pugh, against whom there is a charge of murdering the deceased, and also attempting his own life. The inquiry caused a great deal of interest, and large numbers of persons assembled outside the Court. Last week evidence of identification was given, and a post mortem examination of the body was ordered to be made, also a plan of the pool where the deceased was found, was ordered to be prepared Nearly 20 witnesses were now called. Accused was present during the enquiry. He is about of medium height, rather light complexion, and has a slight moustache. He was dressed in dark coat and trousers, a black and reddish brown striped waistcoat, and wore a small red scarf round his neck. He gave close attention to the to the evidence, and kept his eyes steadfastly upon the witnesses while they were in the box. James Plant, junior, mining engineer, and architect, practising at Rowley Regis, produced a plan of the Pig Lane Pool. Showing the spot where the body, as he was informed, was found, and of the immediate locality and surroundings of the pool. He described the fence which bounded one side of the pool in answer to Mr Tanfield he said he should scarcely think it possible for anyone to put an adult over the fence against his or her will – by Mr Waldron: If two persons were friendly and willing they could get over the fence easily enough. It was used as a stile. Emma Woodman,a widow, residing at number nine Tudor Terrace, Ravenhurst, Harbourne, said deceased had lived with her during the last six months as domestic servant. About 9pm, on Saturday, 21st May, deceased went to Hampstead saying “if Harry comes don’t tell him where I am” Witness said she could not do that, and deceased then requested witness to ask someone else to tell hom as she did not want to see him herself, adding that if she did they would have a row. Deceased left, saying she would be back on Sunday afternoon, and that was the last time she saw the deceased alive. When she saw the dead body at the Crown Inn, deceased’s engagement ring was gone. On the Saturday previous to Easter the deceased left witnesses house , for the purpose of visiting some friends at Hampstead, and when she returned on the following Wednesday, witness noticed that deceased ‘s clothing was disarranged. Witness said “oh girl what’s the matter” said deceased said “oh I had a struggle with Harry” adding “He’s been trying to get the best of me” Deceased’s face was scratched and had been bleeding, said there were two bruises on her arm. Deceased said “Harry did it” During the time deceased had been with witness she had conducted herself in a most respectable manner. When she left witness on the Saturday night her hands were perfectly right and there was nothing the matter with her face. – By Mr Tanfield: When deceased returned to the in the Easter week she did not say anything about family unpleasantness. Deceased had told her that she wished to give Harry up – Witness noticed the ring when deceased was putting her gloves on, and remarked, “you are a swell” Deceased replied, “yes, When I go out I like to go out a matching” Pugh had stayed at witnesses house one night. She had not seen anything to lead her to understand there was any unpleasantness between Pugh and the deceased. William Kitson (11), said he lived with George Pennel, Gorsty Hill, Blackheath, said that on the 24thMay about 9pm Pugh and the deceased came to Pennel’s house , and when they left a dog called “Spot” followed them. Pugh said to the dog “lie down, Spot” Lie down Spot, I’ll drown you myself and that woman” and pointed to Mrs Gill – By Mr Tanfield: Witness was in Gorsty Hill when this took place, and was about half a yard away. It was getting dark. He did not know Pugh and Gill before this time, and the reason he knew them was because Pennel had told him. He did not know whether the people he saw at the house were the same he saw on Gorsty Hill. Asked whether it might have been another man and woman he heard the conversation between, he said “no” Witness was asked to point out Pugh and picked out one of the jurymen – By the Coroner: He ad not seen Pugh before or since the Tuesday night in question, and did not think he would know him again. Samuel Crampton a companion of Kitson’s and who was with the last witness on 24th inst. On Gorsty Hill , deposed to seeing a man and woman there. The man was Harry Pugh. He thought he should know him again. Asked to point him out witness pointed out a juryman (a different one to the one pointed out by the last witness) He did not hear the man say anything to the dog while he (witness) was there. Maria Smith, wife of James Smith, Halesowen Road, Old Hill, deposed to having been standing with Rebecca Norton in the Halesowen Road on the 24th May about nine pm, and seeing Pugh and a woman she did not know, pass by. They seemed as though they were quarrelling, Pugh remarking “Fair play is ------- sport anywhere” Pugh appeared to be drunk, and the woman had had beer. Rebecca Worton, wife if Elias Worton, Halesowen Road, Old Hill, corroborated last witness. The man was beastly drunk and the woman had had beer. Herbert Jones Chatham, licensed victualler of the George Hotel, Halesowen Road, Old Hill, deposed to Pugh and deceased being at his house on the night of the 24th, between eight and nine oclock. Pugh wanted some club money, but witness refused to give it him, and Pugh and the woman left. Next morning Pugh came again, and was joined by the woman just before nine oclock. Both had something to drink. Witness paid Pugh the money that morning – 5s and 10 pence- Pugh said he was going to Yorkshire, and witness said him would find some “black crows” there. Pugh said he should not stop about here. He and the old lady had been quarrelling and if he stopped he should do ------- murder. By the term “old lady” witness understood Pugh to mean his mother. Jouhn Siviter, miner, Pear tree street, Old Hill, deposed to being in the Cross Guns Inn Cradley Heath, with William Mason, when Pugh and his girl came in. About three or four oclock all four went for a walk round Cradley, and returned to the Cross Guns about six oclock, stayed till close on 8 oclock. When they left they went across the Old Fields towards home. Witness parted company with Pugh and the woman in the Old Fields, and left them sitting on a stile which would be quite half a mile from the reservoir. This would be a little after 8 oclock. He did not see any marks on her face. If there had been he must have seen them. Pugh and the woman were friendly – By Mr Tanfield: And had been all day so far as he knew – By Mr Woldron: The cap produced was Pughs. Isaac Hill, chain maker, Cradley Heath, deposed to seeing Pugh and the woman at the Cross Guns on the mornibg of the 25th and to afterwards seeing them “?” Parkes’s Spinners End – By Mr Tanfield: they were so comfortable together he could not help but notice them. Isiah Matthew Saunders, engine tender, Waterfall Lane, Blackheath, deposed to passing Pig Lane Pool at nearly half past nine on the night of the 25th and to seeing a man on the side of the pool. The man, the man seemed to be fishing. As witness approached him the man turned his head slightly as if to watch the direction witness was going. The man got up and went away, but he did not see his face and could not see who it was – by the jury: it was too dark for witness too see “blobbers” in the water. Police constable Insley deposed to a young woman named Pugh asking him, as he was in the Halesowen Road, on the night of the 25th to go to Harry Pughs. He found Pugh sitting on the screen, resting his head on his hands. Witness asked “what’s the matter” and Pughs brother Ben said “ive sent for you. There’s something wrong here” Pugh got up and said “ive been and done it” and, picking up his wet jacket, added “ive been in the reservoir up to my neck down Pig Lane” Pughs mother said ”there’s something worse than that. He told me his gal is drowned in Pig Lane pool” Pugh got up and said “yes its quite right”, He described where they had been walking till they came round the Old Fields and to Pig Lane adding “ we made up our minds to go and drown ourselves in the pool. We went in, I went in up to my neck. She took hold of me and we had a struggle. She held me under the water until I was nearly done for, but I got the best of her and held her. She was drowned, and I swam out.” Pughs mother said “I knew she would bring you into some trouble. You didn’t want her, and why didn’t you tell her before” Pugh also said “you will find her in the pool at the bottom end by the brick work” On the road to the Police station Pugh said “ its a bad job, but it cant be helped” Witness cautioned Pugh as to statements and charged him on suspicion of drowning Gill in the Pig lane pool, and Pugh said “You’ve made a mistake this time. Do you think I should come and tell you if I drowned a girl, we had a struggle in the water. She tried to hold me under, but I got the best of her and swam out and went home” – By Mr Waldon: Pughs statement was read over to him and he signed it. By Mr Tanfield: Pugh did not say, “We’ve been trying to drown ourselves” or words to that effect. He did not say Gill asked him if he was willing to dron himself along with her, that he (witness knew of). Witness did not hear him say this deceased said shed be “plucked” (this term, it was explained meant “equal to it” Pugh said they had made up their minds to drown themselves. Did not remember Pugh saying that his heart failed him – by the Jury: Pugh said they walked in together. Inspector Bishop said subsequently to Pugh signing the statement above referred to witness went to Pughs house and received his (Pughs) clothing, which were saturated with water. In answer to Mr Tanfield witness said Pugh was a very decent quiet man. Police constable Wicksted deposed to recovering the cap (produced) and Police constable Ballance spoke to recovering the body from the pool in question. Mr Thomas Standish, surgeon, practising at Cradley Heath and Old Hill, deposed to making the post mortem examination of the body, assisted by Dr Wesley Thompson of Cradley on the 27th. He described the results of the examination. There was a lacerated wound on the right thigh, probably caused by the drag. There was a slight scratch on the left side of the nose and a bruise on the right cheek bone. With regard to the bruise on the cheek bone, he should say it was the result of violence, and must have been caused probably from a blow, he should say, almost immediately before death. Death he should say, was due to drowning – By Mr Tanfield: The bruise on the cheek bone could have been caused by deceased striking against something in the water if she fell in alive. Dr Wesley H Thompson agreed with the evidence of the previous witness. The bruise on the cheek bone must have been done by some hard object and not by the soft ground. It must have been the result of violence – By Tanfield: - He did not think the cheek bone coming in conflict with a stone at the bottom of the pool would have caused this bruise. In that case it would have been a ? wound. Mr Waldron quoted Justice Pearson in the case of Regina v Allison “ That if two persons mutually agree to commit suicide together and the means employed to produce death only take effect on one, the survivor will in point of law be guilty of murder of the one” The coroner summed up at some length, pointing out that the question for the jury was whether Pugh deliberately, designedly, and if malice aforethought caused the death of the deceased by drowning. If they were of that opinion upon the evidence and according to the one quoted by Mr Waldron, it was perfectly clear it would be a case of wilful murder. If they thought the evidence did not bear that out they would return a verdict of manslaughter. The Jury, having consulted for a short while, returned a verdict of “manslaughter” and Pugh was committed for trial to the assizes on the coroners warrant. He was afterwards brought before the Bench and remanded for his hearing till Wednesday next. The Trial of Harry Pugh. The trial of Harry Pugh took place late July 1892 at Staffordshire Assises Crown Court. Harry was charged with the wilful murder of Ann Maria Gill at Rowley Regis on the 25th May 1892. The prosecution opened the case and said that the prisoner was charged as above, under circumstances that were peculiar and very unusual. Ann Maria Gill was found drowned in a reservoir known locally as Pig Lane Pool, according to statements made by the accused they had mutualy agreed together to commit suicide. They walked into the pool, the woman was drowned and the accused survived. The Law stated that if two persons agreed to suicide, and one survived, that person was guilty of wilful murder. The prosecution then presented evidence from various witnesses which is summed up in inquest proceedings which preceded the trial. Ther defence in their address to the Jury, reminded them of the good character of the prisoner, unless the Jury was convinced without a doubt that the evidence was conclusive they would have no right to give a verdict on the capital charge. There was no evidence which would justify them in finding such a verdict. The real question they had to try was whether the pair had really made a deliberate intention to end their lives. There were no marks of violence on the body of the deceased except such as might have been caused after death. This being a case of intention it was essentially a case where the accused ought to have the right to go into the box and give his account of the transaction. If the deceased had formed any deliberate idea of suicide, it was feasible that the prisoner should have attempted to save her and the struggle in the water was consistent with this view. What wonder that she finding herself beyond her depth should clutch him with a death grip. It might be cowardly but it was not perhaps unnatural that he should shake her off and consequently she should be drowned. The Judge in summing up, observed there was very little outside the statements of the accused to show what the intention of the pair was. The Jury must be convinced that there was a common intention before they could find a verdict of guilty. Commenting on the statement of the prisoner he pointed out that the first depended on the policeman’s recollection. It was open for them to find as the defence had so well put before them that the deceased had gone into the water, and that the prisoner struggled to save her and that this was the struggle to which he referred in his statement. With regard to the drunkenness, though this was no answer to a crime, it was an element which had to be taken into consideration when it was a question of intention – at the time of the occurrence was the prisoner capable of forming any intention. After consideration the Jury found the prisoner not guilty – the prosecution said there was another charge of attempted suicide and also an indictment from the inquest of manslaughter but no evidence would now be offered, the prisoner was discharged. Justice was surely done in this case in a compassionate manner, the judge invited the jury to find Harry not guilty and they gave him the benefit of the doubt which seems remarkable, there seemed to be no malice towards the accused, We think of the perceived harshness of the justice system towards the poor at this time, people could be transported for stealing a loaf of bread ! But maybe our perceptions are incorrect or Harry happened on a Judge who took his job very seriously and believed in Justice for all. Harry Pugh continued to live locally and remained a miner, he never married and was always in lodgings thereafter, this presents a somewhat sad picture but perhaps the case lay heavily on his conscience, we shall never know. El We have been able to ascertain that Ann Maria Gill was a Rowley girl, daughter of Joseph and Mary Taylor who lived for many years near Siviters Lane in the village. She was sister to Sarah who married Arthur Hadley and who also lived in Rowley village, Arthur was a bricklayer and Joseph Taylor a boilermaker. In 1891 one year before the tragic circumstances Ann Maria is living with her sister in the village, she has a little boy named Percy aged 4 and is described on the 1891 census as a widow, so is no stranger to tragedy, and perhaps this explains her state of mind as the story unfolds. We have tried in vain to trace the marriage of Ann Marie to a person named Gill which is her surname and that of her son and can find marriage and no death either, so this remains a mystery. We can however trace the future of her son Percy who is the main victim in this case having lost both his father and mother by the time he was five. He did not remain with his Aunt Sarah as he is not recorded in their household in 1901, but we can find a Percy Gill aged 14 living with his uncle Charles Barker a blacksmith at Perry Barr, wife Ann, who originates from Old Hill , Staffs (another connection) and their son Joseph aged 8. Percy is described as a Colliery Striker above ground, which must have been hard for an orphan 14 year old, his birthplace Hamstead. Although thought of as part of Birmingham, today, Hamstead and Perry Barr and Aston were both part of Staffs at the time and the registration district for Perry Barr was West Bromwich, there was a long association with the Black Country which is why so many of us support Aston Villa today. We recall that at the trial of Harry Pugh it was stated that prior to the tragedy Ann Maria was” visiting her little boy who lived with his grandfather in Hamstead” so we think this Percy is undoubtedly the same. There is sort of a happy ending to all this, as in 1911 Percy is a miner living in Whitchurch ,Glamorgan with his wife sie aged 23 and offsprings Percy Leonard 5, and Florence 2. Incidently the Gran daughter of Arthur Hadley, Irene Davies wrote an illuminating memoir of her life in Rowley village, called “A Pocketful of memories”, which offers a great insight into the Hadley family and life in Rowley village when it was in its heyday. She makes no mention of the tragedy of Ann Marie and Harry but may not have even been aware of it as some past family “scandal” was never discussed in those days. Mary Carter A tragic story told by the Vicar of St Giles Extract from the journal of George Barrs NOVEMER 4, 'WEDNESDAY. This day was buried Mary Carter, one of the Sunday Scholars, a girl about fourteen years of age. On Thursday evening last, her clothes took fire, and she was so dreadfully burned, that she died on the Sunday morning. It appears, she was nursing a babe of a few months old, and had reclined on a bench near the fire, and it is supposed, there fell asleep. A sister, about six years of age, was the only person present. She observed Mary's clothes on fire, and told her. The terrified girl rose up, ran out of doors, and was quickly enveloped in flames. The neighbours were alarmed, and, with some difficulty, the flames were extinguished, but not till all her clothing was consumed. All proper assistance was had for the poor sufferer, as soon as possible, but not a hope of recovery could be entertained. Her whole body, arms, and hands were scorched to a cinder : but her head, face, and even her hair, wore untouched. During the short time she survived, her mind was employed, almost exclusively, on eternal things. She spoke frequently of Jesus, as her' Saviour, and was much in prayer. The last words she uttered were, " Glory to the Father, to the Son, and -to the Holy Ghost;" and, to use her father's expression, she seemed ready to jump out of the bed. Who can say, in that momentous crisis, that she was not, like Stephen, favoured with a sight of the opening heavens, and of Jesus Christ, in his own glorious kingdom? According to the St Giles registers Mary Carter was born 12/10/1821 at Trumpeters Bank near Haden Hill. She was the daughter of James and Nancy Carter and was baptised at St Thomas Dudley, 06/10/1822. Again according to the St Giles registers she was one of at least 6 children; John, bp 24/10/1820; Thomas bp 23/01/1825; Sarah bp 16/03/1828; Hannah bp 08/04/1832 and Elizabeth 08/03/1835. The first three children were born at the hamlet of Perrys Lake on the edge of Rowley village. Elizabeth would have been the babe in arms when the accident occurred in November 1835, having been born the previous March, Sarah aged 6 would have been the sister who raised the alarm. On the 1841 census for Rowley we find, at Trumpeters Bank, James Carter aged 50 (rounded) a labourer with his wife Nancy aged 45 (rounded) and children Sarah (13); Hannah (9) and Elizabeth (6). Trumpeters Bank is not far from Haden Hall where the Rev George Barrs lived with his wife Mary until his death in 1840. On the 1841 census we find his widow Mary aged 70 with daughter Ann Haden Barrs aged 50 and a male servant Thomas Carter aged 15. Thomas Carter is the son of James Carter and sister of tragic Mary, it maybe that the accident had some connection with Thomas being taken on by the Barrs family, at any rate he seems to have done rather well out of it because we can find him on the 1881 census for Eastfield and Overseal, Leicestershire, where he is described as a Farmer of 106 acres, aged 56, employing 2 men and a boy. Living with him is his wife Ann and children Ann Eliza (25); Thomas (18); and James (16), both parents were born in Rowley Regis.  Another story which has been told about the residents of the Old Hall was that of a Reverend Barrs, who married into the Haden family. He was a very stern, strict and aggressive man, Rumor has it that he dropped a child out of the window of the Old Hall and the child died. I have tried researching this story and even though I have found information about a Reverend George Barrs marrying into the Haden family I haven’t found any information on a child being killed there. 14th March 1865 Mary Smith and the twin boys As Mary Smith was walking across the Rowley Hills from Dudley to Rowley Regis, she suddenly went into labour and gave birth to twin boys. Leaving the babies on the hillside, she made her way to the nearest public house. There she sent for her uncle Aaron Vaughan, who stayed with her for just five minutes before saying he could not help her and leaving. Meanwhile labourers Charles Archer and Reuben Wood were walking across Rowley Hills when their dog found what seemed to be freshly turned earth. Archer prodded the soil with his foot, scraping it back about an inch and revealing a childs leg. As Archer's foot touched the infant, it began to cry. Archer made no attempt to extricate the baby but sent Wood for a policeman, who removed the infant from beneath its thin blanket of soil, finding a second baby underneath. One child was dead, the other still alive, although he died within minutes. Post mortem examinations revealed no marks of violence on either child and surgeon Mr Cooper determined that the child found dead was killed by exposure to the cold, his brother dying from congestion of the lungs and exposure. Mary Smith was quickly traced and charged with two counts of wilful murder. She appeared at the Stafford Assizes in July, where it was shown that she had prepared for her confinement and had made baby clothes. The defence insisted that when Mary gave birth, she was frightened, weak and in pain. The babies were not buried but merely lightly covered with soil and Mary admitted leaving them, insisting that she had hurried as fast as was physically able to the nearest pub for help. Although she had heard one of the children crying, she believed they were dead when she left them. The jury found Mary not guilty and she was discharged from court. Mr Justice Byles expressed his regret that he could not punish Aaron Vaughan, who stated in court that he could not say whether or not he was the father of the children, and refused point blank to help a poor woman in distress who, if not his lover, was indisputably his niece. John and Elizabeth Tibbetts “Mr. H. A. Pearson (South Staffordshire Coroner) conducted an inquiry on Monday afternoon at the BULLS HEAD, Rowley, into the circumstances of the death of John and Elizabeth Tibbetts, who formerly resided at Dudley Road, Rowley. It will be remembered that on Friday last the husband murdered his wife by inflicting a deep wound in the throat, and afterwards he committed suicide by gashing his own. Many villagers and people from adjoining localities gathered round the public house where the inquiry was held, notwithstanding that rain fell heavily during the holding of the inquest. The Coroner deemed it unnecessary to have the bodies of the dead young couple removed, and they were locked in the residence in which the fatal deed was done. Mr. Joseph Williams was elected foreman of the jury. The first witness called was Edward Tibbetts, who stated that he was a miner, and resided at 73, Springfield Lane, Rowley. The deceased was his eldest son and was 22 years of age. He was a labourer, but occasionally did some butchering. He married the deceased woman about seven months ago, but their married life had been anything but happy. He had a violent temper, and had often threatened to do witness bodily harm. About 18 months ago he held a knife over witness whilst the latter was in bed and threatened to cut his head off. Deceased afterwards attacked him with a chair, and about 15 months ago he had to summons him for assault. Deceased was then fined 20s and costs. He also assaulted his sister, and he was then fined and bound over to keep the peace. He had never known him assault his wife before, neither had he heard his wife complain about his conduct. Mrs. Tibbetts had been an industrious woman, and had worked very hard. His son had got a job at a stonemason’s yard, and could earn £1 per week as well as being able to obtain remuneration by means of killing pigs. Deceased was a sober man. The Foreman: I suppose there is no insanity in your family, is there? Witness: No sir, there is not. The Foreman: Was he in debt at all before this unfortunate occurrence? Witness: When he left my home about seven months ago he had £50, but I believe he was in debt at the time this happened. The Foreman: Had any judgement summons been issued against him? Witness: I could not say, sir. The Foreman: He was out of a situation? Witness: Yes, but he had a job to go to on Friday morning at Messrs. Doulton and Co’s. James Parkes, a miner, residing at the Knowle, Rowley, said he was the father of the deceased woman. She was 30 years of age. She was married to John Tibbetts seven months ago. Previous to her marriage she was employed by a Mrs. Setton, of London Road, Edgbaston. He had never heard her say she was afraid of her husband, who was idle. His daughter had worked very hard and was very industrious. When she married she had over £50 which shebut her husband had spent this. He had often heard his daughter say that her husband would not get up to go to work when he had work to do. He had done little or no work since their marriage. A Juror: About a month ago did your daughter leave him? Witness: Yes. She left him because he would not work, and she told him that unless he found employment she should not live with him. She was away from him about five days. A Juror: Did he send word to her that if she did not return to him he should do something at her, and that he should commit suicide? Witness: He came to my house, and when my daughter told him she would not return he commenced to cry, and pulled a pocket-knife out and drew it across his throat, and the same time saying that if she did not come home he would commit suicide. Isabella Dunn, a neighbor, the wife of Simon Dunn, said she saw both of the deceased persons on Thursday night before the tragedy took place. During their married life they had frequently quarreled. The deceased woman bore an excellent character. She was hard working and industrious. She did not know much about the man, but knew him to be of lazy habits, for he had not done much work since they had been married. In fact, he was too idle to work, and that caused the trouble. She had constantly seen him the worse for beer. On the Friday morning in question she saw Mrs. Tibbetts go to the brewhouse door and unlock it. She afterwards went into the house by the back door, which banged somewhat violently, but witness could not say who shut it. About a minute after that she heard a scream. Witness ran to the back door and opened it a few inches, as it was not locked. A ghastly sight then presented itself. She saw blood running all over he floor towards the door. She gave the alarm after shutting the door, and called out to her mother and husband. Her husband went into the house, and saw them both bleeding profusely from wounds in the throat. He told witness that the murderer had cut his wife’s head off. Her husband then went for the police. She did not see the bodies. On Thursday night she saw Mrs. Tibbetts at half past ten, and a quarter of an hour previous to that she encountered the murderer. The Foreman: Have you ever heard Mr. Tibbetts threaten his wife? Witness: No sir. Hannah Dovey, a widow and mother of the last witness said she had known the man Tibbetts for a long while and always knew him to be a lazy fellow. This had constantly caused unhappiness between him and his wife, who was a hard working person. There had been no children. On Friday morning, at about quarter to seven, her daughter (the last witness) came to her and said, ‘Oh mother, Jack has murdered Lizzie.’ She went to Tibbetts’ house and looked through the window. She saw the deceased man kneeling on the hearthrug before the fire. He had a butcher’s knife (produced) in his hand and she saw him diggling his throat with the weapon. She then ran away. PC Reynolds stated that about 10 minutes to seven on Friday morning from information received he proceeded immediately to Tibbetts’s in Dudley Road. With much difficulty he forced the unlocked door open, and behind it he found the body of Mrs. Tibbetts in a pool of blood. Her head was almost severed from her body and she lay at the bottom of the staircase. She was quite dead. He then found the deceased, John Tibbetts, lying huddled about the table legs in another pool of blood. His throat was badly gashed, and he was groaning and foaming at the mouth. He at once fetched Dr. Beasley, who arrived at 30 minutes past seven, and stayed until the deceased man died at about a quarter past eight. Tibbetts made no statement, but kept muttering. He found the butcher’s knife on the side of the hearthrug at the side of Tibbetts, which was covered with blood. The cleaver was on the table, but there were no bloodstains on it. The supper things were on the table. On Saturday morning he took his wife and another woman to lay the bodies out. He went upstairs to fetch some pillows, when he discovered a butcher’s knife (produced) underneath the pillow on which the man would sleep. He found a purse containing 14s 5¾d in the woman’s pocket, also a threepenny piece and some keys. In the deceased man’s pocket he found a pocket knife. The man had been idle, whilst his wife had been a hard-working woman. Dr. J. G. Beasley deposed that on the day in question he was called by PC Reynolds to the house. He found the woman lying on her back in a pool of blood, close to the door. Death had recently taken place. There was a large quantity of blood on the floor. There was an extensive gash in the woman’s throat. The man was lying on the hearthrug and although attempts were made to save his life all was in vain. It was a hopeless case with him. When he arrived he was only partly conscious, and died in about half an hour. Before his death he was cursing incoherently. He had since made an external examination of the bodies. The gash inflicted on the woman would cause instantaneous death. Both bodies were drained of blood, and the cause of death was hemmorage, caused by the wound in both cases. It was impossible for the wound in the woman’s throat to be self-inflicted. The Coroner, in summing up, explained that the facts were grim, yet simple. It was clear from the evidence that the wound in the woman’s throat was not self-inflicted and that the man committed suicide. The woman was hardworkingindustrious, but the least said about the husband the better. He was a lazy man of dissolute habits. The discovery of the knife underneath the pillow clearly showed that the murder had been premeditated, so that dispensed with the question as to whether the man was or was not insane when he committed the ghastly crime. A verdict of Wilful Murder should be returned. The jury returned a verdict of Wilful Murder against the deceased man, John Tibbetts, and after retiring in the second case returned a verdict of Felo de se. [suicide – literally felon of himself] The Coroner explained that he had received a communication from the former employers of the deceased woman, which stated that she was held in high esteem during the time she was a domestic servant. She bore a good character and was very clean in her work. They requested that the presents they had given her from time to time should be returned.” AND “The final stage of the ghastly tragedy at Rowley was reached on Wednesday, when the interment of the bodies of John Tibbetts and his wife, Elizabeth Tibbetts, took place in the Parish Churchyard at Rowley Regis. On Tuesday a rumour had been circulated to the effect that the mortal remains of Tibbetts would be buried at midnight, in accordance with the ancient custom of dealing with the dead bodies of person against whom a verdict of felo de se had been returned. Consequently soon after dusk on Tuesday night a large concourse of people wended their way to Rowley from all the surrounding districts, and when the police arrived on the scene shortly after nine o’clock they found a great crowd of people assembled in the vicinity of the house which was the scene of last Friday’s tragedy. A cart was drawn up in front of the house shortly afterwards and in this the coffin containing the remains of the murderer was placed. As soon as it became known that the police were removing the body of Tibbetts there was a hostile demonstration, the people hissing, using offensive epithets, and otherwise expressing their abhorrence of the awful crime. Hundreds of people had gathered to hurl stones at the coffin, but the hurried departure of the cart that contained it prevented any damage. The mob, however, followed the vehicle to the churchyard, but they were not allowed to enter the gates. Inside the churchyard, the coffin was placed in the tool-house at one end of the burial ground where it remained all night. On Wednesday morning, at ten o’clock, the coffin was placed upon a barrow, and with this serving as a bier, it was conveyed to the other end of the burial ground and was interred in a grave where the deceased man’s mother was laid to rest some years ago. Police-constable Reynolds was the only bearer. The corpse was not taken into church, and it was lowered into the grave without any ceremony whatever. The only persons who witnessed the singular interment were Police-sergeant Bently, Police-constable Reynolds, the grave-digger, the deceased man’s father, and the Rev. David Turner (Vicar). The murderer was thus, laid to rest, the proceeding only being watched by two or three persons from an eminence in the locality.” John and Elizabeth Tibbetts. “The funeral of the murdered woman, Elizabeth Tibbetts, took place on Wednesday afternoon, amid general manifestations of sympathy, esteem and sorrow. Her relatives had selected a spot for her grave in a secluded portion of the churchyard, directly on the opposite side to the place where her husband was interred earlier in the day. An extensive crowd again assembled, sympathisers coming from all parts of the Black Country. As the funeral cortege filed up near the deceased woman’s late home many expressions of sympathy were given vent to. The cortege proceeded the short distance to the church, and her remains were followed to their last resting place by her parents and many other relatives, and the usual service of the Church of England was performed. The Vicar (the Rev. David Turner) conducted the service both inside the church and at the grave-side. Several wreaths were placed upon the coffin, these including tributes of respect from the deceased woman’s former employers in Birmingham, and other parts of the district, by whom she had been engaged as a domestic servant. The event will long remain in the minds of those persons who witnessed the performing of the last rites to the poor woman, who had been the victim of her husband’s ghastly and mad act.” James Woodhouse - shoemaker poet Woodhouse, James (1735-1820) Woodhouse, born in Rowley, near Birmingham, was a village shoemaker, and although he had been removed from school at seven years old, supplemented his meagre income by teaching literacy. He described balancing his cobbling work on one knee and a book on the other, switching between the pen and the awl throughout his daily routine. Woodhouse’s earliest poems represented petitions to William Shenstone, who had prohibited ‘the rabble’ from visiting his ornamental gardens, The Leasowes, due to their propensity for picking flowers - rather than admiring the scenery with a detached comportment. Keegan (2002) suggests that Woodhouse’s affirmations to Shenstone respond to the conviction that the role of the lower orders in tilling the earth and concentrating on the produce it might yield precluded an ability to appreciate nature’s beauties. However, in constructing himself as an exception to the rule, Woodhouse paradoxically buttresses social distinctions even as he tries to transcend them. “An Elegy to William Shenstone, Esq; Of the Lessowes” (1764) contains the following ingratiating lines: “Once thy propitious gates no fears betray'd, / But bid all welcome to the sacred shade; /'Till Belial's sons (of gratitude the bane) / With curs'd riot dar'd thy groves profane: / And now their fatal mischiefs I deplore, / Condemn'd to dwell in Paradise no more!”. Nonetheless, the overall vision is one that “ranks the peasant equal with the peer” through an inherent affinity for recreation in nature. Shenstone permitted Woodhouse entry not just to the grounds, but also to the library, which extended his knowledge beyond what he had gleaned from magazines. Five years following the introduction to his benefactor, Woodhouse’s collection of poems was published, in quarto, priced three shillings. Southey (1831. p117) notes: “It appears from a piece addressed to Shenstone, upon his ‘Rural Elegance’, that books to which his patron had directed his attention, had induced him to write in a more ambitious strain, and aim at some of the artifices of versification”; Woodhouse speaks of “He who form’d the fount of light, / And shining orbs that ornament the night; / Who hangs his silken curtains round the sky; / And trims their skirts with fringe of every dye”. However, it should be noted that these lines are extracted from a volume published nearly forty years after the original edition, quite possibly signaling a process of modification to bring them in line with fashion; indeed, with regard to the development of both Woodhouse and Duck’s poetry, Southey (1831. p118) opines that the freshness and truth of their language becomes compromised when they start to “form their style upon some approved model… they then produce just such verses as any person, with a metrical ear, may be taught to make by receipt”. Owing to the patronage of Shenstone and public curiosity concerning a shoemaker Dr. Johnson felt prompted to meet Woodhouse in 1764. Boswell indicates that Johnson viewed Woodhouse’s celebrity status with derision, proclaiming: “Such objects were, to those who patronised them, mere mirrors of their own superiority. They had better… furnish the man with good implements for his trade than raise a subscription for his poems” (cited Southey 1831. p192). However, in the biography prefixed to the collected edition of Woodhouse’s works, Johnson is said to have altered his verdict in light of the poet’s subsequent accomplishments. Shortly following his rise to prominence, Woodhouse left the shoemaking trade to become a carrier, and then a bailiff on Edward Montague’s estate - where he was dismissed for having contrary political and religious attitudes. As Keegan (2002) points out, his falling out with Elizabeth Montagu – who, after Shenstone died, engendered his shift from “royal patronage of ‘natural genius’ through the agency of Thomas Spence, to the moralizing charity of being made a “bluestocking” cause” – prefigured her more well-known involvement in the dispute between Hannah More and Ann Yearsley. In 1788, Woodhouse prefixed an ‘Address to the Public’ to a volume of poems, lamenting that he had been ‘growing grey in servitude, and poorer under patronage’, struggling to support his ailing wife and their 27 children. A twenty-eight-thousand line autobiographical poem The Life and Lucubrations of Crispinus Scriblerus was published in 1795. It includes an ambivalent delineation of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. The images of Birmingham’s “multiplying streets and villas bright… And Wolverhampton’s turrets… Near northern boundaries tipt with burnish’d gold; / fields, countless cotts and villages, between,” that “give life, and lustre to the social Scene”, give way to the violent menace of human industrial activity: “Deep, sullen, sounds thro’ all the regions roll, / Shocking with groans, and sighs, each shuddering Soul! / Here clanking engines vomit scalding streams… Obtruding on the heart, each heaving breath, / Some vengeful Fiend, grim delegate of Death!” Woodhouse also published a collection of nine epistles entitled Love Letters to My Wife (1803), which are in actuality discourses on social and religious matters, featuring attacks on upper-class tyranny. Overton (2006) writes: “Like his versification – quite elaborate iambic pentameter couplets, varied by occasional alexandrines – the form is highly artificial, but it provided an acceptable cover for views that might, if expressed more directly, have provoked censure.” Woodhouse spent the last 35 years of his life as the proprietor of a book and stationery shop in Oxford Street. In the way of curiosity and anecdote, it is claimed that Woodhouse was six feet six inches tall and possessed of tremendous strength. Apparently, he once confronted a ferocious bull with a stick and made it “lay down and fairly cry for mercy” (Southey 1831. p193). The Auden family “Though provincial, rooted, and having a few working-class relatives, such as the young James Woodhouse, the Audens were by and large not poor. Indeed, William Auden (1726-1794) owned or leased mines in the Rowley Regis area and purchased a coat of arms for the family, entitling them to a listing, which has reappeared in subsequent editions up to the present day, in Burke's Landed Gentry. “   In "Letter to Lord Byron" Auden alludes to this base in middle England: "My father's forbears were all Midland yeomen | Till royalties from coal mines did them good." The Audens were property and landowners and may have originally been small yeoman farmers as Rowley was rural until the industrial revolution but then there was more money to be earned in mining and industry or by leasing the mineral rights on your lands to others to exploit. By 1841, in the first detailed census, Hannah Auden widow of William Auden (1782-1836) is described as independent so the family must have left farming far behind by this time. William who died in 1836 is buried at St Giles. By 1861 there is only one Auden in Rowley village,,the same Hannah Auden, aged 62, who is described as proprietor of houses and land. The Audens married into and were related to the Nicklin and Woodhouse families of Rowley Regis who were both farming families and to the Beasleys who were industrialists. Another William the son of Hannah lived with his uncle Samuel Nicklin in 1841 at his farmhouse and later in Siviter’s Lane where his uncle is then described as a proprietor of Iron Mills. The Audens: Rootedness Dr. Auden enthusiastically imbued his son with a "Nordic" myth of his family origins and it was a belief sustained by his son throughout his own career. He commented near the end of his life: "My father brought me up on [the Icelandic sagas]. His family originated in an area which once served as headquarters for the Viking army." Doubts have occasionally been cast on the validity of this genealogical narrative. "Family Ghosts", based as far as possible only on reliable documentary evidence, neither confirms nor refutes Dr. Auden's claims about Viking ancestry. However, the earliest Auden we have been able to trace is William Auden (1726-1794) who was born and who died in the Midlands village of Rowley Regis (the "Regis" indicates that the area was originally owned by the King) not far from Birmingham. Ancestors with different surnames living in the same town or general area can be traced much further back. In "Letter to Lord Byron" Auden alludes to this base in middle England: "My father's forbears were all Midland yeomen | Till royalties from coal mines did them good." The most striking demographic characteristic of Auden's ancestors on the paternal side is their profound rootedness in one particular, not very large area of the English provincial world, even their immobility there in the "Black Country". There had been Audens, or families who were or would become relatives of the Audens, in the Midlands since the 16th century. The first such traceable ancestor is Margaret Woodhouse (1540-1615) who died in Rowley Regis, Staffordshire, a town in which Audens and their relatives would later live for centuries. The hard rock of Rowley had been known as far back as the Roman period, and there were many quarries in the vicinity. Here is Anthony Andrews: "In the 18th century, Oldbury and Rowley Regis began to expand, the main reason for this being the construction of canals and the exploitation of local deposits of coal and iron. Industries sprang up, such as Phosphorous Works, Chemicals, Tar Distillers, etc. All landowners retained their Mineral Rights. Among other items produced were boilers, bricks and [eventually] even first World War tanks. By 1880, there were over fifty collieries and four blast furnaces in Rowley Regis." These remarks are in perfect alignment with what one tourist website mentions, commenting that: "The town's first industries were nail making and coal mining, which started in the 13th century, by the 19th century chain making… was also a major employer." (The town is mentioned in Auden's 1932 poem beginning "O Love, the interest itself in thoughtless Heaven": "upon wind-loved Rowley no hammer shakes | The cluster of mounds like a midget golf course.") A love of geology, which had such a profound impact on the imaginations of both W. H. Auden and his brother John B. Auden, who was one of the greatest geologists of his generation, contained a long-held familial aspect. The Audens had been involved with exploitation of rock and fossils for at least two centuries; and the family's identity was tied up with mining. Margaret Woodhouse was the great-great-great-great-grandmother of the poet James Woodhouse (1735-1820). (The latter was Auden's first cousin four times removed: James Woodhouse's cousin Phoebe Woodhouse (1758-1828) married John Auden (1758-1834) in Rowley Regis in March 1782 and this couple were Auden's great-great-grandparents.) James Woodhouse was born on a farm which had been in his parents' family since the 1530s. Even after attaining a measure of renown in metropolitan literary circles, Woodhouse remained a distinctly provincial figure to his more sophisticated, or effete, contemporaries. According to his grandson, the Rev. R. I. Woodhouse, when Woodhouse had begun to move in London circles, his "clear sonorous voice, and his primitive haths and doths and his hast thous and wilt thous" were still notable. Both in being involved with cultural pursuits and in moving to London as an adult, James Woodhouse was an anomaly in Auden's family background. As far back to the Nicklins, Audens and the Woodhouses of Auden's great-great grandparents' generation — the one born in the last half of the 18th century — the vast majority of Auden's ancestors on his father's side came from, and lived in, Staffordshire or Derbyshire. The first person with the surname "Auden" who is known to have been born in Rowley Regis was William Auden (1726-1794), who in 1753 married Esther Sorrell (1734-1804) from nearby Halesowen. This pair formed one set of Auden's great-great-great grandparents on the paternal side. It is almost certain that William Auden made the money which allowed him to buy his family a coat of arms from the mining industry in Rowley Regis. Another set of great-great-great grandparents, Samuel Nicklin (1795-1866) and Phoebe Auden (1797-1856), both died in Rowley Regis. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Auden's relations on his father's side remained extraordinarily rooted in the Midlands, principally in the area just to the west of Birmingham (Rowley Regis) and then from the mid-19th century to the south-west of Derby (the Rolleston/Burton-upon-Trent/Church Broughton/Repton area). It was at the latter period that two Auden brothers, the Rev. John Auden (W. H. Auden's grandfather) and the Rev. William Auden, moved across the Midlands to marry two sisters of the wealthy Hopkins family of Dunstall Hall, Staffordshire. The Rev. John Auden married Sarah Eliza Hopkins in 1859 and the Rev. William Auden married Mary Jane Hopkins in 1861. William and Anne Hopkins, the parents of the Hopkins sisters, were landowners in the Dunstall area, and they were rich enough to provide local Church of England livings for both of their sons-in-law, for John in Horninglow and for William in Church Broughton. It seems likely that it was Sarah Eliza Auden who, after her husband's death, purchased "Danesgate", a house in Repton, probably sometime in the early 1880s, which has remained in the Auden family until the present time. It is also probable that the combination of mining royalties from the Rowley Regis area from the Rev. John Auden's family and of money from houses and land from Sarah Eliza Auden's family sufficed to provide modest private incomes for the seven children of John and Sarah Auden who survived into adulthood. George Augustus Auden, W. H. Auden's father, may have used his to supplement the probably somewhat meagre municipal salary he received as the Chief Medical Officer of Birmingham. W. H. Auden's parents were unconventional in many ways, but their independence of mind was buttressed, at least in part, by the profits canny businessmen and administrators had accrued in the not far-distant family past. Auden's ancestors -- "Auden side" Auden's grandparents were Rev. John Auden (1831-1876), born in Rowley Regis, and Sarah Eliza Hopkins (1838-1925), born in Rolleston. The Rev. Auden became the Vicar of nearby Horninglow, Staffordshire, where Auden's father was born. Indeed, Dr. Auden was one of eight siblings, seven of whom were born in Staffordshire (and five of whom, including Dr. Auden, were born at Horninglow). Mrs. Auden died in Birmingham, and at least five out of Dr Auden's generation of eight (including Dr. Auden) died in either the Rowley or Rolleston areas, which are, in any case, less than 30 miles apart. Thus, when Auden's father took a job in Birmingham in 1908 he was in essence returning, like a prodigal son, to his family roots. Solihull, where Dr. and Mrs. Auden settled in 1908 is about 12 miles from Rowley Regis. This earlier deep rootedness is all the more striking then when one sees how profoundly (and typically) the 20th century changed demographic patterns for the family. All of Dr. and Mrs. Auden's three children spent significant amounts of their adult lives abroad (Bernard Auden in Canada; John Auden in India, and Wystan Auden in the United States) and none died or was buried in the Midlands. Though provincial, rooted, and having a few working-class relatives, such as the young James Woodhouse, the Audens were by and large not poor. Indeed, William Auden (1726-1794) owned or leased mines in the Rowley Regis area and purchased a coat of arms for the family, entitling them to a listing, which has reappeared in subsequent editions up to the present day, in Burke's Landed Gentry. Like all of his brothers and sisters, Dr. George Auden had a modest private income. And one of Dr. Auden's older brothers, T. E. Auden, a solicitor, enjoyed a kind of "Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin'" existence, blasting away at stag each year on Mull in the Hebrides. This contrasts strongly with Auden's own need to make money, and also makes his propertylessness for most of his life, until 1957 when he bought his cottage in Kirchstetten, more striking. (In this, he was strangely similar to T. S. Eliot, who though a promulgator of settled life in a rural world, was a city-dweller who, as far as I know, never owned any real estate.) But, then in the early 20th century Auden was a freak within the Auden family in many ways. The poet James Woodhouse aside, until Dr. Auden's own generation, when, for example, he and his brother, Dr. Harold Auden, both joined the "Viking Club", an organization devoted to the study of Viking civilization in Britain, the Audens' connections with a wider intellectual and cultural life appear to have been limited or virtually non-existent. The side of the family with multiple artistic, mercantile or social connections, the side which had left a mark on national cultural and political life, was Mrs. Auden's  Miss Henrietta Mary Auden (1862-1965) Henrietta Mary Auden was born 20/06/1862 in Dedham, Essex, she died aged 102 at Church Stretton, Salop She was the eldest daughter of Rev Thomas Auden(1836-1920) of Rowley village and Anne (Hopkins)of Rolleston, Staffs and the Aunt of the poet W H Auden. Thomas was born in Rowley viilage near Siviters lane the son of William Auden and Hannah Nicklin. William died in 1836 and on the 1841 census we find Thomas at the farm house of his uncle Samuel Nicklin on the site of the present day Britannia Inn. In 1851 he is still living with his uncle, now described as a Iron Mills proprietor, on the corner of Siviter’s Lane although his mother Hannah is living just up the road with the rest of his siblings. The Audens’ were proprietors of land, houses and mines in the Rowley area and were related to the Woodhouse family. Thomas went on to St Johns College, Cambridge at 18 to complete his education and he subsequently became headmaster at Wellingborough Grammar school (1863-1869) when he became a clergyman, he died in Church Stretton at the age of 84. Henrietta never married and became a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1909. She transcribed the St Giles pariah registers, the first part of which were published in 1912, the registers contain a detailed history of Rowley researched and written by Henrietta. At the time of the fire in 1913 some of the originals had been returned to the parish chest with disastrous consequences, luckily the parts not yet transcribed 1760 - 1812 were still in her possession, the introduction to the published registers contains the following :- “When the iron chest containing the registers was opened early in the morning of the day succeeding the disastrous fire of June !8th 1913, it seemed as if all that was left of this wonderful series of registers was a pile of wet charred fragments. With considerable difficulty these fragments have been identified, but the paper leaves are so brittle and blackened and the parchment leaves so shrunk and stuck together that it is often almost impossible to decipher the entries. It is a matter of great thankfulness that the whole series has been transcribed and printed for the Staffordshire Parish Register Society, to whom and in particular to Miss Auden and her father Rev Thomas Auden, Rowley Regis owes a debt which can never be adequately acknowledged.” The Audens’ retained their links with Rowley although there was no Auden listed as living in the village after the death of Hannah in1867. The executors of Samuel Nicklin (died 29.08.1866) and Joseph Beasley(died 26.01.1870) who both married Auden sisters were the Revs Thomas and William Auden. Hannah is buried in the St Giles churchyard along with husband William and their daughter Phoebe who died in 1836 aged 5 years.. In 1901 Henrietta aged 38 and single is living at Condover, Salop, where her father is Vicar. Household is; Thomas 64, Anne his wife 65, younger daughter Amy Marion 25 single and two servants Elizabeth Smith 67 cook and Jessie Gwilliam 21 housemaid. Also listed on the census is a visitor Georgina Wilkes 28 from Chelsea. When Thomas died in 1920 he left £44,366 a not inconsiderable sum. The Beasley Family. Joseph Beasley Iron Master and the Beasley doctors of Rowley. The Beasleys of Rowley originally came from Cradley where they were operators of Hayseech Mill, later known as the gunbarrel works, In 1828 Benjamin and Joseph Beasley and William Farmer took out a lease on Hayseech Mill with tenure of fourteen years until 25 March 1842. The new masters and tenants were two brothers from one of the Cradley Beasley families and their brother-in-law William Farmer. Over the next fourteen years Beasley and Farmer manufactured gun barrels, spectacle glasses, nails, chains, spades and shovels. They were associated with the Parish of Rowley before 1828. Benjamin and his sisters Elizabeth and Frances married in 1810, but their weddings were in Clent rather than Rowley. At first sight this seemed a rather odd venue for Rowley folk. However, at that time Rowley was a chapelry of Clent and the Rev. Lyttleton Perry was the vicar of both Clent and Rowley. Perry's flock included all the iron workers on his side of the Stour and he insisted that they married in Clent to save himself the journey to Rowley. The three siblings were therefore working and living in Rowley Parish. William Farmer came from Tamworth and married Frances Beasley. William could only make a mark in the marriage register, but Frances and her siblings could all write their names. Joseph Beasley, was the youngest son of the Cradley family. He lived and worked in Hayseech until his marriage in 1838 to Ann Auden of the prominent Rowley Audens, at which point he moved to Siviters Lane, Rowley village and lived for many years in Mountford House Siviters Lane. The description of part of the 1841 census for Rowley village reads “Thence taking the south side of the village including Joseph Beasley and tenants” The Beasley’s lived at what would become Mountford House a little along Siviters Lane where Mountford Close is today. The 1841 census describes the occupants as; Joseph Beasley 40 gun barrel maker Ann Eliza (nee Auden) 40 Elizabeth 15 (a daughter from his ist wife Rosannah Griffin) Hannah Darby 20 Female servant. On the 1851 census he is still described as a Gun Barrel maker employing 70 men, but in an 1851 trades directory as “iron master” Shortly before the Beasley and Farmers lease was due to run out on Hayseech Mill the mill and two plots of land were advertised for sale by auction on 6th January 1842 at the white Horse Hotel in Birmingham. The tenants did not renew their lease and moved their operations to the district iron works in Brasshouse Lane, Smethwick. We found this anecdote relating to the district iron works. Boiler explosion. at Beasley and Farmers. June 1854. Current events for the year 1854 a monthly supplement to Household Words by Charles Dickens. “There was a boiler explosion at Beasley and Farmers Iron Works in Smethwick in the Black Country in the early morning of the 16th,The engine worked by the boiler had been stopped for repairs, just after the engine was again put into motion the boiler gave way at the ends with an explosion of terrific violence. Many of the buildings around were shattered, one piece of the boiler weighing about six tons ploughed through brick walls as if they were paper, fortunately most of the workpeople were absent but three men and three boys were dreadfully scalded, the boiler had been examined recently and pronounced safe.” Joseph and Ann Eliza had no children of their own but by 1871 the Beasleys are joined by their grandson James Griffin Beasley aged 14 years a child of Elizabeth, Joseph’s daughter from his first marriage. James did not follow in his grandfathers footsteps as an industrialist but opted for a medical career in which he was very successful in Rowley. Joseph Beasley died in 1870 aged 69 and Elizabeth in 1888 aged 88 yrs, both are buried in st giles churchyard. After Joseph Beasley died in 1870, Mountford House came into the possession of Dr James Griffin Beasley his aforesaid grandson and his wife Elizabeth who ran a thriving medical practice in Rowley for many years. His son Joseph Howard Beasley succeeded his father in the practice and they worked together in a partnership with Dr William Freer, until Dr James retired in 1921. The partnership was dissolved in 1923 whilst Dr Joe continued to practice. 1871 Census for Rowley village, Siviters Lane. James Griffin Beasley head 24 General Practitioner Smethwick Elizabeth Beasley wife 25 Lizzie Starkey? niece 3 Sarah Jane Evans Serv 15 Domestic Servant Next door, in the coach house? is the widow of his grandfather Ann Eliza Barnsley Head Widow 76 Fanny Farmer Niece unmarried 43 Annuitant Emily Reynolds Serv unmarried 15 Domestic servant. Dr James Griffin Beasley. Mountford House was a lovely Victorian house on the site of Mountford close today it was built from blue brick with stable block and coachman’s house, a large garden and tennis courts The local Methodist society which later became the Causeway chapel first met in a loft of the coach house of Mountford house under the auspices of this Doctor “Notice is hearby given that the Partnership heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned James Griffin Beasley, William Leacroft Freer and Joseph Howard Beasley carrying on business as surgeons at Rowley Regis and Blackheath under the style or firm of “Freer and Beasley” has been dissolved by mutual consent as and from the 30th June 1923. All debts due to and owing by the said late firm will be received and paid by the said William Leacroft Freer and Joseph Howard Beasley – Dated this 2nd July 1923.” “Dr James Griffin Beasley who died on March 25th 1930 at Rowley Regis at the age of 84 was the first medical officer of health to the Rowley Regis Urban District Council, a post which he held for nearly 50 years, he was also police surgeon to the local division, medical officer to the education authority and Poor Law and vaccination officer for the Dudley Union. Dr Beasley who qualified in 1868 celebrated his golden wedding in 1920 and retired from a large practice in the following year owing to failing sight. He was for many years a member of the BMA.” From the Dudley Herald 6/12/1879. “The medical officer for Rowley Regis Dr James Griffin Beasley of Siviter’s Lane, Rowley village reported that 48 deaths had occurred in the area during the last month (Nov 1879) with an average dth rate of 23 per 1000. Of those deaths 7 had occurred from zymotic desease. An outbreak of typhoid fever had been reported in the new street leading from Powke Lane to Waterfall,(Terrace or Tory Street?) the cause he attributed to unclean water used at these houses. ************************************************************************************************************* King Charles 11 and the flight from Worcester  The Royal Oak, Springfield. Todays 60's building is not the original, we cannot tell how old the original was but "Royal Oak" is associated with the flight of King Charles 11 after the battle of Worcester, in 1651, when he hid in an oak tree to escape Cromwells troops. Springfield is at the foot of the Rowley hills, on the border of the old Warrens Hall estate. On the 10th September, 1651, Charles 11 passed over the Rowley hills, through Rowley, Bleak heath, Lapal, and on to Bromsgrove. There are (were) three "Royal Oaks" in close proximity on this route, even equidistant from each other. In the 1960s a gold ring was found in a garden at 70, Newhall Road, Rowley, previously part of the grounds of Rowley Hall, it bore the words "Regis Oracular Legis" (the word of the King is Law) and the date1676. It is known that as late as this (25 yrs after his flight) the restored King was giving gifts to people who had helped him. Intriguingly, perhaps, these three inns were named ,locally, to mark his route, and the ring was a memento of his royal gratitude. The Rowley Hangman George Smith 1805-1874. Hangman Period in office – 1849-1872. George Smith was born in Rowley Regis in 1805 and was a prisoner himself at Stafford when he entered the “trade” as an assistant to Calcraft. His first job was assisting at the double hanging of James Owen and George Thomas outside Stafford Gaol on the 11th of April 1840. He learnt the job and was able to perform executions himself, principally in the Midlands. Smith’s most famous solo execution was that of the Rugeley poisoner, Dr William Palmer for the murder of John Parsons Cook, before a large crowd at Stafford prison on the 14th of June 1856. Smith was to hang a further 14 men and one woman at Stafford, the last in August 1872. He assisted Calcraft at the first private hanging in England (of Thomas Wells see below) in August of 1868. He was renowned for his long white coat and top hat which he wore at public hangings. Smith's son, also George, assisted at 3 executions at Stafford prison. Initially, it is said that he was hired by the Under Sheriff of Staffordshire to save the cost of bringing Calcraft up from London. With the advent of a good rail network, Smith, like Askern and Calcraft, could operate much further a field in later years. George Smith carried out two private executions, the last at Stafford on the 13th of August 1872, when he hanged 34 year old Christopher Edwards for the murder of his wife. Why is Rowley not still like Clent, the story of Warrens Hall Warrens Hall as an area is best known today as a country park based in an old industrial mining site straddling the boundary of Sandwell and Dudley and encompassing the foothills of the Rowley Hills. Before this it was Warrens Hall farm, the farm building being on the Oakham Road and still existing today as a care home. The land attached to the farmhouse still retains its rural feel and is used as riding stables with bridal paths and various field for grazing. It is the last vestige of once verdant countryside, akin to the Clent Hills, in an area decimated by the industrial revolution. The farm house on the Oakham Road is not, however, the original main building and the land seems to have been purchased in the late 16th Century, in two packages, intended as a country estate for minor nobility with a Hall being built shortly afterwards, this Hall or capital messuage was situated just off what is now the New Dudley road just inside the Rowley Regis parish boundary. We can ascertain that a Walter James (Gent) purchased two areas of land within Rowley in the late16th and early 17th century. The first transaction reads; “on the octaves of St Michael, 28 Elizabeth (1586) – between Walter James, gentleman, complainant, and William Grove of Rowley, deforciant, of 40 acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, 60 acres of pasture, and 10 acres of wood in Rowley. William remitted all right to Walter and his heirs, for which Walter gave him 130 marks of silver.” Walter James is not said to be of Rowley suggesting he came from outside the area and there is no mention of a house or building which leads us to surmise that a Hall was newly built afterwards. This land is what would become Warrens Hall farm, the Hall would became known as James Hall and later Warrens Hall. The second transaction would see an extension of his holdings by the purchase of adjoining lands 20 years later “Ist June 1605 1 jun 3 James (1605) - Deed of bargain and sale by Roger Rowley of Rowley, Worfield Shropshire, gent and his son and heir William Rowley of Rowley, gent, to Walter James of Rowley alias Kings Rowley, Staffs, gent, of meadows, pastures and lands called the Railes, Cursies alias Fresberye and Hammonds Meadow at Rowley alias Rowley Regis in consideration of £230.” A later map (1798) shows both parcels of land adjoining and named separately as Warrens Hall farm and Turners Hill farm. We can identify land in the second transaction, bought from Roger and William Rowley, as what would become Turners Hill farm due to the names of fields quoted in the deed, these correspond to our map of Turners Hill farm, we assume therefore that the first parcel of land corresponds to Warrens Hall farm. This would seem to have completed the purchase of land in Rowley. Part of the land was in the Manor of Rowley Regis (Kings Rowley) and part in the Manor of Rowley Somery and so came under the jurisdiction of both the Earl of Dudley and the Duke of Sutherland respectively. “ The family of James, of Rowley, Staffs, was descended from Walter James, brother of Henry James of Forfield, Belbroughton, son of Edmund James of Astley by Anne widow of Richard Corbyn of Hall End Co Warwick” Heraldry of Worcs p312. There is no mention of Walter James in the Rowley Regis parish register, entries begin with his son Edward in 1608. We find that Walter James lived at Corbyns Hall in the late 1590s, maybe due to inheritance, leaving his son at James Hall. The following entries appear in the Rowley parish register; p30 12/10/1608 Mountford son of Edward James Bapt p30 18/11/1608 Mountford son of Edward James Bur p32 08/12/1609 Edward son of Edward James Bapt p34 24/12/1610 Frances son of Edward James, gent, Bapt p36 28/04/1612 Elizabeth dau of Edward James, gent, Bapt p38 01/08/1613 Dorothy dau of Edward James, gent Bapt p40 03/10/1614 Mandlyn dau of Edward James, gent Bapt., This is the last entry for this branch of the James family in the register. In 1622 Edward James sold perhaps the remaining portion of his land in Rowley. “on the Quindene of Easter 19 James 1 (1622). Between William Ruston, compainant, and Edward James, gentleman, and Joice his wife, deforciants of 1 cottage, 1 garden, 10 acres of land, 8 acres of meadow, and 8 acres of pasture in Rowley and Rowley Regis. Edward and Joice remitted all right to William and his heirs, and granted that they would warrant the said tenements against Roger Rowley and William Rowley and their heirs, and against all others claiming by the said Edward and Walter James, gentleman deceased, for which William gave them £41” This tells us two things, that the land sold was part of that purchased from Roger Rowley in 1605, and that Walter James, Edwards father, was deceased. It would seem safe to assume that this is when the James family ended all connection with Rowley. In 1647 Nicolas Ebrall appears on the suite roll of Rowley Somery Entries in the St Giles parish register are as follows P38 09/06/1613 Nicolas Ebrall and Alyceod Northwo Wed P39 10/07/1614 Agnes daughter of Nicolas Ebrall Bapt P46 07/09/1618 William son of Nicolas Ebraule Bapt P57 ? Nov 1625 Margaret ? daughter of Nicolas Ebraule Chrs P97 03/01/1648 Nicolas Ebraule Bur P151 09/11/1661 Richard Awden and Margaret Ebrall Mar P189 09/04/1676 William Ebrell Bur Nicolas Ebrall died in 1648, in the 1650 Court Baron roll Richard Amphlett is listed as a freehold landowner Ebrall is crossed out in the 1663 suite roll and replaced by “Mr Amphlett” we do not know the relationship between Ebrall and Amphlett. It is later documented that Amphlett owned both Warrens Hall and Turners hill farms so we must assume that the previous incumbent after James was Nicolas Ebrall although we do not know the relationship between Amphlett, Ebraul and James. In 1647 also John Sparry appears on the suite roll In 1663 rent roll John Sparry is crossed out and Richard Amphlett inserted, Court Baron for April 1663 states “ We find Mr John Sparrey deceased, Mr Amphlett his heir at full age, but what advantage falls to the Lord by the death of any of the above the jury know not” Sparrey and Amphlett. The Amphletts inherited land in Clent and Rowley from John Sparrey in the mid 17 cent, via William Amphletts wife . Frances, Richard Amphlett his son lived in Rowley for a time before moving to Clent soon after 1660. John Sparry and Richard Amphlett are shown as a principal freehold landowners on Rowley Somery manor court rolls, they undoubtedly owned land in Rowley Regis manor also. William Amphlett 1588–1662 married Frances Sparry 1573–1667 children, Marie 1615-?; William 1620-1681; Frances. The land that Richard Amphlett inherited from Sparry is not thought to include Warrens Hall or Turners Hill. A survey of the Regis manor in 1556 states; “ Henry Sparry – one messuage called Whites tenement and one moore called Baremoore and one croft with a foldyard called Hilboes land” and in the 1771 Somerey survey: “William Amphlett holds freely by deed a certain tenement and lands by Bearmore” both pockets of land are shown on the 1798 map, they are in “lower rowley” near to cradley heath and old hill The following shows relationship between Sparrey and Amphlett and shows importance of Sparreys in Clent.  “The Sparrys had been in Clent since 1273 and for nearly 300 years were the ‘village squires’”.  (clent history society) “Henry Sparrey, gent., the son of Roger Sparrey, who seems to have been a man of some importance in the neighbourhood, being described in a deed of this period as valettus coronae, and who held land at Hagley and in other parishes, was buried in Clent chancel on Dec. 2ist, 1589, and on the 23rd February in the next year it is entered in the register that the vicar received a fee of 6s. 8d. for his burial. He married Rose Pype, sister of Sir Richard Pype, Lord Mayor of London in 1575, and his granddaughter Frances married William Amphlett of Hadsor, in the church of the parish of Salwarp, on Dec. i8th, 1614”. Both estates (james/Warrens Hall and Turners Hill) came into the hands of the Amphletts,probably by inheritance, we have found no land transactions but there is proof of possession in later years. The Amphletts held the lands for a considerable time rented out as farmland. Amphlett in St Giles P47 13/01/1618 John Amphlett and Margaret Evans Wed P71 06/07/1640 John Amphlett Bur P118 24/01/1654 Elizabeth daughter of Richard Amphlett gent and Anne Bap P121 10/10/1656 John son of Richard and Anne Bap P125 13/05/1659 Dorcas daughter of Richard Amphlett gent and Anne Bap The Amphlett name was gone from Rowley by 1665 when Henry Warrend was in possession of lands in Rowley including James Hall.as a tenant of Amphlett “Richard Amphlett aquired land at Clent mid 17 century and in 1666 was living at Clent House” Joseph son of Henry and Anne is the first mention of Warren in the St Giles registers. Poll tax return for Rowley 1666 “Warren Henry and Elinor , children John Edward Joseph Sarah, servant Rebecca Worley” Suite Roll for Rowley Somerey 1670, Henry Warrand replaces Richard Amphlett. Richard still appears as a landowner suggesting Warrend was renting the James hall estate which later became known as Warrens hall. Rowley Somerey survey 1717 John Warren is a member of the homage, there is also the following item in the survey “that the said William Amphlett Esq holds freely by deed certain land belonging to unto his house called James Hall in the possession of John Warren by the yearly chief rent of 3s.” This proves James Hall/Warrens Hall was rented to Warrens. Warren in St Giles P137 14/05/1665 Joseph son of Henry and Anne chr P164 21/02/1668 Samuel son of Henry Bap P175 18/10/1671 Elener Wife of Henry Warren buried P185 27/10/1674 Henry son of Henry and Sarah bap P190 16/07/1676 Henry son of Henry buried P194 07/02/1677 John Warren and Hana Willetts mariied P196 04/12/1678 Hanna daughter of John and Hanah baptised P202 1680 Hanah daughter of John and Hanah buried P203 26/07/1681 John son of John and Hanahbaptised P209 05/11/1683 Sara daughter of John and Hanah baptised P222 30/05/1687 Mary daughter of John and Hanah baptised P224 20/01/1688 Mary daughter of John and Hanah buried P229 28/04/1689 Thomas son of John and Hanah baptised P230 20/10/1689 Thomas son of John and Hanah buried P247 04/09/1689 Thomas son of John and Hanah baptised P269 04/06/1700 Hugh Dixon and Hanah Warren married P301 06/11/1709 Hannah wife of John Warrand buried P323 17/05/1715 John Warren and Anne White married P338 09/01/1718 Thomas Warren and Sarah Bassett married P465 21/02/1742 Anne wife of John warren buried P471 31/01/1744 John Warren and Elizabeth Russell married P492 11/03/1747 John Warren Jnr aged 62 buried P514 13/06/1750 John Warren from Birmingham buried aged 98 We cannot trace the origins of the Warren family but their tenure would seem to have lasted over 80 years, until around 1750, James Hall became known as Warrens Hall. John Warren from Birmingham buried 13/06/1750 aged 98 is maybe the John Warren who married in 1677 and this perhaps gives an indication of their origin.The death of John in 1750 and his son John Jnr in 1747 marked the end of their tenure. A deed dated 25/03/1749 William Amphlett of Hadnor rented James Hall and lands to Benjamin Woodhouse. “ 1, William Amphlett of Hadsor Worcs Esq. 2, Benjamin Woodhouse of James Hall, Rowley Regis, Staffs, Yeoman Messuage called James Hall and lands in Rowley Regis rent £50.10s.” A deed dated 03/04/1770 Christian Amphlett, widow of William, rented James Hall to Mary widow of Benjamin Woodhouse. “ 1 Christian Amphlett of Hadsor Worcs. 2 Mary Woodhouse of James Hall, Rowley Regis, Staffs, rent £75 per acre converted to tillage” Christian Amphlett widow of William married Thomas Holbeche of Droightwich Worcs 26th April 1772. The marriage settlement between these two stated; Date:26 Jun 1772 (i) Thomas Holbeche of Droitwich, Worcs., Gent. (ii) Christian Amphlett of Hadsor, Worcs., Widow (iii) Richard Norbury of Droitwich, Esq. Before marriage of i) to ii), providing for ii)'s dower out of property in Rowley Regis. Signed, sealed and witnessed. 08/06/1780 Richard Amphlett passed his interest ? in Warrens Hall and Turners Hill to John Amphlett his brother. “ 1 Richard Amphlett of Hadsor, Worcs Esq, 2 Rev John Amphlett, Rector of Hadsor Capital Messuage called Warrens Hall; messuage called Turners Hill and other messuages and lands in Rowley Regis signed sealed and witnessed.” Christian Holbeche (widow of William Amphlette by previous marriage died in 1807. 01/07/1808 John Amphlett received a considerable sum from the sale Warrens Hall and other Rowley lands including Turners Hill house; “Messuage called Turners Hill and lands belonging in Rowley Regis; Turners Hill farm; capital messuage formerly called James Hall and now called Warrens Hall and land belonging at Rowley Regis; Warrens Hall farm, Rowley Regis, 2 pieces of land in Dudley now called Far Dudley Piece and Near Dudley Piece formerly called Cookes Land. Consideration £1800 invested in consolidated bank annuities for John Amphlett and £3800 to be invested in parliamentary stocks” We think this is when the industrial revolution intervened in the fate of the estates due to the rush to extract valuable coal deposits. There is confusion as to the combined interest of Amphlett/Holbeche in the properties during the period from 1772 to 1898, because we know from the map of 1998 that Thomas Holbeche second husband of Christian owned both Warrens Hall and Turners Hill although he never lived there, he also bought another piece of land giving access to Warrens Hall in the enclosures of 1807 and reclaimed Land Tax in 1799 . We have been unable to ascertain when Thomas died which may offer an explanation. Mining (windmill End colliery sunk in 1830) and the building of the Netherton canal tunnel (The first sod was turned by the Lord Ward on 31 December 1855 and the canal opened on 20 August 1858) finally put paid to this Hall and the estate by the mid 19th Century when all traces of an important building had vanished. If a line is drawn between two pepper pot air vents the netherton tunnel passes directly under the Hall. The Hall was still occupied in the 1841 census by Benjamin Darby a farmer but is not mentioned by 1851. Farming limped on at both Warrens Hall and Turners Hill for many years to come despite the wanton exploitation of the land . Rowley Regis was inhabited by various gentry families in the 17th and 18th centuries when the area was quite spectacularly beautiful, the number slowly declined as the industrial revolution progressed and families located to more desirable places in the unspoiled countryside surrounding Rowley Regis. The histories of Clent and Rowley are intertwined, the Barons of Dudley owned both, Rowley was once part of Clent parish, the original Rowley church was a chapel of Clent, the vicar of Clent was the vicar of Rowley, many people of Rowley married in Clent. Hales Abbey owned or leased land in both. It is thought that the Domesday survey omitted Rowley in its own right as it was considered part of Clent. Land owners leased or owned lands and houses in both and many Rowley folk visited Clent on Public holidays. Eventually, perhaps due to the vanity of the Rev George Barrs curate of Rowley, Rowley became a parish in its own right and the connection was lost. What Rowley people fail to realise however is that Clent has retained its rural setting and is what Rowley would have been like today had not the five mile seam of the South Staffs coal field not been found under the Rowley soil. This was also responsible for the demise of the yeoman farmer in Rowley, the country estates such as Warrens Hall and the rural society which had prevailed for hundreds of years. The Lords of Rowley Regis and its sister manor Rowley Somery retained the ancient mineral rights to their lands and even when they were sold they still came under the jurisdiction of the Manor which gave the Lords the right to dig up and exploit minerals on any land in the Manor irrespective of the wishes and livelihoods of the incumbent. Inns taverns and beerhouses The Evil of drink in Rowley. At any one time there were around twelve alehouses, inns, taverns and beerhouses in the immediate area of Rowley village. Drink played a large part in the lives of villagers, originally because ale was safer to drink than water, and later because of the very hard working lives of ordinary people; in other words it acted as an anasthetic. When the Rev George Barrs came to Rowley in 1801 he described the inhabitants as follows; " The majority of people were scarcely civilised and accustomed to a life style in which drink, vice, and immorality bore unbounded sway; bull baiting and cock fighting were the popular amusements of the day" In 1830, in an attempt to curtail the out of control consumption of gin by the working classes, the Beer Act was passed, this resulted in an explosion of Beer shops which could only sell beer and could be opened by virtually anyone. Vestry records of St Giles record; " At a public meeting in 1841 it was considered that steps should be taken to prevent the alarmng increase in wickedness and immorality from the vast number of beer shops and public houses which abound in the Parish." "Since the national pest the Beer act came into operation in 1830 they (parishioners) have become more dissolute, their morals more corrupt, their habits more idle and unthrifty." Many establishments operated as sidelines, or were tommy shops, owned by foggers, who paid wages in them, or paid in tokens to be spent on the premises so exploiting workers more than ever. A Tommy shop - as in tommy rot, selling substandard or adulterated foods at inflated prices. A Fogger - doled out iron to homeworkers and collected finished goods, often short changing the worker at both ends of the transaction. A Beer house - it sold only beer, not spirits, and provided no lodgings. Beer houses were often sidelines for men in other trades such as farmer, carpenter, builder, nail factor or blacksmith. The Royal Oak, Springfield Todays 60's building is not the original, we cannot tell how old the original was but "Royal Oak" is associated with the flight of King Charles 11 after the battle of Worcester, in 1651, when he hid in an oak tree to escape Cromwells troops. Springfield is at the foot of the Rowley hills, on the border of the old Warrens Hall estate. On the 10th September, 1651, Charles 11 passed over the Rowley hills, through Rowley, Bleak heath, Lapal, and on to Bromsgrove. There are (were) three "Royal Oaks" in close proximity on this route, even equidistant from each other. The Hailstone, Knowle. Named to commemorate the Hailstone, a gigantic outcrop of Rowley Rag which stood atop Hailstone Hill and could be seen from miles around. It was demolished, by explosives, in 1899, due, in part, to its association with Devil worship. As befitted its reputation, two men were killed in the process. The pub is still trading today. The Cock at Cock Green. A sign on the pub says it dates back to 1693. Originally a farm house,but selling ale at least since 1814, not much more is known and its ancient origins have been masked by various extensive alterations. Still trading today The Bulls Head, Tipperty Green. Once the headquarters of    the Rowley Brewery, brewers of "fine Rowley Ales". Thomas Williams aquired the pub and its brewery in 1875. He eventually owned many properties in Rowley and supplied 14 pubs from his newly built Brewery opposite the Bulls Head. His son sold out to Ansells in 1927. Still trading today, a shadow of the former empire. The Portway Tavern, Perrys Lake. In close proximity to the entrance to Rowley Quarry in an area known as "Heaven" the Portway Tavern was once the haunt of quarry workers after a long shift. Owned by the Levett family up to 1900, who were also butchers in Rowley and Blackheath for many years. Demolished in 1984 The Beehive, Hawes Lane. Situated    between the Ward Arms and Club Buildings, incredibly, vitually nothing is known about this establishment except that it appears on the census from 1861 to 1901, the owner in 1881 is one Joseph Hadley described as a retail brewer, probably a beer house. The Ward Arms. Hawes Lane A premier hostelry in Rowley village at the beginning of Hawes Lane , once nicknamed the “Well of Bethlehem” because parishioners came straight from the church next door. Probably replaced the Court House (see below) when it was demolished around 1848. The “Court House”, or “Lord Ward's Court House” or "Lord Dudley's Court House" Named in trade directories from 1818 to 1834 the landlord being John Hadley or Widow Hadley. The Lords of Dudley were owners of the Manor of Rowley Regis for centuries and this was the Rowley Manor court house. Situated on the “waste” between the Church and the village end of Church Row it was Demolished around 1848 when the new (second) church was built and more space was needed. It is not known when it first became a pub but leases show the Building dating back to at least the 17th Century. The Ring O Bells, Rowley Village. With an adjoining malthouse and a brewery at the rear, it was opposite the Ward Arms at the top of Rowley village, no picture exists but a sign hung above the door depicting the bells of St Giles remained when it was converted to a private house in the 1930s. The Grange Inn, Church Road. Previously "Rowley Grange" the home of    Dean Hill a farmer and nail master, it was surrounded by an orchard and had stables at the rear, later the home of Thomas Williams of Rowley Fine Ales and converted into the Grange Inn in 1936 via a license transfer when the Royal Oak, Blackheath, was closed. Before it was demolished in 2004 residents tried to save it because of "its historical importance" but to no avail. The Church Tavern, Rowley village. A sigifnicant building, probably 17th century, at the top of the village opposite Curral Rd. Named in trade directories and the census of 1841 and 1851 it was a 3 story building with a ragstone arch connecting to the building next door. Later converted to 2 dwellings. According to deeds it was, indeed, previously a coaching inn, the stone arch being entrance to yard and stables behind. Demolished with the village in 1970 Swan or White Swan, Rowley village. Just below the Church tavern on the other side of the hill. Frequented by business men, it was here that the original Rowley building society was formed in 1799 for the purpose of erecting 14 dwellings at Club buildings (Stanford Drive today). This was the 14th such society in England and members met at the Swan over substantial repasts to discuss progress. The Swan closed around 1920 and was replaced by a private house. Kings Arms Rowley village. Just where the Doctors surgery is today, halfway down the village, apparently a purpose built pub who's licensees doubled as manufacturer of Jews Harps (Daniel Bowater 1834) and nail iron monger (Thomas Parish 1845) Demolished with the village in 1970. Malt Shovel, Rowley village. On the lower corner of Rowley village and Siviters Lane it had an adjacent Malt House, Thomas Dixon in 1871 is described as a maltster and retail brewer. Later coverted into a retail shop. Demolished with the village in 1970 The Vine, Rowley village. Between the Malt Shovel and the Britannia. No picture exists. Does not appear on cencus till 1861 when John Walters is described as a Joiner and Publican. He probably took advantage of the Beer Act 1830 to open a beer house to supplement his income. Run by Walters family till 1901 when it was taken over by Noah Harris, converted into a house in 1920s. The Pear Tree Inn, Mincing Lane. Bottom of Mincing Lane, a farm house owned by the Merris family till the 1920’s, then Joseph Mallin, both farmed 23 acres behind the farmhouse. Mincing Lane wells were situated opposite the farmhouse providing a source of water for brewing. The farm house was rebuilt as a pub in the 1930s and demolished in 1998. The Queens Arms, Mincing Lane. No picture exists and we are not sure where in Mincing Lane it was situated. The licensee in 1841 was Thomas Slim, a nail factor who also a grocer, so it was probably a beer house and tommy shop. Later it was operated by his widow, Sarah Slim, and then by David Ravenscroft, an engine smith and beerhouse keeper (1861 census) who changed the name to Jolly Toper.    James Slim, son of Thomas and Sarah, moved to Rowley village and was a nail factor and provision dealer - the art of exploitation passed from father to son! Incidently, the dictionary definition of "toper" is a drunkard. The Britannia, Rowley village. A farm house next to the gates of Britannia Park which once formed part of its lands stretching up to Dobbs Bank at the top of Ross and also encompassing the Britannia Estate. Owned by the Mackmillan family, horn button manufacturers ,who built the endowed school. Later became a beer house and "tommy shop".Believed to be named after "Brit" Bolton, a retired circus strongman, who had connections with the cruel "sport" of bull baiting which was prevalent in Rowley especially at Wakes. Still trading today Sir Robert Peel, Rowley village. Widely believed to have once been the village gaol but ony the name supports this. More likely named after Sir Robert Peel as repealer of the Corn Laws who died in 1850. It appears, first on the 1851 cencus as a beer house, previously being listed as a smithy, doubled as a butchers and beer house house in 1871 when the licencee was Daniel Bowater. Once the local of Tommy Smart of Aston Villa and England who lived over the road. Still trading today Allsops Beer House, Rowley Village. A farm house just below Mackmillan Rd which operated as a shop and beer house in the 1850s. Demolished ? Royal Oak, Blackheath. Pre-dating Blackheath as a town. Situated on the crossroads to Oldbury, Halesowen and Quinton at Bleak Heath was an old coaching inn dating back to 17th century. Demolished in the 1930’s to make way for the market place and Blackheath traffic island. See Royal Oak Springfield. Religion in Rowley Religion, in its various forms and denominations, has always played a major part in the lives of Rowley people. On top of the Rowley hills near the summit of Turners Hill there once stood a large exposed natural rock formation of Rowley Rag known as the Hail-stone. In pre Christian times it was likely used as a pagan religious site, it was also associated with the devil which, in part, led to its removal in 1879. ” From the face of a precipitous termination of the southern extremity of these hills rises a pillar of rock, known as the " The Hail Stone." I conjecture that the word hail may be a corruption of the archaic word holy, holy ; and that this pillar of rock may have been the object of religious worship in ancient times. The name may have been derived directly from the Anglo-Saxon Haleg stan, holy stone.” There has been an establishment church on the top of Rowley Hill since the 12th century, and probably much earlier. Rowley was a typical medieval village, the church situated between the manor house (Rowley Hall) and the mill (at the end of the churchyard near Stanford Drive). The first church, which betrayed Saxon origins, lasted until 1840 when it was replaced by George Barrs, the second only until 1900 when it was declared unsafe and demolished due to subsidence, the third burnt down “in a fire of spectacular proportions” in 1913, and was not replaced by the forth and present church until 1923, due to the advent of the first world war. The most notable incumbent of St Giles was the Rev George Barrs who was curate from 1800 to 1840, he was responsible for the rebuilding of the first church and for dragging the parish of Rowley from a state of “anarchy and proliferation” to an administration the envy of its neighbours. The state of the parish was such that it was "Scarcely in a state of common civilisation.” The management of parochial affairs was in every possible sense the most corrupt and profligate." “It took 20 years to establish the new system until in the end the parish was held up as an example of one of the best parishes in the kingdom.” Rowley has a long history with dissent, in 1662 the then curate William Turton was ejected after the Restoration and the Act of Uniformity which compelled ministers to conform closely to the Prayer Book. “By 1684 it was said that only five nonconformist ministers were left in Birmingham: Bryan, Evans, Fincher, Baldwin and Spilsbury, although others visited the town frequently, notably William Turton, 'a very dangerous nonconformist' ejected in 1662 from Rowley Regis (Staffs.) and more recently preaching at Nantwich (Ches.). The accession of James II in 1685 led to a relaxation of the severity of religious persecution and in 1686 Turton became the settled minister of a Presbyterian congregation” In 1823 six member families of the St Giles congregation defected from the established church believing that the Bible supports “believers baptism” which the Rev George Barrs was vehemently against. This resulted in the founding of the Providence Strict Baptist Chapel at Bell End, in which this exhibition is housed. The two most prominent ministers of this chapel were Daniel Matthews, minister from 1828 to 1888, and Alfred Dye, from 1888 to 1923, both of who’s reputation spread far and wide from Rowley. “Matthews was an extreme isolationist, he never mixed even with other strict Baptists, he never preached anywhere else and never invited anyone else to preach at Rowley. This went on from 1828 to his death in 1888” “Alfred Dye related how God spoke to him in dreams, Mr Dye was an itinerant preacher, he had seen a chapel in his dreams where he knew he would be pastor, but he never came across that chapel, one morning he went for a long walk and he saw his chapel – it had no notice board, he was told the pastor had recently died, he had been there 60 years – he had never allowed another man in his pulpit. Alfred Dye said to himself, I shall soon be in that pulpit and be pastor there – and he was.” In 1895 Joseph Ruston and others split from the Providence chapel after an argument over the installation of an organ, under the jurisdiction of Daniel Matthews such adornments were frowned upon, They went on, to found and build, the Ebenezer “Ruston” chapel in Hawes Lane. Joseph Ruston was minister from 1895 until 1922, the chapel was demolished in 1981. There was a memorial plaque in Rustons Chapel in Rowley Regis to his memory it said..."Erected to the memory of JOSEPH RUSTON in affectionate remberance of a faithful ministry of 21 years in this his first and only pastorate during which this house was built and dedicated to the Glory of God.” The Endowed Mission and Sunday School in Rowley village has its origins as far back as 1703 when a bequest was made by Lady Elizabeth Monins for “teaching poor children of Rowley to read and write and be instructed in religion” After closing as an educational establishment the mission and Sunday school carried on in the original buildings opposite Macmillan Road until it was forced to move to its present address half way up the village in 1929. A notable preacher at the endowed mission was George Aldridge who was born in 1876 and lived all his life in the village until he died in 1962. He was the village post master and had previously spent 10 years as a travelling preacher taking horse drawn “gospel van” and his family throughout the midlands sponsored by the evangelical society. On the sides of the caravan were two texts from the Bible. One was ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe shall have everlasting life’. The other was ‘Greater Love hath no man, than that he lay down his life for his friend’. The main Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Rowley was built in Hawes Lane in 1862, Its origins are obscure but in 1834 a trade directory mentions that “the Wesleyans and the Baptists each have a chapel at Rowley,” and there had been a Wesleyan presence in Rowley since at least 1821 when Joseph Parkes of Bell End licensed a room in his house in Rowley village for Protestant dissenters. George Aldridge attended a service at the Hawes Lane chapel, after hearing an itinerant preacher, and was subsequently converted before becoming himself a travelling preacher. Services were held at Hawes Lane until 1970, the chapel was finally demolished in 1973. ROWLEY HALL Rowley Hall was “Capital messuage” or “significant house” in Rowley village in the Parish of Rowley Regis. It was a walled residence, surrounded by a large estate and situated just around the corner near the end of Church Road, at the top of what is now Newhall Road, not far from St Giles. Photographs of Rowley Hall are very hard to find, one of these from the 1950s has only surfaced recently and is shown below  along with other known images. The original Hall house or messuage (significant house) dated back, perhaps, as far as the church (circa 1199). It was rebuilt during the 17th century and again in the 19th when the estate was turned into a working farm. By the end of the 19th century, however, there was extensive quarrying around the Hall, coming very close to the walls around it. The estate was further decimated by the opening of Rowley Hall colliery in 1869 and the Hall was finally demolished, along with the rest of the village around 1970 to be replaced by social housing; at this time it had been inhabited by the Noot family for over half a century.. Below is a plan of Rowley Hall and the Rowley Hall estate in around 1800 before the house was rebuilt for the last time. The last occupants of Rowley Hall (from around 1900 to 1970) was the Noot family, during the fifties and sixties I lived in Newhall Road and often was sent to Rowley Hall to buy apples from the orchard. I remember Mr Noot as an old man (to my young eyes at least) who habitually wore bib and brace overalls and was often unshaven so they would appear far from posh as previous occupants had undoubtedly been. There was a high wall around the majority of the house with the entrance at the top of Newhall Road, the wall extended up Church Road and along a passage next to the Grange inn and around the back of the grounds of the house to a row of four cottages presumably built and occupied by past estate workers, the wall continued to a further path which snaked around the grounds in a circular direction. At the edge of the track on this side the ground fell away in a sheer drop the result of quarrying right up to the wall boundary. As I remember the House was in two parts, the frontage shown above faced Newhall Rd, the Noots did not live in this part of the house and to my recollection it was empty and then at some point sub-let. To the left was an entrance in the wall, there was no gate. Inside the entrance there were overgrown trees on the left and outbuildings used as pig sties, on the right at the rear of the frontage was another part of the house, facing sideways, with a separate entrance where the Noots lived, to my recollection this part of the house seemed far older than the Georgian frontage. The only part of the house I went into was the kitchen which I remember as being enormous with high ceilings, wooden tables and sides of bacon hanging from hooks, at the moment this is all I can recollect and I regret not taking any more notice of my surroundings. After the house was demolished I remember seeing Peter Noot around Blackheath so the family may still be in the area and it would be good to hear their recollections. Historically Rowley Regis is an area of South Staffordshire within the Hundred of Seisdon, it consisted of two Manors, Kings Rowley, and Rowley Somery. Kings Rowley an ancient demesne of the Crown and Rowley Somery, held “in Capite” by the Barony of Dudley. Both Manors were held for a considerable time by the Somery family until Rowley Somery was sold off in the 15th century to the Levesons or Dukes of Sutherland as a package with Lower and Upper Penn. Rowley Regis was originally part of Clent and in religious terms became a Chapelry of Clent before becoming a parish in its own right in 18. The Manor houses of both are the subject of conjecture, “Yee Brickhouse” at Knowle has been put forward as the Manor House of Kings Regis while there is some evidence which points to Rowley Hall as the Manor House of Somery, it was undoubtedly a principal house in Rowley Somery but it could be there was no official manor house. Neither building survives. This article endeavours to trace the history of Rowley Hall otherwise known as “Old Hall” or “The Hall. The first mention of any building resembling Rowley Hall we can find is in an inquisition pertaining to a dispute over the ownership of a Rowley Manor between the heir of Richarde de Roule and the Crown in 1327. “ Phillip de Roule (dec) held in his demesne as of fee, on the day he died, the Manor of Rouleye of the King, in Capite, …… and there was a messuage there worth 18p yearly and no more because it was in ruins” The Manor is clearly Kings Rowley and not Rowley Somery but there is no way of knowing where the messuage was. The first mention of The Hall Old Hall or Rowley Hall is in a lease to a Henry Grove in 1552. “Lease for 40 years by William Wyrley of Hampstede, Elizabeth his wife and Thomas their son and heir apparent, to Henry Grove of Handsworth, bloom smith of a Hall in Rowley called the Old Hall lying beside a highway leading from the church towards Whiteheath with closes and open land” The location identifies Old Hall as Rowley Hall. William Wyrley whose seat was at Handsworth is the first owner of Rowley Hall we can positively identify although it is not thought he lived there having probably inherited by marriage from the Sheldon’s of Tividale. During the 16th Century the Grove family gained extensive freeholds in Rowley Regis in both the Somery and Kings Manors and for many generations played the part of the Squire in the area. The Rowley Hall estate had lands in both Manors but the Hall itself was definitely part of Rowley Somery, this is illustrated by the following entry in the 1717 Court Baron and survey of Rowley Somery;- “We present that Francis Eld Samuel Lee Gent and Thomas Saunders clerk do hold the house in wherein John Grove Gent and deceased did lately dwell in called Rowley Hall and one parcel of land called Poole Croft belonging to the same” More on this later. In the St Giles register for 1643 there is an entry which states “Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Willetts, Hall, baptised” We know the Groves had other properties in Rowley, notably Staresmore Hall near Old Hill, Sheldon Hall and Turners Hill House, so they may have sublet Rowley Hall at this point or Thomas Willetts was a live in servant. The following exchange of land within the North field at Rowley in 1672 indicates that Thomas Grove inhabited Rowley hall at this time. The North field was adjacent to the Hall and presumably part of it belonged to the Hall estate, previously having been a communal field divided into plots or strips. “Indenture of exchange between Thomas Grove of Rowley Regis, Gent, and William Russell of Rowley Regis, ironmonger, whereby Grove conveys to Russell a parcel of ground containing half an acre, in the North field in Rowley Regis, in exchange for another parcel of ground containing half an acre in the same field in consideration of 20 shillings received by Grove from Russell.” In 1692 on the 14th July, Samuel Lea of Aldridge son and heir of Thomas Lee (leigh) married Mistress Catherine Grove, daughter of Thomas Grove, Samuel and Catherine had two children baptised in Rowley church, Rachael-Maria, 09/05/1693 and Thomas 05/09/1694. Being the heir of Thomas, Samuel would have eventually returned to Aldridge when his father died. Thomas Grove died in 1693 being succeeded by his Son John. The Groves still occupied the Hall in the early 18th century, John Grove son of Thomas practised hunting and owned silver plate, playing the part of the Squire in the area, Mary his sister married Francis Eld in May 1703. According to Edward Chitham they lived at the Hall at first and some of their children were baptised at St Giles. The register reads;- “Francis Eld Esquire and Mary Grove married 20/05/1703” they had two children baptised at St Giles, John 04/04/1704 and Mary 26/11/1708, at a later date Francis is recorded as a JP. In 1705 there was a dispute as to the ownership of the Rowley Hall estate and house which resulted in an indenture dividing property into four parts between John Grove, James Grove, Samuel Leigh and Francis Eld. In 1714 it is recorded that John Turton of Rowley Hall (tenant?) left £10 in his will to the poor of Rowley. In 1746 John Eld of Windsor (son of Francis Eld) is recorded as taking the Justices oath of qualification in respect of his estates at Rowley. He did not own Rowley Hall itself because this part of the Estate was still in the hands of the Leighs of Aldridge through the marriage Catherine Grove to Samuel Leigh. When their son, known as , Thomas Fetherston Leigh died around 1755 his daughters Katherine and Mary, both spinsters, sold their estates in Rowley to pay his debts. John Eld was the purchaser for £1800. At this time according to documents, the tenant of Rowley Hall was Thomas Danks. Francis Eld died in 1760 being described as “of the middle temple” according to Edward Chitham the Hall was not occupied at this time and “there was no Squire at Rowley”. According to the Cradley Links website, “in 1796 John Eld died and his estates in Rowley were to be sold to set up a trust fund for his grandsons. The Eld family’s principal estates were in Seigford near Stafford though Johns parents lived in Rowley parish at one time and John was born there” The Earl of Dudley purchased some land in 1804. There is a gravestone in St Giles churchyard to the memory of John Walter “formerly of Rowley Hall” “and Mary his wife, erected by his second son Arnold Spilsbury Walter of Birkenhead, Chester.” He died 27/11/1830 aged 62 and she 18/02/1817 aged 43, they had 7 children all baptised at Rowley, Willian 1792, Mary Ann 1794, Arnold Spilsbury 1798, Eliza 1800, John Henry1803 Joseph 1806 and Sarah 1808. There is no record of the marriage of John and Mary in the St Giles register but a William Walter is a witness at weddings before the birth of William the son of John, he is likely to be Johns father on the basis that Johns first born son is a William. We have traced a John Walter son of William and Sarah bapt. 28/04/1769 at Haughton, Stafford and a marriage of John and Sarah at St Phillips, Bham in 1792 but no more is known of this family or when exactly they resided at Rowley Hall. In an 1803 map of Rowley, John Walter is shown as a tenant of Rowley Hall and Estate, the owner is. Around 1804 John Beet a business man who’s occupation is given as “Butcher” bought the estate and lived at Rowley Hall, he rebuilt the original hall and turned the estate into a working farm. He married his first wife Sarah (nee Higgs) 19/11/1818 and his second wife Margaret in 1828 Sarah having died in 1821 shortly after the birth of their daughter Elizabeth (20/07/1821). John Beet died in 1844, his widow was still at the Hall in the 1851 Census, all are buried in a large tomb at the front of the St Giles churchyard. The following information was posted on our forum by Jule64 “ My g g g grandfather John Blakeway worked for about 50 years (between about 1820 and 1870) at Rowley Hall for John Beet and his family. During his time there he was a labourer, farmer, gardener, manservant, footman, coachman and groom.” When John Beet died in 1844 Rowley Hall and the estate passed to his only daughter Elizabeth who was unmarried. She later married the Rev William Abiah Newman, a widower, curate of St Georges Wolverhampton in May 1848, they did not live at the Hall but in Cape Town S.A until 1855 and then at Warfield Hall, Warfield Co Bucks. As stated above Margaret Beet, widow and stepmother of Elizabeth was still at the Hall in 1851(Census). It was stipulated in the will of John Beet that she should be able to live at the Hall for her lifetime. The will also stated that should Elizabeth marry the estate would pass to her husband, should she predecease him, and then their children. Should there be no children £3000 should be raised from the estate and given to the grandchildren of John Beets cousin Richard Beet. This will was contested by William Abiah when Elizabeth died in 1855 but judgement was found in favour of the 4 grandchildren of Richard Beet so presumably the £3000 had to be raised from the estate and paid to them. By around 1860 and until at least 1866, the tenant of Rowley Hall was one Nicolas H Chavasse, his wife Mary and son Thomas. Nicolas was a partner in Knowle Brickworks with a John Jennings and later moved to Granville North Carolina where he appears in the 1880 census as a farmer. The Rev William Abiah Newman died in 1864, his wife Elizabeth having died in 1855, they had no children. The Rev William Alexander Newman who was William Abiahs son by his first wife, inherited the Hall and the estate but again he and his wife Bertha did not live at the Hall, but at Hatch Beaucamp in Somerset where he was rector. He leased the Coal and ironstone rights on the estate to Messrs Wright and North of Wolverhampton in 1865 and 1868 along with the Hall and four cottages (presumably those behind the Hall). Rowley Hall colliery opened in 1869 and manager Frederick North lived at Rowley Hall. to have sold part of the estate in 1871. The opening of the colliery and extensive quarrying would have spelt the end of Rowley Hall as a gentlemans’ residence, another victim of the Industrial revolution and exploitation of the land, that changed the face of Rowley Regis for ever. William Alexander died in 1885 aged 44, his widow Bertha was involved in the passing of the lease for Rowley Hall colliery from Wright and North to Bassano and Hawkes between 1892 and 1894, she also leased Rowley Hall quarry around 1890. William and Bertha had two daughters Ethel and Laura, it is not clear whether they inherited the Hall and estate or whether it had been sold. These details have been obtained from the Newman family papers at National archives. By the end of the Century there was extensive quarrying around the Hall coming as far as the walls around the house, this quarry was not filled in until the 1950s and 60s being finally built on during the 70s. The estate was further decimated by Rowley Hall colliery ,operated by Frederick North, and later Bassano, it flooded during the pit strike of 1921 and never reopened, by this time the Rowley Hall estate was a wasteland. In the 1901 census at Rowley Hall, now described as two dwellings, is Samuel Dimmock (35), a mining engineer and wife Julia, the other occupant Samuel Mills (31) secretary to ?, and wife Martha. The Hall was finally demolished in 1970 by compulsory purchase. It was replaced by social housing along with the majority of Rowley village. It had been occupied by the Noot family since the turn of the century. In the 1912 edition of Kellys there are two people (families?) listed at Rowley Hall, they are Alfred Hickman Noot a Commission Agent and Frank Taylor, he was an industrialist at the village. In the introduction above it was recollected that in the 1950s the Noots only lived in what seemed to be the old part of the Hall and the Victorian frontage was let to another family, the 1901 Census and the Kelly entry would seem to support this. We do not know who actually owned the Hall at its demise but feel the Noots are a strong case as they were there in excess of half a century. Notes on the article tracing the history of Rowley Hall. J Wilson Jones was the first historian to attempt a history of the Black Country and Rowley Regis in particular, published in 1950 it contains several references to Rowley Hall which we shall attempt to comment on. “Rowley Hall is mentioned Heath Tax 17 Century” ; Rowley Hall is not specifically mentioned on the transcript we have seen but many Groves are mentioned, among them; Hearth Tax March 15 1666 – Grove Thos and Marey; John and Marey, children. Servants; Thos Tarbee, Eliz Russell; Judith Russell; Eliz Hollinsworth. Mr Wilson Jones may have seen the original document mentioning Rowley Hall but it is not on the transcript. “ Research places it to be the Hall in possession of a Mr White at the time of the Gunpowder Plot – the conspirators fleeing from Holbech Hse, Kingswinford were hidden there when crossing the Rowley Hills to Hagley” It is a long standing tradition that the fugitives hid in Rowley but there is no evidence as to Rowley Hall or Mr White being in possession. “It is partly a 16 Century building” There was a 16 century and earlier building on the site. But it is said to have been completely rebuilt not on the original footprint but this seems to bear out my view that perhaps the old hall had not been completely demolished. J Wilson Jones presents various pieces of (circumstantial) evidence re “yee Brickhouse as being the Manor House of Rowley Regis manor and he dismisses Rowley Hall as “not being of great historical value” this is certainly not true, we make no claim as to its status but it did play its part as a premier house in the parish of rowley regis and was certainly regarded as a significant house in the Somery manor. “1666 hearth tax, houses with over three hearths in Rowley;- Ye Brickhouse, Rowley Hall, Brindfield Hall and Haden Hall”. This indicates that Mr Wilson Jones did indeed see the original document as the transcript does not verify this. Another author who attempts a history of Rowley Regis is Edward Chitham, he seems to present a case for Rowley Hall being the manor house for Kings Rowley which we have discounted. “The original Rowley Hall could have been built at about this time (when the church was built) an inquisition of 1327 found that there was a messuage here but it was in ruins” “Probably only at Rowley village was there a group of buildings surrounding the Hall and Church, behind the Church was one of the open fields where the peasants farmed in strips, another field was probably below the Hall towards Bell End”. We Know the Rowley Hall was in Rowley Somery. “and it has been sugested that it was at Rowley Hall that the plotters hid” “1660 Hearth tax - among important inhabitants on the assessment list was Thomas Willetts at The Hall.” “stray animals were caught and kept in the village pound near the end of Hall Lane” “Enclosure Bill 1807 – 8 , among freeholders relieved of Manorial dues were those of John Beet the Hall farm” “Map of Rowley village in 1899 including Rowley Hall farm” “comparison of the 1800 parish map which shows the original location of the Hall with the early O/S map shows that as George Barrs states in his reminiscences, the new hall was not built on the foundations of the old. There is photographic evidence of a brick wall on a stone base which formed the boundary wall of a new enclosure. This stone foundation seems likely to have been the lowest courses of the east wall of the original Hall.” “by 1860 the following coal masters were to be found at Rowley Regis – Hall:- Holcroft and Pearson.” “Plan of Rowley Hall, showing location of original Hall and the Hall farm built in the early 19th century.” “at the end of the 19th Century there were quarries at ……...Rowley Hall.” “John Turton (of Rowley Hall) who gave £10 capital by his will in 1714.” “but in Rowley itself Bell End and Rowley Hall (pits) were still working.” (by 1901) “early 1970s , multi storey flats built at the Quack near Rowley Hall.” Information from both publications, along with further research, has been used in the above article This is a rather fanciful article which appeared in the Blackcountry Bugle some time ago. The ragged circular wall which surrounds the one acre wilderness of garden from which the house barely emerges, is old by any standards. Its original local stone, breached by the years is patched like an old quilt, blocks of sandstone, tudor brickwork and common 19 century bricks are woven into the grotesque fabric.  It once enclosed a fine orchard, but today, the dead and dying trees droop into the engulfing embrace of briar. The house itself is no less of an enigma! Once a property of fine proportions, the whims and necessities of various tenants have marred the original layout. Walled up doors, concealed beams and ill proportioned rooms have given it an air of mystery which is deepened by its known history.  In 1603 Rowley Hall was occupied by Christopher Whitehead of the powerful local landowners from which Whiteheath derived its name. He was related to Stephen Lyttleton of Holbeache House, Kingswinford, who was deeply implicated in the aborted Gunpowder Plot. After Guy Fawkes' capture a party of his fellow conspirators fled to Holbeache House and were beseiged by a posse led by the High Sherrif of Worcester. Humphrey Lyttleton and Robert Winter were the only survivors of a desperate battle and they managed to slip away from the house and escape to Rowley where they were given refuge by Christopher White and other Catholic sympathisers. It was in the rambling subterranean apartments of Rowley Hall that the fugitives were most secure - and there is little doubt that the gloomy dungeon like cellars pictured in this article were 365 years ago the anarchists hideaway! Rowley Hall from an article in the Black Country Bugle. "The house itself has been undoubtably rebuilt and considerably altered during the intervening centuries but the cellars are almost certainly exactly as Lyttleton and Winter found them on that far away November night. The semi circular windows with thick iron bars, set into each separate "cell" are reminiscent of medieval dungeons and an old well, set into the floor of the largest of the underground apartments, no doubt constituted the Hall's original water supply - or had it at some time in the history of the property a more macabre purpose? The White family survived the disasters which overcame many Catholic sympathisers at the time of the Gunpowder Plot - a close friend of the family, Thomas Holyhead of Rowley was hanged for the part he played in sheltering the fugitives - remained in possession of the Hall. It was later owned by the Mansell family who were connected by marriage to the White's female line.  In 1806 a gentleman farmer John Walters was in residence, and Rowley was still a rural area with thick woods and and farmland surrounding the close knit village. By 1830 Squire Beet owned the property. The sale of Rowley's glebe lands a decade later was to transform the area and there is evidence that the Squire played his part in the founding of Blackheath as an industrial township - for his name is perpetuated in Beet Street- and the tombs of both his and the Walters family can be seen in Rowley churchyard. Later in the century, Butcher Mills, a well known mine owner, occupied Rowley Hall before moving to a large house near the junction of Perry Park Rd and Waterfall Lane. Next came the Noot family who lived in Rowley Hall from from 1903 until a few months ago when Mr Jack Noot moved out. Vandals and looters have since turned the house into a tottering ruin but even their visitations have made little impression on the sturdy subterranean apartments which sheltered Lyttleton and Winter in 1605. When the walls above are finally reduced to rubble they will remain a buried capsule of history entombed in the Rowley hillside - dark man made archives which link Rowley with the most colourful and desparate plot in English history." Rowley and the Jew's Harp  Although Jews Harps were made in the Black Country, perhaps for hundreds of years in large quantities, there is today hardly any tangible evidence of the craft apart from few price lists, census records, mentions in trade directories and a couple of old newspaper articles. The buildings in which they were made have long since disappeared although the streets are still there, Shell Corner, Rowley Village, Hawes Lane, Club Buildings (Stanford Drive), Newtown on the edge of Netherton and the quaintly named Beggars Row in Cradley Heath. If your lucky you can still purchase a Black Country Jews Harp via the internet if your very fortunate it could bear the name Troman or the Troman makers mark. Somewhere there still exists a folder containing actual samples of Troman Harps made in the late 19th Century and a descendant of the troman family wrote a small booklet in the 1950s to record details of the manufacture and origin of Jews Harp making in the Black Country for posterity. But generally although it’s a fascinating story hardly anyone today has any inkling that this area was at one time the world centre for the manufacture of this strange little instrument amidst the chains nails and anchors which made the Black Country famous. Everyone remembers the mighty Titanic Anchor produced by Hingleys of Netherton but no one remembers a little musical instrument called the Jews Harp produced by numerous families in the home forges of the Black Country.

Of all the unconventional instruments introduced into pop music in the Sixties – harpsichord and sitar, dulcimer and mellotron – one of the most unusual is surely the Jew’s harp. The Who experimented with it, as did Black Sabbath and (most appropriately of all) Leonard Cohen.

Or perhaps not so appropriately, since there is no evidence for such an instrument in Jewish culture. It may once have been a jaw’s harp, a little misheard, for it’s the jaw that does all the hard work, when it comes to playing the thing

If the name “Jew’s harp” is right, then it probably reflects the fact that this was a poor man’s instrument, a harp with just one string.

If you’ve never seen one on stage, imagine a piece of metal – usually brass or steel – bent into the rough shape of a keyhole. Down through the middle a thin tongue of tempered metal is attached, which vibrates when plucked with the finger. It’s this that gives the Jew’s harp its characteristic twang. Put the whole thing to the lips, and modulate the tone by varying the size of the mouth.

Versions of the Jew’s harp can be found in many parts of the world, but for its manufacture you have to turn to a handful of streets in the Black Country. It was the village of Rowley Regis, more than any, that cornered the world market in Jew’s harps.

The earliest Jew’s harps in Europe date back as far as the 15th Century, but by the early 1700s they had been added to Birmingham’s boundless catalogue of metalwork. A brass-maker by the name of Walter Tippin was producing, it was said, a cart-load of the instruments a day in 1715.

Perhaps the Birmingham trade was elbowed out by more lucrative work, for later in the century it is in the Black Country that it re-surfaces. This was, in many ways, a quintessential south Staffordshire trade, able to be carried on in the smallest of domestic workshops. The only challenging part was the fixing of the tongue, by which the instrument stands or falls.

By the second decade of the 19th century, it is around Netherton and Rowley Regis that the trade was concentrated.

A trade directory of 1822 lists 11 makers in the Black Country, eight of whom were in Rowley. The directory helpfully provides trade prices too.

A gross of the simplest type of harp, made of iron, came in at three shillings (that is, just one farthing each), the cost of a harp in tin or brass being a shilling or two higher.

As the directory also tells us, the harp came in more than one variety. For a little more, one could purchase an Irish or Glasgow pattern harp, instead of the “classic” form.

Like many other local trades, such as nail or chain making, the manufacture of Jew’s harps stayed in the family.

Four of the 1822 makers had the name of Troman, and this family, more than any other, kept the tradition alive well into the 20th century.

It’s believed that a series of cuts or scratch marks on the frame identifies the individual manufacturer, for no maker’s name was ever applied to the product.

It was in Club Buildings (now Stanford Drive), Shell Corner and Hawes Lane that the jew’s harp makers clustered, as well as in the hamlet of Newtown over in Netherton. One maker in 1834 – Thomas Sidaway – combined his profession with that of a publican at the (appropriately named) Golden Harp on Siddal Hill in Cradley Heath.

By the middle of the 19th century, however, the Jew’s harp makers were beginning to migrate from Staffordshire to Birmingham, which, I imagine, offered the economies of scale for greater productivity.

By then, most of their harps were being shipped to America, an order book which stretched them beyond the capability of a humble cottage industry.

The first maker to turn up in Birmingham was David Troman, who set up on AB Row (and later on Prospect Row) in 1839, and other Rowley makers soon followed suit. Birmingham also offered greater (and cheaper) access to brass.

David Troman’s sons, like good apprentices to the trade, then fanned out across the town, establishing their own Jew’s harp workshops in Heneage Street, Great Brook Street and Avon Street.

By the 1930s the Tromans no longer had Jew’s harps to themselves; by then they were being manufactured in Germany and Czechoslovakia too. Nevertheless, the Forward Manufacturing Co. and the firm of M. (Millicent) Troman & Co. of Great Brook Street, continued to supply international markets.

The United States alone was importing some 100,000 a week, though it was also beginning to manufacture its own. One maker – John Smith – emigrated from Rowley to New York State in 1883, and took his skills with him.

By the 20th century mechanisation had long since replaced the individual maker, and the end of this time-honoured profession was nigh.

The Birmingham-made Jew’s harps fell silent in 1950.